Final Double Page Spread!

This is my final double page spread. 

After reviewing my rough draft I noticed that quite a bit needed to be changed in order to make it look more like a 'pop' magazine.

Firstly, as I added in the 'progression of double page spread', the word 'weeks' was changed as I felt it looked too plain to be in a pop magazine. I got the idea to change it from the box down the left hand side as I thought if I alternate the colours it would bring  more interest to the page. 

The colours are also consistent through out with the use of light blues and pinks. This is because it is mostly aimed at young girls, however, there is a secondary audience of boys. I felt the colours matched throughout my contents and front and wanted to keep to a certain theme. 

I also decided to dress the model in mostly black as it would then suit any colour and keep slightly more neutral and would therefore appeal to both male and females. It also makes her stand out slightly more as she doesn't fit with the colour scheme of mostly blues and pinks but she does still suit the page.

I added 'exclusive interview' in the top right as I felt it needed something there to break the page up and to also make the readers feel like they're reading something that no one else has read before. 
I kept the style of writing simple so that the audience could understand what was being said. 
Furthermore, I also added details of the new single and where the readers can listen to it as it was something that appeared in a lot of magazines.

Whilst looking through pop magazine I noticed that they don't use the drop capital letter. I couldn't find one pop magazine where they did so I decided that I would be conventional to a pop magazine if I didn't include it. In addition, I didn't feel a drop capital would be suitable as there isn't a massive amount of introduction which is where it is usually found. There isn't a huge introduction because I felt that the readers being young (11-16) would lose interest quickly if they weren't reading about that artist.

Progression of double page spread!

Whilst I was creating my double page spread I created the 'background' first before adding any of the main text. I knew where I wanted the main body of text to go and where the main image would be so everything else I tried to place around it so it would all fit in together. I quickly realised that I didn't have anything down the left hand side of the page and as it is a pop magazine I needed to add something in there otherwise the page would look too boring and plain.

I came up with the idea to add a few statistics down the side. Although they are 'stat's' they're hardly complicated and if anything add to the idea of 'gossip' which was what I wanted. We did honestly take 277 pictures on the second photo shoot so I thought that would be interesting to the readers. It also would allow them to realise that we didn't get a perfect picture straight away and it isn't always the way.

Furthermore, whilst I was adding those stats down the left hand side I used it as a way to add slightly more colour to the page. By alternating the boxes it brings a bit more life into the double page spread. It also is consistent with the contents page and front cover and matches the colours used on there. 

Later on I then decided that I needed to change the colour of 'weeks' so by alternating that it all matched quite nicely. 

Rough Double Page Spread!

Above is my rough double page spread. 

When I complete my final double page I will need to fill the gap in the bottom left as it's too plain compared to a lot of other pop magazines. This is because pop magazines are typically aimed at 11-16 year olds and so they would typically be more interested in a lot of a colour and items everywhere rather than it being plain. 

There also isn't a range of colours and although the main title/pull-quote does stand out, I could do something to make it stand out even more. For example, either change to colour of it, change the colour of 'weeks, or change the size of it. 

Another thing that will need to be changed it that fact that there is no pull-quote apart from the title. Adding this will encourage the reader to want to continue to read as it would have hopefully have caught their interest. 

The top of the page also doesn't have much to it. It once again looks a bit plain for a pop magazine. 

I will re-do the double page and try to change some of these things.

Prezi- Double Page Spread!

Below is the link to a prezi on conventions of a double page spread. 



http://prezi.com/6jndcj1qtqrp/conventions-of-a-double-page-spread/?kw=view-6jndcj1qtqrp&rc=ref-28225441

Proposal: Double Page Spread!

What type of double page spread will it be?
For my double page spread I have chosen to base it on an interview in a question and answer format. I think this would be most appropriate as my target audience are girls between the ages of 11-16. I believe that this is what they would find most interesting.

What type of questions will you ask?
For my questions I plan to ask simple yet interesting questions. They cannot be too complicated as I have a young target audience, however, as they are young they need to be kept interested more. I will take the interview and show it in a kind of chatty way but not too much otherwise it may distract away from the actual interview. Questions based on their 'new single', love life and childhood should be included as this is what stereo-typically interests young girls.

How will your main image be placed?
I will have one main image on my double page spread as there are already several throughout the magazine and once again, I don't want to over-load the page with too many images as the main purpose of the double page spread is for it to contain an interview about the particular artist. I plan to place it on the right hand side as this is a convention of the a lot of magazines. 

What colours will you use?
The colours need to be consistent with the front cover and contents page so it will looks like it could all belong in an actual magazine. It would also be conventional to have a background on the double page spread rather than leaving it white as I have done with the contents and front cover. A white background worked well with those pages, however, I think my double page spread will be more effective if it has some form of a background.

