The Creation - Front Cover

I made a few different designs, using different images and fonts to play with the layout and themes. Some really didn't work and as I couldn't reuse images, I had to take more photos and used them as the front cover images.

Draft 1:

I felt this was a really interesting image as the angle was different, it was quite a personal close up and eye contact is included. However, when adding the text, it seemed like a musicians magazines, for articles of how to play instruments or generally just too classical. I left this idea behind and tried different images.

Draft 2:

I also found this image interesting as it was quite unique due to the instrument obscuring part of the face. I felt this could link to Eloise hinding away in her computer, however, I just didn't feel the image was strong enough and looked quite peculiar against the other pages in progress. I decided to move on to the newer photos that I had taken with a front cover image in mind.

Draft 3:

I really liked this photo as it really shows power, and a rock genre well. It is a low angle shot and quite uncommon for magazines on shelves today. I applied the font that we had decided on to the page and felt this classic rock style and mojo combination really worked with the image.

Draft 4:

This was another attempt at including the original photos. I really liked the positioning of this one, with the figure to the side and a large empty space for lots of text to be added. I felt that if this were to be a front cover, that font didn't work as well, and it would also be difficult to find a place for the main coverline to reside. Therefore, I returned to draft 3 but due to this image being used as the contents page, I wanted to change the font so it matched on both pages and didn't look weird.

Draft 4:

I used the grid font here as it was the font that fitted with the contents page well and therefore the front cover and contents would then be matching. I took the colours from the background out and used then to fill in the coverlines. I mixed this with white, rather than black as this created a softer and less overpowering look. There is quite a lot of teal here though and many people suggested that more colours need to be introduced, such as taking the red and yellow from the top and using them somehow.

Teacher comments:

• less outlines of fonts- looks like wordart
  
• include website
  
• Q&A- linkit to coverline above
  
• try to make the sub-genre clear

Draft 5:

For this draft, I took the red and yellow but also the brown to use a boxes and fonts. The boxes were pulled from a couple of issues of Mojo where they may the page seem much more organised (and I felt that mine need this). This page has too much colour and is too busy though.

Final Draft:

After taking on those comments, I produced this. I used the greys pulled from the jumper and the red and yellow as the main coverline. The banner at the top and bottom create a house style that can be used in more issues and creates customer familiarity. As there seemed to be a gap in the top left corner, I added 'The' vertically to fill the gap and balance the top section with the rest of the page. I feel the tone, images and fonts really create an effectic cover that catched readers' eyes and targets the teenage-early adult ages years.

I will collect extra feedback on the magazine to see where it could be improved and what the audience think of it.

The Creation - Contents Page

Whilst creating my DPS, I started to create my contents page, however had to edit photos as I changed the images that I would be using in my DPS.

Draft 1:

Originally, I wanted to use this image for my contents page, but due to it being used by my double page spread, I had to find another to take its place. This position of image, though, was very versitile and could be used on almost any page.

Draft 2:

This was a plan, taken from the 2nd DPS draft. I really like the soft colours and was trying to produce a page that brought across Eloise Smith's elegant side, however, it felt to female for my wide teenage audience.

Final draft:

I really liked Mojo's impressive, powerful contents pages, featuring an artist who is interviewed later on. They were usually single or group shots but they were very striking and I felt this way, or one with many smaller pictures to make a collage, was the way to go.

This is quite a big jump, as I forgot to copy and resave my work, so this is the final product I came up with. I edited this image to make it striking and allow room for the text to move around it. I really like this outcome as I find the image is really strong and really finished the whole page off. Mojo's contents pages heavly inspired this piece but I took my own take on it with the fonts and the colour choices. It is also busier than MOjo's usually are, suggesting the teenage audience.

I really liked Mojo's impressive, powerful contents pages, featuring an artist who is interviewed later on. They were usually single or group shots but they were very striking and I felt this way, or one with many smaller pictures to make a collage, was the way to go.

