The document describes the process of designing a magazine cover and contents page in Adobe InDesign. Key steps include changing the background color, adding a title with a brush effect in Photoshop and importing into InDesign, positioning text boxes and articles on the left side, and centering the main cover photo while ensuring text is readable around images. The contents page similarly positions articles on the left and sections on the right, with page numbers on the bottom.

1. First I changed the background from a plain white one to burgundy, I originally planned to use red for the background but after I put text on the page to see what it looked like the red background made it difficult to read so I changed it to a darker colour that wasn’t too far from my original house colour.

2. I then placed a text box on the left hand side of the front cover this is referred to as the “left third” most magazines put their writing about articles inside the magazine here as when they are placed on a shop shelf this is the only part left visible unless it is the last magazine

4. Next I created a brush splatter effect on adobe Photoshop to do this I had to download a photoshop brush set from easyelements.com after I had downloaded the brush set I installed it onto the computer, I then used it on Photoshop then imported the image onto indesign and placed it at the top of the page so the title would stand out.

5. After the brush set finished downloading I changed the colour to yellow to match my house colours I made it on a new layer then deleted the background layer so when I imported it on indesign I wouldn’t have a white background behind the splatter.

6. I then had to create my title to do this I decided to use adobe photoshop as I 'am more familiar with the program than indesign. I opened a new layer and wrote the name of my magazine Jazz street in the MICRODOT font

7. After righting the article I highlighted it and chose the smooth option so it would be easier to read and make it appear more professional.

8. I clicked the striped cone button effect as after checking the effects I decided this was the best one as I decided the circle inside the letters would be interesting, eye catching and would mean I could use more than 1 colour in my main title.

9. After I made the circle I started to move the title so I could decide where to put it, I did a questionnaire and more people voted for it to be moved to the J. I felt that this was a good idea as it makes the first letter stand out.

10. After I had made the final changes to my title I removed the white background with the same process I used for my splatter effect, after placing the title on the page I moved it to the top of the paged and increased its size so it is clearer. To bring the image in front of the splatter effect I made a new layer for it and dragged the title layer above the splatter effect layer.

11. After organising my title space I created a small text box underneath it, in this text box I placed the website of my magazine as when I was doing research into music magazines nearly all of them had a website so it fits into the codes and conventions of a magazine, I added the line for online stories and downloads as most magazine websites contained online stories and some of them had downloadable music which attracts a younger audience.

12. I placed the main writing about my double page article in the bottom left hand corner because I wanted to position my front cover picture in the centre and didn’t want the writing to run across it and spoil the picture, I chose to put all the titles of my separate articles on the left third in yellow and the content writing in white however for the main article I made it all yellow so it would stand out as the most important article.

13. After I placed the main photo in the middle of the page I noticed the arm was overlapping onto the writing in the left third, for some reason I could not bring the text in front of the picture I had to move some of the words down so it went around the shape of the arm. I brought the picture to the front after solving the issue with the text so the head was in front of the title and not behind, I moved the picture so some of the head was covering part of the title as most magazines front page pictures cover part of their title rather than cut some of the picture off.

14. Finally I added a price and barcode, I also changed the website location I changed the font style made it bold and gave it a yellow splatter background, to do this I imported the splatter effect and used the resize tool to make it fit behind the writing.

15. On my contents page I once again put my articles on the left hand side of the page, most magazines that I analysed had their text on the left and right side of the contents page so they have space for their main contents page image.

16. I left a space between the text on the left hand side for my Carmen picture, when I analysed other Jazz magazines they split there headings for different sections so I decided to put my articles on the left, placed my competitions in the top right and the interview section which is my main article is placed at the bottom left so I would still have space for my other contents picture. I added the page number in the bottom left corner I used Black so it would be clear and stand out.

17. I decided to delete the Kurt James box as when I imported the image it was hard to read and made the page look unprofessional, I added the Kurt James tells all to the box which has the title Interviews so I would still have the information but in a clear position. I imported my splatter effect onto the contents page then sent it to the back to create a background that ties in with the front cover.

18. I created a double page for my article, my article title was written in Arial size 60 I used this font as it was clear I then changed it to yellow to keep with my house style and make it eye-catching.

19. After writing my article in Microsoft word to check for spelling mistakes and grammar, I copy and pasted it into Indesign I then changed the font to Garamond size 12 I used this size as it meant I could fit more into my text boxes and leave a big enough space for my main article picture.

20. After I had finished my writing I imported my picture into the double page article, I was originally planning to put my picture in the bottom left corner but it left too big a gap so I decided to re-size the image. Most magazines fill one of their pages or most of it with an image so this may I can make the image bigger and clearer and still maintain a professional look.