Contents Page Draft 3 (Music magazine)

Contents Page Draft 2 (Music magazine)

Contents Page Draft 1 (Music magazine)

Process of Recreating my Double Page Spread (Music Magazine)

I decided to experiment using different colour choices for the background which would be then slightly faded to promote the main image of the artist in the top layer. For my first attempt of experimenting with effects, I used the channel mixer tool on adjustments. I do like the outcome of this image as the bright red both follows the colour scheme and house style as well as provides a basis to contrast text on.

Next I attempted to make the background image black and white using the adjustments tool. By making the text and image of the artist on the page brightly coloured in contrast, I could emphasise the ideology that rock is alive and loud. 

This was the initial photograph taken from the location of the music tech room. The lighting has actually worked really well in the photo. The lighter spot in the centre of the image was not intentional however could represent the spotlight of music genre as bieng rock. 

A you can see I chose to use the final colour choice for the background. Also I did fade out the background to 46% to make other conventions on the page stand out. I decided to use 3 different fonts for the title increasing in size to draw attention to the focus of the article. I used blending options to create drop shadows and inner shadows making the different areas of text stand out. 

After deciding on a suitable appearance for the title of the double page spread, this was the overall look of the page so far. As you can see there is a clear space for the article to be situated on the page

Next I had to actually write up the article, ensuring it was specific to the advertised article on the front cover - Rex leaving the band Blue to start a solo career. Writing the article proved to be quite simple as I already have developed English language skills from studying the subject at college.

Continuing to use the programme Microsoft Word, I edited the text including a drop cap and making it a suitable text size and format to be suited on the page.

I then simply copied and pasted it onto a layer on Photoshop and made minor adjustments to make it suitable on the page. I am very happy with my decision to make the text white as it stands out against the black background and continues the colour scheme. 

For the finished product I slightly changed the title of the page by making "King" white instead of black. Also I added a sub line to introduce the audience to the article. Although not visible on this print screen, I also included the page number on the bottom right side of the page. 

"The King Alone" - Double Page Spread Research

The title of the double page spread must be very appropriate to the text relating to the article below, I wanted to make the title quite ambiguous to draw in the reader’s attention and want to find out more. I previously named the artist "Rex" on my front cover as this aggressive name could be related to the rock genre. Further research into the name provided information that the Latin translation refers back to "king/ part of the official state of king". The article is about the artist Rex leaving his band to start a solo career therefore it made sense to use the main title "The King Alone". This hidden reference is very effective and could attract many readers who want to read more about this new king of rock and his talents in the music industry. 

Improving my Double Page Spread (Music Magazine)

The main improvement that needs to be made on my double page spread is the article itself, in my opinion it doesn't exaggerated the full potential of the story. Also it does not have any relevance to the music industry and the how successful the artist is doing. Clearly the colour scheme also could be improved however that involves the reconstruction of my front cover and contents page also. As previously mentioned in my post regarding improving my front cover, the quality of the images are poor therefore I will need to re-shoot giving me good quality photographs. These improvements will ultimately increase the overall  professional image of my magazine.

So things I need to change:

• Re-take my Photographs
• Again delete the tacky music symbols placed on the page. 
• Make the article much more related to the actual music industry. 
• Ensure the text in the article follows a conventional format- small text size and clear font. 

Analysis of my double page spread Drafts 1-2 (Music magazine)

Draft 1
The creation of this draft is focused on the conventional layout and view of the double page spread among the rest of the magazine as an A3 page. I am very happy with the image I have chosen for my double page spread as the image quality itself is good, the image is in focus and as required is a clear medium shot of the artist. In making my image suitable for my magazine I had to edit certain features using Photoshop. This involved using the brush tool to make the instruments in the image cleaner, I could argue this may go against the mise-en-scene however I wanted the shot itself to look high quality therefore I chose to enhance the image. Alike previous shots used of models I used Gaussian blur and spot healer to improve the overall view of the model. I have focused on the convention of using stylised fonts to highlight important messages that should be represented through the denotation. I have made the phrase "ROCK" very noticeable so it stands out on the page; also it immediately shows the audience what this specialised article features and influences the indie/rock relationship genre to the audience of the magazine.  A main convention I want to follow throughout my magazine is house style, this is very important as the customer must be able to relate different articles and pages together (by format or the text itself). Again I used a simple grey shaded background which is very noticeable to the audience allowing them to easily follow the house style. When adding the article itself in my next draft I will be putting important Quotes from the artist in a larger/bolder format so it stands out. Also I may make the first letter of each paragraph larger as this is a common convention and during my research found this effect was used a lot. Also I will need to contemplate including a by-line and definitely page numbers, also the article itself will be presented in columns. 
Draft 2
I have made many changes and improvements on my double page spread since my initial layout plan. I used the software, publisher to write up my article which meant I had a different choice of text formats and useful and conventional text adaptions I could include. For example I used both a drop-cap at the start of my article and 2 pool quotes. From previous research into NME and Q's magazine articles I know these features are very common and it allows the publisher to make certain text stand out to the audience. Also by including these conventions my magazine has a more accurate and professional approach which would urge my customer to pay money for my magazine as it connotes the good quality of the magazine. The heading "the album that made him.. nearly broke him" was created alike the main image using Photoshop as I wanted to give the text bold effects similar to the main article title on the page. Also I have included an introductory paragraph in the article to highlight to the audience briefly then content of the article. At the bottom right of the page I have included a page number which is a very important convention of a double page spread. I am happy with the overall view of the double page spread so far however I still need to make slight adjustments in making sure the page is as successful as possible. I have recently discovered after using the image on the faded background that I have over used the blur tool which has resulted in making the image appear slightly out of focused although it is not. To reverse this problem I am going to use the rubber or paintbrush tool to make the instruments more prominent instead of over blurred in the final product. Also I should add a small quote or heading to the single image on the right side of the page to briefly explains its importance and how it relates to the audience.