From my research of rock/indie magazines I have created flat plans for the front cover, contents page and double page spread as a first draft using my current research on what I would like my magazine layout, features and colours to look like.
Front Cover
For my masthead I have copied the style of the 'Smash Punkers' font from www.dafont.com which is similar to Kerrang!'s masthead. I want to use this style font as it is big and bold so stands out relating to the genre and also the smash effect creates a grungy distorted effect also relating to the genre. The magazine title is 'Reckless!' which is an adjective meaning a person goes ahead with something not caring about the consequence. This adjective can relate to the lifestyle of the target audience. Like Kerrang! magazine I also used an exclamation mark at the end of the magazine title to make the name look bold and stand out. The masthead will be black against a white background so the colours contrast each other so the masthead is easily read which it is needed to be for the audience to recognise the magazine when it is displayed on the shelf and are two colours used in my three colour palette. Also, like most professional magazines, the masthead is positioned at the top of the page so it is easily viewable on the shelf.
My skyline is a black banner with red writing across it. Here, I am continuing the three colour palette scheme and the dark banner on the background makes the skyline stand out. Like most professional magazines, the skyline is positioned at the top of the page above the masthead taking up little space. In the Kerrang! magazine I researched and analysed, the content of the skyline was about an upcoming festival's line up being released so I used the same type of content for my skyline.
For my main image I will use a medium close up shot of three people. This image will take up most of the page and be layered underneath all of the text used. From my research from magazines of this type of genre I have noticed a continuous pattern of front covers' main images being of a band positioned in a pyramid structure to show who the leading band members are by placing these at the front of the pyramid so they are represented as being the most dominant. I will use one female model and two male models. The female model will be positioned at the front of the pyramid to represent the growing number of female lead artists in this genre of music like Hayley Williams from Paramore as oppose to the majority of bands from this genre being male dominant so my magazine portrays something different which will attract the audience. The costumes of my models will be of a quite dark and dull colour to represent the genre of my magazine of independence and not mainstream so they will not be wearing bright colours to stand out. I have noticed from my research of magazines of this genre that a lot of male models wear black and white checkered shirts so one of my male models will wear a black and white checkered shirt to relate to the genre.
My puff is positioned at the bottom of the page taking up the same amount of room as my skyline as like most professional magazines. The colours used on this are opposite to the colours used on my skyline as the puff will have a red background with black text. These two colours also match the three colour palette scheme. The puff contains names of extra artists included inside the magazine as from my research from Kerrang! magazine I found that the puff usually contains extra content which will be included inside the magazine.
The main sell line on my magazine will be positioned diagonally across the page like the Kerrang! magazine I researched. The sell lines which are part of the main sell line will be displayed above and below the main sell line. The colour of the text will be the opposite of the colour of the text on the masthead as it will be white with a black outline to make the text stand out more as it is the most important sell line on the page. The other sell lines will have a black background with red and white writing to match with the three colour palette scheme and stand out but not stand out as much as the main sell line.
I have included all the features which make a magazine front cover look professional on my flat plan. I have also included a bar code, graphics and smaller images. When I produce my magazine, I will also include the price of the magazine, the issue number and the date the magazine will be published to make my magazine look fully professional.
Contents Page
For my contents page, the three colour palette scheme of black, white and red is carried out through from the front cover to show continuity and professionalism. The main image on the contents page will take up the top half of the page like in the Kerrang! contents page I researched to show one of the main pieces of content which will be included in the magazine which in my magazine appears on the double page spread I will produce. I will overlay two smaller images on top of the main image to show other main pieces of content which will be included in the magazine but on pages which I will not produce. I will take all these images and I am including three so the contents page looks more appealing to the reader as it is not all just text.
The bottom half of my contents page includes all text including the contents and page numbers so the readers know what is included in the magazine and are directed towards which page they would like to read by the page numbers which will also be displayed at the bottom of every page throughout the magazine. The text is split into five columns to make the page look tidy, organised and professional. The first column will include text from the writer written towards the reader to make the reader feel welcome and feel as though the writer is writing directly at them. This feature is usually used in the magazines I have researched so if I use this feature my magazine will look more professional. The rest of the four columns are split under headings to direct the reader more easily to the type of content they may be looking for. Each page will have the main title of the page and details about the page with persuasive language to make the reader want to read that page.
To make my magazine look professional, I have also included subscription information in the bottom right hand corner which is where most of the magazines I have researched position this information. The type of poses, props and costumes I have chosen for my models to wear in the images relate to the genre of my magazine like the use of a boombox shows that the magazine is a music magazine and shows the individual and independent side to the music without technology which lots of mainstream artists have.
Double Page Spread
For my double page spread, the left hand side page of the article will include the image of the model with the main quote featured in the interview and the right hand side page of the article will include the title, introduction and text for the interview. This style of layout is used in the Kerrang! magazine I researched so I copied this to make my magazine look professional.
The main image will have my model looking happy and doing a pose with her hand to show that she is a fun and confident character which relates to the topic of the article. However the colours of the costume will be dark and dull like that of the models on the front cover to relate to the genre of the magazine. I will use dark eye make up on the model to match with the colour of the costume, the colours of the layout of the magazine and the genre of the magazine.
The three colour palette scheme will also be continued onto my double page spread to show professionalism. I will use a drop cap at the beginning of my text as this is used in the magazines I have researched; this will be a different colour to the rest of the text to make it stand out more. The text will be written in three columns to look like the organised layout of a professional magazine article.
To make my magazine double page spread look professional, I will use page numbers at the bottom of the two pages so the reader can find this page when searching from the contents page, the name of the magazine title and the name of the interviewees name which are all included in the professional magazines I have researched.
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