Courteeners Contents Q

This is the contents page that looks most like what I picture mine looking like. I think the image on the right looks better than being centralised. I also like how all of the articles are down the left of the page. I think I will put my subscription advert where the Q Review is on this contents page. 

I like the font they font they have used for the features and every month headings. I might use the text background effect they have used for their headings because I think it looks effective and fits in with the Q colour scheme. 
I like the image they have included of The Courteeners. The landscape looks really nice and the grey sky with the singers sunglasses shows the band as being quite quirky and not mainstream. I am going to shoot my photo of the band on location because I think this is quite typical of indie bands. 
I also like the thin black line going down the left hand side of the page. I will be adding this into my magazine. 

NME Snow Patrol Contents

This NME contents page differs from the others I have looked at because it features stories about festivals. This means it must be close to summer. You can see how they have mentioned V festival and how they have added in the orange column on the right of the page. Although this breaks the 3 colour scheme, it doesn't look messy because you can tell it is added in due to the summer season.
My magazine is going to be a summer edition so I think something like this on the contents will really add some nice colour and theme to my magazine to further emphasise the summer feeling. 

The image shown is also taken from a festival. I might try and get an action shot for my contents page and say that it was taken at a festival because I think it looks really good and fits in with the festival edition of this NME mag. If I get an action shot of my band and say it was taken at Leeds fest it will look really nice I think. 

Mojo Contents

This mojo contents page is very simple and reductionist. I actually really like it. I think it is effective and although simple, still very eye catching and intriguing. It only shows 5 main stories which doesn't give us a lot to go on but it has its own style which really suits the mojo audience.

I like how it has the stories are all on the left and I will most likely have my stories on the left. I also really like the image which isn't very typical for a contents page but in this instance it works really well. His red suit contrasts brilliantly to the greyish background and makes the subject really stand out. I'm quite interested in doing something along these lines for my contents page. However, there is no mention of a subscription which I think is key to a contents page and I am going to be sure to add a subscription box in my contents. 

NME Kasabian Contents

This contents page featuring Kasabian is very similar to the previous NME contents page I looked at. I think NME tend to stick to a template when they make their contents pages. As I said previously, I like the colour scheme.

I have noticed they have put a date of the magazine issue in the top right hand corner of the page. I am going to add this feature to my contents page and also add the issue number of my magazine. I am not going to say that the issue of my magazine is its first edition because I think that'd be quite unrealistic. 

I like how NME have a band indes down the left side of the page and keep their bigger stories down the right. I think this splits the page very nicely and shows the audience the big stories that they're most likely wanting to read the most. I do like this feature but I think I will stick to having my stories down the left/middle and with a picture taking over the right hand side and centre.

NME Arctic Monkeys Contents

NME tends to stick to their own contents layout which doesn't vary with each issue of the magazine. They have their mast head right at the top with a band index down the left. They always have a picture centralised in the page. I like this layout as it looks tidy but I think I will have my image to the right of the page and have my contents down the left, with my mast head at the top.

I like how they stick to the black,white and red colour scheme. It looks really nice and fits in with the rest of their magazine. The red text for the NME logo looks really nice with the black background and with the following white text. For my contents I think I will take the R from "Rhythm" with the same font and text background as my front page to keep a theme throughout my magazine. I am going to keep a 3 colour scheme on my contents because this seems to be what most magazines do to stop it from becoming messy.

I have noticed that they include a subscribe section on their contents. It includes a website and a number to ring if customers wish to subscribe to the magazine. This seems to be common for a contents page. I will include this on my contents page and perhaps also add an email address. 

14/03/2017 Double Exposure Attempt

Today I created a "double exposure" effect in Photoshop.After spending around an hour on it and getting to a certain point, I realized there was more work to be done on this endeavor. Here is what I came up with in my trial run. The first image shows the photo I took in the studio that was intended to be my feature front cover image. At this point I had just cut out the left hand subject, ready to put into a new double exposure project.

The second image is after I have applied the effects of a local landscape image of mine with a blend mode added to the image of the band member. This was all created using layer masks and blend modes. 

As I said, it didn't turn out how I wanted it to. 

Below is a style model image of the effect I'm trying to achieve. Striking, artistic and nuanced - something resembling Kings of Leon's style circa 2010 or Zayn Malik's style currently. 

Why my attempt failed: I need to become a lot more literate in the studio. I need to learn how to light a portrait proficiently, direct my talent to get the best results, and part of it may be to do with costume as my subject this time around was wearing adidas tracksuit bottoms - which clearly isn't the style of Kings of Leon or Zayn. 

Also, as this is my first time trying, I will get better as the days go on with this effect on Photoshop, therefore improving my skills. I am going to keep experimenting with this effect until I get my image that I am satisfied with. 

The next time I plan to do this, I will seek council from my teachers and media technicians. Also, I will have a much clearer style model image in mind when it comes to taking the shots. An image of the Newcastle Quayside to blend on top of my artists will be the last thing I need to get and no doubt I will make some mistakes in getting that image. All part of the process. 

Rough Cut DPS

This is my rough cut double page spread. I don't really like the picture but I only had around 5 minutes to take it and this was the only semi-decent one that I got. The 2 guys on the left of the photo capture the indie style quite well but the lad on the right looks like a tit. I do like my article and I like the font I got for the headline. However, I need to add in a sub heading to make it look more conventional and more professional. I like the Q&A part of it and how I stuck to the royal colours.
Again, I think I am going to start again from scratch and try to bring a whole new different design to it.

Rough Cut Contents

This is my rough cut contents page. I am not really happy with how it came out. However, it only took about 30 minutes so I know I can easily improve it. The picture is a placeholder. I like how I have taken the R from rhythm and made it my logo as I think it fits well in the page and is a good idea for a logo. I added the grey background to make the text standout more. I am going to start my contents from scratch rather than tweaking a few things and just have another go at it but spend alot more time on it.

Rough Cut Front Cover

This is my rough cut front cover. I am quite happy with how it turned out in the end. I took a lot of influence from NME's Catfish front cover, particularly the colour scheme. The picture is only temporary because I only had 5 minutes to take one but I think it fits in quite well with the rest of the front cover. However, this front cover is going to be completely changed by the end of the project. I have an idea which involves a lot of photoshop and a lot of time. My final front cover will involve pictures from the local area to show where the band is from. It will also look very arty and more sophisticated than what it looks like now.