Planning: Contents page update I

Today I started my contents page. (I've nearly finished my article and front cover) It was quite hard to start my contents page for I have no images for it yet and I plan to take some tomorrow night so I can put them onto my contents page on Thursday. I restarted it many times because i couldn't get that clean, crisp and smart look I was wanting and it often looked quite tacky. So i stopped putting boxes and shapes into it and kept it simple, a red, white and black colour scheme with a few lines to separate them and personally I think it is starting to look quite good. I hope to finish it by the end of the week / the end of Fridays lesson.

Planning: Front cover update IV

Today I carried on with my front cover, I was planning on finishing it today but as I looked over it again I noticed that a couple of things needed changed because a lot of the things on the cover started to look repetitive and crammed together. I noticed my main headline (for the double page spread) was smaller than the other headings which wasn't right, to when I made it bigger it didn't look right and everything was quite tight. So I got rid of the other big headings and replaced them with smaller ones which in the end turned out better because there was more space for everything to breathe and generally looked better. The small changes definitely make a difference. Im expecting to finish it by tomorrow. I also started my double page spread today and only have about 400 words left to do, I am planning to start my contents page on Monday also. And this weekend I am going to take some more photos, one for my secondary image on my front cover, some for the contents page and some for the double page spread.

Here is my cover so far:

Planning: Front cover update III

I've made a lot of progress on my front cover today, I started putting some articles and headings on the front cover to fill it up. I spent alot of time messing around with simple things like shapes and colours but it has been pretty effective. I've nearly finished it, I expect to be finished by tomorrow. I just need to take one more photo to put on the cover to fill out the big gap in the bottom left hand corner.

Planning: Front cover update II

I put my image on my front cover today, I also put the image into pixlr and altered the colours and made myself in the photo black and white on the coloured background. It looks very effective and helps portray the hard rock look I am going for. I'm still altering the masthead colours and I'm yet to start putting articles, headings and other features on the front cover for I am currently writing my article.

Planning: Edited Image (Front Cover 1)

This is the main image for the whole magazine for it is the main image on the front cover and basically sets out the vibe and theme for the whole magazine. I took it late at night behind some shops on-top of some old crates and boxes so the whole urban background really helped. Because the theme of my magazine is hard rock I had to make the main image represent that, and I believe I did. I was wearing a shirt, boots, ripped jeans and a leather jacket to try and get an authentic rock look and was also holding a fake cigarette also for that can be related to the hard rock style. Then I put the photo into Pixlr and made myself black and white, it links in with the article on the model and how he could be seen as an outcast. And the black and white also matches with my magazines colour scheme, and dark colours in general could be related to rock music.

Planning: Edited Images (Double page spread)

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I used Pixlr for this photo aswell, I wanted to get an old photograph style so I tried various different filters and borders until I found the perfect fit. I also edited around the two models, blurring some areas and altering the brightness and saturation.

Planning: Edited Images (Contents)

This was the photo that was taken from my contents page, I put it into Pixlr and played around with various different filters and effects to get the final product, shown above.

Planning: Original photos (Double Page Spread)

 This photo is featured in the double page spread of my magazine. This photo was taken a few months ago in a friends flat in Leeds. It is me (right) and my friend Thomas (left) in the photo. I was very happy with this photo because it looks like it had been edited or a filter has been added, when in-fact nothing has been done to this photo. We were standing over a floor light so the glare was caught in the photo which adds that light effect coming from the left hand side and also the light shining on our faces.

Planning: Original Photos (Front Cover 2)

This photo was taken before school at the bus stop early in the morning. It is featured on the front cover of my magazine, the alter ego for the model is called 'Underdog' which is stated on the front cover. I had my model smoking a cigarette because it matches with the hard rock theme of my magazine.

Planning: Original Photos (Contents Image)

This photo was taken in a bus stop at about 1 in the morning, and I believe it goes well with the hard rock style I am going for. Long hair, looking away from the camera facing the floor which could represent anger, dark clothes, and the bottle in my hand is a beer bottle filled with apple juice (Which I will explain in my evaluation). I was lucky on the night, it was foggy so that really enhanced the photo, and the street-light in the background also adds to the urban look.

Planning: Original photos (Front Cover)

I recently took some photo's for my magazine. I only took a couple for the cover but I still need to take some photos for the contents page and the double page spread. I am going to get a couple of friends to help me out by taking the photo's an featuring in them. I took some last night for the cover then narrowed them down to the one that I will eventually use on the actual cover, and in today's lesson I put the image on my cover and started messing around with the titles to see what color looks best. It was quite hard to find a good color for the masthead because it kept blending in with the background and every-time I found a bright enough color it looked un-professional. Also the quality of the photo was not great so I may consider re-taking it for it was taken on my phone.

Here is the photo I currently have on my cover, I may change it in the future with a better quality one. The theme of my magazine is hard rock so I tried to keep with the theme as much as i could, boots, ripped jeans, leather jacket, shirt and a cigarette. Also it is important to take mis en scene into consideration, everything else in the photo except from the person featured in it. I tried to take it in a rather urban, gritty place and I think taking it on the boxes and pallets was the best place I could find, also the night-time effect really helps make it look dark and gritty.

On our magazines, we have to have four of our own photos included. So I am planning on taking some more photos I'm also looking for other models to pose in photos.

Planning: Comparison to preliminary work. (SO FAR)

I want to show the difference between my preliminary cover and my current cover that I am still working on it but I am mainly looking at the masthead and how much cleaner and professional it is. As you can clearly see there is not too much on my new cover, but already it looks far better than the finished preliminary cover. Over the next few weeks and when I start taking my own photos it will really start to look professional and come into its own.

Current Cover

Preliminary Cover

Planning: Front Cover Update I

Today I looked at multiple different magazine covers to try and get some ideas for my own. Though I have not really added too much onto it and I am still only doing the mast-head / top section of the page it is really starting to look proffesional and something consumers and my target audience would want to buy. Even simple little things like shapes, lines and altering colours can make a really big difference. Magazines like 'Rolling Stone' have been a very big influence. I'm trying to throw the themes of Kerrang and Rolling Stone into a blender to get the best of both worlds. Smart and simple, but also with that dar, gritty, hard rock edge.