Planning and Evaluation of the article

Music magazines typically feature different source of article as double page spreads.Interviews are the most common articles found in nearly each magazine.They can be represented as a transcription full of questions and answers or a summary with key points with quotes.Another type of article will be 'Profile'-basically it's an in depth interview of someone.

I have found this article about Madonna in Smash Hits magazine:


This article is slightly old.It was written by David Keeps in 1985.The main heading of the page which is the title of the article is written in big white letters and is in contrast to the pink rectangle background.
Most of the article is covered in quotes from Madonna,which the interviewer David Keeps analyse.The pull quote written in big bold letters at the top is put there to grab the reader's attention.
The text is written in four grids which is easy to read and it's separated with lines between each column,so the reader can easily follow the text.
This article is suitable for the audience as most of the quotes are written in a slang or in a way that would make young females carry on reading.Magazine such as Smash Hits tend to use informal language,so that the reader is not engaged in trying to concentrate on the text,but instead can relax and entertain themselves.Paragraphs seem to be longer as this page is divided into 4 grids, but the sentences themselves are short and clear.Most of the article is written in present tense which feels like it's happening at the moment and it's also more engaging.



Here's link of an online article in the form of an interview from Top of the Pops magazine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp/news/interviews/2006/10/16/37061.shtml

This article is written in a interview form.It will again engage the target audience,as the article is written in informal language.Interviews tend to make the atmosphere between the interviewer and the person being interviewed friendlier and chatty.This is shown by the use of language.The questions are asked in a way so that the answers can be humorous-e.g.
Nicola: Distinctive noises? Like "Wahhhh!" or They think I've got this selective hearing thing.... This interview is written in a way that would keep the reader's interest.The questions are short and clear which gives the reader encouragements to keep reading.


To create my article for my double page spread,first I had to look into the same genre magazines to have an idea of what language to use, how to make it interesting,how will my text attract the reader,what fonts to use,etc.Most magazines feature a direct interviews on double page spreads so I decided to create one for the new star Vanessa Parsons. I believe that the questions I have asked are suitable and creating a rather friendly atmosphere.The questions are all about how has Vanessa's life changed since she won the big music show Music Idol. I have used informal language for my article as most pop fans would rather read something easy without thinking about it much.I have tried not to use too long sentences as they can lose the readers' attention. To attract my audience I have put a pull quote on the second page.Readers tend to read first any pull quotes or heading written in different bigger font and then read the small text.Making the pull quote in a bigger font does not only stand out from the rest of the text but shows an interesting fact or thought of the person being interviewed.This helps the audience get to know Vanessa better.

This is a draft of my double page spread,which i later improved:

What I improved in this page was the text.I addressed the question more carefully and made the answers more engaging.I have also put a number on each questions so the reader can follow the interview.The picture on the right corner on the first page will not be in my final version,as the staging is not appropriate.To view my final cover go to next Blog Evaluation of the Finished Magazine.

Photo Editing

This is one of the first pictures I took when starting the media project.This one I decided to put as my main image on the front cover.Originally the background was bushes and grass but this will only distract the viewer and most pop music magazines have one colour background in contrast with the main image.To change the background to be pink I have used Photoshop.The girl is wearing a black outfit which would perfectly match with the background and make the photo more appealing and outstanding.






This is another picture I have decided to use and edit.To make some changes I have used another program called 'Photoscape'.With the help of the program and the 'Region(out of focus)' option I have made a black shadow around the two girls which crops some bits of the original background.I believe that this way the picture looks more mysterious and it will attract the audience.









This is another photo being edited with the program Photoscape.First I have cropped the picture as there were blurry figures in the original which were distracting to the viewer's eye. Second I have put a 'film effect' which makes the picture brighter and the colours of the costumes stand out.

Photos

I have decided that this photo is going to take up the whole right side page in my double page spread.The model isn't looking at the camera but her smile and the sun invites the audience to a nice atmosphere and it shows a cheerful character.I decided to take this photo with this background as it contains some of the colours of the rainbow which makes the photograph more appealing.The photo reflects the normal life of girl.Again she isn't right in the middle of the picture as I think this way it looks more provocative. I might edit this photograph by making the light darker and maybe crop the bottom of the picture.



This is the second picture I am going to use for my double page spread. I will place it in the top left corner so it's linked to the title of the page-'Vanessa Parsons'(the name of the girl).The picture is again of Vanessa with her best friend Jenny who is mentioned in one of the answers below.It's a close up photo with the idea of showing their close relationship.Vanessa(on the left)is smiling again which links with the tag line 'The girl with the smile & voice.She has painted her face as this picture was taken on a costume party.This would appeal my target audience as it shows her wild personality.

