Contents Page InDesign Draft: 4

I have added the page number to the contents page (2) as it would realistically be at the front of the magazine. I have also added numbers to the pictures to correspond to the pages they apply to and the contents in the contents page.

I have also added lined up text within the review section of my contents page, however, there possitions may alter as more informative text needs to be added as planned.

I made the 'EVERY MONTH' title thinner and moved the text slightly to the left. Following this, I also moved the title 'CONTENTS' to the left as well, as I felt its spread out presentation gave the page an amateur look.

Contents Page InDesign Draft: 3

I changed my original drawn draft idea of three images as the my secondary female model's pose was at an angle that did not work well in my layout; her legs were not horizontal to the camera, meaning that the image did not fit proportionally in the size of the box I had intended. Unfortunately I could not alter the size of the box to avoid disfiguring the image, as it would take up a considerable amount of room and compromise the rest of my layout, leaving little room for my content.

For this reason, I cut her place in my contents page out, amending my InDesign production two containing two images. I had already included a picture of a female and a male, with varied camera shots, which meant that her absence would not prove fatal for my production. I also now have more room to fit in the review section of my contents, which may prove valuable as it contains quite an amount of text, and I need to make sure that this text is big enough to be read with ease for my audience. I wrote the review title in white Bernard MT Condensed font on a black box as planned to stand out as a title without distracting too much.

In addition to this, I added 'FEATURE' and 'EVERY MONTH' in the style of Q to reflect my colour scheme and attract my similar target audience to Q magazine. I also spaced the red boxes that these two texts are upon, away from the separation lines, as I felt it contributed to a more professional presentation and worked well with the layout.

Contents Page InDesign Draft: 2

In this stage in my draft, I decided to change my original idea of my contents page (shown in my drawn draft) by adding a grey box between the title and the rest of the page. This separates the title (which I slimmed into a more thin line) from the top of my contents page, which through research of magazines like Q with a similar genre, I have found to be a technique often used. This will present my magazine as professional and realistic.

Following this, I then added a grey background behind my image with the aid of photoshopping my image, which I have previously detailed in an earlier blog post, and using the clipping path and feathering tool to blend into the grey box I placed behind the image on another layer. I also added lines on the page, which I had previously intended, to separate my various contents sections and images subtly.

Contents Page InDesign Draft: 1

This is the first draft in the production of my music magazine contents page. I attempted to recreate the 'AMPlified' masthead I used for my cover page and article. This is evident in many magazines as they reinforce their brand to remind the audience of who brought them this entertainment and information.

I also created the title with white text upon a black box to differentiate from the masthead, as planned, without distracting the audience's attention. Beside the title I placed the issue date and web address for efficiency and to clarify the issue and its association with the content. The web address is to appeal to the technophiles who are my target audience of the male young adult age range. This may maintain their interest in the brand as technology moves forward and may also attract a wider audience through the internet as another platform to advertise the brand.

Image selection for Contents Page

These are the initial photo graphs for my music magazine contents page. The models in the photographs reflect my target audience of male young adults. I chose to do this as it is a technique I have researched to be effective in professional magazines as it suggests that the magazine understands the audience, which creates a trusting bond that regular purchases will follow, creating profit for the magazine.

                                       

I used an image of my artist 'Ella' as it is a reoccurring mention within my magazine, as real magazines often repeat references to their main piece to make certain their audience has noticed. Plus, it might interest other, therefore creating a wider audience. In my previous planning, I have created a photo planning document for this model's collection of images, which this photo was extracted from. I also chose this pose as it is similar to artist Florence Welch's pose for Q magazine, which has a similar genre (rock/indie) and demographic to mine.

