Double page spread draft

I have gone for a simple layout to this to go with the simple house style of the whole magazine, I think that having a simple layout works well with grime magazines as the grime audience won't want it to be too complicated as they are seen to be not very clever, so having a simple layout will allow them to see the more important things more clearly. The model is covering the whole of the left hand side of the page, this is so he is the first thing that the audience see when they turn over the page, also if he is covering the whole left hand side then he will stand out more too as he will be covering half of the page so will be quite big. There will be two columns of text on the right hand side of the page, this is so it follows the forms and conventions of a double page spread and the amount of text won't look as much to the audience if it is split up in that way. The artists name will be the masthead and will be above the writing on the right hand side, this is so it stands out and is a common layout of music magazine double page spreads, underneath this will be a quote from the magazine that will intrigue the audience into wanting to read the interview below. The example of the double page spread below is the general layout of mine, although I could change a few things depending on how it looks like when I am designing it. I have looked at a few examples so that I can see the type of things I need to include in mine and have a general direction. In between the main text and the quote will be the standfirst, I decided to locate it here as after the audience see the quote then the standifrst will be underneath so will give them an introduction to the article.

Draft of front cover

This is quite a rough draft as the detail of the background is left out, this is because I only needed to know the general layout of the front cover to help me design it. The image will be bigger when I actually design it to make the artist stand out more so there won't be that big space between the image and the feature artists. The overall layout of this is quite simplistic which I done to relate to grime because the grime genre is stereotyped to be simplistic and I haven't included too much around the image, this is so more attention is payed to the main image. I have put the masthead at the top because it is a common location in all type of magazines and makes it look more official in my opinion. The taglines are either side of the model which I have done so that the main image is in middle as it is the most important and the taglines will be in bold font to make them stand out and appeal to the audience. The competition will be located on the bottom left hand side as this is a common location for them in magazines as they are not as important as the other information, I have decided to use a spiky bubble shape as this is also a common shape for them in magazines. The feature article cover line is across the main image and is the name of the main image artist, this is so that his name will stand out to the audience and persuade them to purchase the magazine. On the bottom right hand side there will be an image of an artist saying the interview which will be on the double page spread. I might also include other little things such as a barcode and a date and issue but I wasn't sure the best location for them so I will add this on photoshop so that I can see which location is best. The extra information includes other artists included and this is at the bottom as this I think is the best place for it as I needed it to go across the whole of the page and this is also a common place for them to be.

Possible front cover images

I have narrowed down my the options of the front cover to just three images. I will be analysing the positives and negatives of each image and then will decide my final choice. These images each have good and bad things about them and it will be tough deciding which one to use.

This photo is good because the location is good as the barbed wire and the rough look to the setting clearly connotes to the stereotype of grime. Also his facial expression is good because he has a serious look which collaborates well with setting. The negatives of this image is that the lighting doesn't really work well with the grime ideology as it is common that it has a dark setting and the idea of my magazine is that I want it to be dark. However I could alter this on photoshop but will not have the same affect as an original image.










This image is in the same location as the one below so most of the positives are the same, the good things about this are this are that the location is good because it represents a city which is a common location for grime music videos and where the grime audience hangs around and live in. It is also dark so will work well with my magazine. The negatives of this are that he looks quite small, I should have taken this image at a lower angle to make him look more important and iconic.













This image is the same as the one above, except the fact that his clothing and facial expression is quite different. These two differences come together to give the model a look that he doesn't care which is good because it is apart of the ideology of grime.















In conclusion, I will be using the first image as my main image on the front cover, for all the reasons above. I will be using photoshop to darken the setting to make it look like more of a realistic magazine, this will change the fact that the image doesn't connote to the grime ideology because of the sunny lighting.

Photo summary

Overall, I think these photos are very good because the locations I have selected suit the grime scene and I have used three different models which gives me a wide variety of photos to chose from. The bad thing from my photo shoot is that I didn't really have experienced people for modelling, so I had to think of the poses and how the photo would be taken myself, something that I do not have experience with either. Considering that, I believe that it still went well as the photos I have taken truly relate to grime music and would work well in my magazine.

Location 3 - Ryde Town

This photo is good because he has a direct gaze to the camera which attracts the audience. He also has a serious facial expression which works well with the direct gaze and they eye level camera angle.the mise en scene of this photo is good as the setting of this photo is good as it dark, but the streetlights make the photos clear and high quality and his clothing is good as it is dark coloured and his coat is Nike branded which is common to the ideology of the grime audience.

