Double page 4

This is my 4th double page spread.  Numbered 049 and 050.  I have included a sample image to give my an idea of the aesthetics.  This image will eventually be the "chopped up" background.  My main cover artist will be stood on the page in a pose in front of this. 

I have kept my house style with the "X".  This overlaps the text.  I have kept 2 columns at the moment, however, the rest have 3 columns.  Therefore this may changed towards my final design.  I have tried to use white space effectively on this page.

PERFECT PULSE relates to perfect pitch.  This refers to the pitch of music, however, with a dance twist.

 

Half way stage...

I have decided to blog my progress at the half way point of my magazine.  This mainly doesn't include images and the correct text on the double page spreads.  I decided to go for the black, yellow and white colour theme for text as I researched, it is the most readable when put together.  I have used a number of media techniques up to now, eg, pull quotes, sell lines, and plan to use more.

 

This is my Cover Page so far...

 

This is my Contents page.  This is in preview mode, so does not show all of the picture frames that a plan to add.  I believe i have quite a unique plan for on of my images.  And feel it will be an effective part of the page.  I have included images taken at a Swedish house mafia concert.  I feel these help provide the magazine with that dance music atmosphere.

This Is my first double page spread.  This is more image based than the others.  I gathered from my research that magazine tend to have between 4 and 8 double page spreads.  The first of which, is mainly image based, and may include paragraph on the artist, also introducing the artist to the reader.

 

These are now my text based double page spreads.  yet to have images of my artist, I plan for some unique and effective poses.  I have also added my own shot of a Swedish house mafia concert on the last double page.

 

Organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props specification

My artist goes against the stereotype of an outgoing, loud, confident DJ and instead shows a shy, hidden personality.  My clothing, locations and props will needs to portray his story from beginning and as we move throughout his life.

To begin, to create an affect of hiding away, keeping himself to himself, I feel clothing could be used to make my character look smaller.  For example, large clothing and layers could be used to make him look overwhelmed.  The layers could be a good use to subconsciously show that he is hiding away.  This would be best put to use on my cover page.  This would send initial signals to my audience about my character.

This would be suitable clothing for my artist's top layer.  It is a puffa jacket which will increase the scale of my artists image, whilst making his actual body look smaller within the jacket.  Under this, may be a jumper and then a top.  Creating the layers.  This will go against the stereotype that DJ's have created by wearing singular Tops or T-Shirts.

My double page spreads will show a development through Neorix's young life.  This clothing and locations should show this.  For example, Neorix starts of with an overwhelming achievement in the industry.  He is receiving a lot of attention from crowds/the public.  A link to clothing could be for my artist to wear black.  Black draws heat from the sun and therefore relates to Neorix being hot in the public eye. 

Moving through his life, it began to move away and take a slight turn for the worse.  It shows his ups and downs throughout his life. Therefore his clothing and shot locations should show this.  For example, wearing duller colours, may a cap or hat.  Using different angles of shots such as a high angle shot to show power over my character rather than a low angle which would provide him with the sense of power.  Eye level shots could show his expressions in greater detail.  I feel my second double page should show my artist sitting down.  This simple pose would show that he is not so high up in the world as the first double page.  It would make him appear smaller and therefore less important. 

When showing my artist bouncing back, low angle shots can be used to look up at my artist.  This would show a gain in confidence and power making him look more domination.  Changing his clothing perhaps back to something similar to my first double page would show an improvement back to where he first began.  Removing such props as caps or scarves will also make his face appear brighter and more noticeable on the page.  This all creating a dominant synergy. 

Finally, I plan on showing my artists rebellious side as he releases an album.  A common trend with clothing in this area is the use of leather.  Therefore I will try to use leather on my artist.  Not only this, but a good use of location could be very effective here. 

Locations such as canals, bridges and alleys could be used to create a rebellious, back street atmosphere.  There are a few locations similar to this that I know that could create this effect.

 I may also chose to use photoshop to enhance the effect such as using a black and white tint, or even blurring the image slightly to create a "blurred past" effect.  It could tell the user that we may not be able to trust this character as much as we once could.
 

Masthead Ideas

I know my magazine is going to be called PULSE. However, I needed to decide on a font for the magazine.  I selected Gill Sans Ultra Bold Condensed.  I felt this was a solid choice, it looked good already, so I decided to try and make it more unique.

Here I wanted to create a central image within the text.  I decided to go for the outline circle as it created the image of a spot light.  Often associated with dance music.  Next I took this idea and decided to add more across the Masthead.

 

Here is the after effect. I think this could look good on the front of my magazine.  However, I will have to be careful with the colours as I am planning to have a purple background at first.  However, this may change.

Next I decided to change the colours and style completely.  I went for a white front, and tried to create a "whispy" effect.  I also added a star effect to the font.

 

 

I believe this may look the best up to now.  It has a particular house style and doesn't look as "wordart" as the previous ideas.  I think the star effect creates a certain flashing atmosphere and the colours would work well with a purple background. 

