Finished Double Page Feature Spread

This is my finished double page feature spread

Double Page Feature Spread: Step by step

Firstly, I added a black background to carry on with my colour scheme - my front cover and contents page are also black. I wanted to stay the same because it was the most popular colour choice in my survey results, it also works well with the rest of my colour scheme and my photographs. I did this by using the 'Rectangle tool' and drawing a large box over my double page spread. I then used the 'fill tool' to insert my black background. My next step was to include my written feature about the band I created. Unfortunately I had written way too much and some how had to cut it down. Throughout designing my feature, I had to change around, add and delete words/sentences so that it would all fit well together. I inserted my text using the 'Type tool' and once again, used the 'fill tool' to include my white text. I decided not to use the 'Stroke tool' and have an outline as I didn't want it to stand out too much, especially as there's so much written about the band and it'll be too dramatic; so dramatic it would no longer be striking to my target audience. I made sure I changed the first letter of my entire written feature to a larger scale than the rest of it, by scrolling to a size '30' whereas the rest of my written feature is size 12. I did this because most magazines also have their first letter a lot bigger than the rest of the text. To also position and rearrange all my text, I used the 'Selection tool' which allowed me to fit the feature in the way in which I wanted, as best as possible. Like I've said in my previous posts, I continued with the 'Stones Sans ITC TT' font as it works best with my magazine; fitting the standards of my target audience, looks presentable and the right size. 

Now I needed to include the photographs I have taken and edited of my artist/s. I decided to choose 3 photographs; 2 of the band altogether and 1 of the lead singer, as she is the main front man and has a pull quote positioned above her. I included my first photograph by using the 'File' tab, then I clicked 'Place...' to then I could browse and choose which photograph I was going to insert. I did this for every photograph. I also used the 'Selection tool' to position and rearrange all of my photographs - I decided to have each photograph in a corner, all of different sizes, so that my feature would still fit and my photographs would still lure my audience in. I'm very happy with my photographs and how my models posed for me, it fits perfectly with my written feature and the double page feature spread in general. I included a mid shot of 'Jas Heartly', a group shot and a long shot of the band. I then noticed my photographs were looking slightly plain and sharp, so I decided to try different edits until I found something that I thought fit perfectly. I did this by right clicking each image individually, clicked 'Effects' and stuck with the 'Outter glow'.  I really like this effect as it's quote creative, works around my text and still shows the photograph quite clearly.

I used the typical 'copy & paste' trick to include my masthead, which is the same throughout my magazine so that it is considered the magazine's 'logo' and something my audience will remember most about my magazine. I then used the 'selection tool' to move and position it in the top hand right corner so that it is still clearly seen, recognisable but allows the rest of my double spread to be seen more clearly. I've kept everything about it the same including the colours, font, etc. Once I had done this, I decided to add a bit of editing but couldn't think of what as I originally wasn't going to and just carry on with the rest of my double page spread. I decided to include the band's name in large letters, also using 'their' own font that I have used on my front cover, which is 'Lithos Pro' in size 72. I included it by doing the 'copy & paste' trick again, then used the 'selection tool' to move it nearer the space that I had blank, which was the top right hand on my left side of my double page spread. I then decided to add an edit by right clicking the 'Noize' text, then clicking on 'Edit' and had a browse of all the different edits I could use. In the end, I decided to go with 'Transparency' which is pretty self explanatory. I chose this because I thought it would look good if I had an intro part on the top of it, yet my audience could still work out what was said underneath and on top, as well as still having my band's name in large somewhere on my pages - which is what I aimed for.

Now I inserted my introduction over the most recent edit I had made and my magazine started to come together a lot more. I did this by using the 'Type tool', picked 2 quotes that I liked most throughout my written feature and used the 'Selection tool' to position and rearrange them over both of my pages. I chose to have one on each page so that there was something to attract the audience on either side, also that it was evenly spread out. I did them in 'Stone Sans ITC TT' italic font as well as making them a size 22 so that they are quite obviously bigger than the majority of the text on my double page spread. I also used the 'Fill tool' to colour the text in white, then the 'Stroke tool' to include a magenta outline for both. I also did the introduction the same way as both of these, apart from it isn't in italic and in a smaller font.
Next I included a 'Presents...' part underneath my masthead so that it is still quite formal and clearly states that 'Lyric' have spoken to 'Noize' - I did this in the same way as all of the text but decided to have a red outline so that it would mix it up a bit, as well as include more of the colour schemes. I also did the exact same techniques to the caption above my first photograph.

