Second draft of double page spread

Here is my second draft of my double page spread. It is much better than my last draft as I have taken on board what I liked and disliked about the other draft and what I should change and tried to adapt it to make this draft. Although it still needs some work I am pleased and will only tweak little bits rather than change a lot for my next draft.
Firstly I used the same white background which I got from google images as before as the size of the image was exactly what I wanted and it didn't need resizing, also it had no edit to it and no boarder around the image which makes it good for me as it was a plain canvas for me to begin. With my main image I said that I wanted to crop it to make it smaller however as I used pixlr I couldn't crop it on their as I had already placed the white background on it. Therefore I had to crop the image on my laptop to make it fit then I had to again add the image to size. It does work however when it would be folded some of the text will be folded so won't be seen to make this work I could make the image a bit bigger and then make the writing smaller to make it fold evenly. This is the difficult thing with using pixlr as it doesn't allow you to size the page to make sure that things are in half. I made the text bigger as there was a lot more space and tried to make it all the same size, the problem with this is that when you use different colours for the font you have to start a new text which goes back to the average size on pixlr which is bigger than what I have used. I have put the article in four columns rather than just three so it makes it look more professional and none of the text overlaps. There is more problem that is the end column there is one word which is 'back' that overlaps the image which I will have to change. 
For the edit of this double page I decided that I didn't want it to be to overdone like the last one, I kept it simple and only added a soft boarder which does add some definition to the article. 
I made the pull quote the same size as the columns this allows me to make the writing in the columns stay straight and not overlap the other text. I decided to put it before the interview section instead of just the middle of the page which is irrelevant. In my last draft I made the speech marks larger than the text so it makes it stand out whereas this time I kept it all the same this made it easier to position and if I did it the other way I would have to make the speech marks the same size which would of been another task. I did add some more detail as I thought that the pull quote would of been a bit plain so I added some lines above and below to separate it from the article. I did this by using the letter l in lower case and turning it on its side like what I did on the front cover. This just makes it look like it has been made with lots of effort and adds more detail to the piece. 
I decided to use the same colour as what I did on the front cover so then my magazine has some consistency, the blue colour also goes with the image as it is the same location as the front cover image. I then used black as it was simple to use and is clear to read, the last colour I decided to use was a dark green which goes with the nature of the image and pulls the image with the text nicely. 
In addition I took out one of the questions and answers as it was irrelevant and I would rather have bigger text so it is clearer than to have smaller text and be more cluttered with an extra question which didn't really need to be there.
I did add more detail to the double page spread as I placed a small snippet of text next to the masthead which shows an insight into the article, I did this because I had some extra space there and it needed something. I looked at some double page spread's and saw that this was done a lot like this double page spread.

First draft of double page spread

Here is my first draft of my double page spread there are a lot of things that I know I will have to change but I have just put together the article and image to see weather it would work, as you can tell by my final piece of work I will defiantly have to change the image and article as it does look messy. This is my first draft of my final piece of work that I have to do as I have already completed my front cover and contents page therefore I can add things from their to make it work with my other overall house style. To make that work I had to try and use the same things as before for example font, colours etc. I do think I will have to tweak these things to make it go with my other pages of the magazine. 
Firstly my main image that I wanted was the one that I first used for my contents page as I didn't use this image I thought that it would be ideal to use it here instead. I already made the backgrounds for my double page spread before I created the article so below is the one with the other image.

This was ok to use however I wanted Noel my model to come across quite innocent and with this image I thought that it could look very sly and over confident. Also the edit was very harsh and I wasn't so keen on the black background behind the white square. It would have been easier to see the writing of the article but I do prefer the one that I used for my draft. The image on my draft fits in well with my genre as it is very organic and also looks rather intriguing, I didn't want it to follow the male gaze theory as I thought that this genre didn't need that and it is mostly about the music rather than the way that someone is positioned in a photo. I did ask my target audience which image they thought would work well with the double page spread and they did say this one as it doesn't look sexually provocative also they said that it worked well with my genre. I did look at recent magazine double page spreads and none of them had anything like this so therefore I am not following the typical conventions of the music magazines, I did like the location of the images as it would work well with the article that I would produce and also it hasn't been done before. When I looked at music magazine not just indie ones it was mainly country music that used the outdoors location, because I didn't want this as my genre I will have to ask people weather they thought that it would look like this but hopefully the way that she is dressed could suggest otherwise. I decided to locate the image on the right hand side of the page as she would be looking at the text and this could make the image interesting as though I have taken it for that in particular reason. I did chose to use the conventional feature of the article on one side of the page and an image on the other so it is clear for the reader and also follows other magazines. I did look at having just the image very large and having the writing around it however it did look messy and the text was not clear at all which is the last thing I wanted for my magazine. I did edit the image firstly I got a plan white background from google images and then added the image that I wanted on the right hand side. Then afterwards using pixlr again I decided to edit the overall picture to make it look vintage which is what I went for on the front cover. I did decide to keep it to coloured rather than a full colour change as otherwise the magazine will look to samey which is not what I want. I put an ink overlay on the image and also a faded boarder, I like the faded border as it gives it an edge however I am not fond of the overlay as it looks like someone has been touching the page with dirty fingerprints. BeforeI added the article it did look ok which is good as now I can see weather it works or not which it doesn't. Also it is rather dark at the top left hand side of the image which makes it harder to find a good colour to go with the main image that would be seen, this makes the title of the article a little less noticeable. 

