Final products

This is my front cover, after taking into consideration the feedback I gained I only changed one small thing on my front cover. This was the position of the drop shadow on the image that I had used. After the feedback I realised that I had put this in the wrong place, therefore allowed the front cover to look unprofessional.

My contents page was the page that suffered the hashish criticism, as the layout was not allowing the page to flow. Therefore a lot of changes had to be made. I moved the layout allowing all the image to be on the right hand side and with the text to be on the left hand side. This then meant that there was an empty space in the bottom of the left hand corner. Therefore to fill this space I placed a competition there using the bold and increased font size of selected words to allow the contents page to link with the front cover. I have also changed the background of the male image as it didn't fit in with the rest of the images used. I have also changed the image of the model on the front cover as all the images were either close ups or medium-close up there changed it to this to allow the page to flow. I have also change the look of the page numbers on the images, as it looked to old and wouldn't appeal to my target reader. therefore I have increased the size of the image and just placed the number of the page in various places on the image. The last change I have done is the font of the headings, I felt that the font used was hard to read and to small, so I changed it so a bold font that would catch the readers eye.

The feedback on my spread was very good, with only a small criticism of the simplistic masthead which needed an effect and the image used. However I have good reason for the image therefore did not change it but did put a slight effect on the masthead. I also increased the size of the masthead but used the horizontal took, to allow the text to be more closely placed, to allow the empty space that was seen above and below the masthead to be used.

Evaluation - Review from my target audience

Sarah : The products follow each other well and the colours are modern and relevant to the music genre. The images are clear and edited well and don't set a serious atmosphere. I like the contrast in colour and fonts. Overall i think the product is excellent but maybe the black text on the front cover could be seen better on the background.


Chris: All the product work well together due to a consistent colour scheme that matches the genre set. The images have been cleanly edited to be more aesthetically pleasing towards the target audience. The front cover is well planned to create minimal white space, and the colours used match the colours of the images. The variety of fonts used makes the the cover seem more diverse and targets a larger range of audience. The contents are also well layed out, as no white space is used, and it is clear which article matches which page. However, the pictures used are not consistent, and the image of the lad should match the other images of the girls. The double page spread flows well from one side to the other. The only improvements that need to be made on the double page spread is to improve the images used.




Amy :I really like the front cover with the different types of font and the image really suits the colour scheme and music genre. The contents page i do like with the different photographs on there but i think it should have something more on there as look likes is a lot of space on the contents page. Maybe change the background gradient. I really like the double page spread, i really like the photograph and the text is spread nicely but i think the article title font should change to something else such as an effect or a different font but overall i really like the products.


Lee: I feel that the front cover is very good, it stands out a lot to me. The layout is very conventional to what I expect in a magazine. The image used being ahead of the masthead makes the magazine stand even more. The use of colour gives the masthead and banner a very unusual feel. The use of font and colour for the other information provided gives it a conventional feel. The way in which the blue is integrated within this information instantly stands out to me. The contents is very conventional to what I expect. The split sections makes it stand out more. However, the way in which the images are placed on the contents is different. It does not follow the conventional feel of the information provided. The spread is very good, the image instantly stands out and the text is cleverly used. However, the darker text could be used to make the cover stand out more. The colours are very conventional and work well with the other pages.



Perry: The products on the whole look like a cohesive product. This means that the product performs well in that aspect as looking like a professional magazine. The front cover uses a fairly simple two-colour (White and blue) scheme that links in with the image. The flaw that stands out most on the front cover, however, is the use of a white/black font in a somewhat dark area of the cover. The contents page carries on the theme of metallic, while/black and blue. This enables it to link to the cover page more fluently. The only complaint of the contents page, is that the picture mid-right uses a different white-grey gradient, and therefore detracts from the cohesion of the page. The spread continues the metallic, white/black and blue theme. This page uses the lighter metallic that was consistent from both previous pages. The use of selective quotes outside of the columns, mean that a brief overview of the page without needing to read it. My only uncertainty of the page is that because of the high-angled shot, the reader is inclined to feel empathetic towards the musician. While the entire article is referring to how this musician is getting back on their feet. This feels ironic and out of place.

Final products

Front cover

From feedback from my target audience I have made some small changes to my front cover. The background has been changed so that there is for a dominate spotlight effect seen behind the image. This allows the images to have the main focus on the front cover, allowing the reader to get enticed into the magazine due to the recognition of the main story. I have also changed the date and issue number to look reciprocal and both sides, but also look more professional, as when looking back at my research, the date and issue number were set out very similar.

Contents

I have gained some feedback form my target audience, where I have know gained some suggestions on the changes to my front cover.The numbers before the article (1,2,3) have been taken off and have been replaced with bullet points as some article are more than one line therefore it couldn't be left with nothing as it would be unknown where one article started and finished. I have also taken to black outline from the page numbers, but have put the text of the Sneak Peak section in blue with a black outline as without the black outline it is not easily readable.