Last but not least, I needed to include my very important page numbers and captions for the photographs. I used the 'Type tool' to insert my page numbers, which I knew from my Contents page, and used the 'Selection tool' to move and arrange them so that they were at the bottom corners. I decided to have them there because the majority of music magazines do so, it looks professional and they're still easy to see even though there is a lot going on in my pages. I also did these at size 30 with a white fill and white outline, just so that they stood out a bit more and still easy to see.
I then included all of my captions, all at the bottom of each photograph. I had slight trouble thinking of different captions that would lure in my target audience and still stuck to the point of each photograph. In the end, my mid shot photograph of 'Jas Heartly' I decided to make it pretty self explanatory and have her name, and the band that she's in. I then moved onto the long shot photograph, on my left hand side, which I struggled with most. I then decided to include a well known saying that they could work by, like some sort of motto for their band which is 'See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.' I then moved onto my high shot of the group and chose a 'trendy' and 'in fashion' sentence that would attract my target audience some more. I wanted to give it a child-like edge to it and meet my audience's expectations. I inserted all of these using the 'Type tool' and typed them up, the 'Selection tool' to rearrange and position them all, and the 'fill tool' as well as the 'stroke tool' to use more of my colour scheme. My pull quotes are white with a magenta outline so I decided to have my captions filled in white with a red outline.

How will I attract/address my audience?

My audience consists ages between 14 and 25, both of sexual preferences, of all sexualities and of the 'alternative', 'rock', 'indie' subcultures. I will include both male and female artists and bands because of this, as it credit my magazine and satisfy my audience.

What would teenage males want in my magazine?

• comedy/funny articles and features
• good-looking women (if heterosexual)
• good-looking men (if bisexual, homosexual or are heterosexual and want some sort of role model.)
• chords for musical instruments
• lyrics
• posters
• interviews
• merchandise pages
• music that they like
• style tips
• swear words
• advice
• technology (old or new i.e. ipods, ipads, mp3s etc.)
• games (wordsearch, sudoku etc.)
  
  
  What would teenage females want in my magazine?
  
• horoscopes
• fashion & make-up
• fashion & make-up tips/advice
• good-looking men (if they are heterosexual)
• good-looking women (if they are bisexual, homosexual or heterosexual and want some sort of role model.
• posters
• technology (old or new i.e. ipods, ipads, mp3s etc.)
• gossip articles
• music that they like
• style tips
• merchandise pages
• clothing websites
• interviews
• chords for musical instruments

The typical audience for my music magazine

My magazine would appeal towards a younger generation, most probably teenagers/young adults of both sexual preferences and a typical white audience. This type of audience would usually shop at local places such as primark, new look, topshop, topman, charity shops, vintage shops, band merchandise etc. and online clothes stores that would be slightly 'alternative'. They will be keeping up with the trends but also altering items slightly, as well as maybe wearing 'vintage' style clothing.

Brands like:

• Urban outfitters

• Brand Neusense

• H&M

• Topshop & Topman
  
  
  
  
  Alternative/rock types of people like tattoos, body piercings, unsigned bands, bands in general, books, photography, guitars, parties, alcohol, clothes, socialising etc.
  Their preferred music is normally alternative, rock, alt-rock, indie, indie-rock, acoustic and unsigned bands or artists that nobody else knows about. 
  
  
  
  

  

  • Females like most things natural i.e. hair, make-up, skin etc. They tend to have 'bed head' or wavy locks and at least a side fringe, will straighten their hair now and again. They won't have too much make-up; foundation, concealer, mascara, maybe some eyeliner, maybe some eye shadow now and again. They'll either be pale skinned or naturally tanned, maybe a slight tan even. May have tattoos or some body piercings. Females will wear t-shirts, band t-shirts, checked shirts, leggings, tights, skinny jeans, floral dresses, cardigans, pumps, military boots, converse and lots of 'vintage-looking' jewellery.
    
    
    
    
    
    

  

  •  Males tend to have slightly long hair, not too long but not short at all and with a 'swoopy' or short fringe. They also like band t-shirts, they like skinny t-shirts, skinny jeans, pumps, converse, cardigans, beanie hats, skinny jumpers etc. Males tend to drink, smoke and do drugs more than the women, very much like gigs too. Some may skateboard or play a musical instrument. May have tattoos or body piercings.

Conventions in Magazines

        A convention - a range of rules and standards expected/required for a specific genre. 

             Conventions can be applied to many different circumstances, they can also be developed and challenged. 

