Double Page Spread Article

Within my double page spread, I will have to  write an article for the model to have been part of. This is done to give the cover model a function besides being conventional, as well as allowing a better overview of the magazine. I intend to try to keep this article largely in the form of a Q & A session, as these are conventional of a musical magazine of my genre. I will also attempt to make the text form around the shape of the cover model, highlighting the image while not taking away from the text of the article. The article that I plan to use is as follows:



Through one of the most exciting interviews we've done, we have talked to Bethany Arrowsmith-Cooper, the up and coming classical music star who wields a trombone. 'I didn't expect to be here, they never told me I would be good enough!' Bethany said, making comment about her musical tutors and how they have always held her back.

Q: What was it about the classical music genre that took your interest?
A: It was the thought of being able to create my own music and have others enjoy it!
Q: what about when you were growing up, did you get a lot of support from your friends and family?
A: my parents were fine with it, even though they never really had an interest in music, they paid for tutors and things that allowed me to pursue my dream! my tutors were a more proplem, however, they always used to put me down! I never expected to be here, they never told me I would be good enough!
Q: what drove you to persue your musical carrear when your tutors wern't behind you?
A: they told me I couldn't do it, and I was determined to prove them wrong!
Q: do you thing that has influenced your work?
A: definitely, they once sat me down and told me to give up music because i was wasting my time, and how sad it made me is what inspries me to make people happy with my music, it makes that sadness feel worth it!
Q:even after all that you still like to make people happy with your music?
A: of course! there would be no me if i wasn't busy being my happy bubbly self! i just couldn't carry on making music if i wasn't happy with either myself or my music
Q: so what are your plans now?
A: well, i'm going on tour later on in the year around the UK, i've already brought so many people happiness that i don't know what to do now other then keep on making music!

While Bethany continues to make music and distribuete over forms such as ITunes and CDs, she will also be going on tour later on in this year. as these dates have yet to be announced, we'll be sure to keep our calanders free!



While this is the article that I plan to use, I will need to make changes and check through the entire article a few times before I finalise it and begin typing it up onto the double page spread.

Cover model photos - selecting the appropriate shots

Out of all of the photos I have taken, a few stood out to me. though a couple of them are slightly blurred, this will be fixed in post processing, along with any red eye that has occurred and other imperfections such as skin imperfections. The photos that I will use on my music magazine are:

I have chosen these photos due to their different poses and styles, with the first one being of a slightly darker/more contrasted photo. This allows for slightly different colour pallets to be used on the different pages, allowing the cover to be bright and stand out while the double page spread can have more of a gold-like focus, as a large amount of classical magazines have. I have edited these photos to the best of my ability to remove blur and imperfections, and they will be the ones used.

Cover Model Photos

For my cover model, I used the same as I did for the college magazine, as I knew that that model had the props I needed and played a classical instrument, making her the perfect model for my front cover and double page spread. I asked her to bring a gold trombone and a golden dress, as both of these are conventional for the genre and are both commonly used colours in classical magazines. I have taken 13 photos, and only 2 will be used on the magazine. One will be used for the cover of the magazine, and needs to be taken portrait so that it will fit correctly. The other will be used on the double page spread, and therefore needs to be a landscape photo to fit over the two pages. I may use a third photo on the contents page, but i am undecided on this at the moment.

Props for the model

In the images that I plan to take, the cover model will be holding a prop that is themed towards the classical genre. This is done to further take focus towards the model and make the photos seem more believable as a classical music star. Through the use of the prop, the golden colour scheme of the magazine is also carried on, as the prop that I intend to use, a trombone, is a bright gold colour. This colour is different enough from the dress to allow the two to be separately identified while also sticking with the same colours and themes.

Costuming for the model

When selecting a costume for my cover model, I felt as though it was important to select a colour appropriate dress that did not sexualize the model too much, as this is not what the target audience buys this kind of magazine for. the target audience often buys the magazine for the music, as oppose to music magazines of other genres which sexualize their models in order to achieve a greater audience. Through this, a slim golden dress was chosen, as it still allowed the model's body to be shown while keeping focus on the magazine's theme of classical music through the prop and colour.

Digital Mockups

Through feedback from teachers and students, I have changed the designs that I have used for my digital mock ups. these have been changed for a variety of reasons, such as audience appeal, easier reading of text and general clarity as well as better fitting within the theme of the classical music colour scheme often adopted by many classical music magazines, golds, blacks and whites.

The digital mock up of my front cover is likely to be the final layout, and I doubt that much will be changed. when the cover model's photo is inserted, she will be holding up her trombone. However, should the sell lines begin to cover up the model or the model's prop then the model's pose will be changed to holding the prop downwards and across her body, do to the sexuality of the model not being a major factor for the genre's audience. This would allow the sell lines to be further expanded or for another sell line to be placed on the cover.

The contents page's layout is simplistic but does not need to be anything fancy, as it is only being used to advertise the magazine's top stories and articles, as well as listing all of the stories within the issue. I have advertised the larger, more important articles, which will be given sell lines on the cover, through the use of boxes around the central contents box. These small advertisements will consist of a small headline, an image of the subject in question and then the page number that it is on. this helps those who bought the magazine just for that article to find the article that they want easily without having to search the entire contents table.

The double page spread will stick to the same simplicity of the contents page, as it does not have to stand out and draw in the reader's attention initially like the cover does. this allows for a more simple layout, more simple colours and a stronger focus on the information within the interview. the use of a headline to still draw in the readers is used so that it can capture the readers attention while flicking through the magazine, as well as acting as a marker for those looking for the article without the page number. the model's body will be positioned holding up the prop due to the page being larger and having more room to allow for a more extravagant pose without covering up important information or making parts hard to read.

First Digital Mock-up

Today, I finished my first digital mock-up. It is of my front cover, and uses all, if not most of the conventions of a classical music magazine. I have used another classical music magazine as inspiration for my magazine. Here is the inspiration for my magazine cover digital draft

In my digital draft of my cover, I have used a photo of a classical artist as oppose to the photos I will be taking as I have not yet finished editing them. Once I have finished my photo shoot and the photos are finished editing. This is my digital draft of the magazine cover, inspired by the one above. It also uses my hand-drawn draughts as a basis for the organisation of the sell lines, main headline, cover model, free CD, date/price/issue, masthead and bar code.

The free CD offer was later made bigger to further increase it's effectiveness as a free offer/advertisement. this makes the offer more appealing to customers and make it more eye catching, as offers tend to draw more attention to magazines, therefore the magazine is more appealing to it's audience.