Contents Page Final Cut

This is the contents page from my final cut. Again I have kept features from my contents page rough cut and made improvements that were suggested in my feedback and that of my own ideas. I have kept the same header to the contents page as this was mentioned a few times in my positive feedback. I also kept the left panel in which I had positioned the page numbers and descriptions for all the articles in the magazine. Another feature I kept was the reviews section at the bottom of the left panel. I think this adds variation from the standard page numbering above and helps it to stand out. For the editorial section under road crew I have minimised it so only the important names are showing. I agreed with my feedback that it took up too much space and wasn't very interesting to read. I have left most of the page blank to allow an image dominated style, which is conventional of rap magazines. I have used the photo that was originally on my front cover, keeping the same effect of the artists head over the header. I have also made it appear that he is slightly stood behind the left panel which creates an interesting 3D effect. I kept the background white to allow the colour scheme of the image to be the same of the contents page colour scheme. This keeps the house style consistent and looks appealing to the reader. Finally I have changed the fonts and language to fit that of the hip hop genre. This keeps the magazine conventional and directly targets my audience. 

Front Cover Final Cut

This is the final cut of my front cover for my magazine. As you can see I have kept some features the same as my first draft, but many features have changed due to audience, peer and teacher feedback. I have kept the top banner and bottom banner the same due to the positive comments I received about them, they are also conventional of a music magazine. Another feature I have kept the same is the information about the main article inside. Again I kept this because of the good feedback I received about it, I also kept it because I like the fact it gives away the style of the artist through colouring and the font type. I have kept the same photo that I decided to use in my rap front cover rough cut as it looked conventional of the genre due to the mise en scene of the models. I liked the setting because it gives mystery to the artists and article because of the dark cave background behind them. I then added in some of the features that I created for my rap rough cut. This makes the overall design look like a hip hop magazine, especially with the new font 'Coluna'. Finally I changed the language used in the text. This helps to attract the target audience as they will instantly recognise it as a hip hop magazine. Furthermore, using this distinct slang targets the audience through synthetic personalisation by using shared deictic knowledge they can use for diversion and personal identity. 

Improving My Article...

I have finished extending my double page spread article to fit the conventions of a professional music magazine. After looking at examples of already established designs and reading back through my research, I decided I could extend it by adding more to my interview. As I had already covered more serious topics such as the music and the description of the artists, I thought I would talk about more fun topics. I went into talk about the lives of the artists, their interests and what they get up to. This is interesting for the audience to read and offers them a chance to relate to the artist.

Hip Hop Front Cover Design

I have now finished designing this hip hop front cover. I have used one of my photos from my first photo shoot for the main image. I then used the Coluna font that I downloaded for the text as it gives the big and bold font effect that is commonly found in hip hop magazines. I have also used the same layout of text which I found used on a Vibe front cover with the same use of colouring. I have kept some conventions that I was given good feedback on and worked well in my actual design. I will now look to transfer features from this design into my original design to make it more conventional of a hip hop magazine.

Downloading New Font...

After looking into my hip hop magazine research and further established designs I have noticed they have a very distinct font type. I think this will be a key feature in making my magazine more of a distinct hip hop genre. I have used the website 'DaFont' to find and download a font similar to that used in these magazines. I will now look to use it to replace all fonts that are conventional of rock. First I have an idea of creating a mainstream hip hop rough cut front cover to learn how to use different features to create a conventional hip hop magazine. I will show you my design once I have finished. 

Approaching Deadline Day...

I am now approaching the final deadline day for my music magazine. I am applying all the final changes to my final design using my feedback. I am also looking back at my initial research for ideas on how I can improve certain features that no longer work with my genre and those that were pointed out by my feedback. I won't be blogging as much as I am putting most of my attention on completing my final cut. However, I will keep you updated with big ideas and changes that I will be making to my design.

Photo Shoot 3

I have gone out to take more photos, this time I have focused more on the mise en scene features clothing and setting. I found an old mausoleum in Seaton Delaval which has an eerie feel about it. This fits the conventions of my genre and is appealing to the viewer as it is out the ordinary. I took a range of photos here to give me options on which ones would look best on which pages of my magazine. Again I will edit these photos to give more of a professional appearance by increasing the saturation and playing with the brightness. I will also work on clearing up bad focus and helping them look more clear.