Magazine Layout Template & Image Ideas
I have created some templates of how I want my layout to look like.
Here is the Front Cover layout
Here is the Contents layout
Here is the Double-Page spread layout
For my splash image, I would like my model to lean into the camera like this woman in the salt advert, simply to create a crazy look.
And like Frankie Boyle is doing in this image.
And Tim Minchin is doing in this image.
Film Magazine Research
At first glance you can tell that this magazine is a film magazine simply because it has characters from upcoming and recent films shown on this front cover. I like the way that there is little text, yet it gives all the information the reader needs to know. The splash headline is very large and bold which really stands out enabling the reader to be drawn to the magazine. There is more than one film illustrated on this front cover, which shows that the magazine content is generally upcoming films, reviews etc. However, I’m not sure whether I would want to do this for my Film magazine front cover as I would need to take some images of various scenes I could use as films and think of film titles.
The colour scheme used for this front cover corresponds to the Transformers’ character Optimus Prime who is black, grey, blue and red. The masthead of this magazine has red text, the background is black and blue with smoke. The text on this cover is mostly white so that readers are able to clearly read the text.
Production Log – 28/01/10
Today I have been commenting on my film poster designs, what I like and what I don’t like about them. I also said about how I made them and what effects I used. I have also started my research into film magazines and have collected a few images of film magazine covers.
I have learnt to comment on my work in order to progress my portfolio.
Next lesson I will start to comment on the images I have acquired for my film magazine research.
Production Log – 21/01/2010
Today I have composed my film poster as well as making mock ups of how I would like the layout as well as testing various images.
I have used Photoshop and experimented with filters such as grain as well as adjusting the image to auto color, auto contrast. Whilst constructing the poster I used experimented with various aspects of Photoshop on the text. Firstly I used half – color, texture, patchwork. Secondly I used the smudge tool to blend in all the colours and make an eerie look. I then used the burn tool which made the text look blood covered.
I have learnt that you should experiment around with Photoshop as you may come across something that you like and are able to use it in your poster. Next lesson I will be commenting on my film poster designs and researching film magazine covers.
Forsaken Film Poster
As I said in the film poster research, I wanted the film poster to be simple yet effective. I wanted it dark and eerie but it had to be light enough to see the character. I have made mock ups of the film poster.
This is the first mock up and I have used one of my original images and have not altered this image in any way. I then put at the bottom the title Forsaken and coming soon. I like the way this poster is dark and sinister and there is a slight reddish light on the character which works well with the colour of the title, which represents blood.
However, the issues with this design is that the image is too dark and you are unable to pick out any specific features of the character, as well as the title looking rather plain and boring. There seems to be no life in this poster and it looks very dark, very basic and very boring.
This poster design is better than the first as you are able to pick out the features of the face such as the nose under the mask and the scar running down the middle of the mask. The reason that I used this image with the different light is because I wanted to experiment to see what would work and what wouldn’t. The image used is a different one used from the first design as I wanted to experiment with the lighting and which creates the most eerie environment. I altered the image by selecting ‘auto colors’ under ‘image’ and ‘adjustments’ which made the image lighter so you are able to see the character better as it was too dark before. I like the way the title has and edge to it and with this design I was experimenting with the colours and decided to go for a red again to look like blood on the title as it is a horror film. I don’t like the colour scheme as the lighting is too green and looks like it clashes with the red. The green light looks too bright and looks as if it is a poster for a Sci-Fi film.
For this design I used the same image as the previous poster design and just experimented with the style and colours of the title. This colour scheme works a lot better than the design above as the green works well with the title that has almost a static effect to it. I also liked the idea of the title having a n outline so I decided to go for a grey/white colour to make it ghostly and eerie. Again I don’t like the green light on the character because it looks too bright and looks as if it is a poster for a Sci-Fi film.
