My Final Design of My Double Page Spread

Evaluation of My Double Page Spread for NRM Magazine.

For the preliminary task I had to design a music magazine. I had to design a Front Cover, a Contents Page and a Double Page Spread. I designed my Double Page Spread on Microsoft Publisher.

I gained inspiration and ideas for my Double Page Spread I looked at two different double page spreads fro two different rock magazines, Kerrang! and NME. I noticed that the double page spreads in both these magazines only use at the most two colors. In the Kerrang! magazine only one color was used which was Maroon. In the NME magazine two colors were used which was Black and White. The double page spreads used colors which connotates rock music. The layouts on both double page spreads were simple. There were only a few photographs used on these double page spreads, so from looking at the features of these double page spreads I had an idea of what my Double Page Spread should look like. But I did not copy the layouts, the colors or the photograph. I made the double page spread was my own work.

The Double Page Spread denotates an interview with the band Sweet and Sour. At the top of the page which stretches right across the two pages is the headline Sweet and Sour. The font style Vts Revolt. I downloaded the font style off a website:

www.dafont.com

The headline Sweet and Sour is the largest words on the page as I wanted the headline to stand out to the readers eye and to get them to read the article. The background is a plain Black.

On the left hand side of the double page spread there are three photographs of Sweet and Sour, I took the photographs myself, I put my camera on a self timer.

The first photograph is overlapped by the headline. The second photograph which is off the front cover is the smallest and takes up the least space. At the bottom of the page is the largest photograph of Sweet and Sour. Across the photograph is a quotation from the interview with Sweet and Sour “Class it as what you like.” The quotation I designed on Word Art. I outlined each of the letters in Blue to make them stand out. Underneath the quotation is the introduction to the interview. The first letter “W” is in Blue so it stands out from the rest of the words to the introduction. The actual Interview is on the right hand page of the Double Page Spread. The interview is set out in columns like on a traditional interview. The questions are in lighter purple and in bold, and the answers are in white. To be able to tell who is talking I put the names “Ruth and Hannah” in purple and bold. I used the plain font Arial which is the most readable.

The Double Page Spread connotates rock music. I used a range of techniques to connotate rock music.

The very first thing I did was think of colors which connotate rock music. I knew that dark colors connotate rock music. So I decided upon using dark colors such as Blacks, Purples, Blues, White and Grey. I made the decision to make the background of this interview a plain Black. It mentions in the interview the genre of the music which is Rock, and Black is associated with rock music.

The font I thought through extremely carefully as plain fonts on Double Page Spreads can be boring. I wanted my fonts to be exciting and different. The headline needed to be a font which is different and individual and which also connotates rock music. I looked through a range of fonts and came to the decision that the font style Vts Revolt connotates rock music and looked individual because after looking at double page spreads such as the one in NME they used a different font style to make it look individual. The font style I used stood out from the page and suited the style of my layout. The rest of the fonts such as the font used in my interview is plain because the font needed to be readable. But I still did think about the dark colors.

The Photographs

The three photographs I decided to use on my Double Page Spread I took myself. I tried to make them look like snapshots I had taken because I wanted my double Page Spread to look individual and the photographs were meant to show the different looks of Sweet and Sour and how they have different styles. For the photographs I had to think through the mise-en-scene, the lighting, the poses, the clothing and the setting.

ne of use is making eye contact with the camera. On the other hand, one of my eyes is cove

Photograph number one

The very first photograph was edited on photo Manger the photograph is not in its original color. The fluffy fairy lights frame the photograph

The only lighting in that picture is the fluffy fairy lights which frame the photographs. This is meant to connotate that Sweet and Sour have a girly side. The photograph looks natural, but well thought through. The light from the fluffy fairy lights shine onto Hannah’s right cheek and onto her hair and onto the whole of her face, and you can see she is looking straight at the reader, and enhances the smile. The light from the fluffy fairy lights mainly shines onto my hair and the right side of my face, the rest of my face is in the shadow. It shows that I am smiling and that i am also making eye contact with the reader. My facial features are enhanced by the limited light.

