Final Music Magazine Double Page Spread Feedback

The Double page spread received not the best feedback in terms of the design because the text on the image on the left side of the page faded into the image and covered some crucial features of the model so the feedback suggested that this needed to be changed so that the magazine would look more professional to the target audience. The background for the text on the right hand side does not suit the main image which was made clear to me so I will change that so that the target audience is not deterred from continuing to read the magazine. However, the magazine text detailing in the artist that is featured in the magazine was, according to the feedback, very good because it really reflects the target audience and their taste in music which was a primary aim during the production of the double page spread.

Final Music Magazine Contents Page Feedback

The contents page received good feedback was well. For Example, the largest image in the centre of the contents page is the featured artist and this received good feedback as well because it enhanced the emphasis o the featured artist that is being covered in the double page spread. The few page numbers and descriptions on the left was good according to the feedback because it did not overload the page with information which helped entice the target audience further because they do not want to be overloaded with info. It was suggested though that the image was too similar to the middle one and needed to be replaced so the page did not bore the reader.

Final Music Magazine Front Cover Feedback

My front cover received good feedback from my readers who I had look at my final front cover. They said that the title was unique to say the least and that was very good because then it reflects the target audience and readers will remember it more because its uniqueness. The main image was given good feedback as well because it fitted with the target audience once more because the image itself emits indie/alternative rock which is exactly what it needs to do because otherwise the target audience will see the magazine cover and believe it is truly not for them. The feedback also stated that the button feature with the "20 new bands" was a very good enticement feature but it was cut of on the right side a bit which no magazine has. The feedback suggested that this would need to be changed and that also the bar code seemed too conventional in terms that pop magazines position it like the way it was. I will have to find an alternative if possible to re-position the bar code by looking at other relevant magazines.

Music Magazine Double Page Spread

This is my final double page spread for the music magazine. The mock up design was disregarded upon production of the double page spread because the design didn't fit the colour scheme so it would of been rejected by the target audience. One of the original images was placed on the entire left side with a quote on it and this was done so that the magazine appeared more atheistic and professional and in my opinion it did. The logo of the artist was placed in the centre of the right hand side of the page and was surrounded by the Q+A responses. I used the transparency rate tool to fade the grey box. The look of the magazine may have been changed from the mock up design but it still appeals to my target audience.

Music Magazine Contents Page

Below is my final contents page for my music magazine. The contents page mock up feedback suggested that the target audience desired the writing to be on the left so that they could easily read the text. To appeal more to more contents page I followed this feedback by placing the text on the left which is visible. To keep the professional look I added more sections on the page, one being the regulars section which is really effective in making the magazine look more like a magazine because it creates an atom sphere like the magazine has been around for awhile. The target audience should be pleased by the overall outcome as it fit the feedback given as the contents page is easy to read and filled with content.  

Music Magazine Front Cover

This is my final front cover for my music magazine. I followed the second mock up design which was to have the main stories follow the left third rule and have the masthead on the top of the cover which is clear to see. From feedback, it was made clear that the front cover lacked content which made it look bare and have very little to offer to the reader. To counter this I made simple yet effective adjustments, one being the I placed a sticker like feature on the top right of the cover, this creates more content and is an enticement technique to lure the reader with new artists they might enjoy. Furthermore, I added a simple corner mark on the bottom right which tells the reader the price, publish date and issue number. this helps bring the more professional look that the target audience desired.

Music Magazine Mock Up Feedback

Front Cover Mock Ups
The feedback received from my target audience was promising and very insightful and will help greatly in the final production of the front cover. The feedback claims that the second mock up was the best because it allowed the stories to be made more clear to the reader which makes it easier for them to make the judgment to read the magazine or not. The audience said the mock up gave the stories up and front to the reader which is good because it highlighted the stories and gave the features clear visibility which answers the questions the reader gets. The feedback also suggested that the second mock up had great potential as it could easily be filled with regular magazine features such as a header for issue numbers and top news about the magazine which will add content to the front cover and make it appear more aesthetic. The other two mock ups apparently had the stories on the front but they wasn't made as clear but the thing that suggested that the second mock up was better because it had more potential.

Contents Page Mock Ups
The content page feedback was again insightful as it claimed that the first mock up had more potential and was easier to read. The main point of the feedback was that the first mock up is clearer to read which seems to be the need for my targets audience as it appears fancy designs which breaks away from the traditional designs and structures of a contents page. To please my target audience which is very important, the first mock up will be easier for them to read because the text is on the left and stays on the left which is how everybody reads. The feedback also suggested that the first mock needed more content and colours on it which will need to be sorted out during final production.

Double Page Spread Mock Ups
The double page spread mock up feedback was useful as always but it appears that my target audience did not prefer any of them as they found all of them to be good if there as more content and colour then the either of three would suffice. With this feedback and the feedback from the other mock ups I have concluded that the first mock up is the best because it holds the most potential for my magazine in term of content and design.

