Music I.N Magazine Mock ups- Front Page, Contents, Double-Page Spread

Front Cover: I created this front cover on Pages. When taking the image, I took inspiration from the style magazine  'INDIE' as I thought their front cover was very effective. I really liked the bright and neon effect. When taking the photos I positioned the model so that the light was on her face and creating a reflection in her glasses. I think this fits the genre of our magazine really well. To edit the image I edited the contrast and brightness of the image as I wanted it to be vibrant and colourful. This will appeal to our magazine as it captures the indie vibe from artists and the trendy/artistic image is eye-catching. I then added the masthead for our magazine which is called 'INDIE. NOW'. Previously we had tried out different types of mastheads, I liked the idea of having a Bold masthead however a font called Indie Summer fit the genre of our magazine really well. I tested that font out for this front cover. There was a problem as the trees in the background made it hard to read the Masthead in black. To help the Masthead stand out I made the typhography bolder, and then created a blue rectangle round the masthead. I tried out different colours, but i then chose a light blue as I thought it would work well as a composition with the blue of her jacket and glasses. I then altered the opacity which I think helped, as I didn't really like the block colour. To improve this cover more I would try to have a Masthead stand out without the shape behind the Typography. To add to the authenticity of the magazine I added  a barcode to the left cover, the issue number and the price. I really like the simplicity of the cover overall. A con of this front cover could be the typography of the masthead. This due to the background being quite busy, it was hard for the masthead to stand out. To improve this cover I would try to adjust the masthead to stand out infront of the background without the blue box.


Contents Page:  For the contents page I continued using the Indie Summer font throughout and also the colour scheme of grey's, blue's and white's. I created this contents page on Pages as it works well when arranging the composition. I put the initials of the magazine 'I.N' in the top left corner of the page and on the right corner I put the date 'Spring 2016'. I think this helps the contents page more professional and also benefits the reader. I created a large  masthead which tells the reader which page it is. Down the left side I separated the contents into sections, News, Style and Competitions. I did this as it means its easier to navigate to which page the reader wants. I think style is a big part of the indie rock genre therefore added a section for it. I included other artists such as Max, and the bands Reload and Catfish and the battlement. However I created a large section on our band Decade as this is going to be a big feature of our magazine, due to being on the front cover as well as having the double page spread. I decided to make the main typography Arial as this was the most picked font on my survey. Therefore I will be giving the audience what the want. For larger subtitles I had the typography bigger, blue and in the Indie Summer font. This helps them stand out and section up the page. I decided to edit the images so that they were black and white, I think it works well with the colour composition and fits the genre of indie rock as its dark and grunge. A con of this contents page could be that it very plain. The colour scheme is very grey and there is slight use of blue. Another con could be the use of black and white images, the contents page could be more lively and colourful.

Double Page Spread:
For the double page spread I used images from our photoshoots. I chose the image of the models sat on the sofa as the main image as I liked the simplicity of it. I think it really captured the indie rock genre and the essence of the band. For the main Masthead I continued the theme of using the Indie Summer font, this helps the magazine flow nicely. For the layout the pages I decided to place the main image across the two pages slightly. I used rule of thirds as this creates a flow from one page to another. I also added smaller images of the two models around the main image. I like this as it shows variety of shoots, poses, locations, outfits and positions. For the background, I used the colour drop tool on Pages to match the colour of the blue shirt one of the models was wearing. Then for the box's of text I used the colour drop tool to match the colour to the reddish tone of the sofa and the other models shirt. I think this creates a good composition and the colours not the page compliment each other. I again used Indie Summer for the subtitle of the interview. For the rest of the writing, I used Arial as this was the most picked font from my survey. I also used Arial for the captions on the images. I think by adding the captions of the images this creates a sense of professionalism, and also benefits the reader. I added another box which gave the reader some of the bands favourite things, I wrote this again in Indie Summer, which i think helps pull the page together. I also formatted the shape to an off-white which compliments most of the white typography and also the background of the images from the photoshoots. A con for this double page spread, could be that the typography of DECADE in the left corner. The colour of the masthead could be missed as it similar colour to the background. Another con could be the article is very spaced out and there isn't as much detail as other articles are.


Front Cover 2: For this front cover, I used one of the images from our first photoshoot. I cropped the image so that it would fit into the portrait size. This is because majority of magazines have portrait covers. I think this fits the genre of our magazine as it trendy and stylish, the white background gives the impression of a studio which makes it look more professional. For the masthead I used one our previous experiments for the logo for Indie Now. The typography is bold and eye-catching which stands out. I used black to back the white typography which helps it stand out. The cons of this front cover is that maybe a bit plain as there isn't many coverlines. Our inspiration is INDIE magazine and they tend to have very simplistic covers. However this could be a con of our magazine cover. Another con could be the typography for the coverlines across the right third. This could be seen as being too simple or too small of a font. I decided to use the font Indie Summer, as I think this fits the image and genre of our magazine. I decided to make the 'Decade' larger than the text under it, this makes the name of the band eye-catching and stand out. To edit the image I adjusted the contrast to be darker, this also created a more striking contrast between the background and the models. I then heightened the colour saturation as I liked the cover being bright and colourful. I added a barcode to the left bottom corner, this is because most magazines have their barcodes positioned there. I then added the issue number, price and date above it. This adds a professional image to the cover, for the typography I used Indie Summer as it corresponds with the main coverline. I think by having the bar code and the coverlid on different thirds of the magazine this creates a good and balanced composition.  I also added a slogan under the main Masthead, I think this works well as it gives the audience a little bit of information about what will be in the magazine. I again used Indie Summer for the typography as it works well overall within a composition.


