Double Page Spread Construction Process Video

This video shows the separate stages of the construction process which I went through to create my final double page spread. The software used produce it was 'Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0', 'Cinema 4D' and 'Corel Draw Graphics Suite'.

Contents Page Construction Process Video

This video shows the separate stages of the construction process which I went through to create my contents page. The software used produce it was 'Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0', 'Cinema 4D' and 'Corel Draw Graphics Suite'.

Contents Page Feedback

After finishing my contents page I requested feedback so as to gain a verity of responses that would help me improve the quality and professionalism of my creation. Here are the responses I received after sending my work to people:


"It looks like a good start, but could do with a lot of improvement. Perhaps shorten the 'interview' list to one column and give the other two different headings."
- Clayton Jones (Student)


"I love what you've done to the background. However it looks too disorganised and the 'PG's seem unnecessary. I recommend aligning it better and getting rid of those hideous 'PG's that seem to be all over the place."
- Lucy Tate (Student)


"Well... its better than anything I could make, but it looks slightly too messy for a contents page"
- James Ferdinand (Student)


"Incredible... nothing else to really say about it"
- Richard Scott (Student)


"You should really sort out the alignment, it seems far to amateur left as it is. Also those random 'PG's before the page numbers just seem like a waste of space. Maybe change the bottom segment as well whilst your at it... seems silly to have so many interviews."
- Gregory Bates (Student)

This feedback has been brilliantly insightful and will definitely help me to dramatically improve my contents page and thus the overall quality of my magazines design. I shall begin working on these changes as soon as possible.

Double Page Spread Feedback

Upon completing the construction of my double page spread I requested a group of people to review what I had created and thus supply me with any feedback needed to improve my project. These are the responses which I received from people.


"Wow! This is crazily good! Personally I don't see any need for change."
- Thomas Baker (Student)


"I really liked how you made the image continue over both pages of your magazine. Lovely, clear layout as well."
- Arnold Thomson (Student)


"Gorgeous use of graphics. Would love to know how you made it."
- George Mills (Student)


"Haha those 3D shapes are absolutely incredible!"
- Amy Hanson (Student)


Seeing as non of the feedback which I received pointed out any negative aspects I have decided not to change my double page spread at all.

Magazine Double Page Spread Text Content

Fresh from his series of five completely sold out gigs from his ‘Blitzkrieg in Berlin’ show hosted at the Olympic Stadium, Berlin, DJ Ennui discusses backstage life, music and his upcoming ‘Takeover Tour’ with our journalist Sonny Moore. Brace yourselves for the thrilling untold true story of the man behind the mask.

What started your passion for music?

I’ve had this passion for as long as I can remember. However, I think the spark that lit the fuse for my love of music was definitely the moment my father bought me a flute for Christmas.

A flute? EDM is quite the opposite, wouldn’t you agree?

Well it’s funny you should mention it – I had classical training for two years and I think the influences are clear in my early material as well as my more recent content. However I quickly became known as ‘Flute Boy’, and eager to shake the newfound identity, I used my pocket money to buy an early version of FL Studio and hence began to dabble in Electro Swing and EDM, purely to impress my friends, and to dispel the bullies. Soon my life revolved around the creation of electronic music, and I was soon scouted by the prestigious Mau5trap record label… but playing the flute is still my guilty pleasure!

That’s quite a story – how did you enter the live music scene?

You won’t believe this! I began by turning up to friend’s birthday parties with my Dell laptop and a shoddy speaker, and trying to blag girls with my music. I can tell you now that it didn’t work – I guess girls simply weren’t overwhelmed by my amateur beats and disappointing drops – however it allowed me to spread my music to a larger audience, gain publicity on MySpace, and receive the feedback I so desperately needed to improve my work. Soon after I applied for larger venues in my local area on Friday nights, and became a local sensation.

Do they compare at all to the monstrous five gigs you have just played in Berlin?

Certainly not! However nothing can compare to that one night in a dimly lit Brixton chip shop… But we’ll not delve into that.

