This was my production plan. I made this in order to organize when I need to do what is needed and then to keep track of my progress. I found it hard to stick to this especially when things tended to go wrong.
I decided to firstly plan out some possible outfits for my model to wear in the photo shoot for the cover and other pages. I really like the first outfit as it looks sort of punk-like, which would fit the theme and genre of my magazine well - however, I also rather like the second design. I think it would be in Lolita fashion, a Japanese street style, but with some elements of black in it so that it wouldn't be too feminine. This could work as the street styles in Japan were created by teenagers in order to rebel against the average fashion trends.
Above are some rough flat plans for the cover of my magazine. I prefer the first plan because I would want the model to have a close up rather than a full body shot. I think that it would be a good idea if the cover lines looked like they were cut out from magazines so they weren't just strait and put on there, as the typeface would look to mainstream and boring. After saying that, I prefer the positioning of the masthead on the second design. I think the page is more balanced in composition but I think that it could get a little overcrowded if I wasn't careful. Out of the two I think I prefer the first, and maybe I can use a full body photo for the contest page.
Above are some more flat plans, but instead these are for the contents page. I prefer the layout of the second plan when compared to the first one. If I chose the first flat plan there is much more room to have a main image as I would like the image to be the main focus. I think the layout of the articles on the second design are more organized but it really doesn't leave much space for images. I think the first plan would work better as the page would look more visually interesting rather than if it was in a typical grid pattern like the below. I would also try and include the font to tie in with the front cover if possible.
I was trying to figure out what kind of masthead design I would like on my cover, so I did some quick sketches of possible ideas. I like the designs on the far left side. I think the top left one looks the most visually interesting, as I tried to make a guitar chord as I was playing with the magazine name. However I broke the lines up a little to make it appear 'broken' - again playing to the name of the magazine. On another note, I really like the font of the design in the bottom left. I think it fits in well with the genre of magazine I'm hoping to go for, but the large black box behind it doesn't look very appealing. The two images below include a font that I could use for the DPS and contents page, called Stencil. I like the style of the cut out look. I think it fits into the rock genre rather well. By changing the sizes of the font and having some as capital letters add to the overall appearance. The very bottom image is of my finished masthead design. I chose the one that had the guitar chord incorporated into the design. However, I think I might have to invert the colours once it's on my im ages.
These were the photos take I took. I decided on the Lolita outfit as it's a street fashion originating from Japan. There are many types of Lolita fashion and this style is Bitter-Sweet. This means it is cute yet also darker in colours instead of lots and lots of pink like Sweet Lolita. I think I'm more likely to use the outside photos as she's wearing her coat, whereas inside they seem a bit girly. Maybe I could use them on DPS instead. I think if I could redo the shoot I would include possible a prop such as a guitar and I would of taken some to so that there was plenty of space to the side of her, so that it would be easier to edit for the contents page or the DPS. When I do use the images on my magazine I think I will make them darker with a higher contrast to make it feel more like a rock/soft rock magazine.
Questions for Interview:
1. What are your influences?
2. Why did you want o become a musician?
3. Your style isn't typical of a rocker. What is the meaning behind this?
4. Who's your favourite band or singer?
5. Can you play any instruments besides the Guitar?
6. If you could, would you want to tour the world?
7. What country would you want to perform in the most?
8. How long have you been practicing music? When did you start to get recognition?
9. Was it hard to get where you are today?
10. What would you say to any aspiring musicians out there?
These are the 10 questions I will be using for my interview on the DPS. I think they will provide me with enough to write about for the article.
The articles that will appear on my contents page:
Features:
Interview with Elizabunni! A New artist putting a spin on rock music!
A Quick Chat with The Arctic Monkeys!
Regulars:
Editors Note
Instrument Overview
Top Hits
New Bands
Concerts in Your Area
Tours
Posters
Iron Maiden vs Nirvana
What Bands are Wearing
The Fan Corner
The Broken Chord Vault
Competitions
Latest CD's
The New Music Videos
Music News
Q&A
Subscribe!
To come up with my article names, I looked through other magazines such as Kerrang! and DIY for inspiration. This helped a lot to see what kind of articles are actually inside magazines as the contents are very important as that is what the audience will be looking at to decide if they should purchase the magazine or not.
