New Logo Design (Again)

After receiving feedback from my Media teachers as well as fellow students I was made aware that a common gripe with my magazine was the logo. They said the logo was too plain, with too much blank space above the title, so for my Final draft I've changed the logo to include a black border and a rectangle shape, but including the same font and basic colour scheme as before. I will post feedback as soon as I get back after the Easter Holidays.

Music Magazine: Double Page Spread Article (Rough Cut)

The article in my Double Page Spread is presented in three columns which is a convention of Music Magazine articles, particularly interviews. The first letter of the first column is always larger than the rest, as it indicates for the reader where to start reading. The interviewer's questions are highlighted in bold, but their questions are short, allowing more room for the interviewee (the fictional musician I came up with: Graham Kierkegaard) to speak. In between two paragraphs there is a quote from the article which is particularly eye catching.

At the top of the page is the title, 'Pioneer Of The Electric Triangle' with a subheading underneath introducing the interviewee, whose name is highlighted in Capitals. The 'A' in the title is a triangle shape, similar to that on the front cover.

There is also a quote on the left side of the page in the bottom right from the musician pictured. The picture has a sort of sepia-like tint, in keeping with the colour scheme and genre of the magazine.

The page numbers in the bottom corners of the pages are in red boxes, but are small as to not take up too much room and the logo of the magazine is in the top left of the first page.

The article I wrote is designed to be satirical, making fun of the pretentious, egotistical singer-songwriters you read about in magazines such as NME, which the readers idolize despite the fact that much of what they say is meaningless. The statements of Graham Kierkegaard are deliberately contradictory and outlandish to Satirize these sorts of musician, who make these controversial remarks for publicity and to justify themselves as an artist.

Teacher Feedback:

• Colours in the photo
• Good layout
• Good image
• Change framing of photo (Too much blank space/attention to background)
• Enlarge font
• More colour in text
• Logo again

Music Magazine: Contents Page Rough Cut

I incorporated the magazine's logo in the top left of the page, with a large title to the right reading 'Contents.' The date of the issue is also in the top right of the page.

The contents page follows the same colour scheme as much of the rest of the magazine, being red, white and black. Black is usually used for the text, while red and white are used for the headers, as they compliment each other more. Page numbers are also presented in red boxes with a white font, to differentiate them from the accompanying text.

The photographs were taken on a Fujifilm Finepix HS20 EXR bridge camera and edited in Photoshop en enhance the image to fit with the colour scheme and come across as more striking.  

The background image links back to the front cover image and has a sort of orange tint, allowing the white background which all  the text is on to stand out.

Teacher Feedback:

• Good colour scheme
• Striking photography
• Good fonts and style
• Need to vary the shots
• Change the logo 
• More features
• Tighten layout
• Vary shot distance
• More page numbers
• Font is too small

Music Magazine: Front Cover Rough Cut

For my front cover I decided there should be a header at the top of the page with a tagline which would distinguish this magazine from it's competitors, hence the slogan  'The UK's No.1 Alternative/Indie/Electronic Music Magazine.'

After developing up to 5 designs for my logo I eventually settled on the design you see above, with the title of the magazine in lower case at the bottom of a dark red box. The placement of this logo on the page is similar across all three pages, in the top left of the page, where after analysis of other magazines, I concluded the human eye is most likely to start viewing the page from. 

The placement of the logo on this particular page is also important, as it is important that is does not obstruct the view of the artists in the photograph, which is why I framed the image accordingly and molded the text around it. The colours present in the image also take into account the colour scheme. I used Photoshop to exaggerate certain colours to compliment the colours of the colour scheme. For example, the walls of the underpass have a slightly greenish tint to them, which compliment the red present in the logo. I adjusted the levels to bring out the black in my subject's coat as well, so that it complimented the bold white text.

Information regarding the content of the magazine, i.e the titles, is presented in bold white capitals, as they stand out against the darker background. They also fit with the magazine's red, white and black colour scheme, a colour scheme which is prominent in many music magazines. The main title is the largest and boldest on the page. The words 'Electric Triangle' appear the largest and boldest to draw the reader's attention. The 'A' in the word 'Electric Triangle' is replaced with a symbol which is accomplished on a Mac by pressing the keys 'alt-j' which I cannot show you, as I am writing this on a school PC. The symbol is a triangle, which fits in with the title 'Exclusive Interview With The Pioneer of the Electric Triangle.'

