FLOWLY Magazine - Double Page Spread

FLOWLY Magazine Doube Page Spread - Progress (Part 5)

I have added the photo from the studio, this is the finished result. In my next post I will add a better quality of the double page spread.

FLOWLY Magazine Doube Page Spread - Progress (Part 4)

I have now finished writing my article, I added a small sentence at the end as a conclusion. Now I will add my photo from the studio.

FLOWLY Magazine Doube Page Spread - Progress (Part 3)

I have started writing my article. I have added a drop cap and wrote the first 2 paragraphs. I will now finish the article.

FLOWLY Magazine Doube Page Spread - Progress (Part 2)

I have added a small subheading. I also underlined all of it and put the Photographer's name in between the lines. I will start writing my essay underneath the line and have my main cover star (Young Blanco) on the right side of my double page spread.

FLOWLY Magazine Doube Page Spread - Progress (Part 1)

I have started working on my double page spread. I have put a bold large text saying "What rap is according to Young Blanco" and it is what my article will be about.

FLOWLY Magazine - Contents Page

FLOWLY Magazine Contents Page - Progress (Part 5)

This is my finished contents page. I have added information on the "East Side". I am fairly happy with the result.

FLOWLY Magazine Contents Page - Progress (Part 4)

I have added information on the "West Side" of my contents page for each page. I tried to be as detailed as possible for my limited words. I will now add information on the "East Side" of my contents page.

FLOWLY Magazine Contents Page - Progress (Part 3)

I have added a layout for both sides of my contents page. I have also added 3 images on the right side of my contents page and gave the headings for my pages. I will now want to include more information on the pages for both sides of my contents page.

FLOWLY Magazine Contents Page - Progress (Part 2)

I added my first image to my contents page. I also tried to make a rough layout of my page and added page numbers. I will do the same thing on the "East Side" of the contents page.

FLOWLY Magazine Contents Page - Progress (Part 1)

I started working on my contents page. I made it a double page and decided to label the sides "West Side" and "East Side". I also added a page number and made both pages different by having one white themed and the other one blacked themed.

FLOWLY Magazine - Front Cover

FLOWLY Magazine Front Cover - Progress (Part 6)

This is my finished front cover. I have added the text 'A Squeezy' which is the name of my cover star. I am happy with my end result and will now start working on my contents page.

FLOWLY Magazine Front Cover - Progress (Part 5)

I have now taken pictures at the studio and I have included the cover star in my front cover. I have also changed my cover line which talks about the rapper in my front cover 'A Squeeze'. Furthermore, I have also added a dateline next to my masthead and a price above the barcode. I am coming close to finishing my front cover.

FLOWLY Magazine Front Cover - Progress (Part 4)

I have now removed the image which I used for reference as I no longer need it, I will soon be taking photos of my models which is what I will replace the main image with. I am still planning to keep a black background and I would like my cover star to wear black clothing, and look serious. I have also decided that in my double page spread article I will write about one of my models who is also the rapper 'Young Blanco'. I am looking to replace my first cover line with something else but I am still deciding on what I will replace it with.

FLOWLY Magazine Front Cover - Progress (Part 3)

I have added a large text which is the number '21' and added a subheading below it saying "21st Century Of Rap" to inform a potential reader that I will also be focusing on modern rap. Also, I have added a cover line which is what I may include in my double page spread article, however I am still deciding if that is what I will write about. Lastly, I put information on my puff which informs a potential reader that there is a chance that customers may win a Spotify gift card.



FLOWLY Magazine Front Cover - Progress (Part 2)

I have added an image from Google as I have not yet taken my picture from the photo studio. This is so that I have an image to use for reference and have a rough idea of how my front cover will look. I have placed a black background and moved the masthead before the cover star's head which is what I am planning to do once I take my pictures and the studio.