This is another picture I've taken and decided to put in my contents page.It's a picture of the girl band 'Plastic Dreams' and it was taken on a party,which my magazine describes as 'the hottest party of the year'.The aim of this photo is to show that even though female bands are rare,they can show sexiness and can be icons,who other people look up to.The name 'Plastic Dreams' exposes that they are 'The Girls' and have 'The Power'.To support this they are all dressed in sexy outfits,have stylish haircuts and lots of make up.I have chosen those girls to be my models as they look exactly like a girl band.Most female bands,for example,have a Blondie,a poser and innocent one.They've also been friends for years and can be seen as the 'fantastic four'


This is a picture I took of Vanessa(on the left) and her friend Gloria on the right. This is one of the photos I have taken but decided not to use.It's a nice picture of my main model and both girls look gorgeous but the staging isn't considered enough.It also needs some editing such as cropping the girl on the left side as this can distract the viewer eye.


This is the first picture I took which is going to be for my front cover. I have chosen to put this picture as the model looks pretty and like most models on pop magazine covers - blond hair, lovely smile,etc. She wears light make up which makes her look younger and appeals to my target audience.I am going to change the background by editing the photo in Photoshop as one colour background looks better on a magazine cover. I have decided to follow the Rule of Thirds so the girl isn't right in the middle of the picture.

Fonts

I have used different fonts for the 3 different pages. For the title and some of the main sells on my front cover I have used 'Franklin Gothic Heavy' and 'Arial' font which fall into the Sans Serif Typeface category. Its role is to make the text eye-catching.
For my contents page I have used Sans Serif Typeface fonts except from the text under the picture of the girls band on the left side. Serif Typeface fonts have little lines on the top and bottom of the world and increase the readability of body copy( small texts and captions for photographs in this case).
For the double page spread I have used 'Trebuchet MS' font which is classified as Serif Typeface. It helps the reader follow the text without distractions as serifs function to draw the eye to the next letter of the world. The pull quote I have put on the second page of my double page spread is written in Sans Serif Typeface so it can catch the reader's attention who will then want to read the article.

Flat Plan Double Page Spread

This is the flat plan for my double page spread.It is going to be either an interview or an in-depth overview about the pop star Vanessa Parsons from the cover.The information is going to be about her life as she has just won the music show 'Music Idol' and now is going to make a career in the pop music industry. I am also going to include some pictures of Vanessa's life so I can introduce her to my audience.The information is going to be more like basic staff such as ' birthplace, favourite place to go on a holiday, favourite book';I will try to include some quotes from the performer so it can look more interesting and appealing.

The layout I'm going to use will be in a light colours as the rest of my magazine.Although I might put some dark colours so there can be a contrast and the page could look more eye-catching.I will stick to simple colours so the page doesn't look too obtrusive. Another thing I am going to do is to put the information and pictures in a 4 grid design.

The Display type such as the headings,subheading and pull quotes will be in a bigger and different font compared to the body type( the text of the article).

Flat Plan Contents Page

This is the flat plan for my contents page.

On the top left corner of my page will be written 'CONTENTS' so it can clearly show what the page is about. Under it there will be a random picture and a bit of text in the corner showing who is on the picture and in which page you can find the article.

The title of the magazine will be written next to the picture in the right corner and it will be in the same font but different colour and size.

The contents will be spread in different sections: 'Cover', 'Celebs','Entertainment'and 'Plus'. There will be a line under every section title.

At the right bottom corner there will be a box which shows 2 posters that will be enclosed to the magazine.

I haven't decided what the background of this page is going to be yet but I am thinking of putting some pictures or a single light colour.

Flat Plan Front Cover

This is my flat plan of my front cover. The title of my magazine is 'FAME' and it will be written in big bold letters(probably red) at the top of the magazine so it can clearly stand out from the main sells.

The strapline 'Britain's N0 1 pop magazine' will be above the title and it will be written in white letters on a pink background. I haven't decided what colour the background of the whole magazine will be but I'm thinking of light colours like yellow,pink or white. This will match with my audience(15 and above) style. Most of my main sells will be in bold black letters.

My main image will be of a blond girl as I've seen that most of the pop magazines use blond artists such as Britney Spears,Cristina Agilera, Lady Gaga.The hair colour will match with the light colours of my magazine.Also her clothes will be in darker colours so they can stand out from the light colours around the picture.I have decided not to put the image in the middle as most magazines have their artists just in the middle and I think it's quite boring. Above the main image there is a little circle which will show a bit of text about the prizes in my magazine.I am thinking of 'Win an I-pod' or something similar.

Most of my main sells are written in the left side of the magazine. They will be in different fonts but I haven't decided what fonts I am going to use yet. I have also put some of the main sells in a box to make them more eye-catching as they will be longer stories than the others.There are also some main sells in the right side of the magazine. One of it is written vertically. This will make my front cover look better.

The main flash is the first text written below the price and the date.I have realised that it has to be bigger as it has to be eye catching and my audience has to be interested in it. It is not written in enough big letters on my cover and it looks like another main sell. When I start doing my magazine I will change the size and the location of the main flash.

The bar code will be at the bottom right corner of the front cover. The price and the date will be under the title as there is a blank space.