So, why conceal your face to the public?

Quite honestly, I don’t believe I have the answer to that question – it’s just the way things turned out – on the other hand, it certainly has its perks.

And what would those perks be?

I simply feel that it gives me so much freedom because I am able to live a double life – one of peace and tranquillity, and another of parties and publicity. For me, I maintain a perfect balance of the two. For example, I can dedicate time to my Chelsea Pensioners extreme bingo club with relative anonymity, while retaining my reputation as a global party animal. It’s truly unbelievable. If you are struggling to visualise my lifestyle, I would strongly recommend watching ‘Hannah Montana’ on the Disney Channel.

Simply amazing! Let’s discuss your upcoming global ‘Takeover Tour’

Ah yes, I am touring exactly thirty two separate countries in six continents (Sorry, Antarctica), but personally I am most excited about the Gulf of Mexico section of the tour, as it involves a world exclusive two day long aircraft carrier gig between Mexico and America, and although I regret to give away no spoilers, my entry to the gig will be ‘pure gold’, as they say.

And will you be visiting the UK during your tour?

Why of course, how could I miss it? As well as being my home country of course, it is also my favourite place to gig, and in addition I am scheduled to be granted a knighthood the day of my O2 Arena gig!

Wow, we all look forward to it! And when will tickets be available?

Tickets are available from midnight, April 1^st 2013 to May 20^th, however I would advise ordering as early as possible since my last tour sold out completely literally minutes after the tickets became purchasable!

Thank you so much for talking to us, DJ Ennui. Make sure to pick up a copy of his new album, ‘Balloon Party’, on sale everywhere right now, and also continue on to page 32-33 for info about specific venues, dates and support acts for the gargantuan global ‘Takeover Tour’, as well as exclusive content with the hottest EDM acts on the scene TODAY.

  

Double Page Spread Layout Plan And Research

(click to enlarge)

This is my layout plan for the double page spread. Although it looks simple and generic I believe that it will provide me with a fantastic, professional looking product. It is largely inspired by a variety of different existing content.

These are the main sources of my inspiration for this design:

The key features that I shall use from this magazine are the large quotes, position of the main picture and the separation of the title and short introduction paragraph.

My favourite feature in this double page spread is their title 'Slave to the rhythm' and its variation in size and positioning ('Slave' being far larger in size than 'to the rhythm' but taking up a similar width of the page). I am very likely to include a title similar this in my final double page spread. However, I am not to keen on their choice to place the story on the left hand side and the image on the right.

The verity of size and shape in the quote particularly draws my attention. I am unlikely to use something like  this, but it certainly stands out and would therefore be worth experimenting with.

I admire the choice to continue the image from the first page onto the second. I will definitely use this tactic when producing my own double page spread. Another of the features I am considering is the large letter at the beginning of the story that uses a different font type to the rest of the text. In addition to this, the choice to use a blank background for the model is particularly interesting and is another feature which I am taking into consideration.

This is clearly a very professional magazine and I approve of the layout. However I hate the oversized, red L they have placed behind the text. I believe that it will detract the attention of the reader and generally causes a somewhat ugly and undesirable effect.

This cover looks very unprofessional due to the dark colours used and the bland expressions on the models. Despite this, I feel that that their layout of the text is very good therefore improving the feel of these pages dramatically.

The large quotes and continuation of the picture onto both pages are exceptionally good. However I am concerned that using such a small amount of text for the main story would reduce the quality of my double page spread.

The clear picture, large quote and clean layout are all very positive features of this example. The only thing which do not approve of is the image used in the top right section as I believe it was an unnecessary use of space; this space could have been used for an extra amount of article.

This example has a very nice picture. Unfortunately, the black boxes behind the text severely lessen the professionalism of this double page spread.

