Flat plans and rationales

When creating my flat plans of my front cover, contents page and the double page spread there were several items in which I had to take into consideration including the layout and language of my magazine in which I will be my final piece. I had to also keep in mind my target audience in order to make sure that I was appealing to them and they would therefore buy my magazine. There were 6 points in particular and these were;

• Composition/framing
• Colour scheme
• Fonts
• Layout
• Mise – en—scene
• Language and register

Front cover: The colours in which I plan to use on my front cover is black, white and grey. I am also going to implement a colour such as pale yellow in order to break up the dark colours. I feel this will draw the attention of the audience. They will also make the dominant image stand out a lot more putting the attention solely on my model. I want to use simple yet effective fonts that will stand out and blend with my genre but also be easy to read when on the shelf and in the hands of my target audience/ I will stay away from handwriting fonts as they are difficult to read. The fonts in which I would like to use are examples that can be found on existing magazines such as Billboard. When considering language and register for my magazine I want to stay away from a very formal communication with my target audience.

Alternatively I do not wish to take an informal approach of being too colloquial. Being in the middle would engage with my target audience and also match the genre of my magazine and the language in which other magazines in this style would take. When thinking of the mise en scene of the front cover I had to look features such as the lighting and the props. The lighting in which I would like to use is low key in order to create shadows on my models face to create dimension and draw more attention to her. My models costume will consist of light blue jeans and low ankle cut boots and dark navy jumper. She will not have a lot of makeup on which will be things such as eyeliner and bright lips. She will have a light, simple contour and mascara along with her eyebrows. I have also asked my model to wear highlighter in order for the flash from the camera to bring out making the photo loo a lot more professional. I will not use a prop for my front cover photo as I want the focus to be solely on just my model. I will position my model in the centre of the frame and then fit my sub lines around her face and over her chest area for my main sub line. This photo will also be a direct mode of address as she will be facing the camera in order for it to seem like she is staring directly into the target audience’s eyes. This will ultimately will draw in my target audience and make them pick this edition up from the shelf. When deciding the layout I decided that everything would revolve around my dominant image and therefor have to sit around it. My magazine masthead will be placed under my models head and she is the main feature in the magazine and is more important than the masthead which will already be known. This is the layout in which I want to follow in this image.

Contents page:  The colours in which I want to use on my contents page will follow on from my front cover of white, black, grey and pale yellow. However on this page I will also include a separate colour (In which I am thinking red) in order to break up the page and make the page numbers stand out in order for the target audience. They can therefore allow my target audience to find page numbers and features more quickly as they will stand out on the page. The fonts will also be the same as used on my front cover in order to keep up the continuity of my magazine making it look a lot more professional. However this will use variety in order to add character to my magazine without it being the same font all the way throughout. The layout in which I aim to use will consist of my main feature of ‘Megan Flood’ in a side view photo of my model. Allocated next to this image on the left side will be the contents page title and issue information. I will also include an image of the front cover underneath this. Down the left hand side of the page I will include an editor’s note with a picture of me and a brief paragraph on my thoughts of the edition including my favourite article and a simple sentence explaining why it is my favourite. Following on from this, in the space remaining I will list all the features of the magazine following my colour scheme. These will be placed in categories such as feedback, gigs and news. These will help break up the page so there isn’t a huge chunk of text on the page. It will be easier to read and help the target audience quickly identify certain pages. I feel this relates more to my target audience as teenagers will not find interest in reading a huge chunk of text for the contents page when scanning the page for certain feature page numbers.

The lighting on my main image of my model will also be low key lighting in order to be subtle . This image will only be a mid-shot and my model will be wearing a plain white, textured top. She will also have a blank facial expression and she gazing up. I feel this captures the target audience’s attention therefore creating an indirect mode of address. Due to this being placed at the top of the page it will allow my target audience to notice this first against the features. I wanted it to be like this as she was the centre point for this issue and therefore had to be represented different in a way that stands out more to the target audience for my magazine. This would hopefully make them more interested in this piece into turning to read the article I have created on the double page spread. The language in which would be the same as my front cover in order to keep the continuity of the magazine and therefore appealing to my target audience as it will make it seem more professional while also relating to my target audience.  This will be the same for my simple yet effective font that will match the style of my magazine  

The image of Kerrang magazine follows the layout in which I want to use as inspiration as I like has structured it is. This is because I feel, despite not being a pop magazine example, the contents page highlights the key elements of the magazine in a clear yet concise way that will appeal more to my target audience. It also is very well laid out. Although this was not a pop magazine example I only took elements from this page and therefore changed into a more pop feel in order to relate to my target audience and the style of magazine I was creating. I realised that the image in which I am using for my inspiration when creating my magazine does not follow the pop genre entirely I am going to use aspect of the layout and challenge it. I will therefore put a twist on it in order for it to then fit my genre for my magazine t appeal to my target audience.

Double page spread: Once again the colours I will use in this page will also match the colour scheme that I have used for the other pages. I will also use the same font in order to create continuity making it seem a lot more professional feel to my magazine. This will once again be a variety of fonts in order to add character to the page and intrigue my target audience further into reading my  magazine article. I wish to place my dominant image on the right page and will make it take up the full page. This image will be of my model using a chair as a prop. She will have her legs stretched out will I will have positioned over the right page. The text of my article will therefore fit around this image. I feel this also add character to the page and allows me to break up the text. I feel this is important for the target audience in which I am appealing to as they will not want to read a substantially large lengthened article  The photo of my model will be once again a low key lighting image. Her facial expression will be of my model smiling as though she is relaxed and it will look like a natural smile. It will create a direct mode of address towards the target audience as she is looking directly down the camera lens. I feel this will also intrigue my target audience as they will feel the model is directly staring at them making them feel more involved in the article. Also due to the size of the dominant image I believe it will captivate my audience and keep their attention while reading the article as it can be seen at all times. This page will also use a mix of formal and informal language. I will do this as my audience are of the age in which they are still informal but are starting to use formal language in certain professional situations.  The image above is the layout in which i want to use as inspiration. I want to have my photos spilling on both pages with the writing fitting around it. However I will put my masthead going across the whole width of the page rather than only on the left side. I like how this double page spread has a pull quote and a drop cap. These are the conventions in which I will be copying from the inspiration piece. I decided to use a plain white background for my double page spread in order to keep the focus on the article and the model themselves. I felt a colour would take too much concentration away from this. However I don't like the facial expression in which is on this double page spread as I feel it wouldn't intrigue my target audience into reading the article. I will also not be using the kicker paragraph in the same way to the inspiration piece that I am using. I will locate it with the rest of my article but using the drop letter to break it up and make it look more interesting to my target audience. I feel this will match the genre I have chosen a lot better in that layout.


As I started to create my final product I started to lean away from the flat plans in which I had previously created. I felt they were not creating the magazine in which I felt my target audience would relate to. I then created separate one in which I liked so much more and knew would relate a lot more to my target audience while making my magazine look professional.