Double Page Pp
- 1. The top picture is my finished double page article, the bottom picture is an example taken from NME magazine, I chose this particular example because I like the consistency of the house style and the choice of colours. It is also a rock magazine that is well known – therefore I feel that I can improve my own magazine by evaluating this particular one.
- 2. Here is the title for my article. Because of the sudden change in background I decided that I needed a significant representative to show that my double page article belongs to the same issue as my contents page and double page spread, therefore I used the same urban font that I used on the word “SOUNDS” on my front cover and I also incorporated the colour white that I used on the word “Seein’” as a shadow. Even though the signature black or white background with gradient stars isn’t used by incorporating familiar fonts and the signature colours I feel I have achieved a generic house style throughout whilst surprisingly keeping things that little bit more interesting that usual double page layouts and spreads which consist of a normal plain layout. Because the top of the page is the first thing that the eye is drawn to, I felt it important that the title had an impact and I hope I have achieved this.
- 3. Here is the introductory almost teaser paragraph that goes underneath my title top briefly inform the reader on what the longer article contains. I really liked the use of “Dumb, young and full of … filthy tunes” that was used. Not only was it humorous, ironic, short and snappy but it was also very relevant to the genre which is indie rock. Indie rockers are associated with quite “grubby” aspects of life such as sex, drugs and rock n roll. However, the only one criticism that I have for this is that it was slightly too short and did not inform the reader very much on the band themselves of the articles contents, I feel that it could have been improved had it have had a longer introduction. Because of this analysis, I tried to keep my introduction contemporary, informal to an extent, cool yet still informative – keeping all the good aspects of that of the NME example, and also improving on its not so good features. To emphasise the important words in my introduction such as “INFLUENCE” and “STYLE SPEAKS” I ensure that they were in capitals so that they would stand out and the eye would be drawn to them. To emphasise this even more and to ensure that the house style remains I highlighted them pink and blue because the title was yellow, this means that the bright positive feel of the contents and front cover still remains.
- 4. Here is my main article, because it is a double page spread I felt that it was only necessary to go to a certain degree of detail to ensure that the readers are getting exactly what they have paid for moreover more for their money. However, the only problem with this is that having too much text can either be too difficult to read or basically just too much to take in which can in turn bore the reader – definitely something a magazine does not want to do. After scouring the internet, newsagents and magazines themselves I tried to spot a truly unique and individual double page spread and although some came close (example that I am comparing to – NME) none of the particular ones that I looked at really grabbed my attention and inspired me in the way that I hope that my magazine would inspire another reader. I took a particular liking in the way that the colour blocks were used in the NME example but it was almost as though there was something missing – like all the layouts were the same. Either a plain text column set up with sudden splashes of colour, or a simple main image with text worked around the proxemics. The whole idea and concept of my magazine is to push boundaries and in general just be unique – so with a generic contents page, wouldn’t that defeat the whole objective? After lots of deep though I finally found a way that I could incorporate the most successful feature of my magazine – the Polaroid’s. By using these, not only am I selecting and applying the most successful factor to my double page spread I am also once again ensuring that my house style has remained. I like the way that a Polaroid in itself is so unorganised, not thought through and generally just natural, you can place or in this case pin them anywhere. Once my ideas began to develop I decided that I would make my double page article look like an unorganised notice board – or preferably organised chaos, something real – something my readers can relate to. Little did I know, it wouldn’t be so easy to find a ready made notice board on Google Images so I had to construct and create it myself in order for the articles layout to work and for the whole article could be visible to read. Even though this idea is unique, it is slightly outside of my house style, so to restore the familiar feeling I used Polaroid images and my house colours throughout.