As alternative rock is closely related to rock music, I was keen to include a slight edgy aspect to the design without appearing overly punk. I added these aspects through the font of the main cover line which is in a brush graffiti style. Also, the masthead in itself features a clear guitar silhouette, denoting at the very least a musical genre. Considering that guitars are heavily related to alternative rock, the main image also features a guitar, so the continuity is increased.
The cover lines are informative yet slightly vague, as a deliberate enticement for the reader. Artist names are mentioned to further grab the readers attention, and a pull-quote reiterates the inside content. If the reader recognises these band names, they will also realise the genre, if they haven't already gathered it from the obvious connection of the magazine's name. Perhaps I could include a byline with the phrase 'alternative rock' as an even more obvious statement.
In order to assess the readability, I asked a classmate who sat roughly 10ft away from me to read the cover lines and masthead. They managed to read all of the cover lines easily, which proves that my original theory of having white text on a dark background heightens the readability. My classmate did have problems reading the cover line 'Up Close' which is in a slighter darker colour than the other cover lines. I originally done this to avoid distracting from the main cover line, although in hindsight I will change it to be consistent with all of the other cover lines on the magazine.
As the masthead was an image file due to it being imported into the document, this meant that I had to manually fill the colour from a pure white to a slightly off white. I accidentally left the 'i' of magazine the original white colour. Whilst this is a very subtle colour difference, as the masthead is the main source of brand recognition, this needs to be perfect as to maintain a sense of professionalism. Upon closer inspection, this is also the case for the main cover line; evidently the colour change is so subtle it is more difficult to distinguish digitally.
One concern with the anchorage text to the main cover line is that it is a very subtle pink, and a slight increase in vibrancy of the colour will create a greater impact overall.
The price appears rather large, so I will consider reducing it's size and include it with the issue number and date stamp. Whilst this is vital information, a reduced size will allow more focus to other areas of the magazine such as the main cover line and masthead.
I feel that the buzz and puff aren't very eye-catching and perhaps rather vague. 'Exclusive Content' isn't as much of an incentive as the word 'free' or 'win', so I will most likely amend this depending on audience feedback.
When creating the front cover, I had intended to include a semi-transparent 'A' which hugged the silhouette of the model. In practise, this was too distracting for the overall aesthetics, and did not add anything to the publication. Because of this I decided to not include it, which while going against my original intentions, conformed to conventions.
Originally, I wanted to include a magazine which focused equally on design as it did content. With my relatively young target audience of 16-21 year olds, I needed to include interesting short snippets of information to maintain their interest, without including too much jargon which could alienate some readers. I believe I have achieved this, the content is readable and the design looks full without being cluttered. Short cover lines grab the readers attention, as do a moderately sized main cover line and masthead. Sticking to conventions such as; a medium shot image, masthead in the top left corner, most important cover lines in the left hand third, inclusion of puff, buzz, datestamp, issue number, price and barcode. Yet in order to give a more fresh and unique look to the magazine, I unconventionally placed the main cover line across the model, which as mentioned previously, will provide a focal point for the audience.
No comments:
Post a Comment