I will have to change this so I can see the masthead, as it is the most important thing on the page I think it needs to be seen clearly. 

My article is not very good and I am not pleased with it at all. The article its self  I am really pleased with but the overall look of it I am not as it does not look appealing. It is not in line and and some of the parts are not of the same size. To make this look a lot better I will change the pull quote and put it on the picture. ALso I could see if i could crop the image that I use to just of her so I could add more text in the article and therefore will look more engaging to the reader. The pull quote I decided to have as " i'm the most boring 19 year old you'll ever meet" as it makes the reader want to know why and where about in the article it says that, to make the reader go on through the article I will change the position of this question and leave it to one of the last ones as it will make them read to that point. The masthead I thought I would have it as a pun however it could look cheesy. As the singer is called Noel Coelho I thought I could have it Coelho rather than hello which I thought was cleaver I will ask my target audience whether they thing this is right for my magazine but NME make things like this as it makes the reader feel as though they are not just loading you with information and it is less informal which is what I want for my magazine. When I was writing my article I wanted the questions to be separate from the answers so therefore I made each of them a different colour, when it comes to making another draft I could use different colours to make it more exciting however I do like the green, it goes with the nature of the image and adds to the overall look of the article. I decided to use two fonts on this double page spread as then it will be less confusing to read and also looks rather appealing. They were the same fonts as the front cover so the house style is kept throughout the magazine and they go well with the size of the image as well. I do like this about this draft so therefore I will keep it the same in my next draft just perhaps change the size of the text. 

With the structure of the article I will have three columns or maybe more depending on wether I change the image size to fit more text in, the only things about that is that It would be hard to guess where about you fold the double page spread in the magazine as you don't want to cut of any of the writing so you have to think about the gutter and the bleed. This is will be hard for me to estimate using pixlr so what I will have to do is print out a draft and see wether I can fold it without losing any of the writing of the article. When I was writing my article I decided to change the sell line on the front cover as I have not put anything in about Noels musical addition instead I will talk about her collaboration as that is what will engage the reader more to find out who she is collaborating with. 

I will defiantly change the spacing on the double page spread but I will keep the font and image but just crop it instead this will allow me to write more of the article. Also I will have to see whether the sell line makes a different anywhere else so that the spacing and columns are tidy and therefore looks more professional.  

 

