Contents Analysis

Contents Page Deconstruction

This was the first contents page that I completed on the program called Canva, I thought its overall look was very unique because of the use of the circle in the middle of the page. After comparing it to other music magazines such as Billboard, I found that the other look of my contents page looked very sparse compared to others. It was lacking a lot of detail due to me only including a small amount of articles that were going to be included in my magazine. I don't think my layout of my contents page was very effective compared to my front page. There wasn't really a continued theme throughout the two pieces of work. The layout of this contents page also didn't allow photos to be seen as well because the circle was very bold. 

This was my second layout of my contents page. At first I wasn't too sure what I should include, and also whether I should include some colour into my issue of the magazine as my front cover was just grey, white and black.

The way that I set out my contents page at first was quite plain and exactly like a typical page spread. I attempted to mix the layout a bit by adding a variety of photos which I had taken in my photo-shoot, this is so then the readers wont get boring as it isn't the same photo that is being used throughout the issue. I felt at first it didn't look right as I hadn't taken any photos relating to the other features included in this issue, then I moved the layout around a little and made the photos of my model the main focus of the page as they were the only photos that I had taken.

I continued the colour scheme of black, white and grey from the front cover to the contents page. I feel like the colour's work well together and give a sense of the 'Indie' fashion magazine that I took some aspects from such as the simplistic layout and the amount of writing used on cover. I've stuck with this idea because I feel it makes the magazine issue as a whole, completely new and unique, as well as trying to stay away from the whole set up and usual conventional idea.

As you can see by this contents page, all the photos are from the same shoot. I want to show a variety of photos, so I am going to do another photo shoot with the same model but in different clothes as well as in different places so then there is a variety of different backgrounds so then my target audience doesn't get bored.

Erasing Background

Before & After Removing Background

I used Pixlr to edit my photos, by erasing the background. This was because I wanted to try and include a plain colour background just like the 'Indie' fashion magazine. I tried to cut the background of the photo on the left but, I felt that it was very hard to cut round all of the shadows, her hair, as well as her clothing.

I felt as if the idea was very hard as cutting out the background took a long time & you needed a very steady hand. As it didn't really work when I added colour, I tried to outline around my model again as it looked very uneven and photo shopped, which wasn't the look that I was looking for. I was very disappointed that it didn't work first time as I really felt that the finished piece would have looked really good & engaged really well with my target audience.

Even though my first idea didn't end the way that I wanted to, this then made me inspired to attempt to make my front cover look more like a magazine. This was because I didn't want my target audience buying my magazine thinking that it is a fashion magazine instead of a music magazine. This is going to be really hard as my photo shoot didn't include any sort of musical instrument.

I wanted to attempt to make a magazine quite like this layout, I removed my background of my photo then added a plain filled colour just like this yellow. I feel like for this to have worked, I needed to use a green screen instead of using the program called Pixlr to remove the background by using the eraser tool. 



After I completed erasing all of the background, I attemped to add some sort of coloured background, the photo looked really photo shopped and just didnt really turn out like the way that I wanted it to look. I thought it was going to work at first but unfortunately it didn't in the end.

After it didn't work out the way that I wanted it to, I had to act quickly and think of a different idea to use instead of my original idea. 
I really liked the use of little amount of text on the front page of this magazine to the left but, after comparing it to music magazines, it doesnt suit the sort of style that is set to identify that it is a music magazine and not a fashion magazine.

Changes to Front Page

This is my front cover of my magazine, I moved the text on the left hand side up more, this was so then I could put in a barcode. The main reason why I did this was because I wanted to make the front cover more realistic and look a lot like a magazine than just a advertisement page or a leaflet. This whole set up of my magazine is unique compared to the typical set up and layout of normal magazines, this is due to the fact that I tried to make it very simple, plain & not too flashy.

The use of the colour theme of black, white and grey. This was because I feel like it looked like the colours worked well together for the front cover. I wanted to make sure that I incorporated the use of the simplistic style of the 'Indie' fashion magazine into this piece.

3 Practise Layouts for Front Cover

Layouts for Front Cover

Due to my first idea of erasing the background not turning out the way that I wanted it too. I decided to create a front cover that would look very unique and different compared to the typical magazine layout. I also tried to make my magazine simplistic so then it would suit my target audience.

Below I used 3 different layouts used on Canva, but I moved around the order of the text and the location where they originally were when I started. This was so then the front cover would be seen as an original design & not an attempted copy of another magazine layout.


This was my first magazine cover which I made on Canva. I used the magazine layout just to help me set out all the text included in the front cover. I used the font 'League Spartan' as my main master head. This was because I liked the bold and simple look of the font. At first I had the 'i' as an upper case letter, but I thought that the overall look, looked better with the 'i' as a lower case letter. The use of the small amount of detail about what is included in the magazine was based on the 'Indie' fashion magazine that I came across.

  This is the second magazine cover that I made on Canva, I used a completely different layout for this magazine cover. I used a different filter for the photo for the front cover. I like the use of the saturation  used this is because it looks very simplistic, just like the magazines that I was basing my work on the 'Indie' fashion magazines. This is due to the lack of detail and the use of plain and very simple fonts which makes the magazine seem not only very basic but also quite unique as it doesn't look nor show the obvious aspects of a normal layout/style of a typical magazine cover.

 This layout design of this magazine is very different, I set it out just like a normal magazine but didn't put as much detail of what is included inside the issue like most typical magazines do on the front cover. The use of different sizes and different fonts that work well all together took me a while to find as I felt like the set up and also the use of font on the previous 2 practise layouts were too uncomplicated in their form of spread as I only used 2 different font types. I also used the colour grey in this spread, this is due to the fact that I felt that this design was too basic and didn't quite look like a magazine, more like a leaflet.

1st Photo Shoot

Below is a risk assessment sheet that I completed before taking photos to ensure that the environment/place where I was taking photographs in was safe to complete the shoot.

This also allows you as the administrator to make everyone aware of the potential risks or risks that are involved in the activity.