Teacher's comments:

• maybe too many fonts- cut them down

(have acted on this for my final piece and changed the 'contents' to the same font as 'features' and 'regulars')

The Creation - DPS

I decided to start with the double page spread as I had quite a few different ideas that I wanted to try out and I felt that if made this one first, it would give me some ideas, a colour scheme and general theme for the front cover and contents page.

After looking at the Mojo DPS (it was my main inspiration) I felt the photo needed to be the main feature. It needed to stand out and make a statement for that artist.

First draft:

Here I was experimenting with the composition of images and the colours that could be used. I used this font as I wasn't able to download my chosen one on the school computers and this fitted well. I really like this combination of images. These haven't been edited yet but I hope I can include them as they are quite serene and go really well with the personality of the musician in my article. I didn't complete this page as I had many ideas on the go and felt my next one was more effective.

Draft 2:

This is my second draft. I really liked this image and felt that by placing it to the side, it would provide that strong single image that works well in the other magazines. (However, I would have liked to use this image for the contents and maybe front cover as well, but we all know that isn't possible...) This page is a bit of a mess as I was still experimenting with ways of extending the wall to the other page to create a background. The first draft had a preset publisher background, but I wanted to create my own so I took a strip from the top of this image and pasted it more times on the first page.

Draft 3:

This draft includes the font that I wanted to use and was popular on my feedback. The text goes off the page here, but these are the columns that I want to have and have produced pull quotes to break up the text more. I have also started to add font capital letters to the start of certain paragraphs.

Teacher's comments:

• Eloise Smith- add a headline
  
• Maybe one more colour for capital letters (in font) and pull quotes.

Final draft:

I took the advice of my class and teacher and produced my final draft of the double page spread. I had to blur the background more than I already had as the text was a tad hard to read. I included red pull quotes in the same font as the title and added in an extra caption to engage the attention of the reader. As I mentioned earlier, I managed to include that selection of edited photos. This allowed me to include a variety of images and break up the text neatly and interestingly.

I will get more feedback on this final page and see how opinions have changed and see what else my target audience think could be improved.

The Creation - DPS article

Using the notes from my planning, I created this article in a similar style to the Corrine Bailey Rae article.

Eloise Smith:

She’s been hiding away in the comfort of the interweb for 5 years, only surfacing for air and a little community fun. Will this independent artist be able to spread her music by word of mouth alone?

This year, Bath has the privilege of Eloise Smith opening the summer festival. She has always preferred to sit back and enjoy this time of year, keeping her musical talents at home, but with the sun casting down a spotlight for her, she has decided to take up the challenge.

We met in a tiny, softly lit coffee shop, just down a path from the main shops in the centre of Bath. A smaller ice cream shop sits opposite, a little to the left, but no noise can be heard other than the muffled bustle from the cobbled paths. A strangely pure scent of coffee beans reaches my nose, different to the Costa scent; it’s more refreshing. Eloise declares this is one of the reasons she loves it here: ‘I’ve been coming here for years! All through secondary school, this would be the place I would come and write songs rather than doing homework. It’s such a natural and inspiring place.’

Eloise Smith, usually referred to as ‘Éloise’, has been a member and contributor of MySpace since she was 16 and recorded her first track in her bedroom on a Saturday afternoon with the sounds of a hoover and a cat meowing evident in the background. ‘Getting some peace and quiet when you have 2 little brothers is a tad difficult; us singers just have to make do!’ ‘Bonjour’ was released on Myspace, her #2 hangout (after this coffee shop) and was greatly received by other experimental artists and newcomers. This led to her other culturally inspired tracks to create her very first album ‘Footsteps’ which was sold for 5 quid on Amazon.

‘I loved creating that album. The songs sum up my childhood, travelling around Europe with my parents. Grandmère originally came from France and we visit her all the time, hence the French inspired lyrics.’ She smiles at the memory of her Grandmother and takes a sip from her hazelnut latte. Today, Eloise is sporting her very natural, quirky style with a flattering, patterned flowing dress and scuffed, tan, oxford flats (both of which look vintage). Her short brown hair waves at her shoulders and her face holds an expression of delight. ‘I’m so excited for today! These festivals are so fun; I will have two or three performances all around town!’

