How my final products differ from my original submission

As I decided to resubmit my coursework, I completely remade my blog to suit me and be more conventional. When I first attempted I thought I should stray from convention and make an alternative rock magazine, however this was not as successful as it could have been and my final product was of a lesser quality than it is now. For this resubmission I completely stuck to convention and make my product more basic yet attractive, which would likely be more noticeable on the shelf of a store.

This is my first attempt at my magazine. As you can see my colour scheme has changed completely, going from something dark that could easily be hidden on a shelf to something much brighter. Another issue with my first attempt was that I used all f the same photos for each page; this does not show variety within the magazine itself and was something I made sure to change with this new version. My work was not high quality images and the text was pixelated unintentionally which looked unprofessional. I also didn't rely on audience feedback when making it and so didn't know if it would even be a popular magazine, but with my new attempt I have made it for the readers.

final contents

I followed a similar style to the rest of my magazine when making my contents page by keeping a plain white background but filling most of the space with images and coverlines. The centre of the page catches the attention of the reader first, informing them what magazine they are reading and what issue it is- I chose it to be issue 23 as that indicates it is a continued magazine that is quite popular as they can keep making more issues. I followed the 'bubble' theme of having dark red/pink shapes to point out the artists' names and what pages they are featured on- this stands out against the rest of the page meaning readers can go straight to those pages. I edited my photos to get rid of backgrounds, change orientations (Kitty), and layer images to give them interesting styles and the suggestion that they are an album cover (Ayumino). Coverlines are separated so as not to clutter the page and I featured a short Editor's Note in the upper left to give the page a personal touch,

Contents page planning

Though it isn't necessarily a K-Pop magazine, Billboard has an edition made just for Korea that features K-Pop artists that would not be featured in worldwide editions. K-Pop is a very niche genre especially to be made into magazines so many popular magazines have editions made specially for the country.

To get inspiration for my contents page I decided to look at how Billboard presents theirs, as I want mine to look as legitimate as possible and using a reference that works with K-Pop will be useful.

I searched for examples on Google Images, and it appears that Billboard have a house style for their contents page of every edition:

I want to replicate this type of house style in my own contents page. I am going to do a textual analysis of one of their contents pages so that I know the typical conventions of a music magazine contents page and what I should include in my conventional magazine.



The left hand side lists current charts and is in a boldly different colour to the rest of the page. This is easily identifiable to readers as the charts due to its format and colour scheme, plus the small font that fits into the page neatly.
Three images across the top accompanied by page numbers show the main articles of that issue. Using images rather than an article title means the reader will more likely recognise who the people in the photos are and go straight to that page. It is more eye-catching as the reader will not have to look for the most popular artists, they will just see it along the top.
The main featured artist is in their own image in the middle of the page. They are completely separated and in a different pose from the other people on the page, indicating that they are the main feature.
Article titles and basic synopses are in the middle of the page following the colour scheme. They are evenly spaced so as not to confuse readers in looking for articles they want to read.

Making my front cover

Pixlr and Canva are my preferred (and very good) editing softwares. I use Pixlr to edit images, such as removing the background from them to make them transparent, and I use Canva to organise my pages professionally. Canva ensures that my pages are the right size, making them look like an actual magazine.

From my own research I found that a plain background is commonly used in K-Pop magazines as the cover pages are generally full of images and writing, so a background is not necessary. I like this idea however I also want to use David Carson's artistic techniques to keep my pages modern, so I plan not to completely fill my page but still have the necessary and relevant information on it.

First I changed the colour tone of my title slightly. This is because I have already made my double page spread and made a colour scheme from there that would be different to the title's colour. Another convention I have seen on existing magazines is changing the title colour to match the artist's colour scheme; in my case, dark pinks are my artist Kitty's colours. (Top image is the version I will be using).

Then I edited my chosen images on Pixlr, The quality of them is already very clear so all I needed to do was remove the background. I decided to create a 'mirror' effect by having the back of Kitty's head behind her profile, as she is a solo artist but I needed her to fill the page. It also shows off her trendy hairstyle, as she is an icon in the music industry and her style is important. 