Final draft for contents page

Here is my final draft for my contents page I am really happy as compared to my last draft it is very different and in a good way. It does look a lot more professional and looks like something you would actually see inside a magazine. As you might be able to see I did use NME's contents page as inspiration and this allowed me to create a more detailed contents page that I believe is more engaging to the reader. It did take me longer to create as it was more complicated however it was worth it as I am pleased with the result. I did use pixlr again as it is the best website in my opinion to allow me to create a well developed contents page. I also used google images as I only managed to take pictures of my model Noel rather than live bands and other people, therefore I did have to use famous bands and people to make my contents page more varied. When I decided to use the NME contents page as my inspiration I did think that I would need to take more pictures however I did want various images and I knew that I was not going to a live gig in the time that I needed to create the contents page. 
Firstly I changed the title of the page to 'Inside this week' which makes it more personal as I think using the word 'contents' reminds me of a book and doesn't really scream magazine to me therefore I looked for other ways of creating a less obvious way of putting it. I did like 'inside EN(ORE' however I thought that using the title of the magazine again could get very repetitive and with it already being on the page for the subscription I tried to steer away from that. I do think that the title is a bit vague and I could add a little more punctuation for example I could have 'Inside this week!' or 'Inside this week...' I will ask this to my target audience and see wether they agree with me. Also I could make each of the words begin with a capital letter so it makes it more important as it is the title of the page, I do think that it is the right size to have on the top of the page and it is in the right area. In my last draft I had some of the writing vertical on the page which looked appealing but was harder to read. My target audience did say that I should change this to make it easier to read that is why I changed it. I decided to keep the same font as my masthead for the front cover as then it sticks to the house style also I think if I changed it then it would look messy, in my first draft I overlapped the font to make it look 3D however people said it looked like snow which I thought was not a good thing so I kept to one layer. 
Now on to the images. Firstly you might of noticed I have changed my main image from the long shot to a head shot as I believe that it looks more effective and works well with the other images on the page. I didn't edit the image as I thought it looked good without any thing being done to it, also the shadow connotes hiding something or in this case telling EN(ORE about a secret that she has never told someone before. I needed to make the image bigger than the other ones which was hard as it was an odd shape, if I placed it to the edge of the page then it would lose the effectiveness of the photo as it is not the first thing that the reader would see. Although I placed the image in the middle it made it tricky to make the images fit without them being to small to see. Each of the other images I picked from google and resized them around my main image. I didn't pick each of these for anything in particular but I did some research before and looked which indie groups and people were in at the moment, they were the chosen ones. The purple block of colour was also a picture from google as it was easier to add an image on pixlr than to make one by using the letter l. On each of these images I decided to put the number on the picture as it would be easily seen as if it was me I would rather look at the pictures than the text. To do this I used the letter l and rotated it to fit the image and then applied the number in the same font as my front cover. The only one that I was not sure about was for the album cover of Florence and the machine as it was covering the writing of the album cover. 
For the fonts I used exactly the same as the front cover so the house style is throughout the magazine, they are all quite clear so easy to read and all of them go well with each other. I kept the writing to black and white as it basic and can work with everything. Lastly I kept the + sign as my target audience said that it would work well if I used it throughout my magazine so I have made it work on the contents page. With putting it above the articles that are in the magazine monthly it can work well as it will be a key design feature. Im also glad that they are all in line, I chose to put the numbers underneath so it makes it look less like a book and also putting them there adds more information on the page and fills the page.

Second draft for contents page

Here is my second draft for my contents page it is much simpler than my first draft which makes it much easier to read however it looks like not a lot of effort has been made into creating my contents page. Again I used the same image as what I did before as I think it goes with the contents page I did not however edit the image like before as I think that it looked good without any editing. As my front cover has been edited I thought that having this as not edited will make the reader see that now all images in the magazine are not all in black and white or sepia effect. The image does not really follow the 'male gaze theory' as she is not in provocative clothing and is not poesy in a sexual way, I like that it is clean as it makes it more about the music than the actual person and how they have come across in an image. I used pixlr again as it is what I have now become used to and also it was easier to use as I know how to use this rather than suddenly change to another editing website. I did make the writing very big so it is really clear however I think it should be a lot smaller and add extra things on the contents page. I did decide to use the same font as my masthead for my front cover as it then makes my magazine have a house style also I kept the + sign. When I asked people their opinions on my first draft of my front cover they said to keep the + as a signature thing throughout therefore I have used it in this contents page. I decided to use the blue for this so it kept to the same colour as my front cover. I also made the think line of purple to separate the picture from the text to do this I used a lowercase l and coloured it in the specific colour that I wanted and positioned it in line with the image. This did take a long time as I did have to use a lot of ls to make the line as thin as possible and to make it to fill the length of the page. When using pixlr the letters or pictures go down in size in both width and length which makes it hard to get it to the exact size that you want it to be this meant that to make the l as thin as possible it was very small. I decided to add a white box at the bottom of the image to allow the website to be placed as it is easy to see and I can add extra information about the email or a subscription etc, this will allow my readers to find out more information about the artists that are inside this issue of the magazine. I did not add the top 10 tracks of that week as I think that it should be more about what is inside the magazine than the tracks and this could be a feature inside every episode of EN(ORE. Although I did say that I was going to look at NME at the contents page with more pictures in I didn't as I thought I would try to create my own one without looking at recent contents pages. However I did use the reviews, features and albums which is on the NME contents page. The page numbers are not all inline which I will change in my next draft along with the size of the font as it does look messy and not well produced. Also I forgot to include a page number on the contents page which some people could leave but as there is not a lot of writing on the contents page I will add it in to my next draft. I did decide to use the same font as the one on the front cover as then it is consistent throughout the magazine I do think that it looks good with the image. I chose to use the colour black as it is clear to read and shows importance which I believe the contents page is rather important I did use the purple from the last draft of my front cover as this is my favourite front cover so if I did use that one it would go well with the font cover. The only dilemma I have is that my magazine was meant to be aimed for males and females however if I used the colour purple people think that it is really girly and this could make people believe that my magazine is only made for females, although I have used the duck egg blue which is a male and female colour I could see when I ask my target audience if they would prefer it to be a different colour. I could even not go with the conventions of using the same colours throughout and could use different colours instead however it could look messy and look like the three different pages are from different magazines. I did not use the typical clean white background for the page as my magazine has a vintage feel I thought instead of editing it to look vintage I could just use an of white colour which I think works well. This is my other photo that I could have used however I think it is looks less professional and also doesn't go with the other image that I have on my front cover. I could also use the full head shot if I changed the size of the image and again try to make it look more like the NME recent contents page. 

