Exploring different layouts
- 2. • Each magazine contains their own unique style of presentation, including the house style as well as depending on different genres. For further knowledge about the layouts, I started by doing a research of four different magazines. This involves front cover layout, contents page layout and double page spread layout. This research will help to me identify the strengths of those layouts from variety of magazines for instance, Vibe, Clash, NME and Q. This would be applied to my own work by using those layouts as a guide of how should professional magazine looks. Then I would also increase the knowledge of the composition within the music magazines by showing different positions of the features.
- 3. • All four covers follow the conventional presentation of a magazine cover. For example their masthead is located on the top of the page in large, unique and often bold title. This would be because the masthead is where the audience would have their first glance and therefore it is important for them to remember the title. By having unique and recognisable fonts would allow the audience to remember the brand which is part of promoting. The next point the audience read tends to be the headline which is also often written in the largest size. The headline always associates with the main image. For example from the music magazine the headlines displayed artists’ name. Normally based on the magazines’ conventional features the cover stories are mostly written in smallest size but still large enough to capture the audience’s attention. It is usually short, snappy, and interesting which makes the audience pay extra attention to the story. I noticed that the shots used for main image is no larger than medium close-up also.
- 4. When looking at these two magazine front overs I am able to distinguish a great contrast between them. For instance I can see that the magazine on the left hand side is very plain and uncluttered, This makes the magazine easy to read however will also mean that the image is heavily relied upon when attracting customers. From the cover on the right I am able to see that there are more conventional features such as a trap line, cover line and also a selling line. This is more of a conventional music magazine.
- 5. When initially looking at contents pages from existing music magazines I am able to see that the contents page will consist of allot more conventional material then the front cover. Features such as a pull quote and also content images dominate the contest page. This makes the page busy and the reader has allot more information to intake. With features such as a variety of content images and editors comments it will also mean that the reader will gain more information from a different variety of sources.
- 6. When looking at these two contents pages there are some similarities, for example on the right hand side of the page there is a large feature list that includes top heads of each of the articles in the magazine. On the left hand side of the image there is a large central image that dominate most of the contents page. This shows that this is a conventional tool that Is need when I am making my magazine.
- 7. Now looking at the double page spreads that I have sketched I am firstly able to see tat the page is dominated by a large central image that is located on the left hand side of the page. The large image gives the reader a visual image to look at and to make the right hand side of the page text dominated. There is other features of this page like the bodies of text which Is located on the right hand side which will include the cover article .
- 8. When looking at the double page spreads that are on the screen I am able to see that there once again is a dominating image. There is main body text that are located in various position and various sizes that restrict the amount of text tat can be put into the body of text.