Almost finished DPS

I understand that my DPS has some definite improvements to be made - some of the text looks slightly uneven and I feel as though it is lacking something. I need to ask peers for feedback which should allow me to make some positive changes.

Almost finished DPS page one

First page DPS initial ideas

This is the main (edited) image I will use on the first page of my double page spread, I feel as though it is one of the most effective photographs I took. This is because the timing with the hair dryer is perfect and the fast shutter speed of my digital camera captures the shot so that the movement appears to be precise instead of blurred. I would have used it on my front cover if it weren't for the non direct eye contact. I increased the contrast, adjusted the levels and edited it to be black and white purely because these effects will give my DPS a slick, polished appearance.

 The next step was to choose a suitable typeface to present the artists name. I considered several but ended up picking the same fonts used on the front cover in the main cover line as I thought they worked  especially well. I planned to carry on the same colour scheme initially, although realised that it would begin to look tedious and that my DPS could act as an opportunity to experiment and branch out graphically.

DPS written article

Rebecca Horton recently stole the limelight with her new single 'Strangers again', which shot straight to number 1 in the charts. She managed to come ahead of highly successful  artists such as Ellie Goulding, Beyonce and even the recently ground breaking Martin Garrix. Raised in Kensington, London, Horton took interest in music at a young age - at the time when she began secondary school where she was determined to learn the acoustic guitar and piano. She was a natural and was even motivated to take vocal lessons eventually leading to her singing in the school band. At only age 18, she was recognised by music producer Oscar Floyd due to her song writing abilities, bold vocals and cool sound. In the past she has even collaborated with The Black Keys; to top everything off her upcoming album release is sparking up excitement from fans already - a harmonious combination of upbeat indie rock and smooth, calm solos. VIBES finally gets the chance to have an intimate chat with the talented songstress herself where she admits her hopes, fears, ambitions and reveals her musical vision for 2014.

Big congratulations on your new single reaching number 1 and VIBES naming you best artist of 2014! How does it feel to suddenly get so much attention in the media?

Thanks so much that means a lot! It's scary but at the same time incredible, nothing feels real at the moment. It's great to finally be recognised as a serious professional artist which is what I've been working towards for quite a long time now. The only downfall is the lack of privacy, I've had some pretty scary experiences with the paparazzi but I won't go in to detail.

 You're releasing your debut album 'The force' in less than a month, what can everyone expect from this album? 

Most of the songs are centred around the highs and lows I felt when I was in a relationship with this guy, we're not together any more but I miss him every day and this album captures  my emotions perfectly.  I would say it's a mix of heartfelt ballads and feel good songs with a catchy beat, um yeah I think thats an accurate description. The music mostly has a positive energy however there are some pretty dark tracks on there as well. As you know I've collaborated with the Black Keys in the past so they've definitely influenced my work in a way.

What was your experience like working in the studio every day while producing the album?

Exhausting! It was great to experience working in a professional studio and I met some lovely people but it really took its toll. I was literally in there 24/7.

Any other plans in 2014? Any surprises in store?

I definitely have a lot of exciting stuff coming up in 2014, but that's a secret shhh. I should warn you though, it's definitely pushing the boundaries in terms of what I'm used to producing musically. I think it's essential to go out of your comfort zone though - especially in such a competitive industry and as a creative individual too.

Who has inspired you or influenced your music? What are your current listening favourites?

 Uh, I've been inspired by many people, I guess if I had to list every single person who has influenced my music choices I would be here all day! I really look up to Lana Del Rey and she's definitely one of the top played artists on my iPod. I find her music so original and I can listen to Born to Die and it just never gets old. I think that's the cornerstone of a true artist - someone who can create music that people want to consistently revisit. I aim to be like that some day, who knows, it's gonna be a new year and I feel as though 2014 is already off to a cracking start.

Finished front cover

All the layers that present how I constructed the final version of my front cover have been displayed.

The top version is the almost finished version - it has been developed further through adding tag lines, arranging the text in a way that is more organised and increasing the size of the main cover line. There is already a cover line promoting a competition shown on the right hand side of the page, therefore there is no need to add more cover lines. Although I still feel as though there are improvements to be made.

As suggested in feedback I increased the size of several cover lines and the overall size of the image, along with its contrast levels to create a bolder, more eye catching appearance (shown at the top).

Masthead editing

As you can see, subsequent to some much needed outlining the masthead is stronger and more eye catching. I achieved this easily through adjusting the drop shadow and adding a stroke effect. I am now satisfied with the appearance of my masthead and feel that it is more conventional and generally looks attractive.

Almost finished front cover

Despite that I have already added a drop shadow to the masthead it still looks lacking and doesn't draw enough attention. My peers suggested that I could add more effects in order to create a more authentic masthead. I like the combination of different fonts and colours I have used so far and plan to use them continuously throughout the DPS and contents page as well, not only do the rectangular backgrounds enhance the font and look more pleasant, they elicit the magazine as more convincing. My teacher suggested that some of the cover lines should be placed more centrally so I need to edit the cover to achieve this.

Finished contents page

I'm content with the progress I have made, I was influenced by my friends constructive criticism and chose a slightly more dramatic tone of red as well as changing the colour of the release date and making the word 'contents' grey just to add more variety. I attempted to add other colours but they just clashed and took away from the classic, iconic look. Plus the contents pages I have studied belonging to NME and Q generally conform to this colour scheme, therefore it must be effective. I added an extra sub heading (incorporating the literary technique of rhetorical questions to compel the reader to pursue the article) so that I could put the text it replaced on the predominant image. I tried to do this with the lower images however it just looked overcrowded. All the layers depicting each individual aspect of the page I created are displayed above.

