DPS Research

Page Furniture and Design Elements

Page Furniture:

Page furniture is made of small elements which come together to allow the page to look more interesting and creative, they are elements of design which add a lot of character to the page. As well as adding character to the page, they also work to help unify the house style for the magazine. For example, for an Indie Music Magazine, lots of small elements associated with the term 'Indie' would feature on the page. 

There are many different types of design elements that could be used on a magazine cover to help unify a house style. All of the different elements such as drop caps, embellishments, typography and clip art help to make each magazine stand out above another. These design elements make a magazine more memorable and recognizable from a viewers point of view and each small elements counts. 

Front Page Design Elements

The above front page that I have taken from NME magazine shows a variety of design elements that have been implemented onto the front cover. The artist on the front cover is Lana Del Rey and she was born in the United States, an obvious design element is that flag of the United States  has been used as the background for this magazine cover. A bright blue typeface has been used to make the main feature of the magazine stand out on the white and red background. There is an obvious colour scheme for this front cover, using the colour's blue, white and black. 

The colour from the subheading on the magazine front cover has been taken and used again down the bottom of the page to show spaces between each different music artist's name. This is a noticeable design element, and it shows that the front cover sticks to a colour scheme. 

Double Page Spread Design Elements

The above image of a double page spread article from 'Vibe' music magazine shows several design elements over the spread. The first design element that completely draws in our attention is the capital 'L' written in bright red over the double page spread article. The double page spread article is about Lady Gaga, so they have taken the first initial from her first name and used that as an element of design. Throughout the article they have also made use of two drop caps to begin paragraphs to maybe signify a subject change or to signify importance of what is written underneath. In the top right hand corner of the double page spread on the second page, the name of the artist is written to show 'lady GAGA'. The contrasts between the lower case letters and the capital letters is a design element as it catches our attention and we are drawn in.  

Photograph Research

I have researched several Pop music based magazines to gain an idea of how to present the front cover of my music magazine.My main focus is the different photo's that different magazines use on their front covers.

Contents:
I have researched further into the layout and structure of music magazine contents pages to see the different ideas that I could use for my own magazine. The music magazine contents pages that I have looked at are 'Q' and 'Mixmag'. 





This Contents Page is form Q Music Magazine. The layout of this contents page is very clear and well presented as the layout is very simple. The background colour of the contents page is plain white which gives the editors the opportunity of using a vast variety of colours on their page to make it stand out. Across the top of the page 'Q Contents' is written in a banner which runs across the top of the page. The 'Contents' part of this heading is written in a black banner in a white typeface. The 'Q' in this heading is in a red banner in a white typeface to make the title of the magazine look dominant. The contents page has a large long-shot image of the main feature in the magazine in the right corner, The Courteeners, this goes from the top of the page and ends three quarters of the page down emphasising that they are the main feature in the magazine. In a white box overlapping this photograph the name of the band is written to catch the readers attention, also in this white box is a quote which has been said by one of the members to give people a taster of what they will find written in their feature in the magazine. Another image that is shown on this contents page is a picture of another musician. This is another long-shot, however, it is on a much lower scale implying that this artists feature is smaller than The Courteeners. The subheadings of the magazine contents page consist of 'Features', 'Every Month' and 'Oasis Special'. The 'Features' and 'Every Month' subheadings are written in a white type face on a block red background. The words are written in capital letters to make them stand out so that people can find what they are looking for on the contents page easily. 

    

This contents page is from Mixmag Music Magazine. In comparison to the Q Magazine Contents Page, the background colour of the Mixmag contents page is plain black. This allows many vibrant colours to appear on the page and the editors of this magazine contents page have taken advantage of this. 'Mixmag' is written at the top of the page in lower case letters in a white typeface in the top left hand corner of the page. Several spaces along from this, in line with 'mixmag', 'December 2009' is written in capital letters in a small font in a yellow typeface which stands out on the black background. 'Contents' is then written next to this in a large font in capital letters in a white typeface which makes it clear to the reader that it is the contents page. The first image that draws in our attention is a large scale image of what appears to be an audience at a festival. Many different coloured pieces of confetti are falling down onto the crowd and where the colours used in this image are so loud it attracts the readers attention and makes them want to purchase the magazine. The contents page uses a yellow and white colour scheme throughout as all of the text is written in either a white or yellow typeface. The yellow typeface is mainly used for the page numbers, and the white typeface is used on the text that informs the reader of what they will find on each page of the magazine. Having a set colour scheme like this magazine allows the page to look very tidy and presents the information that is consists of very well to the reader. 

The Similarities and Comparisons between the two above contents pages;

Similarities:

• Both magazines have a colour scheme running throughout their contents page. 
• They both have straight lines separating each different section on the contents page. 
• The page numbers are on the left hand side of the text. 

Comparisons: 

• Q Magazine uses a plain white background, whereas, Mixmag uses a plain black background. 
• Mixmag consists of 3 images on its contents page, one large scale image and two smaller scale image. In comparison to this, Q Magazine only consists of 2 images, one large scale image and one lower scale image.
• Mixmag has used very bright and vibrant pictures, whereas, Q Magazine has used bright typefaces to make the page more appealing. 
• Mixmag advertises albums on its contents page, whereas Q magazine does not. 

House Style; 
The house style of the Q music magazine contents page appears to be the red, white and black typeface colour scheme which runs over the entire page. For Mixmag, the contents page house style appears to be the white and yellow typeface, these are the only two font colours used on the entire contents page. 

Double Paged Spreads:

This double page spread from Q magazine shows that the main feature is Lady Gaga. They have used a single page for a large mid-shot image of her in black and white. Her hair looks very messy giving her a reckless look and the chains draped over her chest instead of clothing adds to this effect. Her gaze is directed at the reader, she is wearing very thick makeup around her eyes which makes them stand out. Her head is angled slightly to the right and her lips are parted slightly showing her two front teeth. On the second page is the article written about Lady Gaga and the large 'L' written in red over the article makes the page very appealing to the readers. This is a different style page to other magazines and is very original, the colour white, black and red all balance well together which makes the page flow. Having the giant 'L' written in a bold red typeface could signify importance about what is written on this page and as it is so big and bold it stands out and attracts readers.