Final splash page

My splash page is finished!!!

The splash page is an introduction to my double page spread, and so mine only consists of an image, a masthead and a small section of text.

I chose a picture that my friend took of me taking the photo shoot that we put in black and white. Then I had to edit the picture and adjust the brightness levels. 

Then, when we applied the picture to the template of the splash page, we flipped it around.  

The masthead consists of various sizes and various fonts. 'A day', is size 90, 'in the eyes of', is size 70 and 'of', is size 132 and they're all in the font of minion pro. However, 'CHLOE WHITE', is size 165 and in the font of 'steelfish'. 

Then I had to create the small section of text, which is an introductory paragraph to the main article on the double page spread. I placed this just below the masthead in the font of minion pro and I enlarged the first letter, which made it stand out more. 

Just below the section of text I put a line that tells you that the full story will be on the next page. The advantage of having this small section of text is that it entices the audience into reading the full article. This is in the font of 'Babas Kai'. I then put a small arrow next to '22'  to visually show that the arrow leads you to the next page where the full article is. 

The last thing that I added to the page was a line of text that says who the pictures were photographed by and who the words were by. I placed this in the top right hand corner in the font of minion pro and a size 12. However, the names were made bigger, made bold and put in a size 14.

This is my completed splash page

Final contents page

I have now finished not only my front cover, but my contents page too! The contents page has taken me so so long to do and for it to look right, but I eventually got there in the end.

This is the picture that I decided to use for the contents page. My idea behind it was that the masthead would run across the top and down the left hand side there would be a box for the text and the picture would be the background. Her hair would flow across the page and underneath the box. 

Once choosing the picture, I then had to edit it in Photoshop to adjust the brightness levels.

After I finished editing, it was time to apply the masthead. However, I realised that there wasn't much room on top for it to go, without it covering her head. So, I moved the image down, and cut and pasted the background onto the white space on top so that there was room for a masthead. 

I chose to do a big and bold masthead, saying "CONTENTS", in the colour white. The font is called 'Babas Kai' and it is the biggest size on the page. I put a black stroke around the edges of the word and a slight drop shadow behind it to make it stand out a little bit more.

Underneath the masthead on the right, I wrote the date/issue of the magazine, which is May 2016, which is also in the font of 'Babas Kai', but it is a bit smaller in size. This doesn't have a stroke or drop shadow on it, as it is not as important as the main masthead. 

Together this is what it looks like:

The contents tells you what is inside the magazine and below is my contents page and what is included in my magazine. I have divided my contents page into different sections with subheadings for each. One is music, one is fashion and one is features. Each subheading is in the font of 'steelfish' and is in the colour white. Each side of the subheadings is a red line, which matches the red numbers referencing the pages. Under each subheading are the key contents, which are in the font of 'Babas Kai' and in a large size to be eye-catching. Then under these is a brief summary of what that page will include, which is in the font of 'minion pro' and slightly smaller. The numbers that refer to the pages are in the font of minion pro and are in bold italic. The text is inside a box that is tinted a light white. One box runs down the left hand side and the other is a small box in the bottom right hand corner. 

                                                  

Also on the double page spread is a box in the left hand corner that has extras in the magazine. It is titled, 'Also this month' and includes two extra articles in the magazine. I created the banner itself and then coloured it red to match the colour scheme. Then I made the writing white to stand out and in the font of 'steelfish'. The actual box itself is coloured just an off white and it has a red border. 

                                

I then got a picture of a One Direction concert I had been to so that I could put it in the magazine and then did a small photo shoot of my friend so that she could be the 'girl' for the extra article.

The text inside the box is 'minion pro', apart from the words 'FOCUS', which are in 'Babas Kai'.

This is the final product of the contents page:

Final front cover

I have just finished my front cover!!!!!!!

It has taken me a long time to get everything perfect, considering I am such a perfectionist.

So for my cover lines, I ended up choosing:

• Exclusive! - Chloe White - opens up about her life changing year
• Inside - Free iTunes voucher
• 2016 Grammy Winners
• Win! - Tickets to V Festival
• Best new beauty hacks
• Star Style Steals

After deciding my cover lines I had to figure out where to place them, their colours, their sizes and their fonts. 

Due to the headphones being red, white and blue, I decided to go for a red, white and blue colour scheme for my cover lines. I didn't want loads of cover lines because I didn't want it to look over crowded. I also didn't want the cover lines covering her face, so I have placed them further down the bottom of the page. 

I then had to figure out the various fonts for the different cover lines. Overall, I have only used 2 fonts. In an earlier post, I posted a picture of 'Babas Kai', which is the font I used for the masthead, the date, the price, the website name, and all the main headings for the cover lines. I then had to go out and find another font that I could use, so that it wasn't all the same. 