Music Magazine Double Page Spread Mock Up 3

This is the final mock up for the double page spread. This is the poorest design in quality terms out of the three because the page is nothing but text mainly with only two images at the bottom with one of them being distorted, There is no colour what so ever to the page which will need to be changed if this design is used for the magazine as the text looks daunting so my target audience would not read this.

Music Magazine Double Page Spread Mock Up 2

This is the second mock up for the double page spread. This design is not the one that should be sed in the final production because the text is all clumped up together which make the whole content look boring and will deter anybody from reading the pages because who reads a magazine with massive blocks of text? No one. You read a magazine for short amounts of text, colour and images because otherwise you may as well be reading a book about the artist like his/her autobiography. The images are in good positions but the top banner with the four images is not good because some of the images are distorted and the rest of the page seems bare. This design is okay but again it will need more colour and the text will need extra formatting to make the magazine seem more atheistic.   

Music Magazine Double Page Spread Mock Up 1

This is my first mock up for the double page spread.  This design is suited for my target audience as it gives information about the artist but the text formatting could developed more into a magazine format with different paragraphs around the page to make the magazine look more atheistic to the reader and make it look like there is less content to read. The page is very plain in colour which will have to be sorted out in the final double page spread because the page looks boring and will not entertain the reader enough for him/her to read on through the magazine so more colour will be needed to the magazine. The images are alright where they are but they will need to be re-positioned into a more fitting format as they both look out of place as they don't correlate with each other. This will make the magazine look unprofessional and to entertaining to the reader so this will need to be sorted out whilst producing the final product. 

Music Magazine Contents Page Mock Up 3

This mock up is my final mock up for the contents page. This design again is not well suited for my target audience as the image again dominate the page which leaves less room for content which leads me to believe the right balance of text and images is needed in this magazine otherwise the contents page is overwhelmed with one or the other. The content on the side is good with I shrink the text to fit more in for the reader but I feel that it be best positioned on the left side to make it easier to read for the reader thus enticing to read it as it would be so easy to read. It would be easy to read if it was on the left because the reader always starts on the left because that is how everybody reads. The bottom was meant to have a voucher like a rip out voucher you see on other magazines. This feature would of created more content for the reader and as a result make the magazine look far more professional and atheistic to the reader.

Music Magazine Contents Page Mock Up 2

This is my second mock up for the contents page. It follows the same colour scheme of white and purple and having the main images of the artist dominate the main page This design does not target my target audience because the design is very vague in it' content as there is not enough room for content so the magazine page does not tell the audience anything important concerning the artist which is the reason why they probably purchased the magazine. the images as well take up too much space so it limits the content and answers none of the questions given by the reader such as "which page is the featured artist on?". This design is clearly not the best for the magazine in a different way as well, the design looks more like a pop magazine whilst this magazine is meant to be a alternative/indie rock magazine. This design would not suit my target audience and thus deter them from purchasing and/or reading the magazine.

Music Magazine Contents Page Mock Up 1

This is the first mock up for the contents page which follows the same colour scheme as the front cover mocks of a violet/blue colour scheme. Of course there would be more content on the page number section but the text shows what the page would look like, the page numbers look bare with both the colour and the content as there is not enough content to make the page feel like a contents page and the colour scheme doesn't agree with the content as it enhances the look that the page is very bare in content.  The images look good in the position thy are in but the overall design looks scruffy and unprofessional which is what would deter my target audience from purchasing my target audience. If I added text beside or below the images and used formatting tools such as the line or border tool, it could create the professional look I have now concluded will be needed for the final magazine.

Music Magazine Front Cover Flat Plan 3

This is my third and final flat plan for my front cover. This design is very disorganised and will deter the target audience from reading the magazine as clearly it does look atheistic because of the disorganisation. Furthermore, I have come to the conclusion that the magazine will need more content on the front cover to make the magazine seem more suited to the target audience as it will appear to have more content in it. I believe the front cover can be made batter by using the second flat plan with more highlights and headlines to make it seem more professional for one and secondly make it more suited for the target audience.

Music Magazine Front Cover Flat Plan 2

The following flat plan is my second flat plan for my front cover. The masthead is the same as the last but positioned at the top of the page and the "r" of Everest has been masked by using layer masks to hide the rest of the "r" so the artist's face isn't being blocked. The colour of the stories on the side stand out which is good so the reader can easily read it and the colour scheme is not bright so the scheme suits my target audience of indie rock fans. the main image is the same as it is on the last flat plan to see how effective each design is. Compared to the last flat plan this design follows the left third rule which is he conventional magazine design. As it is conventional the target audience won't be alienated or deterred from reading the magazine. This design works well but I am beginning to think that the magazine will need more colour and content on the front cover to make it appear less bare and more more content to read. 

