Final Draft Magazine Designs

After reviewing the final draft of my front cover I decided to make the masthead slightly larger so it stood out against the cover lines and main image.

When looking at my contents page final draft I decided that the image looked somewhat out of place and decided it needed reviewing. I took another photo of 3 girls which I felt fitted the Chart! theme better than the previous photos of a group of girls and then one male. I also added a colour box and page number to the 'Clueless' article.

 When I read through the final draft of my double page spread I realised that the pull quote was actually worded very slightly differently to the quote in the main text body. I therefore changed this to improve my double page spread. I also moved the main text body leave more of a gutter around the edge of the photo.

Final Magazine Drafts

 

The above photo's show my final front cover, contents page and double page spread designs.

Development of Front Cover, Contents Page and Double Page Spread

The powerpoint above shows how my ideas have developed from the first draft of the contents page, double page spread and front cover. This powerpoint also shows my progression of skills of photoshop and how I have used the photoshop skills I have learnt throughout the design process.

Double Page Spread Design Ideas

The above photo shows my original design for my double page spread. I used the same pale blue as used on the contents page and also the same font as I have used throughout my magazine. The text on this page includes a drop cap and a reported by line. I do however feel an improvement on this would be too add a pull quote to underneath the second column of text. I feel a pull quote would work well here because it looks a little empty and bare. I also think the background on the DPS looks very dull and like a blank canvas. I think it could be improved by the use of a brush which could possibly be music related. I have used the masthead in the top left hand corner- as used on the contents page- and kept it the same size to maintain the housestyle throughout the magazine.

I decided, after reviewing and gaining feedback on my previous DPS design, that the background looked dull, blank and boring. I downloaded a music note brush from the internet and used this across the background of my DPS. I feel this works well to break up the background make it more visually appealing to the target audience. I think the column of text which fits around the model works really well.

Contents Page

 After reviewing my contents page original design and gaining some peer feedback from my class mates I decided that the design looked too bunched together and didn't have the professional feel that I intended to have for Chart! magazine. I decided to use boxes to arrange the contents page text in. I started by making 3 boxes and alligning them together using the photoshop grid. I then used the text and began to arrange it. I used a few of my own images but also used images from google so that I could effectively design my contents page before actually having taken all the images. The use of pink wellies was the decision for the pink outer glow around the boxes and also the number boxes. I think this design works much better than my previous contents page design as it all looks far more professional and neater. It is quite a simple layout, but I feel it works well to attract the target audience and also is easy to read. The colour works to liven up the contents page without it being too 'in your face'. Overall, I feel this contents page design works much better than my previous ideas.

After looking at my front cover, contents page and double page spread all together I decided that the pink did not help to maintain a house style throughout 'Chart!' music magazine. I decided to look at the other colours I had used within the magazine design and encorporate this into the contents page. After looking at the photos used, the double page spread and the front cover I decided a pale blue outer glow would look good in replacement of the pink on the previous contents page design. I felt this worked well with the background of the DPS, the photo on the front cover, the background and colour box colours on the contents page and also the photo in the left hand corner of the contents page. Because I have only used the pale blue as an outline for the colour boxes and as small squares to highlight page numbers I don't feel there is too much blue throughout the magazine. On this contents page design I have also replaced the google images with my own original images.

Contents Page Ideas and Developments

The above powerpoint shows my different design ideas and explains why I chose to change and design my contents page like I did.

Contents Page- Chart!

The above photo shows my design for my final contents page. I decided on a colour scheme to maintain the house style and used the same font as the front cover to also maintain a house style. Overall, I am impressed with my contents page design and think the colours work well with the photo and front cover.