For this design I went back and used the image from the first design because it has the right colour light I wanted for my original idea. I altered the image like I did with the second design by going ‘image’ , ‘adjustments’ and I selected both ‘auto color’ and ‘auto contrast’ which made this image look like old film footage with the grain effect. I think this worked well and added to the eerie effect. I then made the titles look grainy as well to match the image. As I had an outline around the titles in previous designs, I decided to not have an outline to see how well it worked. I like the fact that this image is dark and sinister whilst being able to see the character. It also looks like it is a horror film with the lighting which you don’t get from the previous two designs. The one criticism I have with this poster is the fact that it is quite difficult to pock out the ‘S’ in the title as it is of a similar colour to the image. Therefore and outline would be best to have on the title.
This is my final version of my film poster
For this design I used the same image as the previous design but only alter the image by adjusting the colour and left the contrast as it was so it became slightly darker. Again it has given the image a grain effect, but because the contrast was not altered, the image follows the trailer as this is the colour and style which was given to the character in the film trailer. For the titles I decided to experiment in Photoshop so I selected ‘filter’ then ‘Pixelate’ and ‘Color Halftone’ to get a nice design on the title. The next steps I took were selecting ‘filter’, ‘texture’ and ‘patchwork’ to get a mix of shades on the title. I then used the smudge tool which gave the effect that the title has been painted on. I wanted the effect of the title being written in blood so I used both the burn and sponge tool after smudging the title to make the titles look like they do. As this is my final poster, I added a tag line and website to make it look professional.
Production Log – 14/01/2010
Today I have finally managed to upload my film trailer and outtakes to Youtube as it kept failing to process and upload. To resolve the issue I exported the trailer again using Quicktime conversion. I have now embedded my videos onto my blog.
I have also started to look into various film magazine covers. I have selected a few and I am in the process of analysing them.
Next lesson I will be constructing my film poster as I just need to obtain my original image and use it in Photoshop.
Foundation Portfolio: Main Task Creative Ideas
As the assignment brief is to create a music magazine, I will create a magazine for a specific genre of music. From this I have three creative ideas.
Creative Idea 1
Genre: Rock
When researching this genre there are many magazines that are available such as Kerrang, NME and Rolling Stone.
The front cover, contents page and the double spread interview will follow a similar house style and layout to the mock-up above. However as it is just an idea for a magazine design it may still change.
For the contents pages, I will include various headlines such as Top Ten albums and 50 Rock Inspirations.
This magazine is clearly for the rock genre with the rock bands on the cover. This first thing that draws my eye is the splash as it has a big, bold headline and large image on the front cover. This is following traditional magazine conventions. The masthead is also large and easily seen so you immediately know which magazine it is. There are images on the side of the magazine with just the band names as it’s part of the splash about the list of the greatest gigs ever. Another traditional magazine convention that this magazine follows is the splash image being in front of the masthead.
This magazine again is clearly for the rock genre with the images used for the splash and again follows traditional magazine conventions with the image being in front of the masthead. The splash headline is also the first thing my eye is drawn to. Other stories are also featured on the front cover so it gives the audience an incentive to read on.
This magazine follows the traditional conventions of magazines as you can clearly see that the splash is Amy Winehouse because she is the only image on the cover of this magazine. The other stories that are mentioned on the cover do not have images associated with them which makes it different to the above magazines.
Creative Idea 2
Genre: R&B/ Hip-Hop
When researching this genre there are many magazines that are available such as Vibe and Ebony.
The front cover, contents page and the double spread story will follow a similar house style and layout to the mock-up above. However as it is just an idea for a magazine design it may still change.
For the contents pages, I will include various headlines such as Top Ten albums and 50 popular artists.
This magazine is clearly for the genre of R&B and Hip-Hop as the splash image used is of Akon and you are able to tell that he is of that genre due to his attire and jewellery. Again the image is in front of the masthead which is one of the most common magazine layout conventions.
This magazine again is for R&B because of the splash image used which in this case is Beyonce, who is a popular R&B singer. The splash image is in front of the masthead and the stories mentioned on this cover do not have corresponding images so the only image on this cover is for the splash.