Left is where I attempted to join the images together on Pixlr. This was mostly unsuccessful as they look separated and fuzzy. I instead chose to keep them separate and joined the images together on Canva, which looks smoother.








Using my prototypes I will begin the front cover:

 
The main image takes up the majority of the page, obviously showing my artist. The masthead is quite big too so the potential readers can recognise it easily. Now I will add coverlines. I didn't include coverlines in my prototypes because I hadn't thought of any at the time and the layout was my priority, but now I know the image I am using I can add them where I think they will best fit and where will be most effective. Also on my prototypes I left space for a tagline; these are used to sum up the magazine simply and are typically placed under the masthead. I need to think of this and place it somewhere that will be noticeable to my readers; possibly next to the date and price (below left from the masthead).

I have added coverlines to the left side of the page advertising artists with parts of the magazine that readers will want to see. I kept them all in the same format so my magazine has a house style and they are all a uniform colour and font. I tried to shape them around the main image to keep the focus on the main image but the font size was big enough that the audience will still see it. On the bottom right corner I added a bubble shape that audience feedback liked to advertise the main feature artist. The bubble is attached to the main image so the audience knows who it is referencing. It uses the same font and colours as is used on the double page spread so that my audience will link the two. The audience's attention is grabbed by the bubble and the clear link between the bubble and masthead makes the whole magazine eye catching if it were on a shelf.

This is the final outcome of my cover page for my music magazine. I put the barcode in the upper right hand corner as it is out of the way but fills a blank space. The colour scheme is continued with the use of light blue linked between the title and "More Inside", and the dark pinks for the title and bubble. These are attractive and catch the attention of potential readers because the rest of the page is made up of mostly grey shades. I filled up most of the cover with my main image as Kitty is the featured artist of the magazine so it made sense to make her the largest part of the page. I included a short tagline below the title the show the individuality of the magazine and make it obvious what genre it belongs to. The website for my magazine is in the bottom left corner going up the side so it is discreet but readers will see it and know there is more to it online. The price of my magazine is £3 because my audience stated this was the better price and more affordable.

Final Double Page Spread

This is the final version of my double page spread. I have made basic changes from the last draft that mean it looks more professional and readable, while following my genre and magazine format style at the same time. I added a row of the magazine title at the top of the page, which not only removed the blank space but also reminded readers what magazine this article is featured in. I also moved the page number from the left corner to the right, as I was reminded by feedback that conventionally page numbers are on the bottom right corner of the page as it is easier to find specific pages that way. I also organised the article so that the writing was in neater columns with more space between each column, making it more readable and neat.

Double Page Spread - Draft 2

Acknowledging my feedback from the first draft, I have:

• Changed the font to be more readable, organised, and match the rest of the page
• Organised the margins
• Added writing to the top of the right hand side page to keep the double page spread linked

The page now looks fuller and more realistic as a magazine's double page spread.

Showing the same market member, here is feedback I have received:

Make it slightly smaller/further apart and potentially bigger margins on the sides of the text?

if it was made into a physical product, how would the lack of margins in the text affect the readability?

apart from that I actually LOVE it

the greys and whites are a good colour scheme and then it's got the massive red stuff which really draws your attention

and I like the headers and the images

I would potentially move the page number to the right hand side, just cos that's the "normal" (conventional) format

Again, I will now respond to my feedback and improve on a final draft.

Double Page Spread - Draft 1

Following my drawn idea for my DPS, I have made an initial draft. I decided to place the images as planned but to put the title in space of where the artist's head would be; this is an artistic effect as it shows who she is by having her name instead of her face but still looks like a head. I have used a colour scheme of dark red in different tones and faded black like the dress. Information is in columns along the top and the introduction is fitted around the 'head'. Extra information is on the bottom row in the gap along with the page number.

Feedback from my target market:

I really like it EXCEPT for the information on the right hand side, the columns are too close together imo, you should make them have bigger gaps between them and smaller font


Now I am going to make another draft responding to my feedback, get feedback again, and progress from there.