Front cover, contents and flat plans with written rationale

I have made 3 flat plans to give myself more understanding of how I want my magazine to look. I made my flat plans using Photoshop which, again, gave me more experience and practice in using the software.  

 Front Cover:

 

Rational on front cover flat plan:

My main dominant image that I am using of the front page, contains light shades. The model for my main image will be wearing a grey top and will have silver jewelry on. My models eyes are blue-green and her lips are pink. Therefore I'm planning on using a three-shade colour scheme. These colours will consist of pink, blue-green and white. Hopefully, by using this three-shade colour scheme, it will look neat, professional and organised. I also think they will contrast well with my main image.

My image that I am using on my front page will be a photograph of myself - as I'm being the model. It will be a medium close up shot (MCU) and the lighting will be bright. With the image being bright, this will make it eye-catching to an audience. Also, it makes it appear more feminine and open, which I think would help attract a female audience.

I want my body language to be inviting and engage with the audience. For me to achieve this, I will need to make sure my body is facing towards the camera. I want my face to look confident - I will achieve this by looking straight down the camera lens.  

At this moment in time, I am planning on having a light pink background. Also this colour background would contrast well with my three-shade colour scheme.

I don't want my front cover to be too crowded. I am aiming on having one main headline, which will be my 'Exclusive Interview' article on my DPS.

My masthead is "Sizzzzle" and will have the strapline "WARNING! Contains hot goss..."

This main headline will be in quite a large font, in comparison to my other sell lines. I am planning on having 3 sell-lines on my front cover.

For my main headline, it will say "'Niamh' an EXCLUSIVE interview with the hot new music artist on the scene"

One sell line will be "Scorching Singles", with this being alliteration it may attract some of an audience. "Pop takes over" will be another sell line, and finally "Sugar and Spice" will be the last. I think these are short and snappy sell lines which create humor and would make the magazine more inviting.  

Contents Page:

Rational of contents page:

Along the left had side of my contents page, I plan to have a rectangular section displaying both the 'Top 20 singles of the month' and 'Top 20 albums of the month'. This will be wrote in a small, but readable font. I will have the section coloured in a light blue, and use the colours black and pink to colour the texts.The actual title of the page 'contents' will be written in the same font as the magazine's masthead - I plan to colour this in a plain black font. 

For my extra images on my contents page, I will use a photo a photo of my main artist. Another will be of 3 boys, whom will act as a young boy band. Finally, for my third extra image, I will use a picture of a guitar and put forward the idea to expect to find an article on the latest music equipment.

In the section where I will write in the contents of my magazine, I aim to come up with some catchy headlines and write them in there. Again, this text will be in a small, but readable font. 

Also, on my contents page, I am planning on advertising a competition at the bottom. At this moment in time I think I will have it to 'win a day with Niamh'.

Double Page Spread:

Rational of double page spread: 

For my double page spread, I am planning on having one main dominant image, which will be of my artist. Around the page, I also want to add a couple of extra images which will connect with the article and show insight into her life. I think the images that would be best to choose would be Niamh with her friends. 

The headline will be 'Niamh: Hot new lifestyle'. This will be in a bold, hot pink font. The connotations that this colour has is that Niamh is a fun, young and bubbly girl. 

In the article, it will talk about 'how Niamh's life has changed'. Also, it will give elements about how her lifestyle has changed - therefore putting across elements of gossip in the music magazine. Along with adding elements of her lifestyle, the magazine will be based around her music. I will ask questions that a reader would want to know and ask themselves. Therefore, this will add to making the article more interesting and inviting. The font for the article will be in  a small, but readable font.