Music Magazine Front Cover Mock Up 1

This is my first mock up of the front cover. The design is based on one of my flat plans which is very simplistic which is evident in the mock up as the design has not real advertisement on the front and left very simple in colour. The image is of course mine and the magazine name "Everest MT" is a temporary name only to  see how the magazine looks with a lengthy name. My conclusion is that the lengthy name works for this design. The image fits perfectly for the canvas size which is A4. Overall, I think the design works well for my target audience the main image is unique to say the least with the face being pulled by the artist. It spells out alternative and not pop so this draft of the front cover targets the preferred audience perfectly.

The Photoshoot for the Music Magazine

The following images are the ones that I took from my own camera so these images are 100% original which is clear to see. The images with the portrait format are the best and are the ones that will be used most probably as they are the best images in general but from a designer point of view the portrait images are the best to be used for a front cover. The other portraits are either not a mid shot of the artist or not able to be used in programs such as Adobe Photoshop CC.

Photo shoot Risk Assessment

This is my risk assessment that I completed for my photo shoot because I needed to ensure the possible risks that could occur and cause problems for the model in the photo shoot. Below is the risk assessment that details in the risks and methods to counter the risk if they do occur.

Music Magazine Edited Photos

Below is the before and after versions of my photo that I used for my front cover which shows the editing process used to adjust and edit the photo for the magazine's purposes. The clearest edit that I have made would the cropping of the image as you can see below that the sides of the image have been cropped by using the crop tool. This toll allowed me to edit the image so that only the featured artist was in the frame and that the frame was the correct size (210mm x 297mm) for a front cover. The next alteration that I made was the lighting because the artist's face slightly blended with the background because of the brightness of the image so by adding a lighting filter and lowering the vibrancy of the image, the brightness was lowered ever so slightly but just enough so that the face of the artist did not blend as much with the background. Those were the biggest improvements to the image. The next three are smaller and touch ups to improve the image.
The shoe on the right foot propped on the left foot had its leather on the side pealing off, by using the blur tool to blend the colour of the shoe to the section of the shoe were the image was peeled, the peeled section looked as if it hadn't. The second touch up was that there was a single white string hanging of the collar of the model so by using the blur tool once more, the single white string was removed from the frame. The final touch up that I did was concerning the mode's face, he had very cheeks due to the unexpected cold temperature outside on the day of the photo shoot. By using a colouring tool with the re-asterising tool, the red cheeks were faded and not as red as before which was good.

Band Identity

Below is my band identity PowerPoint that details in my band identity  and the props that will be used in the Photoshoot. The band identity also details in the logo of the artist which I created on Photoshop.

Band Identity from bdr628

Music Magazine Double Page Spread Flat Plan 3

This is my final flat plan for the double page spread. This design is meant to enhance the text by suing images in such places like the bottom of the first page and the centre of the second page which allows the text to be more entertaining. This is because the text has images to back it up and so the reader has images and colours to entertain them rather than there just being text on the page. However, it does not target the intended audience very well though because the text still dominates the page and will bore the reader, the images are either at the bottom of the page or the centre and both serve no real purpose in entertaining the reader. If anything it alienates the reader as this format is not used often because it muddles up the text and makes it harder for the reader to read the articles. To conclude, I think that this design alienates the reader and does not suit the target audience of alternative/indie fans.

Music Magazine Double Page Spread Flat Plan 2

Here is my second flat plan for the double page spread. The design is very built upon the text that details in the artist so the reader would have to be very interested in the artist to read through all the text that is about them. As well the image are quite few so the page is dominantly text which is and can be very boring to the reader so the magazine doesn't quite appeal to the target audience already as they would prefer colours and images to go with text. This flat plan does the opposite. There is nothing in this flat plan that truly appeals to the target audience so the reader would most doubt ably be deterred from reading through the article.

Music Magazine Double Page Spread Flat Plan 1

Here is my first flat plan for my double page spread. For this flat plan I decided to create article space for a section on who the artist is and about his life with enough space left for an image of him for the reader to glimpse at. As well, enough space is left at the top for a large title to entice the reader to read the article. The main image has been given large amounts of space so that it can dominate the page and appear more appealing to read as there will be less text to bore the reader. In addition, the main image has room on the side where a Q and A section will be so that the reader can feel closer to the artist as he is sharing his experiences and life stories. The way the articles are set up allows the reader to get to know the artist if he is new to the reader so it allows ease for the reader. This  design is perfect for introducing an artist to a reader but if the reader knows who the artist is then half of the article is useless for them.