Contents Page Layout Plan And Research

(click to enlarge)

This is my layout plan for the contents page that I am creating. I intend to make it look like a slight cross between a traditional contents page and a promotional poster for a festival. This I believe is a very unique and original idea, however it shall be very difficult for me to pull off successfully. Although if I am able to do what I intend to then I feel that the result will be wonderful, as well as establishing a strong connect between the magazine and various festival attendees . In order to even attempt to do such a thing I have been looking through a variety of different contents pages and festival posters.

These are a few of them:

This is contents page from a 'Glamor' magazine. It is very reflective of my intended design as it has a very large title and date at the top of the page. As well as this, I like the idea of repeating the magazine's name in the contents page so as to reinforce the brand identity. The picture of the woman used is very good as well. However I do not intend to have a single large image, instead I will have a variety of pictures all with quotes and brief summaries of their own.

My favourite feature of this contents page is the large bold text used for the different sections of the magazine (in this example they are: news, radar, reviews, live!, features). I will definitely be using a sizeable font for my section dividers.  

I love this design. It is likely that final product shall be of a similar feel to this, but have fewer pictures and feature a greater amount of featured pages. In addition to this, I do intend to place any adverts in my contents page as I believe it will waste space and give it a feeling of cheapness and a lack of professionalism.

The feature that seems most appealing to me in this magazine is the use of page numbers over the featured photographs. I intend to use this tactic in my final product but use a font and style similar to that of my front cover so as to give it a consistent feel.

I have already shown a NME contents page but I feel that this one gives a very different feel to the previous one. This has been done via the change in colour palette, difference of page heading and photographs used. The previous contents page had a very serious 'rock' music theme, but this one seems far more light-hearted and festive themed. I will need to remember that these variations can  be made, if I am ever to produce another one of these magazines.

This is a promotional poster for the 'Global Gathering' festival. Although its fonts are far to varied to be used in a contents page I particularly like how they've created the page heading. I am likely to try to replicate the feeling of this heading in my final contents page.

This is the promotional poster for the 2012 'Download' festival in Donington. As I mentioned in the example above, I am very interested in producing a title similar to those seen in festival posters.

Here is the promotional poster for the 'Wireless' festival 2013 in London. I admire how they have set out their line up sections and am likely to attempt to replicate this when creating my different sections (e.g. interviews, reviews, festivals).

Front Cover Construction Process Video

This video shows the separate stages of the construction process which I went through to create my final front cover. The software used produce it was 'Adobe Photoshop Elements 8.0', 'Cinema 4D' and 'Corel Draw Graphics Suite'.
What can be seen in the video (in order):

1) The original photo which was used to produce the cover

2) The background has been cut out of the picture

3) Abstract 3D shape used to obscure the models face

4) Shade and background images added

5) Visual effects applied (smoke, fire, sparks, cracks and flare)

6) 3D masthead added at top of page

7) Custom made splatter effect and overlay for the title applied

8) 3D main cover line text placed over splatter effect

9) Strapline, Cover lines, Puff and other text added

10) Barcode with price, date, issue and fake copyright information placed

Font Cover Feedback

After completing my final front cover I asked some people for feedback on it. This was done so as to identify whether there were any major errors with it that needed to be fixed and to see if the general reaction to it was positive or not. These are the responses that I was given:

“Haha I love it.”

- Micah Hills (student)

“Looking good! It is hard to make out the information next to the barcode however. Also it may help changing the 'featuring' to another musicians name as the magazine is already obviously featuring them via placing them on the front page.”

-John Glasspool (student)

"It clearly captures the type of music you were going for. It also reminds of gaming magazines in a way, largely due to the use of 3D graphics."
- Alex Anderson (student)

“Ohh cool! Well I really like the editing. The bits where you used cinema 4D are great, especially the logo and Joe's face. The artists you featured are great too.”

- Kieran Brown (student)

“I think that the editing looks brilliant, but you should fill in the top right corner with text or something because it looks empty and bland so far. Also, adding emphasis to the ‘And many more’ section could really improve it.”