The Bath festival takes place over 3 days, all over the centre. A stage is set up outside the cathedral in the square, stalls line the streets and the parks are filled with more stages and picnic goers. There are different events on throughout the day and all of Bath’s talents come to surface. Music is a very large part of this and many new artists give it a go, whilst top artists are called to perform. As Eloise has been living in Bath for so long, she is asked every year if she would perform, but has always refused ‘I was always so used to sitting back and enjoying the music, I wanted to keep my music online. Though I knew people liked it there, it’s different performing in front of people you consider to be your family’.

As she continues to inform me about her childhood in Bath, a delightful sound reached my ears, accompanied with a soft, trippy beat. Eloise laughs and blushes slightly: ‘They must have seen me come in. They have personally asked for some of my more lounge style tracks to play in here. It’s really flattering, but also quite embarrassing when I’m in here.’ Eloise creates all her own music, playing her own instruments and using her beloved keyboard to play out her initial ideas and record, and her guitar to perform. As she sits opposite, she has her guitar propped up beside her: ‘I could never leave it in the hands of someone else. If it ever broke or was lost, I don’t know what I would do… we have been through so much!’

Glancing at her worn watch, she starts, realising that it is almost time for her to perform. ‘I get so nervous before performing! It takes me an hour or so to calm down’. She firmly places her guitar under her arm and gestures for me to follow her out of the coffee shop. She pauses at the door, saying her goodbyes to the owner and is informed that they will be there to support her later. ‘Everyone around here is so supportive and friendly. I’d never have been able to last this long’.

Her first performance is on the small stage set up by the cathedral. Picnic blankets are laid out, festival goers lounging around, waiting for the show to begin. Eloise makes her way up onto the stage, setting up her beloved instrument and chatting to a young man with a keyboard. She sees my confused expression and chuckles, explaining to me as I wait by the side of the stage. ‘This is Mark. He’s an amazing pianist and has been wanting to perform for ages and asked if he could help me out. Of course I agreed, I’ve been performing alone for so long, a collab with someone is great!’ She glances behind her again, and leans towards me, ‘Just wait till you here him sing!’ She laughs and continues setting up.

Approximately an hour later, just enough time for Eloise to calm down, she gathered the attention of the festival goers and welcomed them. Her nervous attire won the crowd’s laughter and she quickly moved on to introducing Mark and her forthcoming performance. Soon, the crowd’s mumbling grew quite and a clean cut sound of an acoustic guitar filled the air. Eloise’s voice sung gently over, accompanied by the keyboard, adding an electro edge to a pure and meaningful song. It was such a pleasure listening to such unique music. She has said to be compared to the likes of Portishead and Imogen Heap, but in reality, she is on another level.

I followed her around for the rest of the day. She flittered from person to person, chatting and laughing. We made are way to each of the stages, Mark following close behind, and Eloise sung her heart out each time. ‘It’s such a thrill performing in different places. The audiences are completely different, even though it’s the same place… if that makes sense!’ As we pass the tiny ice cream shop again, she runs inside, ordering 3 largely topped cones. Moving on, we pass all the little stalls and she stops at the music one, nestled in the corner behind a lamppost. She picks up a few vinyl, Pink Floyd and Ultravox were on the top. ‘I love these guys! 70s and 80s was a great period of music. Ultravox was where I got my beat.’ She hands over some money and walks away with her newly bought goods. ‘Can’t wait to crack out the old player and get these guys playing again.’

After the last performance of the day, and another two days to go once everyone had finally dispersed from the streets, we find ourselves back in that teeny coffee shop, a relaxing coffee in our hands. ‘Finishing the day here is almost as good as starting it.’ She sips for coffee and contemplates telling me something. ‘I’ve always wanted to open my own coffee shop, just like this. In a corner I would have a mini stage where local artists could play and we’d have special days of karaoke or other events.’ She laughs. ‘Music is all about the community and the sounds. If you have both, then everything will sound fantastic.’