The title also has a subheading describing the article more in depth, which is in a smaller, narrower font, so that the reader can distinguish when the title ends and the subheading begins.

At the bottom of the page are a selection of smaller titles with short subheadings designed to tease other features in the magazine. Beside them, a barcode.

Teacher Feedback:

• Good text style and font variations.
• Good image concept but there needs to be more going on in the background.
• Need to improve the barcode.
• Issue needs more features.
• Logo 'needs work.'
• No Issue number.
• More colour in the background.

Music Magazine: Rough cut

Front Cover

Contents Page

Double Page Spread

I created my rough cut using a combination of Adobe products from CS6. Mainly Adobe Indesign to layout the text and images for the magazine and Photoshop to design some of the graphics you see on the page, such as the logo and headings, as well as edit the photographs I took, adding colour filters, adjusting the levels and generally defining the look of the image to fit more with the style and theme of the magazine.

Music Magazine: Rough Cut Photographs

Double Page Spread Photograph

The photograph I will use for the rough cut of my double page spread is a long shot of my subject sitting at a bench with a macbook, shot from a one point perspective. This image will take up the left side of the double page spread in my rough cut. I applied sepia filters to bring out some of the colours in the image. The colour palette of the photograph is supposed to fit with the red, white and black colour scheme of my rough cut when it is finished.

Contents Page Photograph 1

This photograph, which I took to feature on my contents page was taken to compliment the image taken for my front cover. It is taken form a similar angle, but with the subject situated in the middle of the frame as opposed to the right. I also added a sepia filter to the image to differentiate it from the front cover and add to the indie feel of the photograph.

Contents Page Photograph 2

This photograph which I took to feature on my contents page was taken to add a little variety to the colour palette of the images I will feature on my front cover. The colours are more vivid than the other  brownish coloured photographs featured on my contents page. I experimented with the depth of field in this photograph, using a wide aperture to blur out the background and bring the subject further towards the foreground.

Contents Page Photograph 3

This photograph which I took to feature on the contents page of my rough cut. In this photograph I experimented with lighting and shadows. I made sure to illuminate the face of the subject using a desk lamp in the bottom right of the frame. I adjusted the settings on my camera to reduce the noise and graininess of the photograph.

Front Cover Photograph

This photograph will feature on the front cover of my rough cut. It was taken in an underpass and is a midshot, shot from a one point perspective with the subject to the right of the screen, making eye contact with the camera. The colours were exaggerated in editing using Photoshop's colour filters, in order to fit the colours in the photograph with the colour scheme of the rest of the magazine, which will be red, white and black.

Photograph Planning: Rough Cut

Before taking the photographs for my rough cut, I have planned out what I wish to include in them as well as the camera angles and colour scheme.

Front Cover Photo:

• Midshot from a one point perspective
• Subject to the right of the frame to allow for text on the left
• Orangey background
• Subject wearing a parka coat, bobble hat and thick framed glasses
• Stern/serious expression on subject's face
• Upright posture
• Light both behind and in front of subject in tunnel

Contents Page Photo 1:

• Mid shot
• Subject centre frame
• Parka coat, bobble hat, Thick framed glasses
• Woodland backdrop
• Brownish colour palette, sepia filter etc...
• Stern/ Serious expression on face
• Use natural light, but with subject clearly illuminated

Contents Page Photo 2:

• Subject playing drums
• Midshot, low angle
• Slow shutter speed due to dark setting
• Light coming from bottom right of the frame, illuminating subjects face, casting shadow on wall behind them
• Punk rocker-like outfit (Glasses, Hat etc...)

Contents Page Photo 3:

• Close up of subject
• Subject left of frame
• Wide aperture for a shallow depth of field
• Blur background to make setting barely recognizable
• Natural sunlight illuminating subjects face
• Vivid natural colours

Double Page Spread Photo:

• Long shot
• One point perspective
• Subject to left of frame to allow for text on the right
• Brownish colour scheme, similar in style to contents photo 1
• Subject in same clothes as contenst page and front cover
• Subject sitting on bench with macbook, looking down