Stages: Music Magazine Contents Page

This was the start of my music magazine contents page.
Like my front cover, I decided to go with black as my background again for similar reasons; it works well with photographs, my colour scheme, my most popular chosen colour in my survey, etc. I researched other magazines for this too and found that the majority of magazines with the same/a similar genre use a black background again. They also had a positive outcome and feedback. Once again, I used the 'rectangle tool' to drag a box across the A4 page and then the 'apply colour' tool to change the whole background to black.
I then added a masthead, the very same one that is on my front cover. I did this as it's technically my magazine's 'logo' and when the audience see it, they'll recognise my magazine. Once again, I used the 'type tool' to insert my masthead text, as well as the 'selection tool' to move and rearrange my masthead on my contents page. Another similarity I have chosen is the font, it is 'Stone San ITC TT' in italic but like I said earlier, the majority of my magazine will be in this font. Continuing with this font, I then included the 'Contents' text which stands out across the black background fairly well as I have used the 'fill' and 'stroke' tools to insert the white text and a magenta outline. I used Stones Sans ITC TT bold font as well as using the same 'type tool' and 'selection tool' to insert the text and place it under the masthead, which is also stands out from.
I then included some of the important elements; the date and issue number of the magazine by using the 'type tool', then the 'selection tool' again to place these and my masthead at the right-hand corner instead this time. I did this so there was a bit of a different, and more room for a band's call-out quote and photographs.

My aim was to include a few pictures of the band in this step of my contents page. I included each one the 'file' tab, then 'open', 'browse' and chose each photo that I had saved onto my memory stick. My first image included, which is my main image, is the same as my main image included on the front cover of my magazine - just with a twist. I have used the image that I was originally going to use, my edited version. I really like this version as you cannot see their facial expressions too well and everything looks pixalized. It also looks like something the band 'Muse' would do, looking back at their 'Supermassive Black Hole' music video, which is good as they are one of the bands inspired by this band. It is also a long shot. It has to be my favourite photograph that I have done throughout the magazine. I then included 2 small images of the band that I may or may not use in my double spread feature as I have plenty of other photographs. I included 3 photographs (2 long shot, 1 close-up shot) of the band as I researched other music magazines contents pages (such as Kerrang!, Rock Sound, NME, etc) and the majority of each contents page had a collection of a few images. I also thought this a really good idea, especially that I could play around with each one on my contents page. In the end, I decided to have them in a group together so that all the text can fit around them, as well as them being the centre of attention. I also think it still attracts my young target audience, especially as it is a full view of the band and they are also young themselves.
I then included a small coverline about the features page, on the corner and on top of the main image, to continue to lure the audience in. It states the page number, the band and says, "An interview & pictures of the gang with info about their first tour!" I did all of this by using the 'type tool', 'selection tool' as well as the 'fill' and 'stroke' tools to include the colour in the font. I chose to use a white font with a black outline so that it would all stand out against the photograph, as it is mainly in several colours. The only thing I changed was the page number and bullet point to have a red outline so they do not blend in as much, easily spotted and can go to that page as well as being different to the rest of the coverline. I think the text targets my audience as I have used slang, i.e. info, gang, etc. so that it is still serious and states the important parts of the feature but also includes a 'edge' to it.

My next step was to insert the pull quote. I chose to use, "He's not all sweet and innocent, trust me. Unless his mum's there, that's a different story. He's a mummy's boy." I researched other magazines and soon realised it's quite long for a band's call-out quote but I decided to keep it. I've kept it because it has a good reader's flow and after each sentence, the audience is 'on edge' to read more. It will also attract my target audience14 years - 25 year olds because it is something young people have said about themselves or their friends time and time again. I think this is the aim of a call-out quote itself, to attract the audience even more, even it means a long suspense. I've made it quite striking too and in a large enough text, still in Stone Sans ITC TT italic. I also used the 'fill' tool to insert a white text, then the 'stroke' tool to apply a red outline. I've done all the colours and outlines different for each text box as I think it'd be too plain, although each colour is still in the range of my colour scheme. It separates each text box but each part is striking in itself. I then included the person who said this quote, Jas Heartly (lead singer of the band) and the name of the band afterwards, like the majority of music magazines do to recognise the person. Underneath I included, "confessions from this teen band" then the page number (which this accidentally says 22 when it's meant to be 33 - I later changed this error) so that my young audience will be intrigued to read as 'confessions' tends to be a word used for secrets in the modern age of today. I did all of this using the 'type tool' to insert the text, the 'selection tool' to rearrange and place the elements, and then the 'fill' tool to include the white text and the 'stroke' tool to have a magenta outline. All of which was also in Stone Sans ITC TT but bold so that the quote looked even better in italic.

One of the most important parts to include in a contents page, as researched from other magazines and from what we've learnt in our Media lessons, is the features and news sections. I chose to have these positioned on the right-hand side, under my masthead, title, and date & issue number as well as next to my photos. It fits well and is easily spotted on my contents page, the majority of music magazines also do this - may not be positioned the same but arranged similarly. My aim was to have all of my text work around the images so that it all fit nicely one the page and presented well.
My 'News' would supposedly update every week and include news about different bands of my genre/s whereas my 'Features' would also include different bands each week but each would have their own few pages about the band, what they've been upto, etc. Only one of these bands would have a double spread feature interview though and would have the entire magazine front cover and contents page based on them, and in my case, this was 'Noize'. This would also be updated each week. I chose to do this so that my target audience might be introduced to new bands, or even feel differently of bands they had heard of but haven't listened to, or even disliked in the past. Even if some of my audience continue to dislike the main band mentioned in my magazine in whatever week, there is still all sorts of information on other bands and other stuff to read about. I also included each page number and gave each band 2 pages. I insert the text using the 'type tool', rearranged and placed the text box using the 'selection tool' and I then used the 'fill' and stroke' tools to include the colours. The colours used are still in my colour scheme, just used differently for different parts. I did each title in a white font, with a magenta outline (and made sure they were also in a bigger font than the page numbers and the rest of the text so that they are recognisable as titles) whereas the bullet points and bands a white font with a red outline, and the page numbers were all in white, they were also a slightly bigger size to the rest of the text. I still continued to use 'Stone Sans ITC TT' bold font for this section.

Now my last job was to include a regulars sections, like the majority of magazines also do too. I thought long and hard what was best to include in it so that it would still attract my target audience and they wouldn't get bored. I decided to include the best options that my young target audience would love to know most about; gigs, merchandise, (stereotypically speaking, gigs/concerts and shopping are two of the main activities my target audience favour and it is something for both sexes and all sexualities) writing to my magazine, horoscopes and wordsearches for their entertainment at the end. 'Sing to Lyric' has a catchy edge to it and I know that several young people really enjoy writing, texting and e-mailing their favourite magazines to share their thoughts, experiences, memories, etc, so I thought this was something nice for young people to get involved in and enjoy the magazine a bit more knowing this. Also, several young people of today follow up on their horoscopes so I thought, why not? Reading a horoscope each week is fun, even if it's not for everybody or not even true it's still there to have a laugh with - I assume this will target females more than males though, judging my young people of today and my survey. Wordsearches are always fun to do, of all ages, and can keep a person occupied now and again. There will be about a page of wordsearches that contain bands, genres and music in general. This could also encourage my audience to listen to new bands or new genres if they haven't heard of them before. It is fun as well as educational, in a way.
Like my features, I used the same font and colours for each text as that. I did all of this using the 'type tool' to insert my text, the 'selection tool' to rearrange and place each text box as well as the 'fill' and 'stroke' tools to include my colour scheme.