Feedback:

• Nice tone, fits well with the story.
• Believable considering you had to make it up.
• Interesting- the photos match her personality.

(I forgot to save drafts here so this is the finished version. I reread it through many times and made changes to allow it to fit in with the layout of the page).

Editing Photos

After finishing the photos, I went to edit them and decided to use Paint.NET to do this, rather than Photoshop. I have been using paint.net for a while to edit photos and use for drawings so I was quite confident with the functions whereas I was less confident with photoshop and the tools there, even though I had use it quite a bit.

I wanted the images to be impressive and artistic looking as this was going to be a very artistic magazine and good pictures always support the good artists.

Mojo's photo style is slightly cooler looking, not highly saturated and contrasts, but a there is usually a subtle look to them. Q, however, uses high contrast images that are sharp and have a bigger impact and Uncut uses classic images with black and white features.

I liked the subtle style, so on the front cover I decreased the saturation. This gave it a softer look and made the red and yellow in the hoodie stand out even more. By increasing the contrast, the greys looked less the same and more variety was brought out. Before doing this however, I used the lasso tool to draw around the figure and pasted this into a new layer. I then blurred the background to make the figure stand out and emphasise the imposing angle of the shot.

For the image on the contents page, I increased the contrast and tweeked the levels to make the background darker and mke the figure stand out against the black. I decreased the saturation again so give the subtle effect and made the guitar less imposing on the page.To make the image stand out, I used the lasso tool again to draw around the figure and paste onto a new layer, then blurring the background so it wasn't so clear.

The double page spread photo was edited in a similar way to the other images. I decreased the stauration and increased he contrast. I wanted the blues to stand out against the grey wall so edited the levels to create this look. I liked the grey wal as a background for the entire double page, but it was too textured so I cut around the figure and pasted it onto a new layer, then blurred the background to give it a softer edge that would make the text readable if placed on top of it.

These images were evetually used on the DPS, however, I experimented a lot with them before editing to see where they would fit best; on the contents, front or double page. I increased the contrast but didn't decrease the saturation of these as I really like the brightness of the colours and their summery contrast against the darker images. Positioned together, these image work really well together. The same costume compliments and the close-ups feel quite intimate whilst the soft colours and tones make them quite innoccent.

Photoshoot

Photoshoot plan:

I had a few ideas for the photoshoot before setting off to take photos, but I prefer working with my surroundings and going with the flow, but I would always have a plan in my head. Above are some ideas that I had for images, however I didn't end up taking them, but chose a different style as this weren't possible in the time I had.

I asked a few friends to come and help me with my shoot, but by the time be got round to it, it was too dark and not enough lighting was present to create some good photos. Therefore, I had to reschedule and decided to use my other friend whose garden was quite large and her house very light and airy.

Abs:

For this shoot, I wanted to take the photos of Eloise Smith, who originally was an electro/folk artist, but due to the product of the photos, is now a folk/alternative singer.

Inside:

I asked her to dress in summer clothes (as I had set the article in summer) and wanted a really natural look to her. I didn't want her to pose too much as I felt candid shots would capture more intense and intriguing images.

These were the first shots taken. I love the colours that are present here; the blue, whites, beige and the natural tan of her skin. The light source is generally from one side, which creates a nice contrast and highlights on her skin and clothes and with editing, will show up nicely. In the mid shot, I wanted to positon her to the side of the frame, leaving space for her to look into and space for text, if need be. I used a high angle shot here to capture the movement of her playing the guitar without it being straight on. I like this angle as it seems as if she is concentrating and is really into the music. The other shots are a variety of close up shots. I really enjoyed taking these as it is difficult getting the focus right and the products are really flattering. I really like how I've incorporated the lines of the guitar into diagonals and the use of colours to frame a shot.