-Benjamin Cook (student)

The most constructive views of the feedback were from Benjamin Cook. All of the point that he made were very valid and I shall include them in my finished product. These changes that I am going to be making are to add some text to the top right and to add an exclamation mark to 'And many more' as well as increasing its font size. In addition to this I have decided to take the advice of John Glasspool and change the barcode and 'featuring' parts of my magazine.

Front Cover Before Feedback

This is what I have created so far. Before releasing the final version of my front cover I shall be asking for peoples opinions on my magazine and whether or not it needs improvement.

Software Practise

Here is a video that I have created. It shows my practise and progression in using 'Cinema 4D' and 'Adobe Photoshop' (the software I am using to create my final pieces). The reason I did these practises for was to improve my graphical talents and therefore increase my ability to produce a professional quality magazine.

Audience Survey

To determine what I should include and focus on in my magazine's font cover, contents page and double page spread I created a survey with the website 'SurveyMonkey' (website link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/). I used this method so that I would be able to instantly distribute it to many people virtually, thus saving time and paper by doing so as well being able to reach a far larger amount of people than I would have been able to by going around and doing it physically. The reason I created the survey was to give me an insight into various properties of an audience. The questions asked were:

1) What is your gender?

Male
Female

2) How old are you?

0-12

13-20

21-30

31-40

41+

3) How often do you buy music magazines?

Never

Very rarely (once or twice a year)

Occasionally (monthly)

Often (weekly)

4) How much would you spent on a music magazine?

Nothing

£0.01 - £1.00

£1.01 - £2.00

£2.01 - £3.00

£3.01+

5) Do you ever read music magazines via computer or mobile phone?

No

Yes

6) Do you ever listen to electronic music?

Yes
No

7) What is your favourite genre of electronic music?

Dubstep

EDM

Trance

Drum and Bass
Electro

Speedcore

I do not listen to electronic music

The reason these were asked was so that I would be able to craft my magazine to better suit the audience and their desires, as well as identifying whether or not I should include some features such as a website link and allow me to make small changes like changing the sale price.

Here is screenshot of the survey that I sent out:

After sending out my survey (I mostly sent it to people I have listed as 'friends' on Facebook, and to people I have added in my email contact list) until I had thirty responses I was left with these results (number of results in brackets):

1) What is your gender?

Male (18 males)
Female (12 females)

2) How old are you?

0-12 (0)

13-20 (27)

21-30 (2)

31-40 (0)

41+ (1)

3) How often do you buy music magazines?

Never (5)

Very rarely (once or twice a year) (11)

Occasionally (monthly) (8)

Often (weekly) (6)

4) How much would you spent on a music magazine?

Nothing (3)

£0.01 - £1.00 (7)

£1.01 - £2.00 (14)

£2.01 - £3.00 (6)

£3.01+ (0)

5) Do you ever read music magazines via computer or mobile phone?

No (19)

Yes (11)

6) Do you ever listen to electronic music?

Yes (21)
No (9)

7) What is your favourite genre of electronic music?

Dubstep (4)

EDM (8)

Trance (1)

Drum and Bass (6)
Electro (2)

Speedcore (0)

I do not listen to electronic music (9)

These results most importantly show that I should price my magazine between £1.01 and £2.00 (I shall probably set its price to £1.99), that I should add a website link and that the main focus of my magazine should be on the EDM genre of music.

Front Cover Mock Up

(front cover mock up)

(original image)

‘Ephemera’ is the title I have chosen for my magazine, the definition of it is as follows: Things that exist or are used or enjoyed for only a short time. I find chose this title as it has a deep meaning behind it, as well as being witty and original (implying that attention to a specific media is often shortly lived due to rapidly changing technology and institutions). The title is reflected in the model via the use of gestures towards a broken clock. It also seemed far more fitting than any of the others that I came up with and received the largest amount of votes in my survey (see previous posts).

My image is inspired by the vastly popular 1964 painting ‘The Son of Man’ by the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. His summary of the painting was as follows:

“At least it hides the face partly. Well, so you have the apparent face, the apple, hiding the visible but hidden, the face of the person. It's something that happens constantly. Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present.”