For my second font, I chose one from the website, "Dafont.com", called, "Steelfish"

I used this font for my cover lines under the main cover line headings.

Below is one of my cover lines, saying, "INSIDE - Free iTunes voucher". 'INSIDE', is the main cover line because it is the bigger one that grabs your attention. This is in the font of 'babas kai', whereas, 'free iTunes voucher' is in the font of 'steelfish' because it is smaller. 

I then had to get a barcode, and write down the price, which was £3.50 UK, and 4.50 in Euros. 

The last thing I had to do on my front cover was create a puff, which is used to promote something inside the magazine. My puff said, "Win tickets to V festival". The word "WIN", was coloured blue, "tickets to V festival", was in black writing, apart from the letter 'V', which was also in blue to match the word 'win'. The circle was white with a blue outline. 

Magazine design - cover lines

After completing the design of my masthead, I had to choose my cover lines and I wanted them to relate to my target audience. So, below I have come up with a few that relate to music, fashion, celebrity gossip and beauty.

• Exclusive interview! Chloe opens up about her life changing year and climb to success
• 2016 Grammy Winners - OR - Grammy’s 2016 best dressed
• Focus exclusive: juicy secrets from backstage at the Brits 
• WIN: Tickets to V festival
• INSIDE: Free iTunes Voucher
• Celebrity tips for spot free skin 
• Best new beauty hacks from Focus’ beauty editor
• Songs, Secrets and Styles, it’s Selena
• Cara’s Cringes, Crushes and Confessions
• Your instant makeover: Fashion fixes in a flash
• Kiss & tell: Kylie confesses 
• London Fashion Week 2016: Star style steals 
• Rita gets Random 
• Update your wardrobe to look like your fave fashion diva 

Magazine design - masthead

So, after choosing my cover image, I had to design my masthead. I originally chose 3 fonts on Photoshop, before I found the perfect font on a website called 'Dafont.com'. The first 3 that I chose on Photoshop were 3 separate fonts and I used 3 different shades of pink. I then played around with the sizes, drop shadows, bevel and emboss, contour, texture, stroke and inner shadow.

Below are the 3 different fonts that I originally designed and a screenshot of them being edited on Photoshop.

I then had to do all of this again after I found my preferred font on 'Dafont.com".

After editing it, I then had to choose which colour I preferred. I ideally wanted the colour of the masthead to match a colour on the image. I originally wanted the picture to be in black and white and the masthead to be bright pink, however, I changed my mind in that I want the picture to be in colour, so I then had to create mastheads to match. I first chose a pale pink/beige colour to match her lips, however, I thought it was too neutral and didn't stand out enough. Then I chose a blue/green colour to match her eyes, however, I thought that it wasn't a very female colour, considering they're my target audience. So I thought I would go for a more suited colour for my audience and I chose pink, but it didn't really match anything on the picture. In the end, I chose a red/orange/pink colour that matches the headphones cable really well, it stands out and is attractive to my target audience.

Here are all the colours I experimented with:

End result 

Magazine design - cover image

So guys, it has come to the time for me to start designing my magazine!!! 

After a very long time of thinking and narrowing down pictures, I have found the image that is perfect for the front cover! When choosing the cover image, I had to bear in mind the generic conventions of a music magazine. Therefore, I knew that in my image, there had to be a set of headphones. I also knew that I wanted her to be looking directly into the camera, so that it would help grab the readers attention even more. Lastly, I knew for certain that I wanted the cover image to be a close up. Therefore, this helped me narrow down my choices even more.  I originally chose one picture that I absolutely loved, so I uploaded it to Adobe Photoshop, however, when it came to fitting it to the dimensions, it didn't work. So, I had to keep trying with different pictures until I found one that looked and fitted perfectly. 

This was the very first picture I chose, however, the dimensions didn't work.

Then I chose this one, however, when it came to fitting the masthead, it clashed with the "B" sign on the hat.

Then I chose this one, however, I wanted more of a close up.

So, finally, I chose this one because she was wearing headphone, looking directly into the camera, it was a close up and there was room for the masthead. 

However, this picture was quite dark, so I had to play around with the levels of brightness on Photoshop, until I reached one that I was satisfied with. 

Below you can see the image that I made brighter and used as my final cover image.

Contact Sheet

I created something called a 'contact sheet', which is a few pieces of paper with all my photographs printed on them. This allowed me to go through all of the pictures and tick my favourite ones, which helped me to narrow down all the photos.

Below you can see 5 sheets of paper with my pictures on. The ones with crosses next to them are my favourites and are the ones that I can visualise being in my magazine.