Some of these images would look nice as a selection as they all compliment each other well.

Outside:

These shots were taken just outside Abs's house, against her white stone wall. I had her change her clothes here to vary the colours and show that this is a different mood to the last.

These are my two favourite shots from outside. I love the space that surrounds her in her position slightly off centre. The both provide and show her character and carefree personality. The blues and greys are working well together and though there isn't much lighting here, it can be edited and lightened. The mid-long shots here would be good for any of the pages, really, as they could be adapted easily to fit them all.

These photos are close ups of her face. We were experimenting with using the guitar against her face and how these photos would turn out.

The first three seem quite musician-y whilst I really like the fourth. In the centre of the frame, it shows character and personality, and considering that her face is hidden, a lot is shown about her, even though not much of her, physically is shown. These shots would be good for smaller shots and the article.

Bench:
Here we moved up to the top of the garden to the bench, where I look some high angled shots of Abs, some candid, others not.

I think the contrast between her dark clothes and the guitar is important here as it emphasises the music, rather her being just a random person being written about. I especially like the second and fourth images as the engle in intriging, the lighting is flattering and the positioning against the pole frames the shot.

These were some extra ones that I liked.

I love the detail of the second image and how the eye looks past her body and to the point of the guitar. I like the comical effect of the first image but I am not sure where it would be use within the magazine.

Jack:

After looking through the images taken of Abs, I realised that I did't really have enough variety in my shots and I needed another person to include, otherwise is would be Eloise all the way through the issue.

I chose to use Jack as he has a lot of character and is quite confident and I felt this could be transferred into the images. When shooting these, I had a front cover shot in mind (as the first lot didn't produce one that I could use) so we shot a lot of long-mid shots of Jack and (again) a guitar (but no strings this time as it was from the art dept.)

I really like these low angle shots as they show him to be confident, powerful, superior a d his stance, with the feet apartm seems quite definate. These were taken inside the school, but I really like how the border of the building matches his trousers and a teal colour mixed with grey is seem through all the images. I especially like the

These shots were less effective as they didn't include the nice levels and structure like the others did. However, I do really like how his personality comes across in these and also the focus point on the last image. It is really eye-catching and is intriguing.



With all of these photos, I tried to vary the angles and shot distances as well as position them differently in the frame. Perhaps because Abs was shorter, that the high angle shots worked better for her and low angle shots worked better for tall Jack.

I will try and include a selection of the images here in the magazine and hopefully the photographic style of these shots is similar enough to create a house style through my magazine.

Planning

Double Page Spread:

Interview Questions:

What kind of year have you had?
What music are you listening to at the moment?
How long have you been involved in music?
Has where you live effected your music?
Plans for your next album?
How did you form your name?
How do you guys know each other?
Are you pleased with the success of your single?
After looking at some editorial style features in Mojo, I decided it would be more interesting to go towards this style. I really like writing in descriptions and felt that a questions and answer article wouldn't have enough detail.

I asked some other sixth formers which style article they would prefer reading and most replied with saying they prefered the Q&A style as they can't be bothered to read the longer ones. However, I much prefer to more indpeth articles where you find out about the artist, their past and their future and little bits of their life that they have chosen to share rather than being asked to share. These tend to show that the writer has done their research and a closer relationship with the artist.

Double page spread planning:

Types of Bands:
• Young folk with an edge –5 quid CD with 7 tracks sold on Amazon.
-Been around for a while online surfaced after live gig.
• New punk/alternative band
• Old soloist- resurfaced/trippy techno
• Electro/alternative style

Double page genre:
• Article about artist
• About interview and life
• Interview
• Review
• Playlists

