This is my final Double Page Spread. I have used many conventions such as;

Text in two columns

Page number in the bottom right hand corner

Player title on each page

Picture taking up more than half the double page, showing that it is a DPS

A quote to make the reader want to read on

Colours following on from my front cover to create house style.

Overall I am very happy with my DPS construction and I think that it goes with my genre very well.

Double Page Spread Article

Title:
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW, STARRING SINGER, JOE JENSON

Quote:
"I'm not the person everyone thinks I am!"

Article:
What inspired you to start a career as a singer?
Umm.. to be honest, there was nothing inparticular that inspired me, it was mainly just something that came along with getting older. From a very early age I always knew I wanted to use my musical talent to get a career in the industry, but never really thought it would actually happen. As I grew up and became more and more passionate about singing, I was so eager to follow my dreams and make it happen, then it just kind of went from there really.

How did you first get into the music industry?
Well once I had decided to go through with my plans to try and get into the industry, my friends and family were so encouraging with my passion. They told everyone they knew about me which opened me to so many doors. I then started busking in the local town, using the money for recording experience with my own songs. From there I got signed quite quickly by the manager which brought me to where I am today, and I am very thankful to everyone that has helped me along the way.

What was your first ever song about?
My first ever song that I made was so personal to me as it was obviously at the time when I was just getting started with my serious career. I was just growing up and everything was changing so fast, my ambitions were approaching and I was finding it hard to keep up with school work, friends and family. I was so caught up in the moment and didnt know what to do with myself, so I just put pen to paper, and wrote my first song which I guess has made me the person I am today.

Is musical talent something that runs in your family?
Errr.. lets just say they have stronger talents in other departments. My mum is a decent singer I suppose, but my dad and brother ALWAYS lost at kareoke. haha! So yeah, no idea where my talent comes from, but I hope it's something that I can pass down to future generations because I would love for it to change their lives as it has changed mine.

Do you ever get stage fright or feel nervous?
Yeah, I get nervous all the time before big gigs and performances! Even my family will tell you that I'm not actually the person everyone thinks I am. Obviously being a celebrity you have to put on a confident front, but in reality, I have the same nerves as everyone else, if not more! I just try to take a step back, not thinking about the crowd, and go out there to perform my best and put on a good show.

Do you have any passions, other than music?
Umm, playing the guitar, singing and songwriting are my main passions but I also enjoy alot of sports, particularly football but I had to give that up to focus on my music career. Sometimes I miss doing a range of different things and being active all the time, but I also wouldnt change it for the world!
 
What do your friends think about your career?
As I said before, my friends and family have always supported me for the whole time i've known them. Obviously people change and some don't accept that, which has had its impacts on friendships, but i've also gained so many new friends since that its not really a worry of mine anymore. I find it hard to keep in touch with everyone as i'm very often travelling all over the place, running around sorting everything out but I do always find time for the family and best friends.

What can we expect to see from you in the future?
I hope for you to see a wider range of genres from my collection, and hope to work with other artists to create collaborative songs appealing to many different audiences, and maybe even travelling to different countries to play if im lucky.

I have decided to create my article in the form of an interview. I am unsure about what questions I would write in there for my singer to answer, so have thought about looking on the internet to find frequently asked questions in an interview. Here are the ones I found that may be useful for my magazine interview:
Have you always enjoyed the art of music?
Do you have any passions, other than music?
What was your first ever song you made about?
What kind of music do you listen to?
Is musical talent something that runs in your family?
What can we expect from you in the future?
How did you first get into the music industry?
What inspired you to sing as a career?
Do you have any other talents?
What do your friends think about you as a person?
Do you ever get stage fright?

I think that these questions cover all aspects of an interview that i'd be hoping to capture. However, I will need to put these in an order that will allow them to all follow on from eachother making sense. I have looked further at these, and after removing and changing some, I decided upon this order:
What inspired you to start a career as a singer?
How did you first get into the music industry?
What was your first ever song about?
Is musical talent something that runs in your family?
Do you ever get stage fright or feel nervous?
Do you have any passions, other than music?
What do your friends think about your career?

I just need to go on to think of answers to these questions which I will then insert into my article on my double page spread of my music magazine.

Double Page Spread Plans

This is my final layout, I have changed the title so that it goes down to another line to fill up more of the space. I like this layout the best, but still need to experiment with title fonts. I also added a 'T' to the beginning of the article as thats what many other magazines do.

Double Page Spread Plans

After I had tried out everything with the other layouts, I remembered that I was going to try out having the writing on the left. To do this I flipped the picture over so that it was on the right, then moved the text to the left. I kept all the writing fonts and colours the same but just moved them to the other side. I definately  prefer it this way round, however I need to change the title as I dont like it as it is at the moment.

Double Page Spread Plans

 I decided in the end that I actually preferred the title being a ad shorter and not going right across both pages. I also decided that I didn't like the font how it was so I changed it to this one. I do like this title however, I don't think that it is perfect, so I will carry on experimenting with different fonts to try and find the right one which works. Overall I definitely prefer this layout to any of the other ones, so will use this as a template, then type in my text later on. 

