My Double Page Spread

This is the double page spread of my music magazine. It includes the same model as my front cover as he is the main feature of this particular issue of my magazine.

The layout and style is the same as my original ideas which is why there is no previous posts on drafts and such. I wanted to use an image which would take up the whole of both pages; I didn't want to use a standard background colour as I wanted my image to not seem as if it was placed onto the page but that it was a part of it. An example of my layout can be seen in my NME case study post where the model(s) are on the side of the page with the article written beside them. The continuing colour scheme of my magazine is blue and yellow, these colours mix well together and are attractive which gains interest from my readers. The colours are also similar to the uniforms of the huge American Basketball team the LA Lakers (purple and yellow), who have a big link to the rap and hip-hop scene; my magazine's genre.  

I placed a blue/yellow banner across the top of my pages; this is a reoccurring feature of my magazine (used on my Contents page). I did not see this used in any of the magazines I analysed, it is an original idea, but I wanted to use it to add more colour to my page and for my audience to see it as a trend in all issues; it is something they will recognise with my magazine style. The font used for the "Mr Nice" part of my headline was a downloaded font (see previous posts). It is an example of graffiti artwork, a very notable and key feature of the hip-hop genre. I used this style to create more relevance between my article and the genre of music my magazine incorporated.

The use of other features such as Twitter tags (@ciphermag), "Exclusive freestyle online" and the "Preview" puff/plug links the magazine to other medias online. This idea came, again, from my NME case study where articles in their magazines were linked to their website allowing their audience to broaden. My use of these features would be to allow my target audience to grow and diverse online due to ease of access compared to the magazine itself.

Masthead Effects

I wanted my masthead to be unique so firstly I downloaded a font from dafonts.com (see other post). I then added some effects using the "Effects" option from the "Object" menu. I added a drop shadow, inner shadow and a bevel and emboss to make my masthead more visually attractive to my audience. 

Cover Image Over Masthead

I decided that I wanted the head of my model to overlap the masthead. I had seen this used in several magazines such as Vibe and The Source who share my target audience.


Firstly, using the magnetic lasso tool in Photoshop, I copied the outline of my model onto a transparent canvas. I added my original image onto an InDesign page and added the title. Once I did this, I placed my Photoshopped image over the original image. This made it seem like it was a single image where the masthead is sandwiched between my model's head and the background.

Downloaded Fonts

Using the website www.dafont.com, I downloaded several unique font designs. I wanted my magazine to have an "urban" feel due to it's genre, hip-hop/rap, being originated from the urban environment. I felt there were not enough sufficient choices within InDesign so, using the search bar, I found a few fonts that fit the genre of my magazine. Once I downloaded them, I installed them into my Font Book (pictured above) which allows me to incorporate them into my magazine.