Double Page Spread Construction

After asking my target audience which image they preferred from the selection I gave them in the previous post, many of them picked this image to the left. This image works well because of the background and the fact that the artist is holding an acoustic instrument (tenor ukulele). The clothing the artist is wearing also fits in with the genre of music my magazine is going for and the genre of music The Yellow Pioneers. This image is also well photographed as I have used the rule of thirds to produce an image where the artist only takes up half the of the photo, which will allow me to add a snippet of writing like I have previously done in my prototype of my double page spread. Lastly, what is also good about this image is that it has good lighting. Some images that are taken inside or not with a natural light source can look dark or unprofessional. This image however was taken outside for natural light and was taken on a day that was sunny, which is good as I want the connotation of the image to be happy and sun usually reflects happiness or joy.

I then went on to editing the photos, I used Pixlr as I felt I wouldn't need to do anything to drastic to the image, such as removing the entire background. I first started with blurring the background. Pixlr gives an editing tool to blur the background in either a circle or a straight line. I chose the circle option as it gave a good gradual fade and I believe it looked better with this option than the other. Then looking at the colour and lighting of the photo I went on to editing this. The lighting was slightly too sharp, so I dulled it down a little, but not so much that it looks like it was cloudy. After that I went onto 'Effects' an added a few layers to give it a more vintage look. The first layer was slightly blue, then I added a more golden colour over the top but changed the transparency so it wasn't too noticeable but gave a even and subtle effect to the lighting. 

Next I zoomed right into his face so I could cover up any blemishes and smooth his skin slightly as it would then give continuity to the front cover and the photograph on the contents page.

What I now notice however is that he isn't wearing the same hat through out. On the front cover he is wearing a different hat 

AND a different shirt. On the contents page he is wearing the same hat as the one I am editing here but is then wearing the same shirt on the front cover. And now editing this photo he is wearing the same hat as the one on the contents page but a jumper. Whether the continuity with this is a problem or not I don't know yet, but I will ask my target market later on to ask them whether they like it or not.

Next I added layers on to the image to give some 'light leaks'. I have used these previously on an image I used for the contents page and thought it would give a little more colour to the image as it was just one block of green scenery. It also gives it a vintage look, which is ideal for the photos i have taken and placed throughout the magazine. I used 3 light leaks for this photograph, the first being the small blue as I thought it went well with the lighting of the photo as sun and a blue sky give off the connotation of a happiness. The next light leak I added was a red strip. I added this one as it tied in well with the red jumper he is wearing in the image. And finally I added a dim white light leak, then rotated it so it wasn't over his face but down in the corner.

I then took an old photo, rotated it onto its side, turned the brightness up to get it to become my background, then added my edited image on top. I had to crop the image for it to fit half way across the double page spread, but this didn't matter too much as the artist was still half way across the photograph its self.

Then, taking the layout of my prototype double page spread I created, I made up a snippet of what the artist says somewhere through out the interview and placed it on top of the photo. This makes the image more full and gives it more purpose other than it giving a visual of who the artist is. I made the quotation the same as the one I had used with Passenger as a few members of my target audience said that they liked that certain inspirational quote. I did, however, changed the layout of the writing to make certain words alone on one line. I did this to make these certain words stand out and they are the most powerful words in the quotation. Finally with the quotation I added the lines above and below it to section it off from the rest of the image and to state that this is it for the quotation and that if the reader wants to know more they need to read the article. I had previously on my prototype made the writing green to carry on the house style colour, but when I tried out the green on the back ground the words became confusing to read and became lost, so I changed the writing to white for it to stand out more. 

There isn't any green placed on to my double page spread but there is green within the photograph and this helps tie in the colour theme through out.

The other side of the double page spread I used the same layout as I did for my prototype and the similar layout of Q's double page spread. The layout involves a large letter (usually one that is the name of the band) behind the writing, a bold title, then the writing in two or 3 columns. I didn't use the first letter of 'The Yellow Pioneers' nor the second but used the third with 'P', I used with with Passenger and it fitted nicely on the page. I had tried the Y but it looked unprofessional even with all the different fonts that I had tested with, so I decided to go with the 'P' as I had previously tried this out and it worked well with the size of the page. I also decided to go with two columns of writing as 3 columns can look too busy on a page and then put people off from reading it, which isn't what I want from my music magazine.

After creating an interview with my artist I took his answers from his real musical life and then tweaked them a little so they related to as if he were a band and not a solo artist. If I were to now change anything I would change the size of the left column because I gave it too much room, therefore leaving little room for the right column and so making the writing smaller. I also do realise now that there are a few minor spelling and grammar mistakes in the main text, so it will have to be rewritten at some point.

Final Double page spread