contents explanation

On one of my previous blogs on Clash magazine contents page, I said I liked the idea that it was simple but held enough information. However, I didn't really go along with this idea because as I was making my contents page, I realised that I wanted it to be similar in style to my front cover. This was the reason I used a brick wall as my background because it looked like it fitted in with the front cover, so I didn't go along with the 'plain' and 'simple' style.
I did, however, use the page number idea but as I only had one image of a band that was to be contained in my magazine, I only did this once, and rather than using a circle, I used a rectangle shape.
Clash magazine used a lot of images which I did not do. I only used one image of a band, then an image of the editor because I wanted to fit other information in too.
The 'free download' part was kind of used, but instead of making it a main part, I listed it in the contents list but put 'free download' in a different colour to stand out from the rest of the text.

Contents page complete

Here is the final draft of the contents page. I changed the page numbers of the contents because the numbers I had before weren't enough for a monthly magazine. I've added a slogan above the 'contents' because it adds a more quirky style to it, which is how I want my magazine to seem. Also, because the background is a brick wall, the slogan 'the writing on the wall' links in with that. The font of the website and what the website contains, is in the style I used for the 'Liberty' title on the front cover. It is again bringing across the country feel of the magazine. The red colour makes it look like it's almost been 'graffitied' or spray painted onto the wall.

contents page changes

I added a few more pages to the contents list, as advised, because it is a monthly magazine and 26 pages was not enough content for a monthly magazine.

Contents Page Music Magazine

 

This is my final design for my contents page of my music magazine. From my previous blogs, you can see how I have completely changed it from the original idea, only keeping one or two things the same. I decided that the plain background didn't really work very well and it didn't really carry on the theme of 'country' from my front cover. I decided that to look like it was from the same magazine, I would want a brick wall background so it was more effective. I took the picture of the brick wall in school then, using photoshop put a brightened effect on it to match the front cover.
I looked at some Clash magazine contents pages to get an idea of the sort of look I wanted and I noticed that, as their backgrounds are usually plain white, they just had the 'contents' text on the background. But because my background was patterned, I decided that I needed a box around the 'contents' piece of text. So I decided to use the custom tool and used the speech bubble shape because it gave it a more quirky look which is what I was aiming for.
The one thing I did keep the same was the editor image and editors words in the bottom left hand corner.
Although I still used the 'Skinny Genes' image, I placed it up higher on the right hand side to allow room for information on subscriptions because the subscription idea is something that is likely to attract readers to read more. I placed a scan code in with the subscription box so it is easy for readers to be able to go straight to the website just by a simple scan of their phone. It keeps the magazine up to date with its readers.

front cover explanation

In a previous blog, I analysed and looked at Nylon magazine for ideas on my front cover. In a similar way to Nylon magazine, I also used my image as the main focus of the front cover because I liked the way it looked. I think it looked more effective than using a few images dotted around. I also wanted to make sure that there was not a lot in the background of the main image because I wanted the focus to be on the two girls, with no distraction from anything behind them. This was the reason I liked the brick wall idea because it was not really distracting anyone from the main image.
I also put any text around the edges of the image, again so as not to distract from the photo but at the same time be noticed by the reader. This was the reason I also used bright colours for the text, like the different shades of pink and purple, because although the image was more noticeable, the text would also be because of the colours used.
The only difference with Nylon magazine and my magazine is that the barcode is in a different place. Nylon magazine has it in the right hand corner, but mine was placed in the left hand corner.

Front Cover Music Magazine

 

This is my final design for the front cover of my music magazine using photoshop. I used this image because I wanted it to be seen straight away: the part of the magazine you would initially look at. I also felt that the brick wall background was effective because it gives the magazine more of an edgy look and the country/indie look I was aiming for. As my magazine is aimed at girls aged 12-17, I used the pink and purple colours for the different texts because itwould attract my target audience. I had originally used a maroon colour for all of the text on the front page but, although it looked effective, I felt it did not really come across to the target audience.
I made sure to put the barcode in the right third so that if it were to be on a shelf, that could be seen along with the price above it.

The font that I used for the 'LIBERTY' logo was called rosewood, and I felt that this was the font that really represented my country theme. Not only that but it stood out more than others I had tried as it was quite bold.

Contents Page music magazine analysis

This is a printscreen of the contents page of my music magazine before it was completed. I have included the image of the band Skinny Genes, who were on the front cover, and an image of the editor of the magazine. I kept the font and size of 'Liberty' exactly the same as the front cover, obviously, because it is a recognisable logo. I used custom shape tools for the shapes with text on on this page.

This is the completed contents page, with the added 'words from the editor' in a box with a drop shadow. This is placed next to the picture of the editor so that it's obvious who is saying it.