Double Page Spread Plans

I haven't changed much to this one as I really liked the previous layout. However, one thing that I did change was the length of the title. I moved the picture down a bit to make room for the title to stretch right across the two pages. I think this looks good although I haven't quite found the right font to use yet, so I will experiment with other fonts before deciding on a final plan.

Double Page Spread Plans

In this one I have kept the title where it was before, however I have changed the orientation of the quote so that it fits in better. I also moved the picture over to the left a bit more so that I could extend the left column to be the same length as the right one. I think this is the best layout so far as it all fits together well and looks professional without looking too tacky!

Double Page Spread Plans

This is my second attempt at a double page spread plan. I changed the title so that it went across the page like many existing magazines do. I think this definately looks better like that. I also added a quote underneath the title so it encourages people to read on. I changed the colour to purple to match the front cover title, creating a house style. 

Double Page Spread Plans

This was my initial thought of how my double page spread would be laid out. I like the simpleness of this, however I think that it is a bit too plain and needs to be added to. Also I couldn't work out how to make the text fit the column so that the writing ends at the same point on every line, but when I make it for real I will find out so that it looks more professional.

DPS Sketch

This is my DPS sketch, however I couldn't rotate it, so its actually meant to be landscape. It shows where abouts I want everything to go :)

After looking through all of my photographs, I found this one which I thought would be perfect for a double page spread. I decided to edit it using photo shop so that it would be more appropriate for my magazine.

This is my photo after being edited. I altered the composition of the image as a whole, and changed the exposure and offset. I changed the background colour to black to make any text inserted stand out. I also flipped the picture over so that the writing could be on the right hand side. I really like this image now that it has been edited and will try inserting some text to see what it looks like next.

Existing Double Page Spreads

This is a double page spread from Q magazine that I found on the internet. I really like this and would like to base to my double page spread around this layout. The placing of the text is where I would put mine, however my image would be completely different. I also like the font, colour and size of the text which I will try out when I come to make mine.

I also found this double page spread which I also like. I prefer the first magazine however I like the background black colour of this one as I think that it really makes the writing and image stand out. I do not like the pink writing or the title to this page as it wouldn't fit my genre of magazine. 

After seeing these two magazines I am unsure of which page to have the writing on, and weather to put a big heading on the top of the page or not. I think  I will go and try out my image with a black background like the second magazine, but with text like the first magazine and see what it looks like. 

Front Cover Finished Copy

This is my final front cover finished. I am really pleased about the outcome of my magazine. I thought that the red/purple title will appeal to both genders, along with the red/black and white font colours. I really like the look of my background image and the fact that it is black and white conveys to the acoustic genre. I like the range of fonts that i have used throughout my cover as it makes it look more realistic as a whole and more like an actual front cover. I think these fonts all look really good together, however it took me a long time to choose them. I have added many lures to my magazine such as 'free 10 page poster booklet inside' 'exclusive interview'. The main parts which i wanted to make stand out, i have used a bold font for and placed in the correct places to catch the eye. I thought that having a background image without eye contact would put the reader off, although now that it is all finished i think that the text around it makes it look better and the image is very striking. If i had more time i could add some more text to the left hand side under the writing already there, however i think it looks good as it is already and wouldnt want to spoil it. Next i will move onto my DPS, using the same colours (red, purple, black, grey, and white) to create a house style.

Front Cover Stage 1

This is my front cover so far. I have added in some text after choosing the perfect masthead. I decided to use a bright, bold colour to make the lure "100" stand out. I used a smaller, duller font to write the word "most" as it is not as important as the others. "shocking" really stands out as it is in a white box, contrasting to the bright bold red text. 

I then decided to add in another lure. I wrote boldly "John Mayer", followed by a quote previewing the interview. It has been described here as "exclusive" to make people think that this is the only magazine that they will find this sort of celebrity gossip. I will carry on adding in text to this front cover, on the left hand side using the golden line and rule of thirds techniques. 

Front Cover Headline Ideas

Here I have very briefly looked at 3 magazines of which look similar to what I would like my magazine to look like. I was unsure about ideas of headlines and therefore, I have picked out some headlines which I can use on my front cover. By doing this I can now go on to finish my front cover by starting on the text. 

Mastheads

This is the original photo of which I selected and edited to make it look like this..

..This is the photo that I chose to use in the end, as I liked the image as a whole, and the grey scale proved most popular with my target audience.I like the way it has been edited so that there is no background colours, and the lighting is a lot more striking.

Next, i decided to try out a range of different mastheads to see which colour scheme I wanted. I liked the blue one, however I thought that the blue was more for a male dominated target audience. I think that the red masthead is too big and wouldn't allow enough space for headlines.

In the end, this is the masthead I chose. I like this because it is simple, and allows room for more text and pictures.