Assignment 2

Intended genre
My intention is to make a fashion and lifestyle magazine, similar in style to Vogue and the
Cosmopolitan, but with a closer focus on street style, youth culture and urban fashion. The target
audience would be women aged between the age of 18 and 28, with content that is relevant to this
demographics interest and is somewhat mainstream. The magazine would include interviews with
influencers from social platforms, models and celebrities who the audience would be interested in
and would find relevant. There would be content on the latest fashion trends and interesting looks,
as well as events associated with these, and possibly would contain advice and information on social
media use and such since this demographic is more involved in things like Instagram and Snapchat.

Name:

For names, I would prefer to have a short and bold name to be more modern. It would be nice to
take inspiration from magazines like Elle who have a French origin, since France is well known for its
fashion. Other options are ones that relate to fashion and clothes, like fabric names, and general
bold words that can convey the message of the magazine.

 Fille, French for girl

 Dame, French for lady
 Josei, Japanese for woman
 Follow, as in follow the latest trends, celebs, etc.
 Clock out, to relate the magazine to leisure outside of work
 Taste, the magazine holds a ‘taste’ of the fashion world and such
 Nylon, synthetic fibre used in clothing, bold and modern and common in trendy clothing
 Velour, plush and similar to velvet which adds a sense of luxury and comfort
 Orange Tree, a quirky name that stands out and gives the option for a specific colour theme

Out of the options listed above, I have decided to go for ‘Fille’ as the name, its simple, classic and
bold and is directed and linked to its target audience. Since the meaning is ‘girl’, it has a youthful
implication.
Colour:

Bold is the continued theme, so the same will be important in colour theme. Dark saturated colours,
with consistent use of black and possibly greys/white to make the theme harsh and clean. Another
possible theme is muted and desaturated tones alongside harsh white for a softer and more neutral
look and a pop of saturated colour on specific pages.

Theme 1 Theme 2

Out of the themes above, I prefer Theme 1 since Theme 2 feels too bland and lacklustre in
comparison, and Theme 1 pops and catches the eye. Theme 2 would be more suitable for a more
refined and mature audience rather than a younger one, though I shall still use similar colours for
areas that I don’t want to be too overpowering with colour.
Fonts:

Title fonts…

Fille –Arial Black

Fille –Bodoni MT Black

Fille -Broadway
Fille –Eras Bold ITC
Fille –Goudy Stout

Fille –Segoe UI Black

Fille -Stencil

Subtitle fonts…

Example -Calibri
Example –Century Gothic
Example -Corbel

Example –OCR A Extended

Example -Verdana

Text fonts…

Example –MS UI Gothic

Example -Arial
Example –Candara
Example -Consolas

Example –Segoe UI light

Final choice…

Fille
Example Subtitle Font
Normal text, just a bunch of text to show the font as an example, nothing important
written here, all this is doing is giving you a taste of the font ok.

Title font is Eras Bold ITC because it is bold, compact and the subtle tilt adds to the overall look of
the font, the subtitle font is OCR A Extended which I liked the look of because it stands out from the
title and text but still fits in well with the theme and for normal text I have chosen Segoe UI Light
which is lighter and less stylised for easy reading and it doesn’t blend into the other fonts.

Equipment:

The basic equipment and tools that are needed to create the front cover and DPS are a camera and
any necessary equipment to go with it (light, tripod, etc), photoshop to create the cover and DPS,
and image editing apps to edit the photos taken for the pages.
Initial Layout Designs

Front Cover:

Date of magazine

Fille
issue
Masthead

Name of the
magazine in a
contrasting tone to
the cover image
and in the Eras
Bold ITC font.

Main cover line

Most prominent
text using bold
lettering and
colour to draw
attention to it.

Left third cover

lines

Most of the cover

lines to be kept to
the left so they are
seen first.

