Initial drafts of the magazine

Draft cover page one, two and three:

With draft number one, the title the cover lines and inserts are at near the route of the eye and on or close to the hotspots, this will catch the most attention on the page to draw the reader in, the colour scheme of red black and white will stand out. The central image will be in the middle of the page with the cover lines and inserts over the top of it, with the angle of the image, the writing should not cover any focus areas of the photo. The banner is at the bottom of the page which is the last things you see according to the route of the eye, apart from the things near the hotspots, the banner will be most memorable, and this will attract the readers to the magazines with the extra features visible to them. The central image is underneath the masthead of the front cover, as will be a new magazine; I did not want anything to be covering the title to keep it clear and noticeable.

With draft number two, it is very similar to the first draft with the altered layout of the cover lines and the barcodes. The banner and the title is still in the same place which makes the magazine memorable as it is the first and last thing the reader will see. The second draft is different to the other two as there are not inserts, the other two are like existing magazines giving a cluttered, full look to it where as this one has clean cover lines which gives an organised effect like Rolling Stones magazine. Different from the first draft, the central image is over the title slightly, this will not be covering up a lot of the title so it will still be easy to read.

With draft number three, there is a double banner; these are popular with certain music magazines such as kerrang which also gives the cluttered, full effect. There are less cover lines but has inserts, the main cover line will make up about two thirds of the left hand side, this will give it the most attention as it will also have a larger font.   

Overall on all three cover pages:

The banners on the front covers will have names of the other features within the magazine, this will help give the magazine a full/cluttered feel and to attract the audience even if they are not interested in the main feature. On the initial drafts of the front cover 1 filled with cover lines and inserts as existing magazines of similar genre often use this technique to make it feel the magazine is full f information and interesting articles. The use of many cover lines and inserts to give the front cover a full/ cluttered effect such as successful existing magazines of the genre I am making, the insets and cover lines on or near the route of the eye, major context such as the central image and cover lines are on r near hot spots to catch the reader’s attention. Two of the three has a barcode at the bottom right hand corner, according to the route of the eye, it will be one of the most memorable things for the reader (where the price will go) The three initial drafts are very similar as tried to use the technique of existing magazines with the same gene as the one I am making.

Draft contents pages one, two and three:

Within draft number one, there is a clean large masthead with a column on the left hand side, having the column on the left hand side will draw the attention first as we read from left to right. Also having a small section of the main story within the magazine is a technique used by Rolling Stones to draw the audience in to make them want to read more about it by leaving it on a cliff hanger, it is also near the hotspots within the page which will attract the audiences eyes. There is also a small features column underneath the small story; this will be the most memorable thing on the page as it will be the last thing the reader sees. The pull quote gives the contents page the consistency from the front cover; it will also make the page look interesting with a pop of different colour from the rest of the writing. The pull quote pulls the reader in to read on about the article it is from, it is a technique used by often by Kerrang.

Within draft number two, the column is on the right hand side, as we read from the left to the right I have placed the features and images on that side and with images and pull quotes and features in the centre of the page, they are all on hotspots which makes them the parts that attract the readers eyes the most. This makes the page look more interesting with the use of images as it is aimed for teens to young adults, a lot of text within the page is not the most appealing thing to them.

Within draft number three, the column is on the left hand side, but it is different to the two other drafts before as it is a lot wider, it gives the effect of fullness which will interest younger readers as they do not want to spend that much money on something they can get bored of easily. There is still a small section of the main story which is to make the reader want to read on and the image and features underneath. The image is the last thing you see within the page which will make it memorable on what they want to read about within the magazine and the features is on a hotspot which will catch the readers attention.

Overall on draft contents page:

Similar to existing rock magazines, I used column, to give it a consistency for having inserts having relevant images on the contents page as it is aimed at teens to young adults, too much text will make the page seem like it takes a long time to read. A small section of the main stories to be placed on the contents page to attract the readers to read on.  Whichever design I end up choosing at the bottom corner of each page would have the magazine logo with the page number, this will give it a consistent look and with the route of the eye, it is the last thing the reader sees so the logo will be memorable.

Draft of double page spread one, two and three:

Within draft number one, the main image within the double page spread is on the left hand side, as we read from left to right, the image will be the first thing the reader sees with the caption in a small font at the bottom right hand corner to explain to the readers what the picture is. The image will appeal to the genre of music and the target audience to make the reader want to read the rest of the article/story. The use of pull quote is used as masthead; this does not only draw the attention of the reader by knowing it is from the article but also because it is the largest text within the page to catch the reader’s attention. The stand first is used to draw the reader into the article, it goes above the actual article, it is optional to have it over the image on the other side if preferred. The images underneath the article can be used to show what’s relevant from the article so that it links better. The kicker will be a different font from the rest of the text which can incorporate the artist’s personality to the article.

Within draft number two, it has the main image on the left hand side just like the first draft but instead of having three little images on the right hand side of the page, there is only one. The image is next to the pull quote which acts as the masthead. There will still be a stand first underneath the masthead and to attract the readers to the rest of the article.

Within draft number three, the main image is on the right hand side, different from the other two drafts. The article starts on the left hand side, where you naturally read. The insert and the pull quote is used to give the consistent look from the cover and contents page, the pull quote is in the middle of the actual article, it will be a different colour and larger than the rest of the text to make it stand out and one of the first things that catches the readers eyes when they start reading the article. The stand first is used to attract the readers to the rest of the article.  

Overall draft double page spread:

The double page spreads are similar to existing magazines, having a large main image on one of the double page spread; this gives a good balance between the amount of text and images. Smaller images on the other side so it doesn’t seem like there is too much text. The kicker which will be a different font to the rest of the text will represent the artist according to their style. Using pull quote and stand first at the top of the page s it can be used as the masthead (title). Inserts within the double page spread is used to give a consistent look throughout the whole magazine, it also makes the page look fuller so that it doesn’t bore the reader with too much text or too much images that it looks cluttered.