Photo Shoot - Front Cover

Here are some of my potential feature article photographs.

I used three soft-box lights, one to light the background and two to light my models. I used a black backdrop to contrast with their outfits.
I decided to not use the second photo as they were not making eye contact with the camera and I wanted them to so that they could attract and connect with the reader. I also didn't use the last photo because I thought that their body language was very closed and they didn't give off the message that I was going for; they looked insecure and vulnerable and I wanted them to look confident and powerful. Therefore, I went for the first photo for my front cover as they gave the right message and vibe that I wanted for my magazine.

Photo Shoot Setup

Here is a timelapse of me setting up the set for my photoshoot.

Double Page Spread Draft Designs

1

2

3

For the double page spread I decided to base it on the third draft as I wanted the feature article photograph to be large on one side of the page. I also wanted the stand first to stand out so that my demographic would easily be able to find out more about the article rather than delving straight into a long article which may not seem appealing to them. I also wanted to included lots of pull quotes for the same reason.

Contents Page Draft Designs

1

2

3

For the contents page I decided to go with the third draft design because my demographic would not be interested if there was more text then pictures as they are not big readers. However a contents page is an informative page therefore there should be a substantial amount of text. Due to this I based my contents page on this particular draft over the others as the picture to text ratio would suit my demographic the best. 

Front Cover Draft Designs

1

2

3

I decided to use the first draft for my final front cover design because I wanted the front cover to be busy with a few plugs flush right and left  However, I wanted the cover line and the feature article photograph to be the main focus of the front cover as my demographic are stimulated by visuals rather than through text.

Design Brief

• A white, purple and silver colour scheme for my magazine that runs throughout
• The name 'Overload' for my masthead
• A mid-shot of my cover stars on my front cover
• A girl duet on my front cover
• An ordered and informative look to my front cover
• A 50:50 image to text ratio on my contents page
• A chatty and some what informative mode of address
• An interview with my cover stars for my double page spread
• 1-2 images on my double page spread

Audience Profile

Age Range: 16-25

Ethnicity: Mainly white but also appeals to all ethnicities

Income: Medium (to pay for the life style that they pursue)

Gender: My magazine will be aimed at mainly females, however it could also appeal to men

Fashion: Lots of bright colours, lace & crazy patterns for the festivals but dark colours and plain patterns for club nights. My demographic like to have the highest fashion & have all the trends.

Class: Higher working class (I'm aiming my magazine at this social class because they need to be able to afford their nights out in clubs, festivals that they wish to attend, the travel costs for them to be able to attend these festivals or other party holidays they wish to go on & they need funds for the type of fashion that they wear, therefore they will have to have a high disposable income)

Survey Analysis

I asked members of my demographic (16-25 year olds, both genders) to participate in taking my survey, which I made so that I could find out what my target audience wanted from my magazine and how they wanted my magazine to look.

I have chosen to have:

• A white, purple and silver colour scheme for my magazine
• A chatty and some what informative mode of address
• An interview with my cover stars for my double page spread
• The name 'Overload' for my masthead
• A mid-shot of my cover stars on my front cover
• A girl duet on my front cover as a women artist and a group artist tied on my survey so I thought this was the best solution to please my demographic
• A 50:50 image to text ratio on my contents page
• My colour scheme run throughout my magazine
• 1-2 images on my double page spread, even though my survey said 3-4 images, I have decided to only include 1-2 as I feel like with 3 or 4 photos the page would look too cluttered and messy therefore I have decided to go against my survey on this question
• An ordered and informative look to my front cover

Survey Results

My Survey

Create your own user feedback survey

DJ Mag Double Page Spread Analysis: October Issue 2015

 

Double Page Spread:

This double page spread’s feature article photograph is a posed image of the man who is featured on the front cover, it takes up the whole of the right page and a little bit of the left page. It is a mid-shot photo and the man has his head slightly bowed and he is holding his head with his hands. He is looking up into the camera creating tension. The colour scheme of the double page spread correlates with the colour scheme of the front cover with the reds, whites and blacks; these are generic magazine colours.

The headline of the double page spread is long compared to other headlines; it includes abbreviations that, probably, only it’s demographic would understand. The typography is clear, big and it is written in only capitals. It’s slightly unconventional as the headline is kept to one side of the page allowing negative space to the left of it, creating an organised, clean look.

The double page spread also includes a drop cap at the start of the article. It also includes a by-line underneath the stand first.

