Flat Plans and Rationale

Front Cover Flat Plan-
Colour Usage: I have themed my flat plans with my actual color theme. I have chosen black, white and red to fit in with my color theme of the magazine. Black and white is used in order to create a classy and professional feel, with the element of red added to give a feel of importance, high class and strength (referring to the artist as strong), connoting importance within my magazine therefore encouraging people to buy it. The red area of my magazine will maintain a three shade color scheme, with three different variations of red being see throughout the magazine. This creates variation within the small number of colors I am going to use, and expands the opportunity to include different colors, whilst only using 3 main colors. The contrast between the red and the black/white, will ensure that the more important elements will stand out. This contrast will be used in areas such as the masthead, which will be printed in red, and within other red elements, such as important words in the cover lines, in order to make them jump to at the audience. Also, areas of the image will be red against this black and white background, in order to make areas of the image jump out at the audience, causing them to take a closer look, therefore striking their best interest and encouraging them to buy a magazine.

Image Usage: From my target audience research, I gathered that my audience would prefer a cover that maintained one image only. I also believed that this would be a good idea and was glad that my target audience interviewee preferred this factor within a magazine. My main image will take up the whole of the front cover with no blank spaces, as this will leave the cover looking sparse and dull, I will not be using more than one image to prevent crowding and to fit my target audience. This image will be of my main artist who will also be the feature artist that my main article will centralize itself around. There will be no props included within my image, due to use of props causing a crowding feel. However, I am using the colour of red within the image to add connotations of strength and importance within the artist and within the magazine itself, leaving the audience to question where the artist has gained this strength from, encouraging them to purchase the magazine and read the article they are featured in. The model's body language will also add to these connotations of strength and importance in the way that their facial expression will give these feelings as they will maintain a serious and stern expression. The make-up the model will be wearing will consist of red glitter surrounding the eyes due to an inclusion of red in one area of the photo to contrast against the black and white photo. This will draw connotations of importance to the eyes of the artist, causing the audience to look at the model's eyes which will be directly staring at the camera, therefore at the audience, inviting them to buy the magazine. Apart from that, harsh contouring and prominent brows will be featured within the model's make-up in order to create a fierce and strong feeling. The camera will be at eye level with the model in order for the audience to feel at level with the model. This portrays a feeling of equality and suggests that my magazine is breaking the barrier between the famous and non-famous, i.e. giving insight into their lives so that the readers feel less of a fan and more of an acquaintance. This barrier may encourage the reader to buy further issues in order to receive this with other artists. 

Text Usage: For use of text within my magazine cover, I have decided on obvious aspects of text such as the name of the magazine in the masthead and cover lines down the left and right third of the page. Cover lines will feature am omniscient narrative, meaning, for example, that the main artist will be spoke about in 3rd person within the main cover line. I also chose to use a puff for one of my cover line, which will most likely be a quote from one of the articles, meaning it could possibly be in a different narrative, for example, first person from an interviewee. This also adds a teaser effect, due to the puff including a shocking statement, leaving the reader wanting to know more, encouraging them to read the magazine. Within the cover lines, I will be printing some of the more important words in a separate, more eye-catching font, in order to draw the readers attention to the important and exciting words. The main cover line will be focused on the main artist that is pictured on the front cover, meaning that the emotional connotations of the cover line must match the image. As I'm planning on creating a fierce portrayal of the main artist, my main covering will feature emotional connotations of strength and fierceness, which will link to the factor that draws the audience in (what made her so strong?, will be added to by the puff that is used). This main cover line could include many literary elements, for example alliteration (e.g. 'fierce and fighting back'). Other than cover lines, text usage will appear within the sell line above the masthead in order to draw the audience in and strike them with a fact that will encourage them to purchase the magazine, for example, 'The Hits Of Today And Tomorrow'. The masthead will also be a use of text within the cover, being one of the key points of the magazine due to it informing the audience of what magazine this is. The masthead will also be used as the logo for the magazine, creating a recognizability surrounding the magazine. 

Layout and Font: Within the font element of my final product, I will be using professional and understandable fonts that aren't gender specific. I believe non-gender specific fonts will fit better with my target audience, so I am considering using a Sans-serif font within the masthead and cover lines of my magazine. I, however, am considering using a completely different font for some of the more interesting words of the cover lines, in order to create a diverse feel and to make them stand out as they will also be printed in red. This immediately highlights the key focal points within the text. The layout itself creates a professional style and assists readership within the way it doesn't appear sparse, whereas in is not too crowded. This means it is enjoyable to look at, whilst also being inviting, meaning the audience will happily be able to read the cover lines, which will hopefully strike their best interest, therefore encouraging them to read the magazine. when observing the flat plans, it is evident that the puff and cover lines are all placed in diagonals in order to create an energetic layout and to avoid a boring and square looking layout. 

