These are my drafts so far. I put them all together in this post so I could review how well they all linked together through font, colour, size and images. This, I think, I have done well and have successfully carried on house style throughout all of my designs.

I changed the main image to a medium close up of Travis Clark as you can see more of his face in it and the colours are quite neutral. My audience would find this 'attractive' and it also introduces the artist on a more personal level than a long shot would.

I started to include columns in my DPS and started to think about where to put my pull quote. I need to keep in mind that none of the text can overlap the crease so it's easy to read and easily accessible. The use of a large background image with 'popping' colours will attract my audience.

Later on, I start to think about which image will be best to use.

Mrs D

There is some good drafting here. Well done. Remember to put columns in and refer back to your real media artefacts to remind you of layout c and cs.

I decided against this layout because the image was too small, and it looks a bit too poster-like.

With this layout, I learnt about text wrapping and how to make the article look neater, however, I decided against it as so much of the image is covered up by text and the text is hard to read. I changed the colour hue a little, adding more yellow to the green which gave the 'acid green' colour I had used previously on my front cover and contents page.

Dolby

To give your magazine a sense of house style and continuity i would look at keeping the font style's consistent but not necessarily the colour schemes as it can seem to brash and obvious- be more subtle and clear.

In photoshop, I used the text mask tool, and managed to cut out text from an image of the Union Jack. This then linked in with the header 'hits the UK!'. I then changed the font into the font I had used previously on my front page to introduce We The Kings. I also changed the colour of the text by using the hue tool.

I had an idea to include the Union Jack in my DPS. Although I like the layering on here, it's really difficult to see Travis in the image, and the contrast is poor. However, I will take this concept and experiment with it further.

I found this layout very boring, and it didn't reall seem on a professional level. However, it made me start to think about the positioning of the article and image and how difficult it is to make things look right on one page.

Double page spread layouts

I made the 'Pandora' heading smaller so it didn't look more powerful than the front page. I considered placement of page numbers and articles, and the main article + pug to go with it.

Dolby

Ashleigh, in terms of the front cover, i would consider that the main coverline for the lead story, in terms of its placement, may look a little like a slogan for the mag. Also, nake sure you are demonstrating a range of IT skills by manipulating pugs and font. in terms of the contents page, i would say that the Title of the mag is bigger than on the Front Page which i am not sure works. however, it is looking authentic and you've got a great concept.

In Rocksound, they use stars to highlight what is on the front page and what is the main feature, this I tried, but I found it messy and a little too much for the small space.

I decided to use the image of Sierra Kusterbeck as a poster feature as she's a leading female 'icon' that girls would look up to. The powerful lighting in the photograph backs this idea up, and shows 'status'. I chose this to be bigger than the main feature on the contents page because I wanted to englarge the thumbnail from the front page so that when flicking through before deciding to buy, people will see the good quality image larger, rather than needing to pull the poster out from the middle of the magazine. This I found effective, as it also added colour and structure to the layout of the contents page.

Contents layout ideas

I have chosen this layout as everything is much more spread out, which means it's easier to read and much more easily accessible. The contents page will be in blocks, as straight lines simplify the layout and also have implications of harshness/loudness which then links to the genre of music.

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I will include another photo of We The Kings in the 'photo' block to link to the front cover and then will link to the double page spread. It also presents We The Kings as the main article again.

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I chose to include the magazine name to verify that my magazine is important and will become popular and a recognised name like Kerrang! and Rocksound.

I blew up the thumbail of the poster picture as the main image to show the reader what offers they're getting in better detail, this will also draw the reader's eye to the contents page if they're flicking through before buying the magazine.

I will continue to use house colours and fonts.

Mrs D

Excellent ideas. I look forward to seeing your drafts. Well done.

Layout 2

First layout

Photos - live shots.

I went to a concert at the weekend to get the photographs I wanted for my magazine's front cover. I picked a band (We The Kings) which has a mainly female audience and whos' genre of music was punk/pop. I made sure that the coloured lighting was particularly striking in rays/beams to present the lead singer as important/angelic/attractive to the audience. I Tried out different lighting colour combinations and fount this first image the most vibrant, in focus shot and would work perfectly as my magazine's front cover image. I really like the framing and the fact that it's a medium long shot so this then shows a lot of Travis presenting him to an audiene that will recognise him, but also to an audience that may not know of him so well. I chose a portrait shot rather than a landscape one so that it would fill the entire front cover, like Kerrang often do with their images.

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Mrs D

Great detail Ashleigh. Keep up the good work.

Photos - band promo.

<- Here are my 4 favourite edits from my photoshoot. I mainly used male band members because a female audience would find them attractive. However, I used a girl as a 'frontman' to show that girls have power over this magazine, and they can be successful musicians too. My audience may find her a role model or a fashion icon, just like Hayley Williams of Paramore that is often on the front page of music magazines. I organised her so that she was right at the front, central and important, so that the boys were further back, the 'drummer' and 'backing vocals' were at the back represtening the less popular band members, and the guitarists at the side of the lead singer to show that they're important in the music they play. I then edited one photo so it had a black background instead of a white one, thsi represents the dark, rock genre of music that they play. I adjusted the contrast levels so that the image was sharper and more vibrant. When on this photoshoot, I used a softbox light to create dramatic lighting on each person, this will give the

'quality professional' effect that all of the magazines have achieved on their front covers.

I applied a texture as an overlay layer that gave the picture a rugged, worn effect. I then adjusted the colour levels to blue and green to add a depressing mood, and I have chosen my main article to be about the break-up of this band.

Although this particular colour scheme does not fit in with my house style, I feel that it would be particularly effective as the colour in the main image will contrast against the magazine name's colours.

I think I will use this photograph on my contents page, as I would like a live photo for the magazine's front cover, demonstrating more live coverage than most music magazine that I've looked at offer.

However, I will re-do this shoot as I feel that the clothing choice isn't particularly effective for the 'rock' genre I want to portray.