I believe that my image replicates these intense feelings of which Magritte described, thus bringing the audience a greater appreciation and vast desire to read my magazine. It also appeals to art appreciators and those whom are familiar with the pop culture, expanding the reach that my content has across various different audiences.

('The Son of Man' Painting)

I was also inspired however by the many masked musicians such as Deadmau5, Daft Punk, Slipknot and The Bloodly Beetroots (see previous posts for more information). I believe that hiding my models face is a positive feature as it allows audiences to focus purely on the music and not of that of the musicians personal identity. As well as this, it allows the person whom has their face hidden to create a new identity for themselves and allows them to truly express their feelings without ever fully revealing their physic features.

As quoted by the fictional protagonist in V for Vendetta:

“There is a face beneath this mask, but it isn't me. I'm no more that face than I am the muscles beneath it, or the bones beneath that.” 

('V for Vendetta' comic cover)

Improved Front Cover Layout Plan And Research

(click to enlarge)

After much thought and research, I have decided to change the layout plan for my final front cover. I believe that this version is far more professional looking than the previous one that I had posted, and therefore it shall provide me with a greatly improved final product.

These are the main cover designs which I was inspired by:

Has a really nice range of cover lines, good positioning of the models and an interesting barcode. However, I feel that it lets itself down due to the excessive use of large text over the models. I think the main feature that I shall be using from this magazine is the barcode layout, as it includes the price, release date, website and correct barcode type. I shall need some research to find out what barcode type they have used (generic barcode style but with an additional shortened barcode type at the end which contains two digits and a '>' sign)and then I will create my own using a custom barcode making website.

This is not a professional magazine as such (is not sold anywhere, instead it was created for somebody's portfolio: click here to visit site). However, I believe it contains all the necessary vital elements and looks extremely good. The main elements I shall be using from this magazine are the positioning of the model and main cover line.

This magazine design is my personal favourite. The hiding of the models identity via the mask is a vastly desirable feature and I certainly aim to produce something of a similar sort. In addition to this, the text is not overly cluttered like in most magazines and gets straight to the point via their main cover line (the theme of 'Dance Madness'). Finally, the background has been removed from the photograph thus giving a more simplistic and professional feel to the magazine.

The use of a 3D shattering effect is particularly interesting to me as I am considering using a 3D font for my masthead. By doing so it will provide me with a completely unique cover, however it will going against the traditional magazine conventions as has been done in this cover of 'Q'. As well as this, I admire the humorous quote 'I bought 50 cans of beans and an axe'. It is rather bizarre quote but it provides a good hook and is therefore likely to attract more of an audience.  

Magazine Title Creation and Renders

Despite the results of my survey, I decided to create all of the titles I had come up with in a high quality 3D format via the use of a piece of software called Cinema 4D (I also used this software as part of the creation of my practise preliminary cover, however it did not turn out as I had planned). I am very aware that this is unnecessary effort, but I have decided to do so because it shall improve my skill and will provide me with other options if I do not like what I create for 'Ephemera' (the title I planned to use)

Here is a video showing the creation process of my 3D titles and their rendering:

1) Here are my renders for the title 'Aether'. They look beautiful but I do not think they would be fitting for what I have plan on creating for my front cover.  

2) These are the renders for 'Elixir'. The top design is my personal favourite out of the three. I am strongly considering using it in the front cover as it seems as though it would be very appealing to my target demographic. This is because it has a graffiti like feel to it, something likely to attract a large audience of young people as it is relatable to the urban environment and was widely publicised by London 2012 Olympic Games.

3) These are my two renders for 'Ephemera', the title which gained the most votes in my survey. Thankfully I am delighted my outcome of these renders as I feel they would look rather professional if used in a magazines front cover. I prefer the top render as it has a nicely contrasting colour palette than the bottom one and overall looks better. Adding to this, the render below seems too crime/gang related as its colours and font seem too similar to those of the logo of the popular television show 'Pimp my ride' (video link to their theme tune)

4) This is my render of the title 'Harbinger'. I shall not be using it as it looks as though it is intended for use in a heavy mental genre magazine, not the electronic dance music one I intent to create.

