39 - Final Double Page Spread

Here is my final double page spread. I continued to use the 'new noise' aspect and upcoming artists to once again link to my focus group. Once again I connected it with twitter and youtube, including intertextuality and different aspects of the media. 


However, I've made some changes from my original draft. For example, I didn't have a main aspect on my double page spread, for example the artist, that also linked to my main story on my front cover. I have changed this and created a 'Emily Rodrigez' artist, that linked to the indie genre. 


This way I could add the main image and she could be the main focus with the most text about her, possibly being the main upcoming artist in comparison to the other ones to 'look out for' at the side. However, I have included two more so it's not just focused on one person and the audience have three people to look and listen too. I prefer my double page spread with a main image and story as it looks far more professional. I edited around the picture so I could have the continuous blue background so I cut out the blue sky background because it clashed with the blue I wanted to use, yet this looks far better.


As I said, I've used the light blue background to once again create a summery festival feel as it's my focus. However, I've used black and purple text so it stands out on the blue and people are able to clearly read it. I've put the quotes in purple so they're also easy to establish.


I'm happy with my final double page spread and am glad I made the changes I have done. 

38 - Final Contents Page

Here is my final contents page, as you can see I followed more of the idea I used for my second draft as I preferred. 


As I said before, I preferred the font I used for my second draft rather than my first one. This was because it fit the genre better and was more clear to read and defiantly an area to improve. 


I also once again decided to go for a more quirky, laid back approach once more to fit with the genre far better. For example, the font of the numbers is slanted to make it look better rather than all straight and structured like that. 


I went for the effect of the ripped, jagged effect on the picture I chose on the first draft because I felt it had more of a scrap book effect. This refers back to the summer/festival feel and looks more quirky. 
I also decided to add the picture of two people enjoying themselves to add to the ideology of the genre. 


As you can see, I totally changed the colour scheme of my contents. The first draft made it hard to read the text and the second was quite dark and dingy where as I wanted to create an acoustic feel. The yellow has a more summery feel obviously and the baby pink and blue work well standing out on it. The orange also stands out on the light yellow. 


All the photos I have used are original photos I've taken myself either at gigs or in the park on my photo shoot. I decided to include the picture looking at the artist walking away.  


Finally, I included an editors note because I felt it looked more professional and makes it look more fuller. 

37 - Final Front Cover

Here is my final front cover. I decided to use many aspects from my second draft as that was the one I definately preferred the most. However, I decided to change the colour scheme for my final piece.


I changed the colour scheme due to the change of image. This image had the blue sky as a background colour so that lead me to keep it the same and not change it to black and white as I felt keeping the blue would be better because it fit with the ideology. This was because my focus was on festivals and new artists to go with the indie genre so I wanted to create a summery feel, rather than a darker one. So keeping the blue skies was vital because it helped create the summery feel. 


However, I decided to keep the orange from my second draft as the main header as I felt it added to the summer effect and stood out on the blue background well, adding brightness too it. I also used white for the sub heading because it also stands out on the blue skies well. 


I was going to use orange for the other sub-headings however, I felt this would be too much orange and take the focus of the main image. So, this meant I used the blue colour, also adding once again to the festival feel. The blue is a darker blue to ensure it definately stands out on the sky blue. By using white again for the smaller text under the sub-headings it meant it could stand out even on the green part of the image meaning there was continuity throughout, making it look more professional and fit to the conventions of a music magazine.


The fonts I used stood out as those that would fit the indie genre. For example, the print like font for the main header. However, for the rest of the text I decided to use a simple 'text' like font to create the laid back feel, due to the laid back lifestyle the target audience portray and that indie music gives off. 


I included a sell line of the 'free emily rodrigez teeshirt' to try and encourage more people to buy it by giving away free items of clothing, people may be more inclinded to buy it especially because band tshirts can be big. I put this in orange to draw peoples attention to it and make people notice it. 


I decided to put the barcode on the right and verticle to ensure the page didn't look too busy as it may have been too much if i'd put it at the bottom with the rest. I also decided to do this with the date and price to create a more simpler aspect to the magazine. 