This photo is in the same place but he has taken his hat off and his hair is good as it is short, like the stereotype of grime. Also he has undone his coat and jumper so that I have a wide range of photos to chose from, his body language in this photo is quite relaxed supposing that he doesn't care, which conforms to the stereotype of grime as it is a part of their ideology that they do not care. The fact that someone is walking past in the background makes it look more realistic.

This image is also in the same location but this time he has hit hat on differently to the first one as it looks loose this time and his coat is undone, suggesting that he doesn't care. The way he has his hat on is chavy, a grime artist called Dappy wears his hat like this, so the audience of grime would think that this is a cool way to wear it.

This photo is in a slightly different location but is also very similar to the others. The main differences in this photo is that he has an indirect gaze, which is used to give it more effect. It is also a bit of a further mid shot, and in a higher camera angle so that you can see more of the backdrop. The bad thing about this is as it is quite far away from the model you cannot see him as well and he is the iconic figure that will attract the audience so you need to be able to see him well.













This photo is in the same location as the one above, but this one he is adjusting his hat, I done this so the photo looks more realistic and less posed for. Also in this photo he has a direct gaze to the camera. the location of these photos is good because the yellowish tint works well.

Location 2 - Estate/Oakfield

This photo is good because his serious facial expression goes well with the rough looking background of the photo, which conforms to the stereotype of grime. Also, his clothing is quite dark and chavy which relates to grime because this is common clothing that grime artists wear. The negatives of this photo are that his hair is quite messy and the lighting kind of goes against grime because the stereotype of grime is quite a dark setting.













This photo is good as the setting goes well with grime as an estate is a common use for music videos and where the stereotyped audience of grime live. He has an indirect gaze which I decided to use to get a variety to chose from and looks quite cool as he is looking away for effect which works well with the setting. The negatives with this photo are that he is accidentally blinking at the time although it is quite hard to see.











This photo is good as his pose works well with the setting, and the setting is good because it has that rough look to it, with loads of things outside the house which conforms to the stereotype of grime. It is also in mid long shot so that you can see more of the setting. The negatives with this is also the lighting, as it was quite sunny at the time which subverts to the stereotype of grime because the stereotype is dark lighting or a cloudy day to suggest the rough life that grime artists have.

This photo is very similar to the first photo but from a longer distance to see more of the backdrop, I done this as I believe that this is a good setting to use because the rough look works well and suits a grime magazine.

This photo is also very similar to the others but this one is a closer mid shot than the one above so that you can clearly see his facial expression which connotes that he is happy, this subverts to the stereotype of grime as the audience of grime and grime artists are usually seen to be serious and 'hard looking'. I done this to make my magazine look unique from other grime magazines to make my stand out.

Location 1 - White background

This photo is at a low angle, this portrays the model as more important as it makes him look taller. The model for this has a direct gaze which is good as it makes a connection between him and the audience, he has a serious facial expression which conforms to the stereotype of grime music as hard hitting and truthful as it highlights various social inequalities in places such as West London. It is in mid shot which means you can see the mise en scene in his clothing which truly associates which grime music as what he is wearing is a stereotype of grime clothing. Also, there is a shadow over his face which gives it a cool kind of look which is also closely related with grime music. The negatives of this are that you can see the brown on the outside, if I decide to use this image in my magazine then I will have to crop out the brown, also the lighting is quite poor as there is a shadow behind him.






This photo is at eye level angle, this works well with the direct gaze as the audience can clearly see his eyes, this creates a real connection between him and the audience.
This is also in mid shot which means you can see the mise en scene too like the fist photo. The lighting is good in this image as there is hardly any shadows in comparison to the first photo. The negatives with this are his hair is quite a mess which makes kind ruins how I imagine my magazine to look as I want it too look quite professional. Also his face isn't as serious as the first one and the photos I want, I want him to look very serious as this connotes the stereotype of grime artists.










This photo is very similar to the first one, but the main difference is that he is facing the other way, this was so I had a wide range of images to select from. The main positive from this in comparison to the photo above is that this one has less shadows, so looks more like a real photo shoot.

This photo is also in mid shot, with a direct gaze and is in eye level angle. His body is straight in line with the camera which gives me a variety of different poses to chose from and this one is good because I believe it attracts the audience better if he is facng directly towards them. His hand gesture clearly connotes to the grime scene as this is a common pose for the grime audience and grime artists. This photo also has the brown round the outside and if I decide to use this image then I will have to crop out the brown bit.










Overall, these photos are good options because of his clothing, which closely relates to grime music as he has a puffy coat and a man bag. The negatives with this are that his hair is a bit messy which subverts from the stereotype of grime because they usually have quite short hair. the problems I had with this location was that it was hard to get really good lighting as this place probably had the best lighting and still had shadows and looked quite dark.

