Music Magazine: Double Page Spread Ideas

In order to get some inspiration for my music magazine double page spread, I looked at other music magazine double page spreads for ideas.

Kerrang:

This magazine was the one that I like the most. I like how it has additional pictures as well as the front man of the band in large on the left hand side. I like how the text is put neatly into two columns strictly on the right hand side. I also like how the masthead of this page spreads over both pages and is slightly slanted. Another aspect of this magazine that I like is the colours. There is a plain black background with white text overlaid and then there is a splash of red in the title.

NME:



What I like about this double page spread is the main image. I like how there isn't a background - it's either been edited out or shot in a white studio. I like how they have kept the fairly large quantity of red in the image to give the page colour.

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I looked back at my photographs and picked out one of the interview ones. I think this will look good if I edit everything around Sam out and then put him in large on the left. The photo I have chosen is below:

 I also want to add in one of the meeting and greeting fan pictures to show the readers the other band member: Luke. I will crop this down to make it look better as to direct the attention to the band members.

Music Magazine: Finished Contents Page

This is my finished music magazine contents page:

When making this I knew I wanted the article teaser teasers in a singular column on the left and Sam in the middle but I was open minded about the rest of it. When adding things in, the ideas to put the editors note, the front cover and the interview picture with sell line all came to mind so I put them in and experimented with placement. I am pleased with the outcome. I think it continues the theme of the front cover well. The peer feedback I got for this piece was that they love the title and that the layering works well.

Music Magazine: Making The Contents Page

I started off by putting in the title behind a black box that stretches across the page. I used the same font for the mast head on this page as I did for the masthead on the front cover. I also added in an issue number as I had noticed that many magazines include this on either their front cover or contents page and as I hadn't put it on my front cover, I thought I ought to put it on here as it makes the magazine that bit more realistic. 

I then added in the chosen picture of Sam. I edited out the brick background as it wouldn't of looked good on the page and as I had included it in the front cover, it would've been too much. So instead, I erased it. I positioned him in the middle so that I could add text one the left and photos on the right.

The next step was putting in the sub-headings for the article teasers. I put them in the black font that I used for the front cover sell lines to continue the theme. I then decided that this looked too plain for a sub-heading and would blend with the rest of the text so I put a red box behind it and I think this looks much better.

I then added in the article teasers. I started off by putting in lots of band names as to fill up space. I put the text in black but experimented with putting the page numbers in red and thought that looked good so I continued with that. I then added in one of my own photographs to go along with the last band in the list. I had to move the sub-title 'Regulars' down however so I could fit it all in.

I then added in the rest of the text. One being from the front cover and the others being under the 'Regulars' subtitle. I also added in two social network logos to give the page more authenticity.

The next thing I added was a photograph from the interview. I had already picked this out as it looks the most interesting and would make the reader want to turn to the page to find out more. I then added an article teaser to go along with it on top. I put this in white but then felt like it needed more in order to stand out against the pictures. In the end, I put a black stroke around it. I used the same colours for the text as I had the other article teasers so that the audience would know it was an article teaser.

I wanted to put in an editors note as I had seen them on many other magazines. So, I experimented with this. It needed a lot of experimenting with but in the end, I thought having a black box behind the text sectioned it of well but on top of the image of Sam  didn't so I put it behind him and the text on top of them both. I also put a black stroke on the text so it would stand out where it overlaps the image.

The final step was adding in a picture of the front cover. I think this ties up the two pages well. I added it in on a slant as it makes the page look a bit more edgy. Also, including this is something I had previously seen whilst researching magazines and had liked.

Music Magazine: Contents Page Ideas

In order to get some inspiration for my music magazine contents page, I looked at other music magazine contents pages for ideas.




I like how all of the contents are in a list on the left hand side. Also, how all the colours are simple and work well with each other. This all looks neat and professional. I like how there is a 'Features' section and there is another one for the articles that appear in the magazine every month. I will think about splitting my text up like this.



I like how the front cover is of a close up shot and the contents is a full body, yet also takes center place. I like the usage of the front cover on the contents page. This all makes the page look interesting and relates the two pages together.

I have chosen a picture of the person who I used for my front cover to put onto my contents page in the same fashion as the Q magazine above. I have also picked a concert photo and a photo from the interview out to add to my contents page. They are:

Music Magazine: Finished Front Cover

This is my finished music magazine front cover:

 

I had an idea of how my magazine would turn out and when actually making it, it all went to plan. I didn't experience any problems with this piece. It was all pretty straight forward and easy once I knew what I wanted.

Music Magazine: Making The Front Cover

After looking at my two potential front cover picture, I chose to go with Sam as not only is he the one who did the interview photo shoot but I think his picture will look best. I started off by cropping the chosen picture of Sam to be a head-shoot and then Photoshopped him to look better. This was essential as all main images of magazines look flawless and are most likely Photoshopped.

The beginning photo. ^

The cropped and edited photo. ^ (I edited the image so the brick background was a separate layer from Sam so that I could put the masthead behind Sam's head as this is something many established magazines do and I want mine to look authentic)

I then started off by adding in my title 'DIVERSE' to the top of the image. I left a small space above it so I could fit in text above. I also put it behind Sam's head, but you can still read what it says.

 I then put in a red box across the top to give the page some colour. Then I put text on top. I put this in white as it contrast the red nicely and stands out. I used the formal font from my research for this text.

I then added a black box at the bottom of the page and then added the text on top. I made this unique by using the bands actual official fonts for their names. I also used the formal font for the 'PLUS!' so that it didn't take the attention away from the band fonts.

 The next step was adding in the bar code, date and website. I made a white box and then put an image of a bar code, then wrote the text in. I merged these layers together to create a compact, neat box and then put it vertical as I was inspired to from a magazine I had researched and also I think it looks better this way.

 I then added in my anchorage title and the sell line that went along with that. I placed these across Sam so that the audience would know that it was to go with the main image. I put the anchorage in red as to add more colour to the page as it seemed like it was lacking. When I tried the sell line in red, it looked too much. I also put a white outer glow on the anchorage title and a black stroke around the sell line to make them stand out even more.

The page looked a little bare so I added in another sell line in the empty space next to Sam's head. I typed this to fit well into the space so it wouldn't overlap Sam so that the audience know that that particular sell line isn't in relation to the main image. After I had done this, my magazine was complete.