This is an image I had found from the first week of creating my magazine front cover. So far, I had cut out an image from my initial photoshoot, implanted my masthead and added a box with general information like price, issue number and web address for the magazine. Throughout this task, I found it difficult to work with this image as the model was dressed in white clothing which practically vanished into the background from the flash of the camera. Although, I overcame this problem and was very careful when cutting it out in order to not miss any of the clothing out. Over the course of making the front cover I am certain to make many changes to suit the indie genre magazine and look professional. For example, I still need to include all of the sell lines, possibly a tagline and also quotes and plugs in order to entice the reader into reading the rest of the magazine.

Lastly, I had to draft out a double page spread and this again was to give me an insight into what sort of double page spread I was looking into creating. Then, after this was done I could plan about how I was going to achieve these goals and how I was going to make my ideas a reality.
       On one A4 side of the double page spread, I was going to have an introductory page which would simply have a full bleed image of the interviewed artist, with their name in large bold font but also importantly, the word 'Exclusive' contributes vasts amounts to this page as it clearly implies that my magazine is offering something that others cannot, and it is this uniqueness that will help most in selling the magazine.
       Moreover, on the second page I am going to use a variety of images where the model will be in different outfits, but the range of photographs will be from different angles. This will be done so that it will add change to my magazine and keep the readers entertained; but also to simply keep the style of the magazine constant. Additionally, the text used on the page will be neat, clear to read and also layed out in columns. I have chosen this style as it will keep a clear and simple layout throughout my magazine and reflect professionalism but simply keep it easy to read also.

Before I started the draft of my magazine, I had a vague idea of what I wanted to create and this therefore saved me a fair bit of time. Firstly, it is essential that all magazines have a large, and gripping cover image and this is what I attempted to convey in my poor drawing. Moreover, I made sure that the main sell-line linked tightly with the main image to therefore signify the importance of the main artist but also drive into the reader that my magazine can get the biggest artists that other magazines cannot offer. Next, the additional sell-lines were places along the left hand side of the page and the box around them draws attention to them and further highlight what major artists are going to be included in my magazine. Similarly, the masthead comes of great importance as it is pivotal that it is large, bold but also recognisable. I believe that I adhered with the common connotations of the word 'Heritage' because my font was old looking but also formal. Finally, information like the web-site, price and email as this is the key information needed to fulfill the needs of the reader and also to keep them informed on how to stay in contact and up to date with the magzine.

For my contents page draft, I made sure that I highlighted that I wanted to have a busy and informative as this is the key page for finding information about the artists which appeal most to the audience. However, I also want to include some compelling images as these will adhere to the busy theme of the page but also grab the audiences attention and keep them on the page. Furthermore, it will clearly signify who is going to be involved in this issue. Also, I am going to make sure that the main sell-lines from the front cover will be the boldest and most noticable as these are the biggest articles we have, and will therefore be the most compelling and interesting to the reader. Finally, the offer of subscriptions and a 'WIN' sell line gives the readers an exciting offer to win a trip or item that they dream of, but also to highlight how if they subscribe to the magazine; they will receive the magzine for a cheaper price and will also begin to create a relationship with the magazine.

Article Draft

My article draft was completed prior to the actual production of my magazine on Microsoft Word so that I could make use of the spell-check property which is not present on Adobe Photoshop CS3. I believe this to be a key factor for the reason why using Microsoft Word would be more beneficial than Adobe, because if I were to make multiple spelling mistakes and grammatical errors on my draft, it would make my magazine look unprofessional and as if someone inexperienced had produced it. I cannot afford for this to happen as I want my magazine to look professional and errors are something that are never present in well established magazines. Additionally, I believe that this is where the previously knowledge gained by the analysis of double page spreads comes in useful, as I now know exactly what needs to be included in order to produce not only a successful magazine, but also what the audience wants from my magazine in order to keep them choosing my magazine over competitors. Finally, I will easily be able to copy and paste this draft over onto my magazine which will be time efficicent. Photoshop will then be used to pick an appealing font and wrap the text around images if it is needed to. This is why I believe that Photoshop is much more effective for the design and layout of the article, but in comparison to Microsoft Word, it is a lot weaker for the use of the actual text.

Below is my list of possible sell lines ideas which I then analysed to say why I chose them, and the effect they will have. The majority of my sell-lines were to include field specific lexis and play-on-words that are common to the genre. I made sure to use interesting and insightful sell-lines as I believe that they are key to pushing the article onto the audience but also luring them into the magazine as a whole. Additionally, I started to draft my contents page and what I would want to include on it. I started by drafting what are the common conventions of a contents page which would then determine what I will place on my contents. Yet again, I believe that I had previous knowledge from analysing the contents pages in my task. This meant that I knew exactly what I had to include and what it was expected to look like.

Sell Lines+Contents Ideas

Name Designs

The design and experimenting of mastheads was a vital part of the production of my magazine as the masthead has to be eye-catching and significant as it is what the audience will recognise you by and they will then gain a personal relationship with not only the name, but also the text. Therefore, I took time in creating a variety of fonts but also effects using Photoshop CS3. I attempted using both drop and interior shadows, strokes, but also bevels and emboss. Although, before I started any of my designs it was necessary to decide on a name, and I chose to use 'Heritage' as my name as it has common ideology of being powerful, class and superiority. These positive and strong connotations adhere to the ultimate aim of my magazine, which is to be successful. Overall, I believed this process to be useful as it has not only given me a name for my magazine, but also what I want my masthead to look like and what conventions are needed in order for it to be effective and appealing to the audience.

The task of generating name ideas is one that I determine to be of great importance as it is what the audience will have a great relationship and is what the brand image will revolve around. As a consequence of this, the name of the magazine has to be something that will be catchy and easy to remember, but also something that will have a deeper semantical meaning which will outline the purpose and personality of the magazine. Therefore, I came up with a variety of names that would adhere to these conventions that are necessary for the magazine to have in my opinion. Once I had drafted a variety of possible names for my magazine, I decided to select 'Heritage' as the name for my magazine as it does not only have the common connotations of being the most powerful and influencial, but also the audience will have the common ideology of the royal family as they are what we commonly relate with the word 'Heritage'. Finally, this will then be a clear signifier for the class, power and design of my text as the style and outlook will revolve around the name of my magazine.