I also decided on using other models of the young adult age range in my contents page, to show the diversity of the audience's interests and present my brand as realistic as it covers a wide range of artists. I conveyed this through having different genders shown. However, I maintained the idea of appealing to my target audience when considering their poses by presenting the male as standing (common in other magazine's images of a single male) with an eyeline match with the audience to suggest a connection between the audience and the magazine. This is similar to the secondary female model, who also is conveying an eyeline match with the audience, although, her pose is more seductive, reflecting an interest of a male target audience. This makes the magazine more appealing which will also generate sales. Both sets of clothing also represent the rebellious life-style that is generally associated with this age range and genre of magazine, reflecting the audience's preferences to convey the magazine as trustworthy and befriend the individual reader.

Magazine Photo Shoot Planning Document

 Use the following document to plan each of the photographs on the cover, contents page and double page spread of your music magazine.

This document plans the two secondary images (the male and the female) that I intend to be used in my contents page. The image containing my main artist 'Ella', is from a collection of images I have created a planning document about during an earlier stage in my development of my music magazine, specifically when planning my cover page image.

Shoot date and time	10/01/13 evening
Image Description	A selection images to represent my target audience and their interests. The in-depth detail of my reasoning is presented in the above text, along side the specific images.
Shoot Location	I shot the images in a university corridor as it was convenient, I wasn't dependent on daylight and I didn't plan on needing the background for my magazine.
Model / person contact Details	These two models are friends of my sister and within the age range of my target audience, which is what I wanted.
Permission Details	Yes, my models gave full permission for my images to be taken and used.
Props	I used the wall as the back ground for my images, however, it is not intended to be used. I also used the costume that my models are wearing to reflect the interests of my target audience, and the persona they might want to be perceived as, creating the view that they and the magazine are similar and share a trusting bond.
Plan of shots	Previously mentioned in depth above. The male's stance, eyeline match and costume presents him as similar to my target audience of a male young adult, possibly representing them.  The female also uses this to present her connection to the rock/indie genre and style. However, her pose suggests seduction which is used by brands to appeal to their target audience.

I removed the backgrounds of my images to convey a professional approach to my contents page. This helps my images to work well on my InDesign production with the use of the clipping path and feathering tool.

Finished Article

I have made adjustments to the article, such as the addition of words like 'of' and 'to', the spelling correction of 'Winehouse' and changing the font of 'CONTROL' to bold, so as to allow it to stand out more on the page and catch the audience's attention.
I have included my original planned pull quotes. However, instead of having both my positive and negative pull quotes within my article. I chose to place my positive pull quote above my image, to portray the connection between the image and the text, as well as filling space. I also shortened the text I wanted to include within my pull quote to be more concise and have a more eye-catching appeal. In this modification to my initial idea, I used an ellipsis, which is evident is other magazine pull quotes as it conveys to the reader that this text is lifted from the main text.
I placed my negative pull quote between two columns to break up the formal structure slightly, making it more preferable to read with a more relaxed approach and using the intriguing of the two pull quotes to interest the audience into the text. Both of the two pull quotes' format techniques I have displayed are evident on many magazine brands, which I have spotted and recreated to portray a realistic music magazine. Although, it could be considered that the break up of the structure of text with a pull quote is actually a representation of my artist 'Ella', who's live is presented as being unstructured and broken with her struggle.

Article InDesign Draft: 4

I have added in the article text by transferring my written article from my documents as a Microsoft Word draft to my InDesign double-page spread through Adobe Bridge. I then highlighted my first letter of my opening paragraph 'W' and made it into a drop caps, which sits against five lines of text, as researched.

I also added 'AMPlified' in red to the end of my main article text, like Q magazine, for a professional presentation, with words and portrait to suggest my magazine as authentic. However, the text of my article fitted oddly, which to resolve I then had to take 'Out of' into a separate text box. This meant it could fit with the title more efficiently and prefect the layout, by allowing more room for an even spacing of the text. The care in the organisation of of the layout is key in suggesting how the article hasn't been just thrown together with little thought. In fact, it presents the brand 'AMPlified' as caring about the audience, a great deal of time and thought has gone into the presentation of the magazine and it's content for the reader's pleasure. This creates a bond between the audience and the brand, as the audience feels the magazine is interested in, and shares, their likes and dislikes, leading to a trusting relationship which generates profit for the magazine.

