Drafts of My Front Page, Hand Drawn.

These are my origional hand draw plans for my magazine front cover,

There are a lot of problems with this splash, one being the plugs at the top of the page are larger then the masthead it's self! This makes the plugs become a main focus point when in fact they arn't even that important at a first glance to the audience. By making the plugs larger then the masthead, i have broken a conventional rule of magazine front covers. The plugs need to be smaller as it's dominating the page, which the image, masthead and headline should be doing.

The masthead its a lot smaller then it should be, which is due to the dominating plugs at the top of the page. However i believe the 'Wyke College' should be most dominating as that establishes the ideology of the magzine, so this is a good point.

The image is, like i wanted it to be: the main focus point. The expressions which i would like to express are visable and the emotion of passion is very noticable. The idea of the model closing their eyes whilst screaming through a microphone definatley connects with the headline. The angle of the shot makes the model dominating, and it's asif the photograph would be taken at a performance, as if the performer is on a stage of some sort. The camera shot is perfect as it is a mediam close up, which is what the guidlines of this exersise. I also like the idea of a spot light being there, which exagerates the dominance of a good performer and also reflects the idea of passion within this image.

The headline however, isn't that good. It's very small compared to the image, which is what i want: however there's smaller, and just too small. I feel it doesn't have anything to do with the image, connection wise. By all means, the title reflects the image's story, however, it's too far away and pushed away from the image. This looks like it's not included within the image and looks more like it's to do with another story. It needs to be centered, not completley overlaying the image but only slightley, just so it looks like it's included. The WYKE isn't as emphasised as i'd like it to be, also 'The' and 'Factor' isn't centered between WYKE and isn't measured up properly.

There is a sort of by line, in which is bad because it's too big for the page. By lines are only supposed to be small and inform the audience of who's wrote it, who produced it etc. It's only supposed to be small and i feel it's almost the same size as my masthead which isn't a good thing.

One thing i don't like about this page is all of the proportions are wrong, and the masthead, the headline and the image are all squeezed too close together, where as the plugs and the by line take up most of the page. However there are a lot of possitive points, like the image which is exactly what i would like the image to be like if not more over powering.

This is the second hand drawn plan in which i produced, this is a vast improvement on my last one however there are still things which i am not happy about.

The Plugs are a lot more in proportion now then they where, they don't dominate the page anymore, they are nice little lure's which the audience will look at after the main focus point.

The masthead, is also an improvement as it's gained more of a focus point now, were as before it was tiny and too pushed together. It's important to make the masthead a mainfocus point, as most times the masthead establishes the magazines ideology.

The image however, isn't good this time. First of all the the image is shot in close up, where it should be shot in mediam close up. Also, the image is half cut off and i don't remember in my analysing of magazine front covers, ever seeing an image which has been cut off due to a subheading, the headline and subheading are suposed to be included within the image as the image is supporting the main story which is why it's the main focus point. The picture isn't shot at low angle unlike the other one either which i feel is really important as it establishes the dominance of the performer.

Another thing which i arn't happy about is the Headline, it's again really pushed into the left hand side where is should be slap, bang, large and loud in the middle of the image. Wereas i believe the subheading it larger then the headline. The headline should over lay the main image, which gives the idea of the main headline supporting the image and being included, the image should never be cut out for the headline. However, you can do this when your censoring an image so the audience has to buy the magazine to see the image.

The sub heading is again too large for the page, it's needs to be one lined short and snappy to party inform the audience on the outline of this mainstory. The image has also stopped above the sub heading which i don't believe is good, becuase it should overlay which gives the subheading involvement within the story.

The by line is also an improvement, however i still believe it's too big for the real thing. It takes up a lot more space then it should do.

This is the plan which i will be using to help produce my magazine front page, i feel this is all in proportion apart from some bits which i will correct on my real piece anyway.

The plugs are in perfect propotion now, they're just the right size, not too big so they dominate the page, and not too small so they're not un-noticable.

The masthead, i also believe is in good proportion as it's one of the main focus points so it needs to pretty much stand out as much as it is. I've even placed room for a little tagline which helps establish the ideology alot in magazines.

The main image is in medium close up, and low angle which is what i aimed for. There is a bit more of a softer passion within this photography which i what i thought of, angry passion could seem a bit over the top for our audience where as a softer passion seems nicer and less aggressive which isn't a pleasent emotion.

The headline is also in good proportion, however i will probly end up making it larger on the real piece and also a lot more layered then it is now. I like the way 'THE' and 'FACTOR' are nearly enough centered between the WYKE and altogether, how's it's centered and layerd over the image.

The subheading is also perfect, it's singular lined based and is short and snappy, everything a sub headline should be and also pretty much establishes the main story, what it's about and makes the story sound exciting.

The by line is also perfect proportion, as it's small enough if some of the readers care to read it. We have to remember that the by line is not neccesary and is near enough just a nice little bit of information for the audience to feel a lot more included within the college and magazine.

I am very happy with this plan of my magazine front cover, i think it near enough displays what i basically want out of this magazine perfectley and i hope it turns out as good as it looks there! However, there are a few things which i will tweek and change on the way!