General look of my magazine

Type of language used/mode of address

The language I will be using will be a combination of some slang words and quite simple informal language. This is because if the language is too complex then the audience will not be able to understand it and would therefore not understand what my magazine is about. I have decided this because from my audience research I have concluded that the audience of grime will have a restricted language code, so using simple language and slang will appeal to their ideology. 

Colour scheme

The overall colour scheme of my magazine will be mainly black and white, this is because this will give my magazine a simplistic feel, will be easier to read and look at and it connotes the troubled upbringing of grime artists. This colour scheme will be throughout my magazine as I need to create a house style that the audience can become familiar to. These colours relate to grime well and also look good together as they go together well and this is a common use of the two colours as you can see from my first double-page spread deconstruction. It will have the same kind of layout as well as same colours to give it a house style. I might decide to include a third colour such as red to give it a more interesting and appealing feel to it, but this depends on how it looks when I design it.

Artists I will use

I will be using mainstream iconic artists throughout my magazine. One of the places you will see them is on the cover lines of my front cover, this is a good place to put them as it will attract the grime audience to purchase my magazine if these iconic figures are named. Another place where they will be is on the contents page, this is because it will show what part of the magazine they are in and is also a common thing that the audience will look at when purchasing this issue. The types of artists I will use will be; Stormzy, Skepta, JME, Wiley, Giggs and the group called Boy Better Know (BBK). Using these artists will persuade the audience to want to buy my magazine as they are iconic artists and are mainstream so a lot of people will know them, so there is more of a chance that the audience will know who they are and will attract a wider audience.

Ideas for a competition
I want to include a competition in my magazine that will appeal to the target audience. I will have the competition on the front cover, but for people to enter that will be inside the magazine in order for them to purchase the magazine so that they can enter. The first idea I have is a cash prize, this is a good idea because everyone is interested in cash prizes and from my audience research people who listen to grime music are mainly in the 'DE' social grading scale so will be very interested in money. Another idea is two tickets to a grime music festival, this is a good idea because it truly relates to grime and the target audience and they will want to go as many iconic grime figures will be attending the music festival. My last idea is a voucher for JD sports, this is a good idea as the stereotyped audience shop their so is relevant to grime music.

Layout
The layout of my magazine will be quite simple, this is because I believe that this is best way to make a grime magazine as they are not normally crowded with writing and pictures like pop magazines. It will also go with the colour scheme as black and white also give it a simplistic view. I need to make sure the layout is the same throughout the magazine as this will create a house style that the audience can become familiar with and this is how all real institutions design their magazines.

Planning how the photos will look

Planning how I will take the images will give them a better quality, I have also researched photos in grime magazines and the types of images included and how they are taken, this includes; location, mise en scene, time of day, angle of the shot and the props they use (if any).

Front cover/main image

For the main image of my magazine, the model will be in mid-shot with a direct gaze to the camera, I have decided to do this because it intrigues the audience and creates a connection between them, which I believe is necessary on front covers, because the first impression of the audience on my magazine is crucial. From my research, it is also very common for the grime artist to have a direct gaze at the camera in grime magazines, as you can see in this example. The type of camera angle I have chosen is the eye level angle, this is because you can clearly see the direct gaze, it works well in mid-shot and it is also is a common theme in grime magazines. The clothes that my model will be wearing for the photo shoot will be dark coloured and will be quite 'chavy' and branded, this is to conform to the stereotype of grime because they also usually wear quite dark clothing. The model's facial expression will be quite serious as this in my opinion replicates grime's ideology.


Double-page spread image
For the double-page spread of my magazine, the photo that I will use for that will be in mid-shot/close mid shot, this is because from my research I have seen that it is very common that grime double-page spreads have models in a close up or a close mid shot, like in this example. I haven't decided whether or not it will be a direct or indirect gaze, depending on what they look like once I have taken them. The camera angle that I have decided to chose is also eye level angle, this is because I believe that it is the only one that works well with a close mid shot/close up. I think that I will use the location with the white wall as the background because other double page spreads I looked at never really have a real location. The facial expression for this image will look less serious but still not a smile as a smile doesn't really suit the grime scene as it is always seen to be serious and scary.


Contents page image
I am not sure how many images I will use for my contents page yet, I will decide when I know what the layout of my contents page looks like. For the photos I chose there will be a variety of different kind of shots so that I can see which ones suit it best, this is because it was hard to find a good range of grime contents pages, I only could find a few that were not made by other media students. The problems with this is I don't really have an idea how it will look as it was hard to get examples to look at it, I have had to look at other contents pages to see the general layout of a few examples.