Learning How to Use InDesign

Above conveys me learning how to use InDesign and developing the basic knowledge of the software I already had. This means that the results will look a lot more professional and that I will be able to create different and interesting effects that will be memorable to the reader and flow fluently.

Album Cover

On my double page spread I will involve my artists new album. In my research I found that this was typical of a page and almost a convention. So I quickly designed a simple album cover.

I called it 'All  You Need to Know' as quite often musicians are asked very personal questions so this is the musicians response to this. The curvy sans serif font conveys a fluency but also creates a statement which can be connected to a signature which is often used to confirm information so the title is almost confirming that Scarlet is signing across her feelings. I covered her face to convey that this album is the artist and is all her emotions. I used the same font for Poppy Scarlet as the magazine to create the feel that this is her logo. I used a close up with her looking straight into the camera to create an honest tone and that this is everything she is, thus creating a personal connection between viewer/listener and artist. At some points the writing cannot be read as it blends into the image but this is the idea to convey that this is a part of the artist.

Possible Questions for my Interview

After reading artist interviews in articles I can now brainstorm possible questions I could use. Most of the interviews are based around a product and I want this feel but I would like to involve a personal tone as well.

1. How was recording your new album different from your last?
2. What's it like hearing your name over the microphone of the BRIT's?
3. What was the first song you ever learned on guitar?
4. Do you ever look back to that YouTube video with five views?
5. What was the meaning behind your new album 'All You Need to Know'?
6. What's the one thing you can't perform without?
7. What inspires your lyrics?
8. What is the most unusual thing a fan has ever done?
9. Did you grow up with music?
10. A summery of your story in five words

These are just ideas so when I get into a fluid writing style I will adjust these questions or add some to relax the tone and decrease the formal tone to appear more chatty as well as make it seem like nothing has been edited and Poppy Scarlet said all the words printed under her name.

Photo Selection

 

Here is my contact sheets where I have crossed off the images I won't be using. The majority are due to her looking away from the camera or moving but some images I tried and experimented but disliked the outcome. For example I tried having someone act as a 'stylist' to create the personal tone through 'behind the scenes' shots but I didn't feel this worked due to the type of shot and props. If I had prepared more then I would've known to do an over the shoulder shot of a stylist facing away doing mascara and the artist looking up with her mouth slightly open (which is how mascara is represented when applying). I would also use a gold reflector being held near the artist's face to create a warm ambience that would usually be created from normal lights in a studio. Other shots of my artist sitting down that were rejected were my attempts at capturing a natural pose that would be behind the scenes but these didn't have the desired effect and simply look like the artist is looking away but not having any interaction or conveying a sense of enjoyment. I then progressed and asked her to bring her legs in to create a more defined shape against the white screen, this contrast will emphasise the artist and therefore heighten the impact.  I then transferred to a more relaxed pose of sitting cross legged, I tried this more relaxed pose to create a more open and honest ambience but I feel that these didn't work as well as the 'N' shaped pose as there was a more of a defined shape which had a higher impact and a more professional tone. I then proceeded to do medium shots which I really liked as a connection could easily me made between the artist and the reader. I also liked the shot of my artist laughing and this was a natural shot that I might incorporate into my magazine as it conveys a softer side of my artist's personality which isn't often seen in magazines as usually there is only one personality shown but this extends my artist's traits and creates a feel that my audience is closer to the artist.

Second Photo Shoot Contact Sheet

As I planned I knew that I would have to perform a second photo shoot so therefore I took the same timing structure, location and lighting from before but this time I wouldn't use props to create a sense of variety. I asked my model to stick to conventions by wearing the typical artist attire of all black but to not wear a plain t-shirt and trousers as this is very conventional, instead I asked her to wear black dungarees with black tights and the same black creepers to ensure there was a link between the two but this isn't vital as her shoes cannot be seen in the first images. I also had to change the poses, for the double page spread I wanted to convey a very relaxed and open tone to create the honest ambience that I wanted my reader to experience so I asked my artist to sit down on the floor to appear toned down and to create an equal between the artist and reader. So I experimented with poses where her legs were crossed and holding herself up with her arms, although I wanted to avoid conveying my artist as too relaxed, such as lying down on her side, due to this contradicting the persona of the front cover image thus removing the tone of honesty away from my magazine. When I met my artist she had dyed her hair pink, I had not allowed or expected this change to happen so I went ahead with the planned shoot, although I did add some medium shots just in case that the variety was too much, but this might mean having to reshoot for different front cover and contents image if my focus group pick up on such a wide variety. Another option is that I could try and recreate the brown hair on Photoshop or vice versa. Another person was present at the shoot and I experimented with the fact of someone 'styling' the artist to give another sense of honesty through the 'behind the scenes' images but I felt that these didn't work so I feel I will probably leave it out. I also had to place weights on the white screen to prevent it from rolling back which can sometimes be visible but I will crop them out of the final piece.

