Feedback On My Magazine Draft

I asked several people of my target audience to give me feedback on my first draft of my magazine..

I really like the colour scheme Faye has chosen and think the colours mix together very well. It will look even better once an image has been chosen for the front. The front cover layout is very stylish and attractive. All the sell lines are related to the genre of Faye’s magazine and interest her ideal target audience. By Faye keeping her contents quite simple it makes it look professional and not too busy. If I were to give any constructive criticism on her contents page I would say maybe use one more colour to make the artist names stand out more or put their page number in a bold colour. The double page spreads are well designed and will look even better once images are inserted. Overall i think that Faye has made an excellent start on her magazine but finding images to fit this design may be tricky!

I think the layout works well and looks professional, just like real magazines. However the colour scheme could be stronger, using colours like red or orange would make it stand out more and look even more like a real magazine.

I think that Faye’s magazine follows the conventions of a real magazine. He ongoing house colours of grey and teal-green work effectively as they contrast each other and aren’t the ‘normal’ colours you’d expect in a magazine therefore it would stand out compared to other magazines. On the front cover, the ‘Q’ logo would be easily recognisable and is similar to the typical layout of a real magazine. I like the idea of a double page contents with the different sections for each page as it creates easy navigation for the magazine so it’s easier for the reader – this is positive for the reader as it would attract them for this reason. If I were to give some constructive criticism I would try and use different images to give it a bit of variety so it is entertaining for a reader to look at.

I think throughout the magazine there is slightly too much grey used, and maybe another colour should be added to the house style. The teal on the contents page needs to be darker to stand out and so does ‘party’ as part of the quote on the front cover. The font of the quote on the front cover would look better and would make more sense if it switched to the other font used.

Magazine - First Draft

Magazine Draft by

I completed my first draft of my magazine before the Christmas holidays. I had the most developed ideas for my first double page spread than any other part of my magazine, so I decided to start with this page. I had a double page spread from NME magazine which I felt that I could take ideas from and replicate these onto my own double page spread. As I had already written a draft of my article I could instantly insert this text into InDesign and lay it out the way I wanted. I completed one photoshoot, but when making my magazine I made some changes to the ideas of my colour scheme etc., so I am due to carry out another photoshoot, where I can create my photos in a way that will fit the style and colours of my magazine layout. I think that knowing what photos I need and what I want them to look like will help me to produce a more productive photoshoot for my magazine. After completeing my first double page spread, I moved onto the second double page spread that I'm producing. I found some ideas that I loved from previous student's work, and used these to apply them to my double page spread. I thought the line of photos at the top will display the outcomes of my photoshoot which I am very excited to carry out. I then completed my contents page before moving onto my front page, as the contents is the crucial part of a magazine. I spent the most time on my contents page as I found it challenging to make sure it's filled with text and picture slots, to make it look similar to a real existing magazine. I took ideas for sell lines and headlines from existing magazines such as NME and Q, and applying these to more current artists and music news. I based my layout of my front cover heavily on the same NME magazine that I based my double page spread on, with the sell lines down either side and a strong photo featured in the middle.

My First Photoshoot

I carried out my first photo shoot with my model Scarlett Moss, with a Canon digital camera, trigger lighting and a white back drop behind her. Here are a few images in the form of a video displaying me in action, with my model posing.

Equipment

Here are some images of the equipment I used to carry out both of my photo shoots. The interfit lights work by trigger - as I press the button to capture a photo, the lights flash on, in sync. This is handy as it helps my photos to look well lit and professional. The Canon DSLR made a photo shoot easy to do as it enabled me to take hundreds of photos and flick through them on the camera, deleting those that weren't so good, to save space on the memory card for better ones.

Model Release

I asked my model, Scarlett Moss, to sign a model release form to give me the rights to take photos of her and feature these in my magazine, so my magazine is more ethical. This way, I can use the photos in anyway that I'd like, and make any alterations to photos without Scarlett feeling cheated.

Contents Ideas

Contents Page
We Love Lucy Larch
Stand Up for Scarlett Moss
Top 10 albums of 2012

Sections
Regulars
Reviews
Interviews
On the cover

Artist List
Drake
Frank Ocean
Katy Perry
Arctic Monkeys
Ed Sheeran
Rihanna
You Me At Six
The Weeknd
Example
Calvin Harris
Tinie Tempah
Ellie Goulding
Flourence and the Machine
Devlin
Dr Dre
SBTRKT
Pixie Lott

Main Article Ideas
Scarlett or Lucy - Stand Up for Scarlett Moss / We Love Lucy Larch
Pull quote ideas
"I never imagined fame would feel normal to me"
"It's not about the fame, it's not about the money, it's about doing what I love - music"


In today's lesson I put my mind to what I'd like to include in my magazine - ideas for sell lines, contents and for my main article. I made a list of artists which would apply to the genre of my magazine which I can include in my contents to make it easier for readers to navigate around the magazine and find which artist they want to read about instantly. I came up with some key quotes I can use for the double page spread which is on the main focus of the article. These will be displayed as pull quotes to make the article on the celebrity more attractive and breaks up the text, making it easier to read. I think this will make it easier when it comes to actually making my magazine so that I don't have to come up with these ideas later on, and I can go straight into the layout and applying this information into it.

Props/Costumes

Costume