As well as this, I modified my article by changing the opening paragraph's text to capital letters, which was not intended during my initial draft. However, I decided it was necessary as it emphasizes the separation of this text from the rest of the main text, giving it a more professional look to the layout.

Article InDesign Draft: 3

I have lightened the background, using the transparency tool, to achieve the shade of grey I originally wanted.

The title of my article was constructed with 'CONTROL' enlarged like planned in my drafts but in italic font to further emphasize it's distinction from the rest of the text.

I made the sell line of the article underneath the title for the portrayal of a professional format of a real article. I also enlarged the sell line's text to size 20 because I didn't want it to blend with the article content too much, however, not so much as to draw attention from the the article's title and the additional pull quotes I have planned to include at a later date in further progress. I emphasized 'Ella' in red because it is the artist my magazine article is conveying, and my magazine would want to advertise her as much as possible. This also helps the magazine in turn, as her fame will attract readers, which will gain profit for the magazine and the chain of businesses that will benefit. This could be, for example, a publisher like Bauer which has over eighty influential media brands like Q or Grazia, the shops that sell the magazines, or the distributor like Frontline.

I have added my page numbers to the bottom of my double page spread, which correspond to my contents page. I felt this important for the authenticity of my magazine as realistic and professional. This includes their simplistic presentation, using the colour scheme, to also suggest uniformity within the magazine.

I kept my web address and subscription information plain and simple to avoid over-complicating, following the reoccurring layout I have found within other successful magazine brands. This is evident in Q magazine which keeps their layout simple but effective, so I decided I should too as we share a the same target audience specification. This is also true for the reason behind including this information. My magazine aims to target within the young adult age range which are considered to be technophiles. This is why the addition of technology aspects for the brand may help the magazine to maintain interest with it's audience and perhaps reach a wider audience through this relatively new platform.

With the portrait details, I had originally thought to have them at the bottom left hand side of my image, as similar to other magazine layouts. However, I found that I had to change the text from the right-hand side to the left-hand side, to be seen clearly, as the text didn't present it self well in any colour on top of the model's clothing  in the left-hand corner of my image.

Article InDesign Draft: 2

I have added the mast head and date to the article. The date expresses how this content is exclusive to this issue, presenting the magazine as immediate, fresh and current with information.

I tried to recreate my cover page's masthead, as keeping the masthead the same is good branding of the magazine. This is shown through magazines like Q, who repeatedly emphasize their brand across their content within the magazine, not just on the cover.

I also felt that the back ground colour did not portray the colour grey that I had intended, therefore, I adjusted the colour and shading to achieve a colour that was closer to what I desired to produce.

Article InDesign Draft: 1

This is the initial progress I have made on my article. I have already produced a detailed drawn draft of my layout and colour scheme, as well as previously creating the written article text I will include, plus highlighting my pull quotes. Therefore, the next step is to transfer my draft from paper to InDesign and modifying any errors I may have made unintentionally.

I have slightly changed my design in the sense that I originally portrayed a white background, however, I felt it conveyed and amateur approach to the making of the magazine. This is why I took the decision to create two object boxes  on top of the pages and colour them a slight grey, to maintain the colour scheme and to not  overwhelm the audience with a colour that makes it difficult for them to read and appreciate the rest of the content.

The image's pose represents vulnerability, which suggests the audience to sympathise with her. Her direct eyeline emphasizes this as it engages with the attention of the audience and stimulates empathy towards the artist is conveys (Ella). The reason this proves effective, as research of other magazines sharing these techniques suggest, is that it connects the audience with the magazine, expressing the feeling that the individual reader has a understanding bond with the magazine.

I also feathered the image's outline, so as to present a professional approach, but also that the image interlinks with the other content of the article, suggesting that the magazine is a single body and that thought and meaning has gone in to it's production.