Cover flat plan

 

 

Article step by step

 I chose to use photoshop instead of InDesign as I am more familiar with the tools and features in order to produce a quality article. I used a double page spread.

 I added my bands title and four different images underneath. I chose the images I did to show different sides of their personalities to represent my article. I carried through my theme by adding my title in red and sticking to my font.

 I added my article and my article introduction. I put my questions in a different colour to make them stand out against the answers. I also decided to put it in columns to stick to regular conventions of a magazines.

I decided to fill up the free space at the end of my article with an added feature. Many magazines either have competitions, fact files, extra information or downloads. I decided to add a competition as it ties in more with the article than a fact file would. I also added their social network pages as it is the most common way of finding bands and artists these days.

Final article

The Rising of Galaxy

We speak to the Dubstep duo Galaxy on their latest single: The Rising. They tell us about drugs, alcohol, music, merchandise and tours. Get the exclusive inside scoop right here!

Hey guys, thanks for making us your first ever magazine interview! What made you interested in Dubstep?

Well you are our favourite magazine so we couldn’t have possibly went for anyone else haha! Well we’ve been friends since we were about 9 or 10 and we’ve always listened to heavy drum and bass music, we’ve collected almost all of the Ministry of Sound albums haha. Just the way you can create something completely amazing from spinning a disk or pressing a few buttons is incredible.

So you guys just turned 17 a few months ago, how does it feel being in this industry so young?

Its crazy, we’re fighting with artists twice our age with twice our experience so trying to find a sound that makes us different is hard. Playing gigs is probably the strangest, we play clubs and festivals that audiences have to be 18 to get into so that is truly crazy, we always have our parents on the side of the stage for moral support so its not too bad.

So why now? Why didn’t you two storm our charts earlier?

There’s never really been a market for Dubstep until now, we’ve been making YouTube videos for years so for the CEO of MOS records to contact us was pretty surreal.

 What made you agree to sign to the Ministry of Sound label?

Well all of our idols are signed to them, Example, DJ Fresh, Wretch 32 and Afrojack are all our inspiration and to be able to work with these guys is phenomenal. We’ve learned so much from all of them and the label looks after us so much, they took a chance on us when nobody else would and we couldn’t ask for anything better.

What made you decide on Galaxy as your duo name?

Well we see the galaxy of a huge place of endless possibilities and unexpected surprises, that’s what we want our fans to see us as, we don’t want people to expect the same every time from us, we want to be different.

What was the reason for your title of the The Rising?

Well with it being our first single it signifies how we came to fame, the ups and downs on our road to where we are now. We wanted to people to feel inspired by the way we put the music together and for the reason we’re here.

So what can we expect for your next single?

Well our next single is a lot heavier than The Rising. We chose to pick this track because it’s a completely different sound to our current single which will completely mix things up for the audience we are trying to reach.

What does the album have in store for us?

Well our album is called “Coming Up” and throughout the album it more or less the journey from the beginning of our music careers. We teamed up with some of the greatest producers around to create our sound; we made it so every song would be completely different. We want everyone to be surprised at each and every song.

Can we look forward to any collaborations in future?

We have at least three collabs on the album, we’re trying to plan a future single with Example or Miley Cryus to keep our image fresh and our sound different. We won’t ruin the surprise for any of our fans, but our album is due our May 10^th 2014.

Where did the inspiration for your music come from?

Well for the past three years we have been battling addictions to drugs and alcohol and only managed to over come these problems with the help of family, friends and our music. If you listen to the album from start to finish you should hopefully be able to hear our journey back to health. We start the album with deep bass and heavy tracks however the album ends on a more electronic sound combined with the bass of our darker days.

Do you hope to speak to fans through your music?

Yeah! Like we absolutely love our fans and if we never saw the positivity on our soundcloud through recovery we would never be where we are today. We have already had a huge amount of letters and gifts thanking us for helping them through everything and knowing that what we do helps people is unreal!

Can we expect a tour?

Absolutely! We kick off our UK tour in December 13 and tickets go on sale May 1^st, we’re hitting almost every city in the country which is extremely important to us as many fans miss out on tours because some bands only tour major cities, we wouldn’t want anyone to miss out. We have a Europe tour planned for 2015 and then eventually a world tour when we get around to it ha ha! We can’t wait!

Finally we’ve seen a few items on your website that will be going on tour with you guys, what can we expect from the whole merchandise range?

They’re fantastic! We have four different teeshirt designs in either white, grey or black and we have already sold a tonne of those online! There are wristbands, hats, posters, our EP’s and several hoodies. We spent at least three months working on the designs and trying to incorporate our sound into the merch with the help from several AMAZING local designers we finally came up with things we are extremely proud of and hope you guys love.

Thanks Guys!

 

So with a planned world tour, upcoming album and designer merchandise we can expect big things from this duo. Watch out Skrillex, there’s a new Dubstep duo on the block…

Front cover step by step

 I started by cropping out the background of my image. I used the blur tool to go around the outside of the images, this was to make my image look like more of a part of the background so it had smoother edges from where it had been rubbed out. I used the image/adjustments/curves tool to increase the brightness of my photo. I then used the clone tool to hide blemishes, dark circles and to fill parts of Jacobs eyebrows to make it look as professional as I could. I also added a bar code as it a common convention of a magazine.

