Finished DPS

This is the final outcome of my magazine's DPS, which overall, I am rather pleased with. Taking NME's and Q's DPS's into consideration, I decided that the short story idea was a whole lot more professional than a standard interview. Plus, from receiving critical feedback that my interview was too short, this really brought on the idea of making it a lot longer and interesting.

In my opinion, it ties in with the theme of the overall magazine, using monochrome and red colours. The other additions to my DPS were firstly, the small borders across the bottom so it made it look more individual and spaced out properly. I added an enlarged quote on the top of the main image so it brought the image together without having too much black and white space.

I also added tour dates near the image of the vocalist and the music editor [myself and my friend, Robyn]. This was to join in with the ending of the interview, "see you on the tour, guys". It made sense to tie it all together.

NME and Q's Professional DPS's (Further Inspiration)

After researching the fashion magazine, Company, for further inspiration on my DPS, I decided to look at NME's and Q's as well. As you can see, the difference from Kerrang's isn't phenomenal, but what these magazines do is make the interviews look even more professional through the use of creating a short story from them. Although it may seem like a lot to read, I find that through adding small elements of what happened on the day of the interview, as well as talking about the actions of the artist make the interview seem all the more intimate, and this is really inspiring for my original theme.

Further Additions (DPS)

The further additions which I have added to my DPS are firstly, the colour change of the word, 'Roll'. Because I have added a black and white image of the 'singer' in my interview (the sunset images didn't look right and professional enough) the black lettering was too dark to read properly, so I kept to my original colour scheme and made it white with the red outline still there.

I have also added black boxes to the questions from Robyn in my interview. But I'm not very pleased with how they have turned out; they seem misplaced and very boring. I duplicated them all on Photoshop so they were mostly all the same size, but even with that, I am really not satisfied with the outcome of them.

The other small additions are the three lines across the bottom where it marks which page the reader is on, and the fact it's a collector's edition. I thought this would be good as it made them seem as though they weren't mixed within the interview.

Inspirational Background Images (DPS)

The images here I've taken at sunset, I thought, were inspirational and I might use them as part of a photo on my DPS. Because I have edited them so they're rather 'mysterious' with the dark casting, it tended to fit in well with my colour scheme, and the blues and oranges of the sky give off a contrasting appeal. Along with this, I would intend to place a photoshopped image of myself over this background, preferably on a landscape so my body too is in the frame.

Company Magazine DPS Inspiration

Company Mag DPS Inso

I've created a video on Animoto to show a different side of the media, and it explains what Company fashion magazine have inspired me with. The music isn't relevant to my coursework; it was just added for effect automatically.

Third Draft of DPS

I decided it would be a good idea to add a photo of my music editor, so I have used one of my friend, Robyn, where she's wearing a Guns N Roses t-shirt which ties in with my magazine, and her facial expression gives off the idea that my magazine is edgy and quirky.

I have also changed the font of my subheading to a more laid-back style, but used the consistent font of 'Omnibus' for both names to make them stand out. I have also added a 'handwriting' font to make it look as if the music editor's signature is near her photo.

Second Draft of DPS

I really feel as though my DPS is coming together; I have kept the page numbers and collector's edition theme consistent on the bottom, and with the simplistic colour scheme, I decided to make 'Robyn' and 'Ellie' in a deep red because it stood out further.

I have also made the interview parts where Ellie speaks, one font size bigger than of Robyn's, to make it subliminally stand out a tiny bit more. I have also changed the layout of my interview, so the white space could be filled with images or enlarged important quotes from the singer.

I added 'Original Rock, Original Roll' as part of my title for the DPS, as it tied in well with the overall theme of the magazine. I know that I have a range of artists featured in my magazine, but this particular one had a sub-heading of 'ROCK STAR STATUS', therefore I thought it would be appealing to have something similar in the title of the singer's interview.

For now, I have added the sub-heading 'Music Editor, Robyn, meets her idol, Ellie Rose...' I found that this was a good way of tying in both the editor and the singer; it makes it seem more realistic that this vocalist could possibly be the idol of people across the globe.

Basic Interview Start

I decided that the title didn't fit with the theme I wanted to give off to my audience; I wanted something with more edge and class, so I deleted that. Here I have the basic layout of my interview with 'Ellie Rose'.

Kerrang's Inspirational DPS's

I know that I want an interview in my DPS, therefore I thought it was helpful to research Kerrang's own DPS's, as they usually have a consistent theme of the artist speaking to the interviewer, and vice versa, as you can see in the above issues. The theme as well, of these, may be not what I am looking for because of my retro theme, but the way in which the interview is laid out is very appealing as the structure is professional, and set out individually.

First Draft of DPS

To begin with my DPS, I decided to use the colours red, black and white so the theme is consistent throughout all of the pages. I added the title 'Success has never been so sweet' because I felt that the added alliteration made it sound ever more catchy. Through editing the font to Lemondrop and adding a shadow against it, the bubbly, retro theme came forward even more. I added a ruler to 'slice' through the middle of my screen so I knew where the crease would be in a genuine magazine.

Usually, at the beginning of a magazine, or even a novel for example, the first letter of the introductory paragraph is bold and big, it captures the reader's attention. I decided to use the same font, Lemondrop, for the 'T' to make it seem quirky and professional.

I added page numbers to the bottom too to make it seem more like a realistic magazine, added 'Collector's Edition' to remind the reader of the magazine's importance, and added a 'News' feature in the top right-hand corner so the theme of the DPS stood out further.

One Further Correction on Front Cover

I received some critical feedback on the layout of my individual sell-lines on my front cover, saying that I should perhaps make them more spaced out, but still look all the same. So I done exactly that without changing the outlook too much, but I also added a smaller subheading below the band 'Foo Fighters'. I thought that this would be a good idea as one more tends to bring it all together, and uses the space that was just blank and doing nothing; I think it's better presented now.

As this is my finished front cover, I really feel as though my target audience should appeal to my magazine generally. It should catch their eye; maybe because of the simple yet original colour palette which I have used.

Remembering that my target audience is aimed at older teenagers to around people in their early thirties, I really feel as though this magazine cover has captured the feel of different artists and style in the music industry. I am aware that my artists featured here are different from one another; Linkin Park are usually deemed as nu-metal or rock, whereas Lana Del Rey has a unique and haunting voice, tying in with her vintage look... Then the fictional band, The Small Things, which I have created along with Ellie Rose herself are, in my opinion, a rather punk-rock type of artist. So on a whole, it may seem as though my genre of magazine is confusing to my target audience, yet I really do feel as though they would be capable of understanding that I wanted to create a magazine with difference and unique style. The artists which I have included all possess this; although some may be seen as mainstream, they're not generically made bands and solo artists in which have become famous overnight.

Double Page Spread Plan and Rationale

This is the briefest plan that I have done for my magazine, but I feel as though the depth wasn't needed as I know I'll be changing the DPS throughout its development. I have made sure however, that each 'page' is sectioned off, and I have drawn out where I would like particular aspects of the DPS to be placed. As I progress with this current part of my magazine, I will probably change a lot on the current layout, but as of now this is a good guidance.

I have tried to make the text boxes look spaced out and around the same sizes for a professional, more realistic magazine outcome. In magazines, I would usually see the text boxes aligned with one another, so I have tried to keep this theme consistent even though this is only my planning.

It could be suggested that I have placed far too many boxes of text on the DPS, but as said, this is my guidance and from here, I shall look at other real DPS layouts from particular magazines that suit my own genre, and grasp more ideas on how to make this particular element of my magazine look professional and clearly tied in with what I want to achieve.