Contents page: For my second contents page, I wanted it to correspond with the front cover. This creates a good flow through the magazine. A con of this contents page could be that there should be more writing and sections. Another con could be the images could be more scattered across the page. Another con could be the typography of the 'Contents Page' this could be bolder therefore it would stand out more. The Pros of this contents could include the colour scheme working well together. I decided to section up the articles in the magazine, for example: News, Style, Music. This helps the reader pick out which section they want to go to in the magazine. For each section I made the typography larger and used Indie Summer. I think this makes the magazine stylish and fits the image of our genre. For the text under the subheading, I used Arial. This is because it was the most picked font from our survey. I then added a box which I adjusted to the be the colour of the models red shirt in our main image. As this is our main article of the magazine, I decided to use images of that band primarily. For this image I edited it to be the same effect of the front cover: i adjusted the contrast to be darker and the colour saturation to be brighter. However I also used images of other artist, for example top right and middle right. Another Pro of this cover is that I have also used images of the band Decade from different shoots, this shows as variety in clothing and locations. The box being the same as her shirt, this creates a good composition for the contents page. I decided to make the background and off grey and this corresponded with the photoshoot shot in the bottom left. I then coloured the typography to be a darker grey, I think this works well and helps it stand out. I also made the typography of the page references to be bold, this helps it stand out and therefore will benefit the reader.

Front Cover: For this cover we used Adobe InDesign, as it had a wide range of templates of magazine layouts. This was useful as we able to pick a template which would fit the genre and image of our magazine. The Pros of this front cover is the Masthead is large and eye-catching. I also like the coverline under the masthead as it stands out against the background. I like the simplicity of the composition and the eye is drawn to the main image as the background is very plain. Another pro is we have included the website in the bottom right corner under the barcode which I like. Some Cons to this front cover could be that it is too simple. Some magazines are very busy with their front covers and this might be a disadvantage to our magazine. Another Con could be the image isn't edited much, images then to be edited a lot when it comes to a front cover. To create the masthead, we used Arial Black and this was a popular font choice from our survey. We decided to back the masthead with black under the white as it helps it stand out. We also included the issue number and price under the masthead, which I think is beneficial to the reader. I think this fits the image and genre of our magazine as it simple and trendy. Overall it would appeal to the younger generation, however is it simple which would also appeal to the older generation. To improve this cover we could have incorporated more colour, or used the Indie Summer font as it fits really well with our genre of magazine.

Contents Page: For this contents page we used Adobe InDesign again, this again is because it gave us a range of templates for magazines. A Pro for this contents page is the way we have split the articles into sections. I like how it a simple but effective contents page. I think another Pro is the main article of the magazine is highlighted at the top. This is shown through the images of the band. I think the composition works well as the colours of the fonts used compliments the colours of the images. I also like how the page references have been put onto the images of the articles. A Con of this contents page could be that the font of the masthead might not flow well with the rest of the magazine. However I like there is a variation between the boldness of the typography. Another con of the contents page could be more images may be needed down the left side of the page. The space under the two smaller images looks quite bare. Another con could be the overall composition is too simple. To improve the contents page we could experiment with larger typography and fonts. Overall I like the composition of the contents page as it simple and the colours used compliment each other nicely. I also really like how the page references is put in bold and italics. This benefits the reader and helps them stand out. To improve also we could try experimenting with editing the images also. I think the layout works really well and I will think about using this layout and design for my final draft.

Double Page Spread:  For this double page spread we used Adobe InDeisgn as it gave us the templates for a magazine. For this double page spread we used a main image to cover the majority of the space. A Pro of this double page spread is that there is a large focus on the main image of the band. Another pro is the masthead, I really like the typography and the strikethrough. A pro of this cover is that there is  a large amount of text for the interview therefore it isn't just filled up with pictures. A con of the double page spread could be that it could be seen as too dark. Another con could be that the page looks too simple. Another con could be the transparency of the three images on the right corner of the page. Overall I think the double page spread fits the genre of our magazine. I think its stylish and artistic and would appeal to Indie Rock lovers. To improve this double page spread we could lighten up the page slightly and make it more vibrant as this could mean it would be more eye-catching. I think it would appeal to the younger and older generations of our audience, however majority it would appeal to the younger generation. I think the composition and layout works well as the main image of the girls isn't covered but there is a still a lot of wiring and the interview is covered.