1. Convention - wearing clothes
2. Develop - wearing only black clothes
3. Challenge - wearing no clothes
   
   OR
   
   1. Convention - having a computer
   2. Develop - using a computer
   3. Challenge - reading a book instead
      
      
      My Front Cover
      I have used conventions of a
      

      

      • bold and italic masthead like 'TANK' has done

      
      

      

      • Corner grabber used like in 'Time Out'

      
      

      

      • Coverlines used like 'NME'; one main coverline that is larger than the rest and the others are all a similar size as one another.
        
        
        

      

      • Footer header that includes a list of bands and symmetrical to the bar code, both also at the bottom of the front cover, like 'Rock Sound'.
        
        

      

      • No text touching the edges, all in align with one another and coverlines/text written on the left and right side like 'Elle'.
        
        
        

      

      • Header Bar and main image (mid shot) like 'Kerrang!'
        
        
        

      
      
      
      I have challenged the conventions of the usual presentation of
      
      • the selling line by having it as a 'quote feel' and would have it the same for every magazine issue so that it is recognisable.
      • not having as many coverlines and mixing up their positions a bit more, rather than continuously on the left and right hand side.
        
        
        
        

        

        • I have also changed the usual eye route that 'Rock Sound' uses to not look at the top, my magazine focuses more on the centre of the page.

        
        

        

        • I have not positioned my main image to overlap my masthead like 'Kerrang!' does most of the time.
          
          
          
          
          I have commented on the conventions used in my stages for my magazine front cover and it's contents page.
          
          
          

        
        
      
      
      

Magazine Stories

         There are 3 different types of stories that can be used in magazines:

• Feature
  This is a prominent news story that is written like a short story; it is usually not related to a current event but it can be.
  
• News Feature
  This is written as a follow-up or as a sidebar story that is linked to a breaking news event.
  
• Timeless Story
  This does not have to be used immediately; this information of this story will be just as relevant if it is saved for a future issue.
  
  
  There are many ways of generating ideas to use as a story, these include:
  
• News Stories
• Press Releases i.e. new technology
• Anniversaries of important events i.e. 9/11, Michael Jackson's death, tsunamis, earthquakes etc.
• Calender Events i.e. Christmas, Valentine's Day, Halloween etc.
• Currently goings on; celebrity news, album dates, tours etc.
  
  
  Research is important when writing a story and there are many ways of doing so:
  
• Internet: the web is used at least once every day per person, it is being used so much that Press cuttings libraries are decreasing and only a few are still in use.
• Reference books: libraries are good and open to anyone, you can check facts and figures.
• Press cuttings: most newspapers & magazine groups will operate a cuttings library of some kind, often found online. Press cuttings are everything used in the media, so when researching a specific person you can reference events that have happened in the past. You should use as many as you can, especially when interviewing someone.
  
  
  Writing a story
• The beginning of a story must pull the reader in; the lead (first sentence) but contain a hook (something that appeals to the reader and must make them want to read on), and it should also set the tone of the feature. 

• There should be at minimum one half direct quotes - should try to paraphrase as much as possible.
• Final paragraph - should complete the story, refer back to the lead or use a quote to refer to the future.
• Standard story (news)/basic news lead - needs to include who, what, when, where, why & how of the story.
• A standard feature's is supposed to draw the reader in - make them curious and make them wonder why?
• Here's an example, I thought of:
  'Paris Hilton has launched her new album 'Paris' and another new clothing range' but then being arrested for alleged possession of crack cocaine after being stopped in her car.

Stages: Music Magazine Front Cover

This is my finished front cover for my music magazine.

My last step was to include a footer bar and chose to have it as an 'INCLUDES' bit, with names of big bands of today that would be included in my magazine. I did this by using the 'type tool', then 'fill' and 'stroke' tools once I had typed all of my bands out so that I could apply my colour scheme colours. I chose to do my 'INCLUDES' part to have a red outline instead of a magenta outline, simply so that an audience could tell that it was introducing the bands in my footer bar. I then rearranged my footer bar with the 'selection tool' and placed it on the bottom of my magazine cover, like most magazines, and next to the bar code.

I had the majority of important elements on my document at this stage, my next option was to include a main cover line and several coverlines. The majority of my coverlines were inserted by just using the 'type tool' and then the 'fill' and 'stroke' tools to include the colours and outline colours, all of which still go by my colour scheme of red, black, white and magenta. My coverlines are all information about my band 'Noize' and either under or next to an image of them, using the 'selection tool' to rearrange and place them. They are only one or two sentences long but include vital information that an audience would want to know what is in my magazine. As much as the coverlines on my music magazine do not stand out as much as other elements, they are still noticeable and all in Stone Sans ITC TT bold font.