DJ Mag Contents Page Analysis: October Issue 2015

Contents Page:

The contents page is very systematic, clear and organised. It includes a lot of information but doesn’t look overwhelming. This is follows the house style of every DJ Mag as all of the contents pages are laid out like this, but obviously contain different information. The contents page is organised into three columns and contains lots of images, one of them breaking the format and crossing into another column.

The running head allows the reader to easy find the contents page. It is very simple and the typography is clear but really thin. It has a thick grey line going through it that runs along the top part of the page. This follows the house-style of the whole magazine as at the top of every right hand side page a thick coloured line goes across, indicating which category it falls under. On the contents page the sub-headlines are organised into categories that are colour coded, this makes the magazine extremely easy to read and follow, indicating that DJ Mag’s demographic buy the magazine for an easy read; this is also obvious through the type of language used throughout the magazine, it is simple and to the point, it also includes some young slang.

The contents pages features eight images, the majority being candid shots from a live performance. A couple of the images are of album covers to promote and advertise them. One image that stands out is one of a DJ deck, which breaks the very neat and organised layout by crossing into another column. On each image the page number is printed on top of it, again making it easy to navigate through the magazine as DJ Mag’s demographic only read the magazine for enjoyment and not for intellectual benefits.

The sub-titles are in all lower case, which is unconventional, as they are normally written with a capital letter at the front. They are in a readable, white font and are on a coloured background indicating that they are organised into categories. The sub-headlines are in all capitals in the ‘features’ category, making them eye-catching and stand out.

DJ Mag Front Cover Analysis: October Issue 2015

Front Cover:

The masthead of DJ only takes up the top left hand corner of the front cover. It is quite small in comparison to other magazine mastheads but the typography is clear and distinctive and the disc on the 'J' makes it unique. It is a bright red colour, which makes it eye-catching, and it fits well with the main colour scheme of black, red, white and yellow. Inside the 'D', 'DJ MAG' is written in a really bright yellow font. The lettering is outlined with a thick black line so that it is bold and stands out even more.

We can tell that DJ Mag’s demographic is the younger generation, between 15-25 years old, as the front cover includes new slang and the language isn't very intellectual which also tells us that the audience of DJ is more interested in partying or listening to music rather than their education; this theme runs throughout the magazine. However, the magazine costs £4.95 a month so the reader must be able to have a good income to be able to afford the magazine as it is at the higher end of the market.

The magazine includes a puff underneath the masthead, which is written really small and says “Living & breathing dance music!” This tells the reader the genre of and the attitude of the magazine. The puff creates an intense feel to the magazine as this tells us that the demographic of the magazine must enjoy dance music a lot and be extremely passionate about it if they are ‘living and breathing dance music’.

Similar to Mixmag, DJ Mag includes a feature article photograph that takes up the majority of the front cover. It is of a man who is holding his chin with his left hand and holding some grey fur that is laid over his right shoulder with his right hand. Both his arms are tattooed and he has chunky gold and black rings, necklaces and a gold bracelet suggesting that he is rich meaning that he must be pretty famous. He is also wearing a plain grey t-shirt to make the jewelry stand out more; he is also wearing a black fedora hat. He is looking intensely into the camera lens to make himself look important and almost threating although the angle of the camera is eye-level breaking the tension a little and making him look a little less threatening.

The front cover includes many plugs varying in sizes. The typography is in all capitals, once again, creating an intense feeling. The main plug, on the bottom left, is the only plug without a background however it still stands out as it is in a bold font and is written in white, which is easily readable on his grey t-shirt. All the other plugs are in a white font, again, but have a black box around them to make them more eye-catching as they are written in quite a small font.

Mixmag Double Page Spread Analysis: October Issue 2015

Double Page Spread: 
This double page spreads feature article photograph is a posed image, which takes up a page and 1/3. It is a mid-shot picture of a woman who looks vintage and serious and she is in a field. The colour scheme is very neutral with browns, blacks, white and very pale yellows which gives a chill, laidback vibe. However, it is somewhat unconventional as there is some negative space to the left of the image, which fits with the theme/feel of the magazine as its demographic is young, somewhat careless people and the almost random negative space gives it a careless vibe.

The masthead for this double page spread is in all lowercase, which is again unconventional so this could also tell us that maybe this artist is careless and wants to subtly stand out as the double page spread doesn’t have lairy, bright colours like the front cover and contents page. 

There is also no drop cap which helps with not making it stand out too much. Another unconventional feature of this double page spread is that the stand first is on the other page and covers a small section the feature article photograph. This fits with the house-style as it continues with the arty, modern and purposely careless theme. 

It also includes a by-line, which is at the top of the article instead of at the bottom; where it usually is, again making it unconventional.