Next I kept this idea on board.  However, I wanted to take the Flashing light effect further, as dance music is mainly involved with lasers and flashing lights.

 

 

Here you can see the effect has come off.  I am most happy with this design and it appears to fulfil what I intended to do.  Whether this would look good on the front of a magazine I am not to sure.  I think the design may be to "out of the ordinary", however, it is yet to be seen.  This design was popular when I asked for 2nd opinions throughout my fellow classmates.

 

 

Here are another final two designs.  These kept with the theme of being slightly out of the ordinary, so again, im not sure if they will work on a magazine.  Having said that, I do believe that the heading on top, has the most appeal.

 

I decided to go for a more "acceptable" font.  Plain white with a black outline could look good on a black or purple background.  Here I my attempt at making it unique to myself.

 

 

 

From here I will need to look at some more standard fonts.  These will follow more towards a trend shown in professional magazines and my research.  Then I will need to make a decision.

 

 

Contents Flat Plan 4

Here is my clean design.  With one main image of my cover artist on the left he will be stood on the white page, without a background on the image.  He will overlap the page and be stood sideways, but his head turn towards the direction of the camera.  One arm may be raised.  The text is again listed on the right.  This time only two topics are shown, to fit in with the clean look.  I have also switched up the title and separated it onto different lines.  I have seen some magazines go for this look and I think it works well with this design.

 

The above image is shown with frame lines on the page.  I have removed them for the image below so you can seen the clean effect I was try to accomplish.

Here you can begin to see the effect I was going for and imagine my main cover artist's image stood with text to the right.  I believe this page will need some work on the background, maybe a faded out shot of a dance concert/festival, fading into my artist image. 

Contents Flat Plan 3

This is a third idea for my content page in my dance music magazine.  I have used a clear banner across the top of the page to outline the page heading.  With all the text located on the right, the images are scattered on the left and above.  The angled image overlaps the image below and connects with the banner.  The vertical image on the left will not have a background.  It will include my main cover artist stood on the white background of the page, with part of his body connecting and overlapping slightly with the images on the right of it.

 

I have used clear headings/cross heads to direct readers to the correct area.  The white on blue area headings I think work well and I could add these to my other ideas.  I have again used clear borders, leading etc.  This keeps a clean, professional look on the magazine. 

Here I have improved on the above design by including my magazine masthead in the contents heading.  This also fits with the house style for this design of white on blue.

I do think this looks slightly better than the previous version.  Only the black now could be consider "odd" and therefore would need some consideration.  The titled image in the first version, has also been straightened on this version.  However I believe it would look better and have a better effect on the finished concept if kept with the original design.

Contents Page Flat Plan 2

This is a second idea I have had.  I have tried to make this more compact, with more images and tighter text.  For my next approach I plan to create a clean design with little on.  Therefore I can analyse each idea and see which fits best with my genre.

I have added clear banner colours onto this version.  These colours are not final, but give me an idea of the design.  The large picture at the bottom left of the page is not a "contents image".  It is a background image of my main artist.  This time bellow the features column.  I have kept my images to the right of the page on this design.  nearer the bottom, they over lap.  That I because I wanted that image to look "3D".  The artist would not have a background on the image, instead be place onto the page with part of their body overlapping one of the images.  I have again left room for borders, leading etc.  I have also kept the page folio in the same position.

Contents Page Flat Plan

I came up with my first idea for a design of contents page for my dance music magazine.  This is just some initial planning and so may change.  I am aiming to come up with a number of ideas before I select my final.  It may even be possible to join features together from different flat plan ideas.

I have included cross heads and topic titles such as: Features, Upfront and Music.  As well as the others I think these provide a good range of areas for my magazine to cover.  I have separated the Features column as that will include information about my main cover artist.  That will stand out on the page and be the main attraction for this edition of the magazine.  The image above the features column will be of my cover artist.  I have also left clear binding room and borders around the page.

Contents Analysis

Cover Page Analysis

Flat Plan Ideas

 

This is my first flat plan idea for my music magazine.  I have tried to follow some traditional trends as well as adding my own twists.  I have kept a strap line above the Masthead as I found this was a common feature in modern magazines.  This will not be the same front a the masthead.  I have aligned key features of the magazine down both sides of the cover page as I found that this was also a common trend.  The main coverline/artist name breaks this code and sticks out 2/3rds of the page.  This draws the viewers attention to this topic.  This will follow the house style of the magazine.  Positioning the bar code at the bottom right of the page keeps it out of the way and doesn't effect the mode of address given by the magazine. 

 

 

 

Having thought about the main cover image for my magazine.  I have also decided to have it overlap the masthead.  This is a common trend with most well known magazines.  By using this features I am almost saying that this magazine has a top reputation, worthy of purchasing.  My new venues section include the upcoming events mentioned in the cover lines on the right.  This shows where the tour will be heading.  This will also be the same size and font as the strap line. 