What will you use for the main title/mast head?
When I looked into other pop magazines in particular they tended to use quotes from the interview as their main title. This then encourages the reader to want to continue as it would hopefully interest them.

Analysis of a Double Page Spread Music Magazine; Interview!

The magazine I have chosen to look at is ‘Top of the Pops’ which includes an interview with Misha B. The genre of magazine is quite clear as it says it in the masthead but it is a pop magazine. Top of the pops is said to be the favourite children and teen magazine. Around 18% of its readership is boys whilst the majority is girls at 82%. They clearly target girls through by the choice of topics and people they include as well as their chosen colour scheme. The age range tends to be girls between 11-15. Misha B (the person being interviewed) originally found fame on the TV show ‘The X Factor’ which is typically known to search for the next ‘POP star’. As this is where she found fame many people know her and could possibly take interest in her. She tends to base herself around the pop scene which would fit in well with the magazine.

The masthead (title) of the article is actually a quote from the interview. This instantly attracts attention from the reader and tries to persuade them to read the article. As it’s only a few words from the interview people won’t understand entirely what it’s about so would need to read the whole thing in order to find out. They highlight one of the words, ‘heart’ and also put it in capitals because it implies that a lot of the interview will revolve around that subject but also because it fits in with the typical teenage subject of love. For the sub-heading they use current slang words such ‘emosh’ as this suits their main audience of teenage girls. They don’t use a drop capital as it’s in the style of an interview. This could be because they do not include paragraphs of information about the artist as people are expected to know but also because it’s aimed at young people so they wouldn’t want to over power them with too much text. The question that is being asked is in bold and a different colour whilst the answer is in normal font and colour. Each question is in a different paragraph but it is all kept quite close together. Each question asked is most formal but quite personal. They do however use slight conversational words such as ‘so’ and at the end they do add a comment about the interview. There’s a reference to her latest single and they do question her about that which is obviously one of the main reasons why she done the interview, to promote her album. They also ask typical girly questions about her dream date, boy issues and childhood life. They include two pull-quotes other than the main title. One is surrounded by a heart which again links to them highlighting the ‘heart’ in their title. Another is in the middle of all the text which helps to draw your eye to the text and once again should make you want to continue to read.  They use boxes as smaller sub-headings so the reader would know what to expect in the next few questions. They also have a smaller box at the bottom which gives information on the artist’s new single and album and where the readers can listen to it. The colour scheme which they use is typically girl’s colours which include pinks and light blues mostly. This again fits in well with their target audience of girls between the ages of 11-15. 

‘Top of the Pops’ includes one main image of the artist and two other smaller ones. One of the smaller ones is of Misha B on ‘The X-Factor’ as this is where many people will know her from. The main image is based on the right page and she is wearing drawing attention to the necklace. It consumes most of the page but does have text boxes overlapping at the bottom. It looks as though she has been cut out from her original shoot and placed onto the page with a coloured background. They use a long shot in the corner so you can view her whole body.

 To the left is annotated notes about the chosen double page spread. Below is the original copy in colour.

Task 2: Planning your DPS!

What type of double page spread do you intend to create?
As my target audience is aimed at girls between the ages of approx 11-15, I think the best layout would be an interview in the style of question and answers. This is because it would allow the readers to 'get to know' the artist being interviewed and it also allows them to read the direct words the interviewee has said. 
          Also as it's a pop magazine it's typically known to be quite open and more chatty than informative. 

How you intend to incorporate original images?
I intend to incorporate original images but using a main image across one side of the double page spread. Furthermore, because it's a magazine aimed at young teenage girls there should maybe be other smaller images to break up the text so it doesn't overpower the readers. For this I could also include other images of features coming up on other pages or smaller features that are separate on the double page spread to give the readers a break from reading the same thing. 

How will you obtain information and images for your feature spread?
For images, I will take these myself or the person of my choice. If I decide to include smaller images of other people then I will also need to take photo's of them. For the information, I will research into typical questions and answers that are often included in magazines. 

Visual style?
The double page spread needs to be consistent with the front cover and contents page. This means that I will need to you the same colours and similar fonts. The layout needs to be related in some way, however, because it is a completely different style to the front cover and contents it won't be exactly the same but there needs to be some relation between them all. As it is aimed at younger people, it needs to include a variation of colour to keep them interested. Also it pop magazines typically include a lot of colour and have different puffs/plugs/features all over the page.  

What style of writing you intend to use?
The writing style needs to use simple words as it is aimed at younger readers so they may not understand the writing if it includes longer and more complex words. As I will most probably write it in the format of a question and answer style, it needs to be simple questions that any one will understand even if they aren't a fan of the artist/band.