Plan:
• Softly lit coffee shop- small arm chair
• Fresh scent of coffee beans and sweet cakes- latte and fairy cake
• Before a small concert in the small town festival
• Independent artists- creates own tracks solo with her own instruments and overlays her own voice- keyboard is her favourite to use
• Own website
• No record lable
• Friendly, quirky
• Lots of small gigs, festivals, some pub gigs in the area
• Electro style with eerie voice, subtle meanings and a pleasant sound
• A blend of Echo Slightly and Portishead with a dash of Sarah Slean and Imogen Heap
• Sitting across from her, her hands wrapped securely around her hazelnut latte, our eyes avert upwards as one of her songs floated softly from the mismatched speakers dotted around the room. She smiles. ‘They must have seen me come in. I know this town well and this place has bought my more lounge-style CDs.’
• Jazzy electro indie style, female vocalist
• ‘One of my recent achievements was getting a page on last.fm. I always looked on there, found interesting artists and engaged with other users, but now I am someone people will look for. Who needs a record label when you’re on there?’
• First track released on Myspace, with the sounds of the hoover and a cat meowing in the background. ‘Yeah, I was 16 at the time and getting some peace and quiet was a tad difficult’.
• Summer festival in full swing, a small stage was set up on the large grassy area in the epicentre of the village shops. Small, make-shift,
• Eloise Smith- had French grandmother.
• Bath?
Studies at Bath Uni. – living with friends in rented house, family nearby

Quotes:
• ‘I don’t mind being unknown; there is something special about being a community star.’
• ‘Myspace is great. It has been my home for the past 5 years.’
• Keyboard next to her- ‘Couldn’t bear losing this baby [pats keyboard] We’ve been through so much [laughs]’

Layouts:

I have combined different positioning of images here with the different styles of presenting the pages, eg central on the first, but changing on the second and using a collection of images instead of one strong one.
I really like the ones which have one strong image, however, to be able to include a variety of shots, I would have to include more. I also experiment with the different wasy of presenting the title and the introductory paragraph. I quite like the central one as it brings the focus to the centre, and with a strong image underneath or on the other page, this would be really effective.


Contents: Layouts

These sketches of layout and composition plans were inspired by the magazines that I have analysed previously. (Click on image to zoom in and see some of the annotation). I have drawn in where the images would be, however, am not sure what these will be yet. These designs combine a mixture of layouts from the mags. I have used the multiple photo collage effect on the second layout, whilst on the first I have used the more minimal look, including only one image and centring the page.

I will be using these plans a guiudlines but depending on the photos depends on which layout I will use. I tend to base my pages heavly around the images (which probably isn't best as this means it is likely to not have a house style, but this method works best for me).

Front Cover:

Most of my front cover plans were started on publisher and evolved from those small plans. I deid draw these basic plans though, but they are very rough and I very much prefer to work around my images so will wait until then to stick to one design.

These designs play with the positioning of coverlines, plugs\puffs and masthead.

Planning:

Headlines-

• Eloise Smith... the face & voice behind the computer screen.
  
• The Pow- their/his fight to the top.
  
• Sarah Slean- her chill picks.
  
• New! Edge's top albums that you want to hear!
  

The Name:

When thinking of some names, I only really came up with a few, snappy, one syllable names that would work for my magazine.

The Edge/Edge
Mix
Or other play on words.

When I asked others about what they think would work for my genre, they agreed that 'The Edge' would work well. It's catchy, simple and rememberable. With this title, I had also worked out a tagline:
'Bringing you all the latest music, with an edge'
which basically summed up what my magazine was about.

I used dafont.com to find some fonts that I thought would work as the masthead. As I don't know what my front cover image will be yet, the font will obviously have to go with it or it won't look right.

I asked for my group's opinion on which would work best. I personally favoured 2 and 3 but felt each was unique and would work well if the right photo was picked.

Most agreed that 2 was the best and gave a classic and a similar 'Mojo' style. Therefore I used this one to apply to my layouts and used it as the basis for choosing which images would be used.

EDIT: Although the 2nd font was favoured, I was using the photo of Jack for the front and Abs for the contents and decided that will this combination, the 3rd font would look better. I really like the grid effect and how this would create a structure in the layout of the magazine.