Draft of Contents Page

Here is my draft of my contents page. I have kept to the house style with colour and font to form a sense of continuity between the front cover and contents page. I paced Poppy Scarlet who is my featured artist as the biggest part of the page as this is the leading article and one that the audience will probably have most interest in. I also decided to feature a quote from the article to entice the consumer to read this article. I used three different fonts within this pull quote. The main one being the font that is part of the house style but then I used a serif font in italics for 'Right' as these combined convey a style that has traditional connotations which matches the meaning of the word, then for 'Wrong' I used an eroded and damaged sans serif font to portray the damage that is associated with the word.  I decided to use a different photo to one from the front cover to create a sense of variety throughout. I placed her in the corner to allow articles to be able to be placed around efficiently. I then added three more images to balance the text and images to convey that there is more, but to also draw the viewers attention to these articles. The two images of the live concert and the busker I kept in a square as I feel that the image of Poppy Scarlet isn't very linear so to balance this out I would keep the images square, but also buy keeping them this shape it fills up empty space which is to convey the busy and chaotic side of the alternative genre. I also felt that by restricting the other parts of the contents page to their columns it implies the free and rebelled spirit of my artist that she is breaking the columns. I kept the use of red very minimal and used it mainly for the folios so these would stand out and assist the navigation of the magazine. The navigation of the magazine is important as it can affect the attitude towards it, if the consumer struggles then this will create a negative attitude which could push them to not buy the magazine again. I also changed the colours of type for the featured articles to highlight them and to make them more striking to the reader so they would look at these articles. I compact every other article into one column to make space for the images but I feel that these are too black and there is no way to differentiate between title and caption. I will change the colour of the caption to separate these, but I will keep to the house style. I won't use red as it will distract from the folios and make it harder to navigate, I will try white and experiment but I really don't want to distract from more important parts of the magazine. I placed the social interaction parts in the bottom right corner to allow them to stand out although I find that these are out of the way and could not be seen I really like how they fit in the bottom right corner and merge into the border so I will experiment with moving this into a more prominent box where they are more likely to be seen. I find the picture for the article 'Can we have some more CD's please' isn't very obvious or clear to what it is so could cause some confusion to the viewer. I will take a clearer image that will be more obvious and see whether that will bring any more improvements. I feel that this image doesn't conform to the house style of the linear squares although it is a straight lined shape, so if I take another image I will see whether I can stick to the square shape.

Hot Seating Feedback

For the hot seating exercise I presented this front cover 

The main points raised were:

What do you think of the colour of the cover lines and the overall colour scheme?

• "I like how the colours match the image colour but I don’t think the cover lines stand out as much as they could." 
• "I like how it all fits together. Thanks to the small colour scheme"
• "The colour of the cover lines are good they match the red in the t-shirt and on the lips. It goes well."
• "Black and red is simple and effective, but perhaps the blue of the jeans could be incorporated somehow? This would further aid the consistency of the magazine."
• "Make the reds the same but otherwise, I like it a lot."

What do you like about my front cover?

• "I like the opaque images behind the main image"
• "I like the opaque effect of  the front cover but I do think it’s a bit in your face."
• "I like the other low opacity images behind the main one."
• "It would definitely stand out on the shop floor. The busyness really suits the type of magazine"
• It isn’t my style of music but I know people who do like this genre and I could definitely see them buying this.

What don't you like about my front cover and how could I improve it?

• "Whilst it would stand out at a news stand and the colour/font use doesn’t really draw my eye to a particular cover line"
• "I don’t like the Poppy Scarlet font and I think it could be bigger"

Overall I gained positive feedback from hot seating but here is a list of points that I feel that I will need to address:

• Work on making my cover lines standing out. Feedback said that they liked the colour of my cover lines but they didn't stand out enough, I could work on this by looking at size and spacing to enhance the cover lines. It is vital I address this as the cover lines are one of the core things I will rely on to draw the viewer in to the content and to make them become a consumer. If the cover lines aren't being eye catching enough then it could affect the sales of my magazine.
• I could add one more colour to the scheme by adding blue but this contradicts other information of liking a simple colour scheme so I will have to experiment and decide or possibly hold another way to collect data such as another hot seating or possibly a focus group to see what they, my demographic, prefer. Another part of the colour scheme that seemed to bring comments is the different tone of red which implies that me trying to implicate a 'top secret' stamp wasn't received so therefore I will need to make it more obvious and add a line around it or change the colour altogether.
• There was also a point raised about the 'Poppy Scarlet' font being too small and them disliking it, although I can make type bigger I doubt I will change the font altogether as this was only one opinion and no one shared the  same, I understand that there will be a minority that will take a dislike to certain elements of my design so I should investigate whether there is a strong dislike to the typography or whether it is just a lone opinion.