FRONT COVER
This is the original photo I captured. I asked my model to wear a hat, as hats seem to be less common to wear- presenting her as an individual therefore representing indie music, as it is unique. I suggested the polka dot shirt as I think this item of clothing is quite quirky again a quality possessed by the genre of my magazine.
I opened the image on Photoshop and adjusted the brightness and contrast. I did not feel the need to crop of adjust the size as I found the empty space around would leave area for text. I then got rid of the red eye by eliminating the red by selecting channel mixer, coloured over with black then inverted to get this result.
I then added a masthead 'Euphony' which is defined as " pleasing effect to the ear, especially a pleasant sounding or harmonious combination or succession of word" by dictionary.com I think this title works well as it is not a word that everyone is likely to be familiar with and is different, representing indie music. I used the font 'myraid pro' as I think it is quite bold yet also narrow in some areas which I think is quite interesting, for example the crossbar of the letter 'h' is thinner than the stem. I added effects to this text such as bevel and emboss creating a shiny 3D like appearance. I also added a stroke and slight drop shadow effect, the stroke sort of outlined the text whilst the drop shadow gave a slight blurred effect.
I gave my artist an average name so it was believable.
Again i added a stroke and slight drop shadow to make this text stand out from the rest. I used terms such as 'reveals' 'new' and 'exclusive' to create excitement for the reader. 'Reveals' suggests that the artist is finally giving us information. 'New' obviously states that she is presenting the readers with something new to listen to- which is what they would want as fans of indie music. I used a range of font sizes to clearly emphasise importance of certain parts of the text.
I think this placement works well as the tilt of her head and text working around this shows a relationship between the two.
I added the issue number and date below the masthead to the left as from my research I found that this is a common feature of magazines. Another feature I found was common was the use of text across the main person on the cover often a quote. I presented this text in italics and a different font as this often suggests that these are somebody else's words. I added two features from the magazine to the right of the page working around the artist signifying her importance. I chose words such as 'you' and 'your' as I found that these terms connect with the reader. At the bottom I added more features from the magazine, the list like structure from the Spin magazine research influenced this as I think it worked well communicating areas of the contents without revealing too much.
CONTENTS
I began by opening up the image of a floral background a photo of which I captured some wallpaper. I think this floral background works well in representing indie genre as floral is linked to vintage style which is often associated with 'hipsters' which often listen to indie music. I had previously edited the image of the artist in Photoshop by cutting out the entire background using the polygonal lasso tool carefully working around her. I also flipped her so she was facing the left so she would link to the text effectively. I think the view of the shoes is significant as they show off the artist's sense of style, as you can see they are large platforms, which are quite unique and out of the ordinary, unique items of clothing like this are what I would expect to see readers of this magazine wearing.
I enhanced the contrast and brightness of both images so that it did not look so dull. I added a simple heading 'contents' in a colour similar to the colours of the background. I added effects such as stroke and a drop shadow so that it had an impact on the page and a clear outline. I placed this text to the right of the page to work with image, as this was not central either.
I added a sub-heading 'features' in bold capitals so that it could stand out. The page number and heading of each page are bolder and in a slightly larger font so that they stand out allowing the reader to identify the most important information without having to read the entire text. The following information is slightly bold in order for it to stand out from the background. I also added a thick line below 'features' again to show importance, it is in the same shade as the heading 'contents' enabling them to link. The numbers are not incorporated in the text and stand out quite a bit, I find this helps the eye focus on the page that links to what headings making it easier for readers to flick to whatever page quickly.
I created a fake album cover by capturing an image of my old art work of a train track, I then added text on top and a shadow around it so it was visible on the dark background. I added a black border around this so it was more visible.
DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD
I chose to work from this image on the double page spread, ideally I would have liked it to be taken a little further back so that i had more space to write around, spreading the image across the entire page. Again there is an essence linking to the indie genre- the floral chair also signifies a vintage appeal, linking the type of people that would read this magazine. I think the use of the guitar as a prop immediately suggests the sound of the artist's music- perhaps an acoustic approach. I think the view of festival bands confirm that the artist is a fan of music supporting the quote "My music is my everything" as it shows that music means a lot to her.
I found that the image I wanted to use was too small therefore i extended the left side in order for the image to be suitable to fit across the whole page. I began by using the clone stamp tool to extend to floor and coving yet I found it was quite uneven so I used the polygonal lasso tool to capture an area and repeatedly paste it in the right place. I also had to extend the wall, I did this by using the colour sampler tool to extract the same colour, yet due to the lighting the shade got darker towards my model so I had to slightly fade the colour out by selecting a darker shades.
I added a heading in the font vijaya as i think it looks quite elegant. I chose an off-white colour to fill this as i think it goes with the image well. I think the statement heading is effective as i have repeated the term 'my' emphasising the idea that this interview is concentrated on the artist.
I added a sub heading to inform the readers, describing the content of the interview. I chose a shade harmonious with the background colour to help them link.
I then added the interview text; I began with an introducing paragraph since this is a new artist. Inspired by the magazine research I placed a drop cap at the beginning of this paragraph to make it appear shorter. I used contrasting black and white and switches between italics and regular so that the readers could easily establish the interviewers questions and the artist's answers. I placed the text around the artist so that she possessed the greatest importance. Even though this text is written I attempted to phrase the text how it would have been spoken, for example the use of repetition "Everything. Literally everything." And the filler "Well, actually", making the interview seem more realistic. Below the end of the interview, I placed a name in capital which is the writer's name, I used the same shade as the sub-heading for this as I think too many colours would make it look messy. Towards the bottom right of the page I placed information on how to buy tickets again to make the interview concepts realistic.