I added a magazine header bar for my next step, as I needed to include one like most magazines. I couldn't decide what to have as a header bar so I decided to have a prize winning magazine header bar. 'Win! Free gig tickets for a whole year! Win!' was my decision and I did this by using the 'type tool' and having it 'forward' so that it was over my red box. The font for my magazine header bar is the only text that is not Stone Sans ITC TT but instead, I chose DS-DIGITAL font so that it would be more striking for the audience. I chose a red box and white font as it not only stood out from the magazine, it still worked with my colour scheme. I inserted the box using the 'rectangle' tool and then 'apply colour' tool and choosing a red colour. Then I used the 'selection' tool and rearranged and placed it on the top of my magazine. Once I had done that and looked at my magazine properly, I then noticed an empty space which needed filling, so I thought my best bet was to insert a small image of the band by using the same technique as the main image as well as the 'selection tool' to rearrange the image and insert it in the top right-hand corner, just under the magazine header bar.

My next step was to add four very important things; the bar code, issue number, date and price of my music magazine. I added my bar code into the right hand-side corner so that it is easy to notice for when buying the magazine and in a space where I knew it would all come together nicely. I did this by doing the 'copy and paste' technique, then using the 'selection tool' to resize and rearrange it. I then added the date, issue number and price all together using the 'type tool', then using the 'selection tool' to arrange it to go in the top left-hand side of my magazine so that it was parallel to my bar code and easily noticeable. It fits just under my magazine header bar and above the masthead.

This was the start to my music magazine cover.
I chose black as my background as it is one of the colours of my colour scheme and it works well with photographs as well as using outlines in font writing. I came to this decision using my surveys, research, sources etc. I researched other magazines and their backgrounds and came to a conclusion that the magazine that had also used black with the same/similar genres to me, their magazines had a positive outcome and feedback. My survey helped as it also told me that the main colour people had chosen was black. I used the 'rectangle tool' to drag across the A4 page and then the 'apply colour' tool to change the whole page black. 
 
My next step was to add in a masthead that would appeal to my audience, be remembered and give my magazine credit. I had a few problems with my masthead as the more my magazine came together, the more it blended in with it all. As much as it worked well with my magazine, it started to fade and wasn't striking enough anymore. I had to change around the colours quite a lot until I found colours that would make it more appealing and noticeable. The original colour was going to be white with a magenta outline, like my selling point, but I eventually found that red with a white outline was more striking and it still worked with my colour scheme. My colour scheme is now black, white, red and magenta. I used the 'type tool' to insert my text as well as the 'selection tool' to move and rearrange elements on my front cover.  I also did this for my selling line. The font I have used is called 'Stones San ITC TT' in italic and the rest of my magazine will be in this font too, just not as much in italics. I like this font as it has a 'young look' to it and should attract my target audience, which is 14 years old and above. It is also very clear to read, looks nice, not too formal and works well with my magazine once it has all come together.I then had to move onto my selling line which I wanted to have a 'quote feel' towards it. I had a long think about it, also looking at several musical quotes online and "Music is the rhythm, Lyrics are the rhyme. Sit up, plug in and go" popped into my head. There's a flow when reading it and it speaks the truth because music is the rhythm in songs and lyrics are the rhyme in songs. The "Sit up, plug in and go' bit is basically when a person is to sit up and be ready for the music, 'plug in' is when you have your earphones/headphones or speakers turned on and go is to take in the music. Like the masthead, the font is Stones San ITC TT italic but it is in white with a magenta outline. I did this with the 'fill' tool for the main colour and the 'stroke' tool to include my different coloured outlines.
 
I also added a photograph of the main band featured in my magazine as the main image, like the majority of magazine nowadays. It is right in the centre of the magazine and very noticeable, yet it doesn't distract a reader from any of the coverlines, masthead etc. I chose this image of the band called 'Noize' because it is all of them together and can see each member clearly. I chose to put Ellie i.e. Jasmine at the front as she is the smallest, the lead singer of the band and the only female so she is more dominant than the rest of them, but still does not over shadow the other members. The rest of the band, who are all male, are in a line behind her and you can clearly see them all and their facial expressions. I didn't want a dramatic or posey photograph or anything similar to what most music magazines do, I wanted just a simple and 'smiley' photo that would do each one of them some credit as well as still looking like a new, teenage band. I did this by using 'file' and 'open' so then I inserted my main image, the 'selection tool' also helped a lot as I had to rearrange the photograph several times as well as forcing it to fit correctly on my front cover.