Contents Page Flat Plan-
Colour Usage: Again, with my contents page, I have stuck with the black, white and red colour theme, that my magazine is going to have in order to create a more realistic feel around how my final product will appear. I believe these colors will maintain the same connotations of strength and high class on the contents page, also. The title of the page will be in red as that is a main focus of the page and I'd like the title to dew attention so that the audience immediately knows what page this is. As well as this, the page numbers and article titles will be printed in red in order to catch attention and be portrayed as a vital area of the page. The editors not will also be in a white font with the background in a shade of red in order to draw attention to what the editor has to say about this issue. The images used within the contents page will also be in black and white with areas of red featured.

Image Usage: The main and largest image that will be featured on this page will be an image from the main article in order to give a short insight into the article itself. Other larger images I am going to use will include those of other articles in the magazine, in order to give a sneak preview, and also pushing the reader towards those pages, that I will have selected as the best pages of the magazine ('putting the best foot forward', striking best interest). I am also considering adding a small caption at the bottom right of the images in order to inform the audience of what page the image has been taken from. I believe that will provide a brief insight into these specific pages and will allow the audience to decide what articles they'd like to read, encouraging them to read the magazine. I have also chosen to place an image of the from cover itself into the contents page. I believe this adds a personal feel and also makes the reader feel familiar with the magazine, providing a more comfortable feel, whilst creating a close bond with the audience. I also believe that if my magazine was a realistic, monthly magazine, this would create a regular feel due to the front cover being printed in the contents page of each issue. It would also create a consistent portrayal of the magazine itself. Another example of the images would be using the logos from several social media sites in order to create a social platform for my magazine and creating an environment that cognacs the readers to my magazine. It also makes it easy for the audience to receive more frequent updates due to the magazine being issued monthly, whilst also making it available for the audience to opt for notifications to their phones/emails etc. These logos may include Facebook,Twitter, Instagram etc. I have taken this idea from other popular magazines for example, NME, a music magazine maintaining their own social media platforms to keep in touch with their readers (e.g. Instagram, Twitter).

Text Usage: Within the text element of my contents page, the page will feature a large title/headline in order to inform the audience of what page they are viewing. The title will also employ the name of the issue (e.g. March 2016) so that the readers are aware of which issue they are in possession of. The contents will feature a selection of articles from the magazine due to it only being a mock of product of a full issue magazine. These articles will feature a title, a page number and a small insight as to what is in the article. In the bottom left corner, my contents page will have an editor's note, allowing the magazine editor to speak directly to the audience about the current issue, as well as life itself in terms of the time of year and whatever is occurring in the music industry. In the bottom right corner, I will place social media links, email and website links to create an online platform and life for the magazine, allowing my audience to reach my magazine on the internet, where they are constantly discussing and researching into elements of music etc, as found in my reader profile. Hopefully, in some area, I will be able to place a subscription option/link in order to allow my audience to buy the monthly issues in bulk and have them automatically posted to their home, creating a guaranteed income for the next few months to my magazine.

Layout and Font: Like my front cover, I will be using professional and understandable fonts that aren't gender specific. however, in terms of layout, I would like to fit a considerable amount into my contents page, without it looking too crowded. Therefore, my articles in the contents will be fairly spaced out. I want the images to have a scrapbook-like effect to create a personal aspect, therefore I have placed them together in the centre as if to overlap each other.

Double Page Spread-
Colour Usage: To follow my colour scheme, my double page spread will be black, white and red. This will be fully used to emphasise the important areas of the image, for example, the areas of red in the make-up, to highlight prominent areas of the image and make it visually attractive and attention-drawing. This will add these strong, high-class connotations across to the model and puts forward ideas about her and her music. The background will preferably be dark, in order for the text to be white, with the name of the artist in red in order for it to stand out.

Image Usage: As there is only one image in the double page spread, it will cover the majority of the spread, or more specifically one full page, as preferred by my target audience. I will use the contact sheet tool on photoshop to decide between the image. The image will be of my model, as I want her to appear, fierce, bold, strong and classy, so to fit with the colour theme and its connotations.

Text Usage: The text is the main aspect of the double page spread, and will be used to print the whole article, as well as the title of the article. I will also be using text in the website link, the page numbers and the pull quote between the text. I am using the pull quote in order to strike the audience's attention and encourage them to read the article


Layout and Font: The article text will maintain a traditional column layout. I believe this looks very classy and is visually pleasing, as well as easy to navigate. The image to text ratio is around 50/50, with the image covering one page like the target audience prefer. The font will be easy to read within the actual article, with the pull quote being larger, and the name of the artist will be an attractive font that fits the artists and connotes feminine ideas about her character.