Beth Upchurch created a double page spread for a music magazine. She went through four stages: 1) Choosing a main image and color popping it, 2) Adding a title and getting feedback, 3) Adding a leaf background after feedback said the white was plain, 4) Adding text, images, pull quotes based on magazine examples but with her own style. She got feedback on Facebook that was mostly positive and helped improve the layout, such as moving an exclusive box. The feedback process helped Beth create an effective professional-looking double page spread.

1. Double Page Spread –
Stages of Production
& Audience Feedback
Beth Upchurch

2. Stage 1–Choosingthe right picture
I reallylikedthispicturefromthe
startandI reallywantedtouse itfor
myDouble PageSpread,Icarried
outaudienceresearchon the
pictureandthemajorityof
responsesI receivedwerepositive
(see next slideforaudience
research).However,tomake the
picturemoreeffectiveandto
broadcastmyPhotoshopskillsI
decidedtocolourpopthephotoas
itmadetheguitarwhichisa key
partofmusicandsuitsmygenreto
stickout,alongwiththeleaves.

3. Stage 2–Creatingthe DPS& Title
After I chose the main image for my double page spread I added a title which I
chose from a list of fonts and thought the name really suited my genre well and
effectively. After getting some Audience Feedback (orange speech bubbles), I
was confident thatthis made my Double Page spread look more professional
and effective.
“LittleBirdis a great
name touse as its
originaland
innovative!”
“Thecolourpoppingworks
very well hereandmakes the
guitar standout which
resemblesthatthis magazine
is clearlya music magazine!”
“LittleBirdreallystands
outonthebackground
andisagreatsizeand
font”
“The colourpoppingis
greatandshowsgood
Photoshopskills!
However,thewhite
backgroundistooplain”

4. Stage 3–Creatingthe DPS
• ThenextstageincreatingmyDPSwasaddinga backgroundtoitas theaudience
feedbacktoldme thatthewhitebackgroundonitsownwas tooplain.I hada look
atthevariety ofdifferenttoolsonPhotoshopandfounda leafeffectandtriediton
thewhitebackgroundandI reallylikedtheeffectthatitcreatedanditmademy
DPSlooka lotmore professional,thecoloursoftheleavesfitwithmycolour
schemeas wellwhichisan addedbonus.
“Wow! Ilovethe
background, it is really
effective &
professional”
Theleaveslooklike theyare
comingfromthemainimage
ontheleftwhichworks
reallywelland clearlylinks
thetwo pages”
“Having a background
like this really
highlights youruse of
Photoshop skills”
“The2 pages link
well together and
don’t cause much
confusion”

5. Stage 4 – Creating the DPS
The next stage in creating my DPS was adding the text, secondary images, pull quote, page
numbers, intro text, exclusive & anchoring the image. I based my Double Page Spread layout
partly on Q’s double page spread (see next slide) but gave it my own personal touch. The
colour scheme runs through the magazine from the front cover with the pink, cream & light
blue on the page. Also, the text fits around the image and is separated into columns.
“You’ve used clear
conventions of a
DPS such as
columns & pull
quotes which look
very professional!”
“I love the album
cover at the bottom
left, it looks genuine
and this is seen in
many popular
magazine DPS’.”
“There is a lot of
text, but it is all
organised well &
the columns make it
clear!”
“This is looking
really good yet the
left hand side has
hardly anything on
it, compared to the
right hand side”

6. What influenced you
to create your DPS the
way you have done?
The top magazine DPS is from Q
and I really liked how there was a
secondary image in the middle of
the text on the right, separating
the text so it doesn’t become
block text, I took this idea &
added it to my DPS.
The bottom magazine DPS is from
NME magazine and I liked how
there was the main image on the
left and the title also, I will
consider doing that to my DPS as
my left hand side looks a bit
bland! I also liked the pull quote
on the right, so that influenced
me to put one onto my DPS.

7. Audience Feedback
As you can see
here I uploaded
my DPS draft
onto Facebook
(one of the
biggest social
media sites) to
receive audience
feedback, see
the next slide for
the responses.

8. Audience Feedback:
I received lots of positive
comments and you can see
from the 38 likes at the top
that a lot of people like the
look of my DPS. I got some
constructive criticism such as
moving my ‘Exclusive’ box to
the left hand side which is
what I have done and it does
look a lot better so the
audience feedback was really
helpful!