Music Magazine Contents Page Flat Plan 3

This is the final flat plan design for my contents page. As you can see the design is similar to what other magazines do with their design but is still unique to a degree as not many magazines use this design themselves. The images on the right will be the main stories presented by an image with a page number on the bottom right of it, it will be easy to see and stand out to the target audience as any reader started from the left. As they will start to read from the left they will answer their own questions of which page their favoured artist is and gain more knowledge about the main stories also in the magazine. This is will make it far easier for the reader to navigate the magazine as they will not have to search for anything. The content page number are on the right side because they will be the minor stories, only a few of them will actually appeal to the target audience as not every reader will be interested in everything in the magazine. On the other hand, the magazine maybe easy for the reader and partially suit their style but the target audience are set on their alternative/indie genre of music which comes with it's own magazine format. Stuart Hall's theory of "encoding/decoding" suggests that in this case the flat plan does not fully suit the target audience but it partially does so this would be "negotiated reading". This is when the target audience partially shares the style of the magazine and will continue to read the magazine as the format and style understands them to a degree. So this design is unique and can still suit my target audience even though it does not completely agree with their style.

Music Magazine Contents Page Flat Plan 2

Below is my second flat plan design for my contents page. This design is clearly different and not a conventional format used by magazines in any type of magazines. This design is meant to be unusual and unique so that the reader will be more entertained by the design, hopefully the reader would be so entertained by the design and the story that the magazine is even better to them. However, the target audience prefers a single style which focuses on their favoured artist which this design does not so the target audience is more likely to reject the design. This is called oppositional reading if you use Hall's "encoding/decoding" theory. As well, the design does not make it easy to read the text for the target audience as the text is both on the top right and bottom left so there is no continuity to the page which will possibly cause the target audience to reject the style and not read on through the magazine as they will think that the magazine is not worth reading if they have so much trouble reading it. This design may look good to me or a select few but overall to the target audience who is more important than the designer must be taken into account so this design is probably not the best as it does not suit the target audience's style or desires.

Music Magazine Contents Page Flat Plan 1

The following image that is below is my first flat plan of a contents page for the music magazine. Stuart Hall in 1980 came up with the theory of "encoding/decoding" which means that the audience has a significant role in the process of reading a text. One way main part of the Hall's theory is Dominant Reading which means that the audience fully accepts the preferred meaning and style of the magazine in this case. This design follows that theory as the design is very alternative which is who my target audience are so the design follows their preferred style. The design is a header with a clear contents section which every will be able to read as it is clear, most importantly it is the classic contents display as the page numbers and titles are going down the page on the left which is the dominant reading theory involved in Hall's "encoding/decoding" theory. The main image of the page will dominate the contents page which will allow the reader to immediately know the answer to their question of "which page is the artist I'm interested in on?". This is how my  contents page appeals to my target audience, it follows their preferred style and makes it easy for them to find the reason why they bought the magazine in the first place.

Music Magazine Front Cover Flat Plan 3

Below is my final front cover mock up for my music magazine. Unlike the other two mock ups, this design is completely original and follows no structural guideline like the "Left Third" and so is completely new to the reader. This design maybe new and could be seen as exciting to the reader so they would purchase the magazine as they find it interesting because it has a unique design. This may work for other music genres but I sense that this design will not wok for the alternative/indie music gene. The design seems too formal and structured to be a alternative music magazine and seems like a magazine a upper class citizen would read so the design does not suit the target audience.

Music Magazine Front Cover Flat Plan 2

The following is my second design for the front. As you can see from the plan that is below, the masthead is on the top of the magazine which is your classical front cover design as many other magazines such as "Q" uses this design. Following the classical design, the main stories will be on the left third of the magazine which was influenced by the Newsagents so the main stories which will be the most enticing ones will be on the third left to catch the attention of the potential readers. Of course you have your standard magazine features like the bar code which is crucial of course in making my front cover and music magazine far more professional. Finally, the main image will be in the centre and be of the featured artist which is not only the classically technique but the most logical one because it attracts the attention of the reader the most as it is the first thing the reader will see and make the judgement to purchase the magazine based primarily on the main image. This design suits the target audience as it is both classic so the main message of the featured band gets conveyed easily enough and the magazine with the right colour scheme and images can still appear to be a indie/alternative music magazine so this design suits the target audience well enough.

Music Magazine Front Cover Flat Plan 1

This is the first mock up for my front cover which i have now began to plan the design of. This first design is inspired by the Billboard front cover with Imagine Dragons as the featured band on the magazine. The design was so simplistic is was a delight to read and as it was simplistic, it focused on the featured band which I loved because it gave me exactly what I wanted which was to read bout the featured band. When you walk by a magazine and purchase it because of the band/artist on the front, you want to read about them because you were enticed to purchase the magazine because of them so why should you go through pointless articles of other artists and ads? This is why I designed this first mock up like this (look below to find the mock up), to avoid any wasted info and give the reader exactly what they wanted and not to disappoint my target audience.