This NME contents page looks very detailed and also the pictures on the page show a little bit of information in the article which the reader could easily flick to. Also they have a big section about their magazine to try and get more people to buy their magazine and become subscribed this is what I would like to add in my next draft. They also have the plus like I have however they have written the word 'Plus' whereas I have got the + sign instead which I think looks modern. I also like that they have not called the page 'Contents' this makes it more like a magazine rather than a book, I think I will use this in my next draft. They also only really use black which I said I would use next time as it looks sophisticated, anything that NME has on their pages must work well as people are still buying their magazine, therefore I know that if I use it then it would engage the reader and make them buy every issue. The only other colour that they have is the red which is one of the main colours that NME use also they are saying about christmas therefore they could of used red as you connote the colour red to be christmasy. I could take the idea of the things that I write about having a specific colour for example if I talk about Noel and the issue is in december it is very christmasy so I could use christmasy colours. This could be carried through every issue different things that I talk about could have a different colour, I will ask my target audience what they think about this and I could use it in my next draft. 

Fourth and fifth draft of front cover

Here is my fourth draft of my front cover I looked at my last draft and thought that i could use the minimalistic look but adding some extra colour. I used the same font, and size and also the same title etc. I looked at some colours which could go with the bluey green and a karcki colour looked quite nice, I added some lines to split the sell lines up and to also make that space look a little more interesting. The only thing that I am not sure about is the font for the 'Exclusive' this is the font that I used for all of the sell lines in the first draft of my front cover however when it is on its own i'm not sure that it works as well with the other fonts I will ask my target audience whether they like this or    not. 

Here is my fifth draft of my front cover, I have used a different colour for the lines in between the sell lines and also used a different font for the 'Exclusive' which I do prefer. In my opinion it is my favourite, I will have to line up the white box for the exclusive as the edges are not perfect. Then I can change the purple to the green I had before to see which works best.                                                                                 

Third draft of front cover

This is my third draft of my front cover, I decided to make it very minimalistic and use just black and white for the sell lines rather than the red as I was unsure about the colour. I have exactly the same writing as before however the font is different, I prefer this font as I think it works well with the image as it is softer than the font I had before, the softer look of the font goes with the soft edit of the picture. The box of writing, the date and price, the title and the free download I have kept the same as before as they worked well, I would prefer to see how the different fonts and colours I use change the things that I will keep the same on the front cover. As I only have one main colour on the front cover it is not conventional as other magazines normally have many colours to catch the readers eye. I believe that if I only have this colour it could either look boring or could be rather catching as it is different to most of the magazines on the shelf. I know that this front cover is not exactly what I want as I would like to find a colour that will go with the blue and also I can play around with fonts although I am considering this one. The size is good although I could add something extra in between the sell lines. Once I have finished with my drafts I will ask my target audience which one they believe is the best and if I could change anything in particular to that one to make it my final piece, or add anything from other drafts.

Double page spread article

En(ore say Coelho to Noel - Exclusive interview with the most talked about 19   year old.

Noel Coelho has been impossible to ignore since Late Night Fairness hit the charts in 2010,  and we've been fans of her music, charisma and savvy songwriting ever since. Her 2011 debut album Tears Exposed reached number one on the UK albums chart and has sold over 900,000 copies in the UK, the 19 year old has since shot to superstardom. After endless amounts of gigs, award ceremonies and tv appearances Noel Coelho has landed back in Liverpool to have a breather before hitting the road again. En(ore had a chance to have a shindig with the well-travelled Liverpudlian before she embarks on her next project. 

You've been very busy recently on tour, most people would take a break but we have heard about a project you are embarking on can you elaborate on this?

Well I have been asked to collaborate with Coldplay. Christ Martin approached my agent and I couldn't resist the opportunity.

What was your motivation to become a singer songwriter?

My dad was in a group and I was his biggest fan, I was brought up in a very musical environment so I don't really know anything different, it was always the route I wanted to pursue.

What do you do when you are not singing?

I like to kick back and watch films, bake and walk the dogs. I'm the most boring 19 year old you'll ever meet.

Thank you for your time we are all looking forward to your collaboration.