FLOWLY Magazine Front Cover - Progress (Part 1)

I have started working on my front cover for my 'FLOWLY' Magazine. I designed the masthead with a bright read background and white bold writing which says 'FLOWLY'. Inside the letter 'O' I placed a dollar sign which is what I initially planned to do, however I made it a different style as I believe it is more fitting. Furthermore, I added the way my puff will look  however I have still yet to put the writing inside it. Lastly, I put a barcode in the bottom left of the corner so that it follows the conventions of a real magazine.

Photoshoot Photographs

Here are the photos taken from the photo-shoot. I will not use all of them for my final media product as some are better than others.

Photoshoot Call Sheet

Music Magazine Proposal - Presentation

Music Magazine Proposal

Using Adobe Illustrator

I used illustrator to design this practice masthead. The screenshot above is my progress. After editing the way the text looks, I then got a texture to merge with the text. I learned about some of the tools and features such as using the clipping mask which is what merges the texture with the text.

Above is my finished masthead. This was only  practice as it was my first time using Illustrator and I hope to improve it for my future magazine.



Newsstand Task

I went into WHSmith to look at some of the magazines. From looking at these magazines, I can see that they are placed in such a way, that the top left corner of the magazine will always be visible. I believe this is because almost every magazine has their masthead start on the top left corner of the magazine, therefore as long as that part of the magazine is visible, customers will instantly know what it is. Furthermore, I realised that the magazines are split into their respective categories, some magazines are popular enough to have their own section of magazines.

Furthermore, I realised that the magazines that are placed at the back are boosted high enough to see the cover star. I believe this is because customers find the cover star and masthead the most important part of a front cover, therefore WHSmith places these magazines in such a way that both of these things are seen as much as possible.

Preliminary Task - Evaluation

Preliminary Task - College Magazine Contents Page

Preliminary Task - College Magazine Front Cover

Plan - Magazine & Contents Page

My Plan

This is the layout I am planning to use for my front cover, it is also the layout that I used for my mock cover so that I can get an image of how my finished product will look like.

This is the layout I am planning to use for my contents page. It is inspired by a 'VIBE' magazine contents page and I will adapt the layout so that it suits my contents page. 

Using Photoshop - My Mock Cover

The Mock Cover

Above is my magazine mock cover. I used Photoshop to make the cover.

Main Image

This is the photo that I used as my main image in the mock cover. I used the 'Quick Selection Tool' in Photoshop to cut the cover art out of the background and putting it in my magazine. I also used the quick selection tool to highlight the cover star and changing their hoodie colour to orange in order to fit with my orange and black colour scheme.

Background

This is the background that I used for my mock cover. I used to blur feature in order to blur out the background. I did it so that the cover star is more eye catching and so that the text is easier to read.

College Magazine Flat Plan

Looking at a College Magazine

I will be designing my own college magazine later in this blog and will be looking at other college magazines for reference.


From the front cover of this magazine I can see there is a student. He looks happy and 'clean' or smart due to what he wears; for example, his shirt is tucked in. The student is also holding a couple revision books which links to the magazine as it's about studying.
There is a white, black and yellow colour scheme used in this magazine. I can see that the masthead and cover line headings are in yellow which could convey that the text in yellow is important. The white colour is used for cover lines and to elaborate on the headings. Lastly, the black colour is used for the image background and it is also the main colour that the cover star is wearing.

Media Kit for the 'VIBE' Magazine

Audience and Institution:

The audience for the 'VIBE' magazine are primarily people in their 20's and the median age is 30. I say this because the 'VIBE' magazine carries a variety of genres and therefore it is a magazine that may appeal to many different people of different ages. However, music magazine are not used as much by the younger generation and thus the majority of readers mostly 25+. This helps the publisher decide on content to attract advertisers because they can adapt content to suit the preferences of people in their 20's and early 30's.

