Flat plans

front cover

This is the flat-plan of the front cover of my music magazine.  I used photoshop to create a simple design, showing where I want certain things to go.

For my color scheme, I am probably going to use one of the ideas I found in my inspiration task, most likely the following:

I decided during my inspiration task that I liked the idea of having three different shades of grey for my magazine, alongside the contrasting tones of blue and orange. I would specifically like to stray away from strong gendered colors such as pink, which is why I think grey would be effective for my magazine. I thought, however, that on its own, grey would be unlikely to attract an audience and some may find it dull, which is why I opted to use the colors blue and orange alongside it. These colors are not typically found together, which means they cannot be related to a specific brand or product (for example green and white together may make people think of Starbucks, and blue and white may draw relation to Facebook).  I think the connotations my color scheme will create will be quite formal, as the navy blue and grey are likely to crate such an impression, however the orange will add a more youthful, bold feeling to the magazine, which will appeal to my younger target audience. I think I would like my masthead to be blue and grey, along with the majority of the page, but for some of the features to have flashes of orange (eg. within shadows, gradients, outlines, strokes etc.) including my cover lines. 

Keeping with this color scheme, I would want to use a medium-shot of my model with her wearing clothes of the color scheme, possibly a navy-blue shirt and orange eye-shadow, or ginger hair. I would have my model doing a 'chocolate box' pose, as I think an invitational pose, or a romantic/sexual pose would be inappropriate for my audience. I would want my model to hold some sort of prop hinting at why she is being featured in the magazine, possibly a guitar, or a CD, to bring in my readers through an aspect of curiosity. I would make sure, however, my model would be prioritized before the props. My image would be aligned to the left of the page, so that when the magazine is stacked on a shelf, there is room within the first third for my sell lines, which are likely to grab their attention. I would finally have my model looking directly at the camera, with emphasis on her eyes being level with the eyes of the reader to draw them in.

I would like the text on my front cover to stick with two or three specific font types. One of these font types is likely to be clear, and easy to read, such as Dillenia UPC, Times New Roman, or a Sans Serif type font. As well as this, I would like a more exciting font, possibly handwritten, such as Mistral, Colors of Autumn, or TrashHand. The formal, well-read font would be used for information to be read by readers, and the handwritten font would be used for titles or highlights, but never large paragraphs of text. A third font would be used for my masthead, and I would like to use something rough and hand-written, as well as solid. This could be fonts such as DK American Grunge, or Raw Street Wall. The actual content of the text on the front cover is likely to be quite short, as the readers may be turned off by a lot of text at this point. The main emphasis would be on the image. I would include a lot of teasers within the text, hinting at what is inside without actually telling the audience too much so that they will buy the magazine with the intent of reading it. I would have my main cover-line as an enigma code, linking to the main image. I would probably use language such as "Find out how..." or "Discover why..." within my cover-lines as this language draws in the audience and includes them within the article, further encouraging them to read on. The imperative nature of the verbs "find" and "discover" will also encourage this.

My layout aims to assist readership by being somewhat simplistic, it is not overloaded with information or images so therefore will not confuse the reader, the masthead being central to the top left corner will be consistent throughout every issue which means the reader is familiar with the style. The key focal point of my magazine will be my model and main cover-line. The barcode will be in the bottom right of my page, as it is typically out of the way and doesn't draw attention from other features. I have included two banners to better organize the layout of my page, which will probably include features found within the magazine such as posters or competitions. 

Contents page

For my contents page, I would maintain a similar color scheme to that of the front cover. This consistency is likely to ensure the reader feels comfortable and is guided throughout the magazine, instead of going from the simple color scheme of the front page to something more heavy, such as bright red and yellow. To further keep with this consistency, I am likely to use the same fonts, too.
I will use a secondary image of my model here as the main feature image, again with the same color scheme, make-up probe and costume, however in this photo I would like to use a different shot-type, most likely a long or full-body shot. I would use an out of context quote alongside this image with the page number beside it, with the intention of making the reader question what the article is about. Underneath this, I plan to have two or three images of highlighted features within my magazine, specifically ones featured in cover-lines previously. The images will be significantly smaller than the main feature image and may not even be of models, and will include captions, page numbers and headings aligned to the right of the page. My main contents are to the left hand side and so the text will be aligned to correspond with this. There will be no images here, however the titles beside each page number are likely to include puns, hooks, metaphors, teasers or alliteration to draw in the reader. Underneath these titles will be a very brief description of what can be found on that page, in order to guide the reader more stylistically. The bottom left of my contents page will feature a subscription offer, to encourage my readers to subscribe to upcoming issues. The offer of a subscription tends to make the magazine seem a lot more reputable for the readership.
Finally, I chose to include a foreword, written by the producer of the magazine to thank the audience for buying and give them a hint as to what they can expect from the magazine, this tends to make the readers feel more positively as they know who has produced what they are about to read and feel personally involved within that.

double-page spread

For my double-page spread, I would like to use a different color scheme, but one that still matches what is worn by my model. I would choose to still have grey aspects, as I want this color to run throughout my magazine from beginning to end, however instead of orange and blue, I would choose to use a more vibrant color, such as red, and some darker shades of grey such as black. These colors are typically associated with my target audience who are known for wearing red and black plaid shirts, so carry connotations familiar to the readers.
My model would be positioned with a full body shot on the left page, with a pull quote surrounding her. I would have her possibly sat on a chair in front of a white background, with red lighting to match the color scheme. Beside my model would be a pull quote, using the same font as the article title. This quote would be aligned to the left and spread between the two pages. The font used would probably be something easy to read, but more stylistic than a sans serif font. Another idea I had was to use a ransom-note like font for the heading, such as Something in the Way, Metal Block Tango, or New Facebook. The front used for my body text would be very different. I would like to use Dillenia UPC for this as I find the font clear to control and read, even with a very small font size. In the middle of the body-text layout shown in the picture above, I would include a close-up shot of my model, possibly showing only half of her face, though. This will help break up the text and make it easier to follow, and make it so there isn't too much text to turn the readers off like it would had it been in a block paragraph. I would also like to use a drop cap to help signify where my readers should begin to read, which again helps to guide the reader through the article. The leading text would serve the purpose of giving a brief overview, and showing the reader what to expect. It would possibly be a bold version of the font used for the body text..