Music magazine Production PowerPointBy Jessica Batch

FLAT PLANS

The rough flat plans that I used to design the magazine on power point. As you can see from the flat plans and the final result I have kept to the original designs and layout.

MASTHEAD DESIGNS

I used Photoshop to experiment with different styles of text to create my magazine masthead.Originally I used the first design on the cover. (I used a rubber tool to create the broken faded effect.) However after I had printed the page and had a look I found it didn’t look right and after placing the last experiment on the cover I found it made it look much more professional.

PHOTO SHOOT

Here is a selection of images that I took at the photo shoot for the magazine.I took a total of nearly 200 photos as i wanted to experiment with different angles lighting , expressions etc. I had previously planned what i wanted the ‘band’ to wear and i also done their hair and make-up for the shoot.I eventually chose eight images for the front cover, contents page and DPS.The majority i turned to black & white and adjusted the brightness and contrast on photoshop.

FRONT COVER PRINT-SCREENSI started the front cover with the masthead as this is one of the most vital parts of the front cover.After i had done my experiments and knew which design/font i was going with i created each letter on a separate layer so i would be able to control and adjust the distance between them and where they were individually placed on the page.

I then proceeded to add my main front cover image. I knew i wanted the image to be the focal part of the front cover so i decided to use the whole image and create a more ‘poster style’ cover where the image is displayed over the whole of the front cover.I changes the colour to black and white and also adjusted the brightness and contrast to five the image slightly more contrast and depth.

Then using the brush tool, on a separate layer, i created the border for the strapline at the bottom of the page. I then added in names of artists/bands that i wanted to feature in the magazine.

I those this image for my front cover and i think it is really striking. The angle of the models works well as well as the expression.

FRONT COVER PRINT-SCREENSOn separate layers i created the background and boxes for the pull quote, keeping with the monochrome theme i added a grey background for some contrast.I used the ‘stroke’ effect on ‘exclusive’ to make it stand out more.

‘Night Is Young’ the band name is the only use of colour on the front cover.I decided to put this in colour is makes it very eye-catching, also as they are the main feature it would be a big part of the selling features for this issue. Visually is also appealing as it links nicely with the colour scheme.

Here is the finished front cover ..

CONTENTS PAGE PRINT-SCREENSThis is the start of the contents page..I added the image and chose where to position it, i then adjusted the brightness slightly because the image felt too dark. Then, because i wanted the image to spread across the width of the page, to prevent the image from stretching, i used the clone stamp tool to make the image cover the page.For the contents font, i kept ‘STRUM’ the same but changed ‘contents’ into the opposite colour scheme as i thought this would be interesting and i think it has worked well.

Here as the image was covering the width of the page , there wasn't a way i could get the model’s hair to cover the text. However i selected the same image and, using the magnetic lasso tool i cut around the top of the hair and added it over the text layer, i then just tidies up the edges with the rubber tool.

CONTENTS PAGE PRINT-SCREENSAfter i had finished with the image on the content page, i went onto adding the pull quote which i turned red to again make it more noticeable as it is the lead article.I used the same brush to create the separating line as i did on the front cover as this would help keep the house style. I created separate layers to make the dividing lines for each article. I used the same brush as before and shrunk it down to create the background for the page numbers which i later added on making them white so i had the white on black effect with it quite striking. After this was all set out and i was happy with it, i began to add in the articles starting with the cover artists first and working from there.

DPS PRINT-SCREENS

I downloaded a Polaroid brush from ‘PS Brushes’ to create this effect on my DPS.I rotated each layer to five it the angled result. I then selected 6 images from the shoot and turned them black & white and added them to the Polaroid stamps.

I again used a brush effect from PS Brushes to create the border. I used a softer focus and changed the colour from black to grey to create amore soft ‘old’ effect which i thinks accentuated the Polaroid's and gives the overall theme more authenticity.

Finished result..

DPS PRINT-SCREENS

I started with the name of the band. I used quite a basic font as i wanted to keep with the simplistic design. I also think it makes it clear and easy to read, on a separate layer i created the line to go underneath the name.I then created a ‘subheading’ to draw the readers attention and make them want carry on to read the whole interview.

I then proceeded onto the article, creating separate layers for each question and answer, this enabled me to move the text around to position it where i wanted it and have more control over where it was placed.You can see the almost finished result to the right..