 

I have used clear Borders to define the edge of the page.  However they are not shown on this blogger image.

Existing mag research

Contents Page Analysis

Font Styles

TrueLies:
True Lies is the first font that I have considered to use for my magazine Masthead.  To me, this gives a graffiti feel, it looks like it has been drawn on.  It goes against the norm, very similarly to Dance Music.  I think this look good in black, however, Dance Music is mainly links to aluminous yellows, greens, pinks and blues.  I believe I could create and effective looking title with this font.
http://www.dafont.com/true-lies.font?af=on&psize=l&text=PULSE

TopSecret:
Top Secret is another option.  This looks "Dancy" to me.  I think the use of the two lines helps provide the font with a mood, or atmosphere.  It is almost the opposite of TrueLies in the fact that the lines give it the image that it is "straight", parallel and follows with the trend - much the opposite. 
http://www.dafont.com/-top-secret.font?af=on&psize=l&text=PULSE

Grafc:
Grafc relates to musical note in my mind.  The background image beneath the text looks like music sheets.  This can and can not be related to dance music.  Dance is mostly instrumental, which is why it relates a lot to the genre.  However, some may say, is it is most electronic music, there is no relation at all.  This may be a reason to stay away from this font.

DiscoNight:
Disco Night has Dance music genre written all over it.  As suggested in the name of the font, Dance music is often played at parties, disco's and other social clubs.  Up to now I would say this is the most effective and relative font for my magazine.  The white stripes across the font look like lasers, again used a lot in Dance Music Gigs.
http://www.dafont.com/disconight.font?af=on&psize=l&text=PULSE

HotSweat:
Hot Sweat gives the effect of shattered glass.  It is a myth that loud music can smash glass.  Therefore I believe this relates closely as Dance Music as played LOUD the majority of the time.  As well as the glass shattering bass, the instrumental provides a lot of vibration.  This font also looks as if the whole word is vibrating.  I feel that this, along with DiscoNight is one of the better considerations.
http://www.dafont.com/search.php?text=PULSE&af=on&psize=l&q=hotsweat

Double Page Spread Analysis

This is my analysis of my double page spread. I have notice some aspects I did not think of before looking into the detail of the page.  I hope to take this gathered research and put it into good use on my own magazine

Magazine Research

Here is one of my purchased magazines. I bought this in Tenerife hoping it would give me a wider range of analysis.  Now I shall pick it apart and highlight things I have noticed on the magazine. 

As you can see I photocopied the magazine onto an A3 sheet so I can annotate around the edge. This has allowed me to look past things I initially noticed, and deeper into the makings of what makes a magazine look good. 

I feel to gather the most extensive and useful research, I must do more than just one magazine within my genre.  So this is what I will do. MixMag also supports the Dance Music Genre, so I will purchase a copy of MIXMAG and do the same as above. 

Hopefully by then I will have broaden my knowledge on magazine properties.  Not forgetting my double page spread. 

Further Research

After further research I have discovered the pre-existence of the magazine name "Vibe" which produces HipHop magazines in America.  Due to this I will have to take some of my other names into consideration, with further suggestions.

Here are my final ideas for my magazine Masthead:

V.I.P
VIP suggests a level of importance within the magazine.  It suggests a level of exclusivity and secrecy involved with the genre and current mag edition.  This may help to boost sales by increase the readers perception of the magazine.  I feel this would be one of my better suggestions for my Masthead.

PULSE
Pulse gives the magazine an atmosphere, a feeling and meaning of movement.  A feeling that the magazine and its genre runs throughout you, in your blood, giving it a beat and vibe.  This title feels effective for the genre of Dance Music as it relates very closely to its instrumental value.  Dance Music typically has a lot of bass, therefore a heavy beat which often feels more like a "pulse".  I also feel that PULSE would give me a great base platform to come up with a good design for a logo.

TEXTURED
Texture means the feeling of something, a material, its structure.  Dance Music has a particular, unique feeling and sound of many other music genre.  This means the title TEXTURED appeals directly to its specific meaning and originality.  However, I still feel like this is one of the lesser suggestions.

JUMP
Jump I feel could be a direct Masthead for a Dance genre magazine.  Jump is what people often feel like doing when listening to hyped up dance music.  Jumping is used as a dance move in nightclubs and festivals including artists like Avicii.  Therefore I feel it has a hidden meaning, subconsciously appealing to my audience.

EXCLUSIVE
Exclusive is closely related to VIP.  In many ways its just another word, with the same meaning of context.  Again it gives the magazine some recognition, I higher level feel than most magazine out there.  I suggests to the read that it is above the others, and promotes the genre to the same level.

DROP
Drop refers to the instrumental of the Dance music.  Often there is a base drop somewhere within the songs, as well as them having a lot of base to begin with.  I feel this would relate well to this.  I have also research fonts and feel that "DROP" provides the best look for the majority of fonts considered.