Final First Draft of Contents Page

Construction of Contents Page

Contents Page Photo Selection

Pre-production Planning - Advertisements

As witnessed in the document above, Wire Magazine features 35 advertisements in total; 30 of these are from third party advertisers, and 5 of these are from Wire Magazine themselves. Both full page and partial adverts are used in the publication, including multiple adverts (generally 3 or 4) featuring on one full page, gaining split revenue from each company.

As a direct result of my primary research, Alt magazine is priced at £3.50 - £1 cheaper than Wire - but still retains 100 pages, meaning that more advertisements will need to be placed into the magazine in order to gain more income.

Using the same Key as above, I have created a flatplan for Alt Magazine, which consists of 45 adverts in total, 10 more than in Wire Magazine.

DPS Photoshoot

Find all of the original, unedited photos on my flickr set via:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hayleymccarthy/sets/72157640985355843/

Revised DPS Flatplans

For the same reasons that I have revised the contents page flat plans for, I have decided to subtly alter the DPS Flatplans to be consistent with the shift in focus. I was also inspired by the techniques I learned in the InDesign workshop, and intend to integrate the majority of them into the flatplan. In the original flat plan here, a clear focus is on the angular mask of the image. I was originally concerned with white space in the top left corner as a result of this, so I shall not be including this in the revised version.

I wanted to keep as many elements of the original flatplan as I could, whilst conforming to the quite conventional linear style demonstrated especially in the contents page. I also wanted to maintain a clear focus on the article as well as the image, to further expose the cover star.

To further this, the grid is the same as the contents page:
Gutter: 5.5mm
Margin: 15mm
Bleed: 5mm

Revised Contents Page Flatplans

A combination of the changes to my original cover intentions and techniques arisen from the InDesign workshop, I have decided to change my contents page flatplan quite drastically. As mentioned in the original flat plan post here, this plan was formed directly from the emphasis of angles in the 'A'. As I eventually decided not to use the slightly-transparent 'A' on my front cover to avoid clutter, I felt that this aspect was made redundant in both the contents page and double page spread.

Drawing inspiration from both my design inspiration Pinterest board and my original sketches, I have designed a conventional grid which could be flexible should problems arise. Looking back at my original designs, I had maintained either a 3 or 4 column layout. Considering the content which features in a conventional contents page, I have decided upon a 4 column layout, with a slight irregularity in the two middle, bottom-third, columns. This is to create a visual interest, giving the design a slight edge over a regular grid. This is consistent with the slight edginess which I tried to portray through the use of pose and font within my front cover.

Maintaining a vertical layout featured in all of my original sketches, I have allowed enough room for: 20 articles, social contact details, editorial panel and flannel panel. Keen to include all of these conventional elements, I believe if I stick to my design intentions I can achieve a contents page which is informative without looking cluttered.

Furthermore, looking back at my College Magazine project, a similar vertical layout was used which was very effective.

InDesign Workshop

Before beginning to produce the contents page and double page spread of the magazine, our class participated in a fast-paced workshop to learn/familiarise ourselves with some InDesign tutorials. These tutorials were based around the manipulation of text, wether it be on a path, alignment within the columns, or the paragraph style itself. I found the linking of text boxes for overflow particularly useful, which will make it easier to edit the body of text in the double page spread. Images used are my own, for the purpose of demonstration.

Exhibition to Gain Feedback

In order to gain qualitative feedback on my first draft of the front cover, I printed a full-colour version of the magazine and attached the label above. The cover was then exhibited in the main study area of the sixth form, so students visiting the room can leave feedback on various areas of the magazine to the email above, created for this purpose.

UPDATE : Since the original exhibition date, I have received no feedback from the students. This has been a similar trend amongst my classmates, hence indicating that this has not been a successful process in obtaining data. I have decided to arrange a focus group with my target audience to gather feedback, which will be conducted once I have amended certain areas of the cover, which were highlighted in my personal evaluation.

Second Final Front Cover Draft