The document describes the process taken to design the contents page for a rock/pop music magazine. Key steps included: 1. Editing the background of the base photograph to feature a nebula image and overlaying blue to fit the magazine's color scheme. 2. Adding a "Contents" title in blue and white following magazine conventions. 3. Including a "Main Features" subtitle and listing main articles with photographs to emphasize them. 4. Adding the artist's name, a page number, and details about the issue's focus on upcoming female artists. 5. Creating a list of contents in blue and white to make sections accessible, matching typical magazine features and page counts.

2. This was the original edited
photograph that I decided to use
as the base image for my contents
page design. I chose this image as
I liked the photograph that I took,
and it would fit in with the theme
of my magazine after I had edited
the background. I also liked the
positioning of the image; the
plain background would be easily
editable and the mid-shot of the
artist would be ideal to use for a
contents page. Also, as the artist
is situated slightly to the right of
the page, there would be
adequate room for a contents list,
and a main features section.

3. My first step was to edit the
background of the image. I didn’t
think that the plain, light coloured
background would be ideal to use for
a rock-pop magazine, as the colours
are usually bold and exaggerated. To
project some aspects of my front
cover on my contents page, I decided
to use a photograph of a nebula. Also,
to make the colour fit in with the
colour scheme of the magazine, I
created an overlay layer of blue and
reduced its opacity slightly to achieve
the desired effect. I also ‘cut out’ the
artist with the quick-selection tool
and placed her on a separate layer to
allow her image to be in front of the
background layer. Then, I erased the
bottom half of the artist’s image with
varying opacities to allow a gradual
introduction to the image and create
an interesting effect.

4. Next, I added the title ‘Contents’
onto my image. This followed usual
magazine conventions, as It allows
the readers to easily identify where
the contents page is. I continued
the colour scheme of my magazine
title, and created the contents title
with the first letter being blue, and
the rest being white. However,
there was not an adequate amount
of contrast between the two, and
so I decided to create a black
Gaussian blur behind the writing to
make it stand out more. I placed it
in the top left hand corner of the
contents page, as this is a standard
place for page titles. Also, I tilted it
slightly so that it did not cover the
artist’s head. By doing so, it also
made the page less formal and
more interesting to the target
audience.

5. For my next step in my contents
page design, I included a ‘main
Features’ subtitle. After
researching other magazines in
the rock-pop genre, I found this to
be quite common amongst their
contents pages. This subtitle
would allow readers to easily view
which articles are of significant
importance. I continued the colour
scheme of blue and white, and
added a black box behind the
writing. I created a stylised wind
effect on the black box, altering it
slightly to project the rock-pop
genre of my magazine. I placed the
subtitle towards the bottom of the
page, ensuring that there was
adequate room above and below
to create the contents list and
main features section.

6. I then decided to create my main
features section. I chose some
various articles from the front of
my magazine and created some
main articles. I used white writing
to fit in with the rest of my
magazine, and created reduced
opacity black boxes behind each
article. This helped distinguish
between each article, and allowed
them to stand out more against
the background. I also included
two small photographs that I took
and edited to emphasise their
corresponding articles. I also
included a ‘Win exclusive tickets’
section at the bottom, which I feel
is an attractive advertisement for
the audience, as they may be
interested in a chance to win
tickets.

7. Next, I decided to add a bold title to
display who the artist in the central
image is. I Chose the colour blue to
fit in with the magazine’s colour
scheme, and I created a Gaussian
blur behind it to make it stand out. I
also added a generic introduction to
what the issue is based on; the
most exciting upcoming female
artists of 2012. I feel that this factor
contributes to the theme of the
magazine, as it continues the theme
from the front cover. Furthermore, I
added a small phrase indicating that
‘Avenue’ has a competition on offer,
which may be appealing to readers
and gets them more engaged with
the magazine. I also added a page
number in the top left of the page;
a standard convention.

8. My next step was to add a list of
contents to my contents page. This
is a stereotypical feature of
magazines, and makes the contents
of the magazine more accessible to
the readers as they will already
know where to look for them,
whereas if I had deviated from this,
it may be hard to find. I continued
the colour scheme of the magazine
and used blue and white to
separate the numbers from the
articles. I chose standard features
of a magazine to include here, such
as critics reviews and tour dates.
However, I also added the names
of various artists to show readers
what specific artists are included in
the magazine. I also researched the
quantity of pages in standard
magazines so that I could reflect
this within my magazine.

9. However, I didn’t feel that the list
of contents stood out against the
background enough, and was
quite plain for a main feature of
the page. Therefore, I decided to
add a reduced opacity black box
behind the list of contents, so that
it was more distinguished against
the background. Also, I added a
black paint splat image in the top
right of the contents page, with
the week’s issue’s main theme.
This is mainly for visual purposes,
but I decided to create this as a
trademark aspect of the magazine,
and therefore decided to
incorporate this image in my
double page spread.

10. Comparing my contents page to
my front cover design, I decided to
make the background of my
contents page more artistic and
typical of the pop-rock genre of
my magazine. Therefore, as a
continuation of the scratch image
used on my front cover, I used the
same image for my contents page
to create a consistent theme
throughout my magazine.
However, to differentiate between
my contents page and front cover,
I ensured that the image of the
nebula behind the scratch design
was more opaque than previously,
and to slightly alter the colour of
my contents page design.

11. This is the final design for my
contents page. I decided to darken
the background image for my
contents page, as I felt that the
lighter blue colour did not really
represent the pop-rock genre of
my magazine well. Therefore, I
created a duplicate overlay layer
of black and reduced the opacity
slightly between the scratch image
and the nebula, achieving the
desired effect of a noticeable
scratch image, but a darker shade
of blue. This also ensured that I
had a consistent colour scheme
throughout my magazine, as the
background image of my front
cover an contents page now
reflected each other more closely
than before.