Frustrations of the Contents Page

The contents page took around 6-7 hours to make, including taking the pictures, and I had a few problems along the way. There were a some 'OH MY GOD WHY IS THIS NOT WORKING!' moments, but more often than not these would be resolved within ten minutes, or I had gotten to annoyed and decided to do something else. One thing that was very annoying was making the page numbers for the two main articles at the the top of the page. The shapes kept deforming and the font would keep changing colour. Even the font wouldn't do what I wanted it to. It took me about 45 minutes to sort it out, and I really don't want to change it again. Apart from that I had no big problems to hinder my progress.

ALMOST THERE!! Contents page

From the last update I have added a lot of things to the page! Firstly I Made another section at the top, so the two main articles stand out and are not lost in the crowd. I have also added the larger box at the middle-bottom of the page, which will contain all of the sub articles, all with page numbers, and laid out in a 'column' style. I have also added a 'Subscribe' bar at the bottom of the page, and an issue number in the top right hand corner of the page, however I might end up moving that around to see where it looks the best. Apart from these things, there are just a few finishing touches I am debating upon adding.

CONTENTS PAGE SO FAR...

At the moment this is what my contents page looks like. I have my background up, a picture of a wall from a previous photo-shoot. I have also created a design effect using the shape tool to outline my pictures and text. I also have a page title, and an image for an article, however i'm not too sure what that article will be yet.

Double Page Spread Flatplan

Colour Usage: For my Contents page I am going to use quite dark colours, because this will reflect the mood of the article, which is about the streets and how they are effecting young people and their lives. To reflect this I am going to have a dark background with perhaps a picture, but more likely a picture on one side and a dark background on the other. I will need to choose the exact colour at the time, so I can make it match the picture. I will either use red or white text depending on whether I can get away with red text against the background.

Text Usage: I would like the text to be either red or white against the dark background .his will not only look striking and stand out, but it will reflect the moods of the article, dark and striking. Again, I am unsure how the red will look against the dark background, and white may both look more professional and stand out more. The text will centre around the streets and how street life is changing the way young people live, and consequentially the music the streets make. The masthead of the article is going to be quite large, and I have a number of fonts in mind for this (see fonts post).

Image usage: I have am image in mind that I have taken previously during and 'artsy' moment of a dark street corner being lit up by a lone street lamp near my Gran's house, I was on the way there one day and I just thought it would make a good picture. However, I took this with my phone, and I have some concerns about the quality of the picture and whether it will be good enough to put in my magazine when stretched. If this is the case, I shall have to go out and take another picture with my good camera. This will not be to much of a problem, as i already have a similar place at the end of my street, and I think it would be perfect, and convenient for the magazine.

Contents Page Flatplan

Color Usage: For my contents page, I would like to use the same colours as on the cover, to carry a scheme through the magazine, and to make it look more professional. I would like to use mostly dark colours, with a few bright colours that will stand out and attract attention. I would like my title to be red, with a yellow/gold outline, to make it really stand out. I'm thinking about using a brick wall as the background for my contents page, as this will make the magazine feel more joined together and will be smoother in transition. I would like there to be a red outline around the outside of the images and the text boxes, because this will make the images and especially the text to stand out against the brick background.

Text Usage: I would like the text to be black, and on a red background. This will make it look really striking, however I am slightly worried about how readable this will be. I will need to test what it looks like printed before the final edit. I will have text about my double page spread on 'The Streets', and how they are effecting young people. I would like this to be the main article in the contents but i would like there to be other non essential articles on the contents page, visually to fill the page and make it look good, but practically, who ever heard of a contents page with only one article on it?

Image Usage: I plan to use three images on my contents page (not including the background). One/Two for my double page spread article and one for each of my space saving made up articles. I will take all of the photographs myself, and I will use Either my camera or the camera on my phone to take the pictures.

The Simpsons Poster

This is another practice piece I did on photoshop, this time surrounding The Simpsons Movie. This was  a big help for me, as almost every picture had to be cut out and placed into the project. We had to put the date that the movie came out, and also required at least one Simpsons member to be on the cover.

Pictures for my magazine

The above photographs are the ones I have chosen to use in my magazine (there is one more to add to this list, but the picture was too big to add to blogger). I used these pictures because they fitted into what I planned for my magazine. For example, the mid-shot is the one I will use for the cover, and the Picture of the dark street is perfect for my contents page. All of my pictures are of high quality as I used my SLR camera to take them. Even the Blank picture of the wall is going to be used, as I will be able to use it as a background for my contents page.

Possible colour scheme

Possible fonts....

I think these fonts are very nice and all match the genre i'm going for in their own way.

Potential Problems with my coursework

Potential Problems with My Coursework

Potential area where there might be a problem	How I will deal with this problem
Front cover images	Getting together with the model, sorting out times. Finding a good place to take the picture, which suited both the model’s needs and mine. Getting images exactly in exactly the right frame, to get the model in from the waist up (mid shot)
Article Inside Magazine	Writing the article and trying to write it through the artist’s eyes. Deciding on a title that would fit the rest of the article. Using a header that fits the article.
Images to accompany article	The article inside the magazine is basically a lot of work for what you get out, I took a lot more photographs than I actually needed. Choosing the pictures used for the actual magazine, as I wanted to make sure it was the right picture.

PROPOSAL TABLE

AS Coursework Proposal Table

Type of Magazine (fashion, music, etc)	Music, Mostly Rap magazine with elements of other genres
Name of Magazine	R.E.P
Audience (male/female)	The Audience is mostly male. The Age range I have for my magazine is from 16 to around 23.
Audience (attitudes and interests)	Rap music, people who like to make their own music, people who generally like music.
Outlet (where it can be bought from?)	Most magazine shops and supermarkets, and you can subscribe to the magazine.
Necessary Information	Date: 25th November 2013 Random issue number (Unimportant) Barcode Price £2.00
Selling Point	The cover artist, the striking article, and the competition to win concert tickets.
Theme (article)	The streets, what life is like on the streets, if life for young people is changing, and how this is affecting music.
Images Front Cover	Mid shot of artist, maybe a picture to represent the competition inside
Images Inside	There will be images of streets, at night and during the day, along with a smaller picture of the cover to use for a subscription advertisement. There will also be a few made up articles and pictures to go with them on the contents page.