Spread

I have not made many changes to the spread as the feedback from my target audience was main positive, but have put a different colour around the page numbers to allow them to stand out and also have added the magazine name to allow the pages to look professional and aesthetically pleasing. I have also changed the text in the colour blue, in the subheading, in larger text to allow these certain words to stand out even more and catch the eye of the reader and engage them even more into the article.

Final spread

As I had changed the text on the front cover, I felt that some aspects should be similar. Therefore I changed the masthead to capitals and allow it to seem like important news. I have also changed the subheading above the main text, with selected words in a bigger font which is also seen on the front cover. I have also messed with the brightness and contrast of the image to try and allow it to look more dynamic. The main text has also gone from bold text to normal text, as I thought the bold text was unnecessary.

Final contents page

I have made some changes to my contents due to peer feedback, but the changes I have made are only small but are needed to be made. I have changed the masthead to the font of the font on the front cover, to allow the contents to link to the front cover. I have also chnaged the subheading font to that used for the quotes on the spread an on the cover to help with that link. I have also used lines to section off the subheadings from the articles in the magazine. The font used for the articles as the font made the page look unprofessional.

Final front cover

I have made some mass changes to the front cover after feedback and suggestions from one of my peers. The I have flipped the image horizontally, and changed the font and style, which changed the whole look of the front cover. I did this as I was told the article font was too childish and enabled the front cover to look unprofessional. I have also added another article to the front cover, to allow the unused empty space to be filled allowing the cover to look aesthetically pleasing. I have also looked back at my research and found most the text on the front cover is in capitals, this is done to allow the text to stand out and be seen as important. The font for 'Back' and 'Good' has been changed to the font used in the spread, to reflect that it is not only something she said but also believes in. Selected words has also been enlarged and given a separate colour to allow them to stand out and grab the readers eye.

Another spread mock up

I haven't made that many changes to the double page spread, the only major changes I have done is to change the subheading above the text. I have done this as the quote that was being used didn't follow onto to the the story that followed. Therefore I have know changed it to something that will, and have changed certain words to blue to allow them to stand out. The quotation has know been moved to the right hand side page to allow it to look more aesthetically pleasing. However I do understand that some changes will still have to be made, most of these improvements will come from feedback from my piers. I have also moved the page slightly to the left to allow the page split to sit easily the allow everything to be seen instead of things being distorted due to the crease in the page.

continued spread mock up

As seen I have made the changes that I thought that needed to made from the last post. The major change that I have done, is to change the main image on the double page spread. I have used this image as it is dramatic, but has depth to the image which draws the reader into the spread, unlike the other image that was used which looked flat and didn't give the impact in which this one does.

I have also switched the layout around, as it allowed the pages to flow easier. I have also changed the font back to the original font for the heading which spread across both pages, as from feedback this font allows this spread to impact the reader and draw their eye.

I have also added a quote into the text as suggested, this allowed the text to fill all three columns looking more professional and aesthetically pleasing. The image of the album at the bottom of the text, links with the writing just beside it, therefore allowing the pages to flow, as it also lies over both pages which also links them together.

I decided to have a a sub heading above the main text of the spread, as when looking back over the research I did into double page spreads, I found that most double page spreads had a subheading to introduce the main article. Therefore I thought it would be appropriate for my spread to have the same therefore used the quote that had been placed beside Kayt in initial mock ups. However know looking at the spread, it doesn't introduce the text, therefore will need changing.

spread mock

I have made some changes to the spread as I believed that it looked unprofessional and this was also seen through feedback that I had gathered from my piers.

I have used the font used in the quotes in my last spread. I thought this would give a different look t the spread and allow it to appeal to my target readers. However I do not feel that this is a suitable font for the title therefore will be changing it back to the font used before. I have also put the written part of the article into three columns instead of two, this allows room above the text to be used and help the link between the two pages. However there is a lot of space left in the first column therefore I think that I will be adding in the quotes to allow the space to be filled.

I have not changed the image much in this is mock up, but has been increased in size. This is to allow the image to be the dominant aspect of the double pages. However, I do believe that this image doesn't have any depth, therefore doesn't give any impact to the double page spread. Therefore to improve I think that I need to change the image.

Spread issues!

When getting feedback from my peers, there was a generalisation over my three product and this was that there was too much empty space on the double page spread. Therefore I am know in the process of looking back through my research and maybe making a completely different layout, this is therefore the reason that there has been no post recently, hopefully not much will change on the spread, but just a change in the layout of the page. This will shortly be posted on my blog as soon as I can find a solution to this problem. Sorry.