I created the barcode on http://www.barcodesinc.com/generator/index.php to incorpriate bricolage and to show the advances in technology. For example, if someone was to scan the barcode it would automatically link to the website. Showing how much technology has grown and creating links with the magazine and the web, so people can take it to the next level by looking on the website - gaining the magazine more interest. People have far more technological phones/computers so it's able for this to happen now. 


Finally, the image is the main part of the front cover as my focus group told me that's what they recognised first when looking at the magazine. I decided to take new pictures in comparison to my draft because I didn't think they fit the genre well enough, and felt I could do better. I was lucky when taking my new photos that it was a hot and sunny day, which enabled me to get the blue sky and add to the summer effect. I asked my model to wear clothes that fit the ideology and would appeal to the demographic. She wore a festival looking outfit which is exactly what I wanted to achieve, she did this by having clothes with flowers on that represented the summer, by adding the sunglasses it also added to the summer aspect and made her look better. 


I went to the local big park to take my photos and was lucky enough to spot a spot where a tree had been cut down, leaving a stump by the lake. I thought this would be perfect due to it being in front of the lake, meaning I could get it in the background. By doing this, it looked as if she was playing in the sun by the lake, a very summery feel and once more reaching out to my target audience with the laidback attitudes and lifestyles that they portray. 


The blue background from the sky helped me no end because it made it easier to pick colours that didn't clash and filled the whole background. This meant I kept this image in colour rather than black and white in comparison to before. 


Overall, I like my final front cover and like the colours I've used on the background along with the final image I've used because I think it gives off a very summery and festival feel - that I wanted to create. 

36 - Photos For My Final Piece

Due to the weather being so nice, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to take photos, especially because I want to create a summery festival feel. My friend was my model and was dressed in correct clothing to represent the ideology of the indie genre to ensure it was noticeable that it was an indie music magazine. I decided to go to the local park near the river to get the best shots I could. Now, I have to decide which ones are suitable for my final piece on my front cover, contents and double page spread. Firstly, here are pictures that I like and may use;       

1) Firstly, I like this picture due to it being from behind and being a different angle from the rest of the shots i've taken. I like how it's her walking in front representing her journey as it'll be to discuss new artists so I think its appropriate. I've cropped the picture to show the path in front of her to highlight this further.

2) I like this picture due to angle that it's been taken from. I like how it shows her looking out at the water and its not from the front of her. I also like the lighting and how it shows the sun meaning a summery element to it. I may use this on my front cover depending on how it's situated because it doesn't give me much plain space around it to place text on it. I really like this picture though and will attempt to use it. 

                                                                                             
 3) This is one of my favourite pictures due to the amount of blue sky in the background, this shows once again the summery feel but it will also mean that I can use the plain blue text in the background to add text around her and it will mean the text can be easily read, for example if I continued to use the orange font and white font. The blue and green also give an indie feel because of the summer/fesitval aspect. The flowery skirt is also noticeable reflecting back to the summer feel.

         
 4) I may use this photo as well as I like how its taken from a low angle to show the whole of her perched. It gives a laidback feel of her playing in the sunshine and by the lake. It also looks like she's singing just enjoying herself. Often when you think of the festival feel, it's laid back and people enjoying themselves. I think this is why I like this photo because it reflects back to my focus group and the target I'm aiming for.

Least Favourite Photos

 1) I don't like this photo due to the angle, although you can see the lake again, I don't like the angle it's been taken from. For a front cover it wouldn't work because it doesn't show who she is. This is important if it's when referring to my main storyheadline.

 2) I like the idea of the picture but I don't like the angle it's been taken from due to it only showing half her face. The tree is also one of the things that I'm immediately attracted to, drawing your attention away from the main image.

3) Finally, I don't like this picture due to the true in the background also overtaking. I also don't like the angle it's been taken from because it doesn't show a contrast in colours. It purely shows the green, it seems to me like too much green and this isn't what I wanted to achieve. 

