Photoshop Practise #2

For my second official practise at using Photoshop, I decided to focus on the layout and design of a magazine double-page spread. I chose a different genre of music - hip hop - as I wanted to try a completely different style than my actual design will house. This came about as I was focusing more on utilising certain tools in Photoshop, but not yet wanting to apply the target audience's needs to my design thoughts.

I utilised text from Wikipedia for the article, and took quotes from the official DVD the group has released. "Steadily shine in '10" is a play on the groups' famous line "Steadily shine in '99", from their hit single "Heavenly Divine". I made sure to include several integral elements to magazines such as puffs to make it look as professional as possible.

Magazine Specification

The results from my questionnaire have brought back the following guidelines to bear in mind upon designing my magazine pages:

• The design is to be targeted at a male audience.
• Likewise, the age range is roughly of 17-19 year olds.
• Current magazines that have a similar genre are Metal Hammer and NME - I will use these for inspiration.
• ..Out of the two, Metal Hammer was labelled 'metal' more frequently, therefore the best out of the two to rely on regarding layout, photo dynamics, magazine name, etc.
• The double page spread is to have new album news and an interview of the band.
• One comment that stood out - from the final open question - was that editors of articles can be too obviously opinionated or biased - I will try to write a fair but unique article bearing this in mind.

Coursework To-Do List

To complete my AS Media Studies coursework I must complete the following tasks:

• Analyse an existing college magazine
• Produce images for my own version of a college magazine
• Post my finished and evaluated College Magazine

Music Magazine Project

• Choose my genre of music
• Set up an online questionnaire
• Research my target audiences expectations
• Analyse two music magazine front covers
• Analyse two music magazine content pages
• Analyse two music magazine double page spreads
• Post mood boards for my genre, costume and mise en scene
• Research what Institutions publish music magazines