Flat Plans

Front Cover Flat Plan

Here is my flat plan for my front cover. I have kept the elements of my front cover very simple and have conformed to conventions by having all my cover lines on the left third so they can be seen on the newsstand. I have put the barcode, issue and price on the bottom right hand corner so it cannot be seen easily as I feel that it is an unattractive part of a magazine. If I included anymore parts to my front cover I feel that it would become overcrowded and make the viewer feel confused on where to look.

Contents Flat Plan

Here is my flat plan for my contents page. I have used a grid with 3 columns but it may not appear to be structured like this as a few of the features spread across more than one column. I placed the masthead at the top only this time it will be smaller but there will be a special place for the logo so the name is constantly drilled into the viewer so they will remember it more. Beneath will be the title which will be slightly bigger than the masthead from the cover so the reader will know that this page is the contents. In the first column at the top there will be a montage of backstage photos from my shoot, this will make the reader feel like they are going 'behind the scenes' and make them feel that not only is my music magazine giving them an interview but what the musicians are really like rather than what we tell them to be, therefore removing the barrier between the magazine and the reader and making their experience more personal. In the column next to this there will be a slightly enlarged image from behind the scenes this will emphasise the personal 'VIP' experience making the viewer want to read the article or, if they are browsing in the shop, want to purchase the magazine. This part will also go into the gutter on the left. Over the top of these images will be a folio and caption to help the viewer navigate around the magazine. Below there will be another enlarged image only from a different shoot and underneath will be a folio and caption, this space will go to the main story that featured on the cover so the reader can easily find this story and that anybody looking at the contents page will be instantly drawn to this story. This main feature will go into the gutter on the left and right. Below this and spread across both columns will be a feature unique to my music magazine called where there is a summary of how the magazine was made, for example '12 guitars were smashed' or '1 ukulele solo' this will add to the personal tone that my magazine is aiming for, this feature will also give the reader another reason to go to the contents page and could interest them in other articles that they wouldn't usually read. In the third column will be the list of 'Features' and 'Regulars' which will contain the folio and caption of all the articles. I kept this list together so the contents page remains ordered and assists the reader to navigate their way round the magazine rather than leaving them confused due to an unordered contents page. The guttering will consist of 1cm which is fairly wide but I feel that a wide space will draw more attention to colours and to the centre of the page. Above the columns but under 'contents' there will be the month, issue number and social network information. I put these here as they are under the biggest part of the contents page so will more likely be seen here, it is important to have the social networking information as this is the main way my demographic communicate.

Double Page Spread Flat Plan

Here is my double page spread flat plan. I have placed the title across the whole two pages so that the reader knows that these two pages are based on the articles and so it draws attention. To the left I have put a banner which contains a special feature called 'The Quick Fire Round' where through social networking readers will get to submit questions and in 100 seconds we will ask the artists and they will have to quickly answer, this feature will add a more personal tone to the interview and unique side to the magazine. I put a large image which would take up the majority of the left side of the page so draw attention and to keep the design simple this image will go right to the edge of the page to make the page look fluent then slowly fade out under the interview, at the bottom there will be five smaller images from the shoot to make the audience feel like they were there. On the right there will be the interview which will have three columns to keep the information spread out and even so it doesn't look overwhelming. In the middle of the interview there will be a quote to break up the texts and at the end of the interview there will be information on the artists tracks and where to buy.