The document describes the process of constructing a double page magazine article. Key points include: 1) The background colors, fonts, and styles are carried throughout the magazine to maintain a consistent "house style". 2) Large primary images and text formatting are used to draw the reader in and highlight important people and events. 3) Feedback from the target audience helped refine elements like image placement and text styling to maximize visibility and engagement.

1. The Construction of my Double page Article

2. You may of realised, that my background for my Front Cover, Contents Page and my Double Page Article all carry the house colours, as one is red, one is white and one is black. I have done this so the magazine will carry the house style throughout the magazine. This is going to be my mast head for my Double page Article, due to the back ground being black, I could not have a drop shadow, but instead, to compensate, I added an inner glow of red which is one of my house colours. The font style, size and boldness of my masthead is equivalent to the masthead on my cover and the masthead on my contents page. I have done this so that the titles can carry the house style through out the magazine because it is important to recognise the which double page article matches their cover. I have chosen black as the back ground colour because it is dark and mysterious like my target audience, the black also regains the roughness of the magazine, as this is the Christmas issue and so far the magazine has been very jolly. However, this does not mean that I won’t continue the Christmas house style through my double page article, I will, but it will be very discrete.

3. This is my chosen centre image, unlike the other images I’ve used so far, this image has nothing edited to it apart from removing it’s background, this was mainly because of the black background, and when attempting to add effects on to it, the image looked out of place, and unrealistic. This image is very large, I wanted it to be like this, so that it would stand out on the page, the reason for this, is so that the readers would immediately understand who the article was about because the main image reflects the article itself. Another reason why I have made this image large is so that the image overlaps the other page, this has a really nice effect, especially when I add the writing, I may put the writing on top of the guitar or I might let it go around the guitar. Even though the image has no effect added, it still has an inner shadow because of the light conditions during the photo shoot, you can see evidence of this on the guitar.

4. Now, I have started to add text for my double page article, this will be apart of the main body of the text. As you can see, I have put it on the other page so it is separate from the image, this allows the image to stand out. I have also made sure that my text has gone around the image, allowing the image to stand out. This technique also has a nice effect because when going around the image, it looks as though the writing is forming a border around the picture. The writing is in a red font to allow a contrast against the background of black, red is also a house colour for my magazine so it is essential to have it in the Double Page Article as well. If you look closely at the text, I have added large capital letters which are bolder and bigger compared to the rest of the text, this is done every time there is a new paragraph, it is a skill that I have imitated from magazines. My text for the main article is in a simple, eligible font called, ‘Myriad Pro’, I have used this instead of, ‘Stencil’, because, ‘Stencil’, is capital and bold and won’t be very eligible when small. I have also done this because all magazines have a font style which they carry through out the magazine to carry the house style, in my case it is, ‘Stencil’, however when it comes to the article, it is typed in a simple font to allow it to be read easily in a small print.

5. This paragraph of text is separate from the main body of text because it is known as an introductory paragraph called a stand first. The stand first is placed on the left page as this is where the readers start, it is also there as it is a significant part of the text in general, building up the article for the readers. To show it’s significance, it has a separate format style compared to the main body of text. Instead, the stand first has: white writing, a bolder font, and a larger font. However, the introductory paragraph is still apart of the text, this is reflected because it has the same font style as the main text. To link the stand first with the main text, I have used the same technique of having the first letter bolder and larger compared to the rest of the text. The stand first also has the same colours of the main text, red and white but the colours are just reversed. The stand first has an ellipsis after it, another way of linking it to the main text, the ellipsis is also acting as a lure, if the readers like the introductory paragraph and would like to know more, they can read the rest of the article. As you can see, I have added more of the main article on the right, once again, the writing is creating a border around the picture, making the image look more significant.

6. Half way through the construction process, I started to experiment with different looks and techniques with my text and images. One of them were about my masthead, when going on to the effects, I realised that I could make the inner glow, ‘noisy’, giving off a rough look which was one of the things my magazine portrayed to appeal to my target audience. However, the first masthead has a clean, sleek look about it which also appealed to my target audience of: rockers, emos, goths and heavy metal lovers. In the end, I thought about going for the rough style on the right, however, I still wasn’t sure, so I asked my target audience to hear their views, and they thought that the rough style wasn’t better then the sleek style above, because it wasn’t as visible as the sleek look. They also mentioned that the rough one wasn’t as eye catching compared to the sleek look, mainly because the red wasn’t as visible.

7. Here, I have added a skull which represents the magazine because it is the logo, however, when considering the amount of text in my article, I knew that it wouldn’t fit, so I had to delete it. Now, I have also added page numbers, they have the skull, which is the logo for my magazine: this also carries the house style, and it compensates for the skull which was deleted. As you can see, there are two screen shots, one with writing over the guitar, and one with writing around the guitar, I thought about which one would be more effective, and I felt that the writing over the guitar lost the impact of the main image. Although, It isn’t my thought that counts, it’s the thoughts of those who would buy the magazine, so I asked the target audience for their views, and they thought, the writing around the guitar was better as well.

8. Another aspect that I wanted to check, was the main image, I thought about having the image on the left when editing my images but I thought that it would blend in to the background. When trying it out, my judgement was right as you can see, so I stuck with the original image. Even though, there was no room for the skull logo on the second page, there was room for it next to the masthead, so that is where I placed it, along with that, I managed to fit in the motto/slogan above the main image, I felt that it was needed in the double page article to carry the house style. Another thing I added to maintain the house style was the holly on the masthead which is present on every masthead in the magazine, it also reflects the time of Christmas which is when the issue is released.

9. My Completed Double Page Article Here, is another image which is less significant compared to the main image, which is obvious because of the size comparisons. This image is placed here because it represents the girl band performing along side the main rock artist, ‘Jed’, whom has his own tour. I have placed the image here because it over laps the main image slightly, to show that they are of some importance as they are also a rock act. To match the whole Christmas theme I have added snowflakes which reflect the time of year as well as the main cover, carrying the house style of this particular issue. Having the background black has enabled the hardness of rock to remain, even with the snowflakes present. In the article, I wanted a form of interaction, which is why I have added questions answered by, ‘Jed’, in the article, acting as a from of can.

10. I have placed many images together which are minimised, in attempt of forming a crowd for a concert. This is me half way through the process. After doing this, I would import many images at the same time to make the process quicker. Above shows one of the images I have used repeatedly to make this illusion of a crowd. I would then minimise this image and drag it to the other images, crowding them together like a real concert background. I have not only used one image to create this background, I have also used other images to give this crowd like effect so the pictures don’t look copied. I have used many images which I have minimised and have tried to fill all the empty areas of space with them, as shown in the print screen above. Here is the finished crowd which has a great effect, I thought about blurring the images so they don’t look as though they have been used repeatedly but I didn’t, as it made the images look as though they were low quality, so I left it as it is. During my planning stage, I thought about having a crowd for a background, here is the process of making that background…

11. This allusion of a crowd was meant to be used for my double page article, but when considering all of the writing and the images, it will look too much so I decided not to use it. Also, when asking my peers about what they thought the images were, they did not understand it immediately, they had to think about it until they realised it was a crowd in a concert which isn’t good. During my planning stage, I thought I could use this image on the right (a fan), but if this image was used, it would take the attention away form the main image of the rock star so I decided not to use it. I also thought about writing about a concert about a lot of rock stars but most articles focus on one act so I decided not to do this. What I had changed about my Double Page Article

12. The End