briony barret blog 4 flat plans.

<-- frony cover design i have chosen

For my front cover flat plan, i have created a rough idea of where abouts i want to place all the elements which make up a front cover. I have used the rule of thirds once again to recognise my points of power and where i want to place particular things to draw more attention to the audience. I have experimented with different colour schemes and I felt that Black,Yellow, White and Red. These colours conform to both of the front covers i loooked at in my previous blog. i felt that these colour compleimented achother well but I will make sure that I place them in a certain way so they don't clash or that I have more colours than others. This is appealing for both male and female audience as they are non specific colours related to what sex you are. I feel these are attractive and exciting enough to appeal to my age range of my target audience, between 14-37. my layout design appeared from inspiration of not only the magazines in my previous blogs, but i searched around on the internet and in shops to think of new ideas and where to place my masthead etc. the top half of my front cover has looked at both NME and Smash Hits and combined their placing of the masthead together. i placed my mathead in the top left hand corner with a headline runnning across the topnext to it. this is like NME and Smash Hits but their headline is above the masthead. this is giving extra information about what else is in the magazine. there will be a picture next to it relating to either the headline or about anything else in the magazine with a caption underneath. to make my tagline stand out, instead of it being underneath my masthead, i have ran the tagline along side of it at a vertical angle. along the bottom of the front cover will be more main sells and srtap lines. at the start of the strap line will be a little circle/ rectangle with a "plus" inside of it to show what else in i the magazine. they will each have page numbers on them so i am also using navigation elements on the front. the barcode is going to be placed vertical along the bottom of the right hand side. this will also include the price, date and the issue number. all of these are navigation elements used. to create a sense of informity, i want to border each of the main sells etc. with a block colour so it looks like they have been cut/ ripped out off of a page. i feel it will create and edgier, funky loko and attracting t my target audience as i want my ideal reader to be the sort of person who isn't always well organised and like things edgy and sometimes scruffy. it is creates an artistic ad eccentric feel with they way the edges are jagged and rough. the main image will be more to the left of the page as the front covers i llookied at placed their either in the centre, or to the right so i want mine to be more left placed but spreading through to the centre. i have taken the idea of using a title and information box overlapping the image. this is not going to be boreder as it will be taking half of the image away. there will be contrasting colour used for the title and the text underneath which will be short but using a quote from the article, that way the reader knows that there should be a double page spread in the magazine as it has taken up the front cover. the font i will be using over the front cover is going to be in sans serif to create a feeling of informity. at the same time, i am hoping to create a retro feel to the magazine by using funky and maybe old fashioned fonts. i have decided to design two front covers as i thought it would be interesting to experiment with different ideas. i decided to stick to the first one i oriigionally thought as i felt it was more interesting than my second layout design. this is because the second one seems very plain and boring the way that everthing mas mainly central and the point of powers on my grid lines weren't anywhere specific and eye catching. i htink if i make an image which is exciting and fits in well with my cover than it will look great. the second design seemed too basic for the audience i am aiming for and too tidy and concise. i have put on both designs though things like shapes which are eye catching and exciting with new albuim information on them.

my contents page differs from the NME contents page as the main cover staory takes up the centre of the page. i have decided to place it in the centre but at the top so that the rest of the magazine's storys from the main sells and strap lines can be placed from left to right with lots of space to put in information and navigation elements such as page numbers. on the right hand side of the page will be the main sells front cover images with a competion ad underneath it and a straburst shape to attract the reader to the bottom of the page where the competition is. i feel this is attractive and appealing to my audience as i will be using the same house colours but i am placing the stories/contents lists and images in a way that is organised but at the same time messy. i want the back ground image to be of a scene that i have taken where it's either at a gig or a party or something like that. at first i was going to place them like a notice board but NME had aleready done that. this is appealing to the same type of audience as it is set out as a sort of reminer system that you would put onto your fridge. ther is a heading for each category the magazine consits of. these will include the main sells page numbers and the strap lines put under subheading like interviews/news/review/gig listings/charts. in the top left hand corner will be the masthead again in the same house colours to create familialarity and also as a use of a navigation element so that the reader can clearly see that it is the same magazine. this is useful as it is creating the same effect that the frint cover does and i will have the headline next to it with a picture alongside it. his creates a sense of consitencey which is professional looking and looks smart.

my double page spread is going to be simialr to the NME one i had analysed in that i am going to have a different picture of the same thing as the front cover main story on one page. over the image i will place a caption in the bottom left of the corner and maybe over lapping the picture, a quote fromt the interview. there will also be the page number/website and magazine name in the bottom left hand corner of each page so if the reader wants to find the page quickly they just have to find that page number and the website is useful as then the reader can get the latest info online when they are on social networking sites.there will be in the right hand corner the subheading title it is under on the contents page which is another navigation element for the reader. this layout i feel is effective for the reader on the first page is exciting and bold and it looks interesting to read and see what the main article is about. the title is going to be spread across both pages along the top through the centre. underneath it will be a subehaeding with other information and a picture with a caption box. i want to start my article with a drop cap (this stands out from the rest of the article so the audience can see clearly that it is the start-navigation element) and the heading will be in serif font this time as i want to create a retro feel to the main cover story as the photogrpah is going to be made in this way. i will still use all of the same colour scheme. the second page's background is just going to be white and the main bodty text will be in black fonts, in sans serif as it is easier to read when it is smaller for a younger audience. at the end will be credits and i have researched other double page spreads and i want to put another quotation in bigger letter than the main body text in between paragraphs. there will be subheading and each of them are bordered with the same block colour as the border on the friont cover which is attractive for the reader and easier to see and read. i want to keep the main body text simple and about the band so there will be more images and other articles advertised on thefar rght side of the second page. thiswill include either images or in big bold letters what else is coming up in the magazine.

I decided to change my flat plan and trying this layout for my first option didn't work. So i made up a new falt plans that are detailed.

Front cover:

I am pleased with my layout and this is exactly how I want it to look.

Contents page:

Again, I am pleased.

Double page spread:

This took alot of work to get right, and planning for my writing took a long time. I didn't know what image I was going to use or whether this was the layout I wanted. But I liked it and decided even if it is simple it still looks good and attractive for my audience.