35 - Further Research

After designing my final draft and looking at the draft thats most representative of my final piece, I asked three people to analyse it and see what they saw first and noticed when looking at it to see if I had created it well enough to establish what I wanted too. 


I asked people who hadn't see my front cover and asked them what they would notice first when looking at my front cover and what the front cover was of, EG. gossip magazine or music magazine without implying anything to ensure I wasn't bias. 


The first person I asked said this was the order the noticed conventions in;
Masthead, Image, Main Story Headline, Price, Barcode.


They also said that the target audience looked like it was between 15-21 and it looked like a music magazine, especially indie due to the guitar and the ideology in the magazine. I'm happy with this response due to it being near enough exactly what I wanted to create. The target audience would be the only issue as I wanted it to be a bigger age range, however, to begin with this is a good response and the age range specifically was that. 






The second person I asked said they saw the conventions in this order;
Masthead, Image, Main Story Headline, Barcode, Price.


They also agreed on the same age range being between 17-22 due to the age of the girl on the front of the magazine and that its between this range, although I'm pleased again that the image and masthead along with the main story headline are the first things the people notice because they're the main aspects I hoped would get audiences attention. They also said it looked like it was a music magazine which was obviously what I was trying to achieve. 




Lastly, the final person I asked said around the same order; 
Image, Masthead, Main Story Headline, Barcode, Price.


They said the target audience was late teens and that it was a music magazine. I wanted the target audience to be a slightly bigger age range once again due to aiming for a broadcast magazine. However, late teens was what I was trying to achieve mainly. 


Overall, I'm really happy with the outcome of what people have said due to it being exactly what I wanted to achieve. I'm glad everyone noticed the main parts first eg. the image and masthead because it's the important part of the magazine cover. Everyone knew it was a music magazine so I'm also happy with that. 

34 - First Draft Double Page Spread

Here is my first attempt at my double page spread. I wanted to focus on the 'new noise' aspect and the upcoming artists as the majority of my focus group wanted this. Here I show profiles of three different artists so people can be introduced and go and find more out about them. I included their twitter names as the social networking site is growing and growing in the aspect of the music industry. 


By doing profiles of them it gives the readers a good understanding of who they are and what they're up too briefly. I also included pictures I have taken when going to smaller gigs so they fit the demographic and are effective as they show they're niche artists. The pictures also make it interesting and show the audience what they look like.


At the top of the double page spread I used my headphones to make a love heart to show that people will love these artists but used different techniques, EG. my headphones to make it effective because it's to do with music.


I also used light blue as the background to represent clear blue skies to represent the summery/autumy focus point again by using purple for the font colour. I used black as the text font colour because it stood out on the blue and looked good with the purple ensuring it stands out.


I like the idea of my double page spread, however, it doesn't actually show the artist I'm focusing on in my front cover. To improve this, on my actual thing I shall actually include her in this as the main artist on the double page spread, she will be the main focus and then the other artists will have smaller articles. This is to ensure I carry out the 'splash' story. 

33 - Second Draft Contents Page

Here is my second draft for my contents page. I decided to go for a totally different contrast compared to my other one and go with a darker, more grungy effect. This was to just make sure which one looked better and which effect I should go with for my final piece.


I like the fonts better on this one in comparison to the other one, so I will most probably take this on and use these in my final piece. This was an element I felt I needed to improve on when analysing my first draft. I decided to go more quirky and not keep everything straight with the numbers and I chose the font for this. I like the effect it gives.


I also put in an editors note which I like, I think i'll include this in my final piece because I think it looks professional and also makes it look fuller. Although, I only have one image and this can be seen as quite boring. I like the shot though and aim to create something like this.


I think the white goes well with the dark background and all the colours enable the text to stand out, which was what I struggled with before. It looks more basic, but possibly more professional although I like the sand effect on version one because of the festival effect. 


By comparing the two, I think I will go with a summery acousticy feel for my contents and magazine rather than a darker grungy feel however, I will take the idea of the fonts and colours standing out well on the page, along with the editers note. I need to play with pictures to enable I get the right amount to make it look good but not go over the top. By combining the two it will enable me to come out with the best success.