Hannah is staring at the camera, making eye contact with the reader and pulls the readers eye in. A smile can be seen on her face which looks a bit cheeky. She looks relaxed and has her shoulders relaxed. She has the light wrapped around her so she is framed by the lights. I have my head on her shoulder, my face is slightly covered by her hair. I am smiling and you can see from the limited light the facial features and how they are shaped. The pose makes us look united, sweet and innocent and that we are close as sisters even if we are opposites, she can be sour and I can be sweet.

Unfortunately you cannot really see what we are wearing. But our hairstyles are similar. I looked at the way artists and bands in Kerrang! and NME style their hair, and it seems a lot of the time it covers part of their face. Hannah’s hair frames her face nicely; again part of her fringe coves her face but not her eyes, as I want to see that at least one eye can be seen. My eyes are hidden by my fringe, but you can see that I am making eye contact with the camera.

The photograph is set in a dark room as I wanted the room to be dark and there to be limited light as this is meant to be a photograph which looks natural and I didn’t want too much light in the photograph.

Photograph Number 2

I took the photograph with my digital camera, I put the digital on a self timer and put it on a shelf. It is a picture of me and my sister.

We are both stood in front of the camera looking straight at the camera, as if we are looking at the reader making eye contact as if to say buy this magazine. I am on the right and I am looking straight at the camera and is pulling a small cheeky smile, and I have my head buried into hers but I am not really striking a proper pose unlike my sister Hannah on the left. Hannah on the left is staring straight at the camera, and has her fingers in front of her eyes, and is pulling a pout at the reader. She has her head slanted to the side.

From looking at other photographs on rock magazines such as Kerrang! The hairstyles on the artists a lot of the time is the same. They all have their hair cover their eyes a bit. Hannah has her fringe framed around her face and nearly covers her eyes but you can see both her deep blue eyes which are meant to hypnotize the reader. She has Black make-up which makes her eyes stand out more. She is wearing a Grey hoodie which makes her pale skin and Blonde hair stand out. She has her hood up which frames her face. I have my fringe over one of my eyes, so you can only see one of my eyes, and also my head is slanted so this just flattens my hair. You can see one of my eyes through my fringe which is staring up at the reader. I am not wearing as much dark make-up as Hannah. My hair frames my face and makes my facial features stand out. I am also wearing a Grey hoodie to match my sisters as I wanted to wear something which is matching.

The light came from a lamp which I situated at the back of us. This did cast a slight shadow over us. The light did bounce off my hair which made my sisters hair look blonder.

Photograph Number Three

The third photograph is again of Sweet and Sour. I had to think about the mise-en-scene for the photograph.

The lighting is natural and is coming from the sunshine which is shining into the room. The light shines on the both of us. The sunlight shines onto Hannah’s hair which enhances the color of her blonde hair. The sunshine shines right onto her pale skin which enhances the facial features, and lights shine onto her lips which makes them look very pink. The sunlight also shines onto me but not as much on my hair. But the sunlight does enhance my facial features and what clothes I am wearing.

I wanted the pose to represent Sweet and Sour. So I directed my sister and said how she had to look sour and how she should stand. As you can see in the photograph she is not smiling and looks very sour. Her head is tilted down and this enhances the sourness. On the other hand, I look the complete opposite. I look cheeky and sweet because of the sweet smile. I look slightly evil because of the way I am looking at the camera. I have my head buried into Hannah to show again how close we are.

You cannot see Hannah’s clothes but her hair frames her face. It enhances the pose. You can see I am wearing a Black Top. After looking at photographs in Kerrang! and NME I noticed that a lot of the bands or solo artists had their fringe over their eyes. My fringe covers my eye and enhances the smile. You can see I am looking at the camera but unfortunately, I look evil.

The Actual Interview

I tried to ensure the interview was like an interview which is done with an actual real band. I looked at interviews and had a look at the questions asked by journalists and then tried to use those ideas on my interview, however, I did not copy anything. I wanted the interview to be laid back, and the language used by Sweet and Sour to seem young. I also tried to banter a bit this makes it more entertaining for the reader because this just shows how Sweet and Sour are opposites. But I try to get as much information across as possible about the band. By giving more information it allows the reader to know more about the band and more about the music they play, meaning their albums will be bought and their gigs will be seen.