5) Here is the render of 'Nemesis'. I shall not be using this either as it seems to be far too cheap and tacky looking.

6) This is my render for 'Overture'. It looks hideous, boring and shall definitely not be used as the masthead for my magazine.

7) These are my 'reflux' renders, they are all fairly dull looking and shall therefore not be used in the creation of the final front cover.

8) This is the render I did for 'Paragon'. It looks exceptionally good but is unlikely to be used in the final product as the colours do not seem fitting for the genre.

Potential Magazine Names

Music magazine names generally consist of one or two memorable words (notable examples include: Vibe, NME, Kerrang, Rolling Stone and Q). These names often have little meaning and are there simply to mark the brand and allow their audiences to find them easily in shopping locations. Due to my magazine being focused primarily on electronic dance music I selected eight powerful and unique words, which I believe capture both the spirit and passion of the music as well as sounding similar to song titles of the genre, to be my potential magazine names. These words are as follows:

1- Elixir

(Definition: A magical or medicinal potion)

2- Reflux

(Definition: The flowing back of a liquid)

3- Paragon

(Definition: A model of excellence or perfection of a kind)

4- Nemesis

(Definition: The inescapable or implacable agent of someone's or something's downfall)

5- Overture

(Definition:  An introduction to something more substantial)

6- Harbinger

(Definition: A forerunner or herald)

7- Ephemera

(Definition: Things lasting no more than a day)

8- Aether

(Definition: "pure, fresh air" or "clear sky", imagined in Greek mythology to be the pure essence where the gods lived and which they breathed)

To determine which of these titles I would use I held a survey asking people the question: ‘Which of these titles would you prefer to see on a magazine focusing primarily on electronic dance music?’ with a choice of the eight words I had selected. A total of fifty people answered this survey, the results are as follows:

Elixir =   8

Reflux =   1

Paragon =   5

Nemesis =   3

Overture =   6

Harbinger =   0

Ephemera =   15

Aether =   12

Because of this survey I decided to use Ephemera as my magazines’ title. I am happy with this choice because it signifies that although music is a wonderful thing, it is an experience shortly lasted; therefore my magazine can provide its users with the latest news, recent releases and hidden musical gems so as to keep the experience fresh and full of passion.

(screenshot of the survey)

Basis of Front Cover

Mock-Up of Music Magazine Cover Layout

After analysing many magazine layouts I have produced this generic layout plan for use in my front cover. I have drawn inspiration from a vast source of other music magazines because I wish my front cover to be as authentic and professional looking as I am able to produce. This is only a rough guideline I have set for myself however and slight variations may be made to the design in the final product. The boxes shown are set simply to provide a visible guideline for where the majority of the content shall be seen, in the final design it is more than likely that sections shall overlap each other (for example, the main image shall be overlaid with the main cover line and barcode). As well as this there is no plug shown as I have not yet decided where I would like to place it, I intend to do so once I have produced an early copy of the final design.

(various different magazine layouts)

Second Photoshoot

This is the second photoshoot I did. The image and lighting quality has improved significantly since the last one as I have expanded my knowledge of photography and taken the time to set up the environment so as to best suit photographs. I have also taken a verity of different shots, including CDs, pianos, keyboards and various different models so that I have a far larger range of pictures to chose from when making my magazine cover, contents page and double page spread.

As one may have noticed, the models are wearing hats and glasses. This has been done so as to mask their identities and emulate the feeling of mystery and the unknown. The idea to this came from various masked musicians and DJs such as 'Deadmau5', 'Daft Punk' and 'The Bloody Beetroots' (see images below).

(Deadmau5 wearing his iconic mouse head)

(Daft Punk wearing their robot helmets)

(The Bloody Beetroots wearing venom masks)