I added a white background as I tried many different colours yet they didn't look right therefore I stuck to white, it also follows my magazine house theme. I added my masthead too. I chose to use red, white and black as it was the most common response from my questionnaires. I chose the font "impact" as I think it looked best for my magazine.  I put this in the top left hand side of my page as that is where most titles are found and it would fit in on a stand with other music magazines.

I added a banner in black and added "free posters inside" as it is a common convention and it took up space that would have otherwise been left blank. I added an example of a poster inside my magazine to appeal more to the audience.

 I added three subtitles to show what is in the inside of my magazine. I put this in red to stick to the house theme.

I finally added my main article title and added a subtitle in order to appeal more to my target audience. This is a common convention of most magazines therefore I put it in red to again follow my house theme.

Contents page flat plan

Photos I decided to use

 I like this photo as it is a natural photo. The facial expressions shown represent the easy going and unstructured flow of the article. I asked them to wear either black, white or both in order to try and stick to the house theme of my magazine. This helps them fit my magazine yet stand out at the same time. I asked Rebecca to stick to normal every day makeup as it looks more natural than if it was flamboyant, which is represented in my story.

 I like this photo as although it is posed it is also very casual. Their facial expressions are suitable for the easy going flow of my article. 

 I particularly like this photo as it is fun and completely unposed. It was taken mid dance and I believe it shows a different side to them as the other ones. I think i will use this photo on my article as it is inappropriate for my cover as Jacob isn't facing the camera and the shadowing/hair could be difficult to cut out therefore it will be easier to increase the contrasting to lighten the photo and use it with its background on my article.

Contents page step by step

 I kept the same background to keep the features throughout the magazine the same. I added red boxes for all of my titles to go into.

 I used NME as inspiration for my band index, I added this down the left hand side of my page so it isn't as bold. I also added a white box to put a screen shot of my front cover in  to advertise subscriptions.

I chose to put the sections of my magazine into the red boxes. I chose to make my font white so I could follow the house theme of my magazine, I needed to follow the same conventions of magazines already on the market.

I then added my photos. I chose to put a photo of my feature artists on to show which page they're on and then I chose two separate photos of models using different shots. I chose an up close photo of a model then a medium long shot of another to vary the photos I have. 

I added larger page numbers onto my images which is a common conventions of most magazines to show which are the features. I then added social network logos to the top of my page to reach out to a wider network.

I added all all of my article titles and page numbers under the subtitles around my page. I chose to keep the font white to stick to the house theme of my magazine. 

I added a subscription banner onto my page as this is a common convention of a magazine contents page. I stuck to the theme so I kept the white and red theme. 

First draft cover

I chose to use a grey background for my front cover as my target audience thought it would be the most appropriate for my background. I chose a black box to put my magazine title in because it will make my title stand out more.

 I chose to use a red title in "impact" font as I think is the most appropriate for my magazine genre and also makes it different from other magazine fonts, it couldn't be mistaken for something else.

 I decided I would also put "one for the road" underneath "ofr" to show what my magazine stood for, I chose this title as although it represents a drink, it is also a famous song.

 I positioned my models in the middle of my screen and infront of the title as it is still clear what the magazine title is and it brings more of the attention to the models. I chose to keep the black, white and red theme through their clothes and asked them to wear these colours. I think this works well as it still looks individual yet stands for my magazine.

 I then added my sub title in the same font and colour and positioned it just below the middle of my screen so it is the first thing looked at when the magazine is picked up.

 I then added the caption under the title and a bar code

 I added the issue number and price into the box with my title so it is still visible but isn't taking over the page.

 I noticed there were parts I hadn't rubbed out on my box but I couldn't find out which layer they were from so I used the paint brush to cover the marks.

Proposal form

Ideas: I have chosen to make a rock/indie magazine that will contain already existing bands and a new band that will be featured on the front cover, contents page and article. I have researched examples of these magazines to find general conventions of what I intend to create.

Genre: I chose to create a rock/indie magazine as although there are several already on the market I believe there is a gap for the music I am choosing to feature as there are not many that divert from their main genre of music in order to promote new artists. There will be the theme of rock and indie throughout my magazine to keep to the conventions of a magazine.

Target Audience: I am aiming my magazine at 14-20 year old mixed gender as this will widen my audience and will appeal to more people. I intend to make it unisex by keeping a theme of black, red and white as this not only represents the genre of my magazine but it appeals to everybody.

Major Conventions: My magazine will follow the obvious conventions of a magazine, including things such as titles, subtitles, pictures, banners ect. This is so it looks professional.

Model Permission

I asked my models for permission before using their photos and made sure they were happy with the photos I was using before choosing to publish them. I felt this was necessary to make sure as if the photo was to become widespread then it is better if they approve of them.

Marjorie Fergison's Theory

There are four different types of facial expressions that are used on the front of magazine covers. These were discovered my Marjorie Fergison.

Super Smiler

Chocolate Box

Invitational

Romantic/sexual