Creative Idea 3
Genre: Comedy
When researching this genre there are not many magazines that are available but ones I can use are Mustard magazine and Punchline.
The front cover, contents page and the double spread interview will follow a similar house style and layout to the mock-up above. However as it is just an idea for a magazine design it may still change.
For the contents pages, I will include various headlines such as tour dates for various artists and new releases.
A good incentive for making this magazine would be that it is rather unique.
Again this magazine only has the splash image present on the cover. The image of Andy Samberg has been placed in front of the masthead. This is not a specific magazine as it dabbles with fashion, music and celebrities.
This isn’t a music magazine but it is a comedy magazine which means that there is a niche out there for comedy as well as parody’s and comical music.
Film Poster Research
As I need to create a film poster for the assignment brief, I have started to look at other existing horror film posters. I have selected a few film posters which all consist of shadows and eerie atmospheres.
This poster is very dark and sinister. This is the feel that I would like my film poster to portray. I like the simplicity of this poster and the fact that it creates an eerie feeling. The way the lighting is used in this poster means that you are able to see the hockey mask but not anything else, suggesting that people will be scared of what they can see but even more of what they can not see. From this poster I would like to use the simplicity and the lighting on this poster to be included on mine.
This poster shows that this movie is a horror movie because of the way the killer is used in the poster, the way he is concealed behind the mask creates an eerie atmosphere. In addition the pool of blood the killer is standing in gives away the genre very easily. However, I do not like the way that the poster is giving to much away so to speak as the background seems to be too light for a horror film. From this poster, I would like to use the bloody weapon to show the whole horror element.
This poster is definitely for a horror film with its dark colours and fearful face. And like the Friday the 13th poster, it is simple yet effective. It creates a scary ambiance with the lighting because you have only the top half of the face illuminated and the eyes are wide open so you can see the fear in her face. The face in this poster is also slightly blurred which adds to the eerie atmosphere. Seeing this poster makes you want to see the film because you want to know why she is screaming and fearful. From this poster I would like to use the simplicity, just like the Friday the 13th poster.
This poster is for a horror film with its dark colours and vampire face. I like the way that only half the face can be seen and the red on this poster implies that this film will be fairly gory. Also the border for this poster looks like blood spatters which adds to the whole horror element. I don’t like the use of the red on the face because it makes the poster look too red and it loses its scariness. From this poster I would like to use the idea of only having half the face shown to give the poster an eerie feel to it.
This poster is dark, but not too dark which suggests that it is a horror but doesn’t make you feel on edge. I like the way that the light compliments the home-made mask which gives it a ‘creepy’ look to it. I also like the way that it does not give anything away in the poster to make you want to watch it, unlike the Midnight Movie poster above, The Orphanage poster looks secretive and inconspicuous. From this poster I would like to use the idea of concealing what the film is about and how the lighting is used to pick out the mask.
I like the way this poster is bright yet has the eerie feel to it. The image of the ghostly face over normal everyday images accompanied by the slogan “The most terrifying images are the ones that are real” gives slight discomfort to the audience. The lighting used in this poster goes along with the theme of the film as it is photographs the red used is like the room where photographs are developed. Although this is a very effective poster, I do not think I will be able to include its concepts with my film poster because I want my poster to be darker and more sinister than this poster.
On this poster, I like the way that only half the mask is seen and the weapon is being held in a very threatening way to the audience. This gives a sense of discomfort and uneasiness. I also like the way the lighting is used for this poster as it picks out the mask and weapon. From this poster I would like to use the way the person has only half their mask showing and the ay that the weapon is being shown in a threatening manner. This is the poster that I want to base my film poster on.
This poster does not look scary and does not intrigue the audience to watch the film. I do not like the way that this poster does not look real and the way that the blackness has been badly edited on the poster. There is also bad editing on the hands as the fingers seem to be a different colour to the skin. The title is also quite bad as it does not give any eerie feeling. From this poster I will not be using anything for my own as I do not like anything about this film poster.