Main image Cover lines

Covering whole magazine cover, Placed appropriately over

apart from edge boarder. Lettering the image, but not covering
and accents on top in contrasting and it completely. Shows the
complimentary colours to stand out reader the main contents of
on top of the image. the magazine
DPS:
Main title of the DPS, in bold in
the top left to be the first thing
the reader sees and to make it
clear the contents of the DPS.
Same font from the front cover
and contrasting colours to the
image.
Main text in columns in
an easy to read font.
Less coloured so that it
isn’t too distracting. In a
box that still shows the
image underneath but
fades it out.
Main image overlapping on
both pages to merge them
together. Possibly
accompanied by more
smaller images around it to
show more on the topic.
Mock Up Designs

Front cover:

Design 1:

Out of the two design this is my

preferred. I used an image on the topic I
would like to do that is bold and styled in
the aesthetic of the topic. The text and
cover lines are in a contrasting colour
that compliment the image and stands
out well. The main cover line is near the
top which is what the reader would look
at first since it is right underneath the
magazine name that is also in a
contrasting colour. The fonts used are the
ones selected earlier and go well with the
magazine name font. I have given the
cover a boarder that is complimentary to
the main image to make it cleaner and
more stylised so that the magazine stands
out from others. I like the overall look of
this design so it is the one I will use for
the final design.

Design 2:

For this design I used a different style

image that is closer up and clearer. I feel
that cropping out the model and putting
her on a plain background would’ve
looked better. Compared to the first
design, I prefer that image more to this
one. I tried using different colours for the
cover lines though I am unsure of
whether it looks that good since some of
it is harder to read. I slightly overlapped
the name onto the boarder which I quite
like and would like to carry over into my
final design. This design looks too messy
overall and it is hard to focus the eyes on
all that is going on.
Double Page Spread:

Design 1

With design 1 of the DPS, I used a bold image with contrasting colours that I used as accents
cross the DPS, like in the lettering, which makes the age stand out and makes the image merge
well with the rest of the page. I tried to add a faded box beneath the text so that it could be
readable but still show the image underneath, and though this does the job, I do not like the
overall look of it as it breaks the text away from the page too harshly like it doesn’t belong there.
I do like the lines around and the composition of the title so I will use this for the final design.
The overall design looks too boxy and not cohesive, as well as unprofessional so I will not take
too many aspects from this into my final design.
Design 2

In design 2 I used an image with a different pose and for my final design I will create a pose
similar too these two mock-ups where they have a leg extended, which would look pleasing
across the landscape orientation of the DPS. This particular pose also allows the text to be
framed nicely. Rather than a box, I have made the text stand out by fading out the image on the
side, which a like the look of, though I need to take into consideration that the background needs
to be darker in order for the text to show better. I used an extra font in the title and it makes the
words stand out from each other more and the brighter colour on “E-Girl” draws more attention
to it and makes the word more significant which is important as it is the main topic of the page. I
added a box in the bottom corner that encourages the reader to read further into the magazine
and I shall be incorporating this into the final design. This design I prefer a lot more than design 1
and shall be sticking closely to it, though I shall add elements from design 1 that I liked.

The text for the DPS I wrote myself using prior knowledge and personal opinions to make the text
not sound too formal and informational, so that it sounds chattier and conversational like many
magazines, and to be more appealing to the target audience. There should be no issues to
copyright or misinformation as the text is more of an overview than an informational text.
Primary assets

For my primary assets, I used myself as a

model meaning there would be no issues
with legality and permissions and took all
the photos on my property. I tried to
replicate the style and vibes of the images I
used in my mock ups though I didn’t bother
trying to make it identical as it would be
impossible and there would be no guarantee
they would have quality. For the standing
pose I gave myself a few more choices to
work with but I felt confident for the DPS
image and stuck with the one pose and style.
Unedited Edited

From the numerous photos, I have selected these three to work with as they were the cleanest
and closest to what I am going for. I edited the images on VSCO to get the style just right for the
theme of the DPS and front cover. In many of the photos I was either blinking, posing awkwardly
or standing in a way that the lighting ever so slightly ruined the image, so above are the three
that I felt were the best options I had.
Final Designs

Front cover:

For the final design, I did not have to change much from the mock up as my photo matched well
to the colour scheme already made. I made two attempts for the front cover using the two image
choices I gave myself though the second design with the dress I do not like as much as the
composition of the photo made it difficult to place it well on the front cover. I focused on a topic
a younger female target audience would understand and be interested in as it is relevant in their
demographic currently. I kept the focal point of the image on the right-third for compositional
purposes and so that the left side could have the majority of the cover lines where there is less
importance in the image and less colour. I’ve kept the name at the very top left as that is where
the reader will first look. For practical reasons I have also added a border for easier printing and
to make the cover more contained and clean to balance out the rough and unfinished style of the
photo. I made sure to use various fonts to catch the eye and make the text look interesting and
stand out from each other, and I added pops of colour to further enhance this. With the face and
model being in the position it is in, the text surrounding it draws in the eyes to the important
details which is the overall look. I made sure to refer back to other magazine covers while
designing this to get the same look and vibe across so that it is clear that this is a magazine cover.
For the text I double checked on grammar and spelling on Word to avoid mistakes. I was not too
worried about the images losing quality with scaling and importing as the style of the images is
intended to look somewhat grainy and low res. The image itself I saved as a PNG file and kept the
size large to ensure the quality is good if printed and the format size is close to A4 as most
magazines are around this size.
DPS:

For the final DPS, I kept mostly to the look of mock up design 2. The page itself is on a trendier
topic and has a youthful look, which intends to attract the young female target audience,
especially with the bright pops of colours and informal look. With this design, I liked the way it
turned out and felt no need to create another as I am pleased with the outcome and I do not feel
that I can top it with another design. For the pose in the image, I had the legs and body extended
towards the left of the page to section off the text and to extend the focus of the image across
the DPS since it is landscape. I’ve kept focus of the image on the right using the rule of thirds
composition so that it looks pleasing to the eyes. I’ve made sure that the part of the image under
the text is not busy and that it is dark enough for the text to be seen over. For all the text on this
page, I’ve kept them all in the same colour family so that it looks cohesive and I chose a colour
that compliments the blue and green hues of the image, as well as the skin tone. I have used a
variation of fonts in the title and kept to previously selected font for the main body of text which
is less harsh and bold like the title fonts so that it is easy to read. I have kept most of the text to
one side of the page so that the reads eyes do not have to dark around too much or struggle to
read the next part. I have also organised the text into columns like most magazines for
comfortable reading. I have also kept the bottom right box in the final design as it brings the
magazine together and advertises other pages. The image itself I saved as a PNG file and kept the
size large to ensure the quality is good if printed and the formatting is around the same size as an
A3 page to make sure the quality is still high when printed as a magazine. I have also added on
margins on the outside as a broader for easier printing, though in this particular image I have not
added a margin in the middle for printing and binding as this can be done later and it would also
be unnecessary if this is a middle page.
Evaluation of Finished Layouts
https://www.surveylegend.com/s/1kai

For the front cover, around 80% of participants thought the front cover was ‘good’ and
understood the message of the front cover, and 81% voted that the covers overall quality is over
4 stars. This shows that the cover overall was successful and out of the few comments for
improvement, one suggested it to be “brighter”, however this is likely due to personal
preference. I intentionally made the cover rather dark to fit with the aesthetic of the main topic
put on the front so it is not something I believe needs changing. Other than that, there were no
other significant suggestions for improvement which further highlights the success of this page
overall.
With the double page spread, 81% had a ‘good’ impression of it and no one believed it to be
‘bad’, which is a really good result. As well as this, another 81% said the message of the page
was clear and there were no definite ‘no’s. Over 80% also rated the DPS to be worth over 4 stars
in quality and the only suggestion for improvement was that the text should be bigger, though I
do believe that it is unnecessary to make the text larger as at the scale of an actual magazine, the
text is quite large, especially compared to the hefty articles of proper magazines. It is impossible
to tell at what size the participant could view the magazine as the survey can be taken on most
kinds of digital devices rather than an actual full scale print. The comment did also add that “the
aesthetic is fab!” which is another good sign. Based on these results, I see no necessary edits to
be made to the DPS.
In the survey, over half the participants were females over the age of 17, which is the intended
target audience of my magazine. Out of the participants, half would like to read tis magazine and
only 31% would not, though these are likely to be the male participants. Overall this shows that
the magazine was largely successful in relation to its target audience as the reviews were overall
very positive, there was very little negative feedback and 88% believed that the genre of the
magazine was clear from the front cover and DPS. From this feedback, I see no need for revisions
to be made the design as the only suggestions given were things that I believe don’t need to be
changed for aesthetic and practical reasons.

Overall, based on these results and the general process, the production of the magazine was
successful, effective and well managed. The fact that no revisions need to be made just
highlight’s how well planned out and executed the designs were. This is largely due to the mock-
ups and decisions made during that step that the final product turned out so well, and planning
out a general layout helped speed the process along. Having all the fonts and colour schemes
chosen beforehand helped keep the designs consistent and effective.