Analysis of the 'VIBE' Magazine Double Page Spread

The Article

In the 'VIBE' article the first thing that gets my attention is the highlighted "What's my name" text followed by "Rihanna" and then "ft Drake". This is because it is the biggest text out of the whole double page spread and is in bold writing. Furthermore, "What's my name" is highlighted in yellow which is a bright colour and therefore is very eye-catching. This was done so that the reader knows what the article will be about and points out the featured artists (Rihanna and Drake) and the title "What's my name" which is the title of the single that these artists have made.
Also, from the text "Rihanna ft Drake" I can see that "Rihanna" is written in a larger text size than Drake and this is because Rihanna is the main artist behind the song and she is also the one behind the hook of the song, whereas Drake is only featured in the song. Moreover, I think "Rihanna" is written in a bigger size than "Drake" because she is the main person that the article will be about and she is also the cover star for the double page spread so it tries to bring as much attention on her as possible.

Furthermore, I think that the 'VIBE' magazine using Rihanna as the main artist and also featuring Drake is very effective. This is because it would attract and interest both gender rather than the magazine only having a small amount of readers being a certain gender.
On the right side of the double page spread there is another eye-catching text which is also highlighted in yellow which says "Hair today, gone tomorrow". I believe that this would attract even more females or women to read this article because many females look up to Rihanna as they would want to look like her and she is often seen as a fashion icon. This would mean that many females would be intrigued and would want to read the article.

The Image

The background of the image is plain and does not have multiple colours. The image is a close-up shot of Rihanna with red hair and a fringe leaning to the side of her face covering her right eye. She is also wearing a flower headband as jewellery however they appear to be flowers made out of metal rather than natural flowers.

I think that the image was taken this was because the 'VIBE' magazine, although it looks at the hip-hop genre, it also targets a broader range of interests. Therefore, I believe that this double page spread was set up in a way that it does not represent hip-hop how it is usually portrayed, but rather tries to target the broader ranger of interests.
For example, usually in a magazine where it focuses on rap or hip-hop there would be a male rapper wearing jewellery such as gold chains. In contrast, this image has a female cover star which is wearing a flower headband which is very different compared to how hip-hop is usually viewed.

Analysis of the 'VIBE' Magazine Contents Page

The contents page of the VIBE magazine is only consists of one page. I will be analysing this content page.

The main image of the contents page is a mid shot photograph of the rapper Piles. He is wearing an excessive amount of jewellery, predominantly chains, and holding them up with his hands. I believe that this was done to highlight Piles' wealth and show that he is rich. This also links with his tattoo which says "Money means nothin without respect". This could mean that Piles is suggesting that not only is he rich, but also has a lot of respect. There are also other things that highlight his wealth such as the golden grills.
The background of the contents page is dark red and contains a low opacity, letter 'V'. The letter 'V' uses the same font as the masthead of the magazine and is faintly placed there possibly so that people know it is the 'VIBE' magazine. Also, the text that says "Contents" is written in 3 lines and moved to the right side for the visibility of the letter 'V'.

Analysis of the 'VIBE' Magazine

Conventions

Masthead:

The masthead is placed at the top of the magazine in a big font that spreads out throughout the length of the whole page. It is positioned behind Nicki Minaj possibly because it is intended that the reader looks at the main image first. The positioning of the masthead could also imply that it is already well known and only a small portion of the title needs to be visible for people to instantly know what magazine it is. This emphasises the popularity of the 'VIBE' magazine. Furthermore, the colour of the masthead is orange and the font used is a mixture of capital and lowercase letters as the first 3 letters are written in capitals however the last letter is lowercase.

Cover Lines:

There is a small amount of cover lines in the front cover. The cover lines are also moved to the side and edges which once again makes the main image much more eye-catching. The bold, orange title tells the audience who the person on the main image is. 

Main Image

The main image features the artist Nicki Minaj taken in a mid shot. The cover star's hair colour is orange which fits with the colour scheme. Nicki Minaj is also wearing pink lipstick. I believe this was done to contrast from the rest of the magazine.

Colour Scheme

The front cover uses a white, black and orange colour scheme.