The very top image is my final product, as you can see much more space is filled which makes it look more professional.I increased the size of the images as well as adding several cover lines, making it look as though the magazine contains more interesting content.

Almost finished contents page

I feel like I  have made vast improvements on my contents page, I brainstormed a variety of sub headings and captions involving interesting articles that will appeal to my target audience, then I placed the ones best suited to my chosen genre on the 'Regulars' and 'Featured' section. I added the bottom right hand picture as I felt it had a bold, eye catching appearance and gives a slight sense of mystery yet strikes up curiosity regarding the content of the article. I queried some friends concerning the overall visual effectiveness of the contents page  - several agreed that an extra pop of colour would benefit my work by making it more vivid and memorable. One also suggested that I should 'include more cover lines to fill up space and make the contents page look more professional'.

Contents page progress

I began by following my contents page plan in order to create the format and lay out that I aimed to use, I used the same corresponding colour scheme and varied font types shown on my front cover to give a sense of realistic consistency which is conventional in any music magazine. This also succeeds in giving the magazine an identifiable and recognisable appearance. I made a template using blocks to mark out exactly where I planned to place my images. I decided to choose this highly contrasting black and white image as the predominant picture, the friends that I asked agreed that their attention was immediately drawn in by the boldness of the photo and they were curious about the subject of the article. I started to write subheadings but realised that the font was too big and I need to decrease the size so that I am able to fit a suitable amount of text on the contents page.

Front cover progress

So far I have edited an image that I deem suitable to be on my front cover (direct eye contact, neutral facial expression, medium shot). I did so by decreasing the saturation so that the it was slightly less colourful because I feel that would work better to highlight bold fonts. Then in order to increase the contrast in the image I played around with the contrast tool and experimented with curves. In any magazine it is fairly conventional for the person to be airbrushed so that blemishes etc are less noticeable, I spent a brief amount of time airbrushing to give a flawless finish.

I added elements such as the bar code, price and website to create a sense of realism as these are solid conventions of all genres of magazines. I chose a bold font for the masthead, which has been balanced out with the colour white so that it does not over power the image. I created slight shadows to enhance its significance. You often see the masthead cropped to look as though the subject is in the foreground, especially in fashion magazines - I emulated this technique for a more sophisticated feel. Beginning to experiment with fonts and colours, it has become clear to me what colour scheme etc looks the most appealing. Here are several different fonts I tried on the masthead although felt were unsuccessful:

Aims and Introduction

Aims and Introduction

Firstly, I aim to target an audience with an age demographic of around 16 – 30, teenagers and young adults. I think my magazine should be fairly gender neutral in order to appeal to a wider and more varied audience, I will attract both genders by using a unisex, neutral colour palette, font etc (anything visual). My magazine will be a mid range price to reflect the intended middle class group of readers, this suits the age demographic as it will still be affordable yet not expensive plus I feel as though my magazine will be appropriate for adults too. Therefore the price is suitable considering the range of audience I need to take in to account. In terms of psychographics my target audience should have similar interests as well as the genre I have chosen. For example, dance music magazines typically include separate themes such as technology and nightlife. I would strive to focus on a more glossy and sophisticated appearance to attract the desired audience, this would conform more effectively to my chosen genre – whereas an urban feel would be more suitable for a hip hop/rap magazine. I would create an atmosphere that was outside the mainstreamer scene.

The inspiration for my magazine has mainly been influenced by successful, glossy magazines such as Q and NME which concentrate overall on rock/alternative music. I can examine particular aspects included in either magazines typical style of front cover, contents page and double page spread and know that I would aim to convey these elements within my work. For example the visually highly iconic and therefore easily recognisable appearance of Q magazines double page spreads – as shown in my mood board. I suppose I find them appealing as part of a target audience as I think personally I am definitely in the correct area regarding demographic and psychographics. I would classify my music magazine as one that choses to promote new and independent artists as well as featuring already successful bands. This is because I am targeting a varied audience and feel that a range of underground and mainstream music would be more appropriate. I like the idea of bringing independent artists presence within the music industry to the reader’s attention – revealing new, interesting artists they may have never have come across, plus mainstream bands who have a large audience and will therefore naturally encourage attraction to my magazine. This will affect my cover lines in a way that directs the focus on both upcoming events including successful artists and news within the music industry. I think I will involve artists such as the 1975, Bastille, the Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire etc as they are very current and popular alternative artists and attract the exact demographic I want to appeal to, plus they appeal to a variety of ages as well as just teenagers. 

I have selected a friend of mine to take part in the shoot, she will feature as a successful artist, most likely appearing on the front cover and double page spread. My friend is young and blonde and I have styled her in a way in which she looks attractive yet is not sexualised or objectified. This means that the cover won't purely attract males. Plus I feel as though the minimalistic and effortless appearance imitates the overall laid-back sound of alternative music whilst reflecting realism. This sense of realism will be exaggerated by high key/naturalist lighting. Whereas excessive and extravagant hair/makeup/clothing would perhaps suit a dance music magazine more effectively due to the night life aspect.

I was thinking of editing images in a contrasting black and white in order to add more variety. Or possibly adjusting contrast and curves. I will select images that I perceive to be the most interesting/appealing at an initial glance, then I will proceed to query friends about their opinions, especially people I feel as though would be hypothetically interested in my music magazine. I am planning to use a neutral colour palate, incorporating white, cream, black etc and then a pop of colour to add excitement. I have decided to call my magazine "vibes" due to the word's sharp and memorable sound, it refers to a specified feeling or flavour, which is fitting because I want to attract people who are thoughtful intelligent. I haven't used a shortened word, colloquial language or an acronym.