Flat Plans

After designing my finished masthead I then went onto drawing my flat plans of how my layout would look in each of my print pieces. (The scanning isn't brilliant but it's mostly there). I created six flat plans and then asked people of my target audience which were the best three to use for my production.

Cover plan 1

I started with my cover which has only the heads of the models because their bodies will be the back ground for the text boxes below so it wasn't necessary that they are there too. I found that this layout looks conventional for the genre because it has lots of text boxes, which will be in colour on the actual cover, and, when made properly, there is sufficient text but not too much. Also a banner and a footer menu bar looks professional because they add extra information in a fairly small space. The colour palette for this and the contents page will be black, white, yellow, blue and purple. 

Contents plan 1

I then drew the contents page which featured a banner at the top (half of which is visible), a list of contents and a main image, all of which are conventional for a rock contents page.  I then added a subscription box in the bottom left for institutional information and an editors box about the issue because this is quite common in rock magazines and gives the audience a good insight into who is actually making the products they are buying.

Feature plan 1

My feature article features the main image taking up the whole double page spread, with the masthead (the band logo) in the top left corner and the main body of text in the bottom left. Then in the top right a box of information about the band members in the band being reviewed and a quote from the band. The page number and the title of the article is in the bottom right corner for the reader to see when turning the page. This layout is easy to navigate, with enough information but not too much and the colour palette will be black white and red. 

Cover plan 2

For my second flat plan design I used a similar layout but with less information across the subjects in the main image, in case the previous design looked too overcrowded for the audience's preference. All of the information on the cover would be the same in both designs because I think these are a mixture of advertising stories that the target audience would be attracted to. Beyond the not-so-great scanning there is a banner above the masthead, including the same information about rock music festivals and at the bottom is a menu footer with a list of bands that the magazine would be about if I were to create the whole thing. 

Contents plan 2

Like before, my contents page is similar but with less information so it does not look too over crowded. I removed the idea of a subscription box for this plan in case subscribing to a brand isn't something the audience would want to do. This gives more room for the contents list which will allow it to be bigger and therefore easier to read than in the first design.  I also switched the sides for the contents list and the image and editor's box because my existing product research displayed a layout with the page this way around and therefore I would like my audience to choose which way they would prefer the page to be. 

Feature plan 2

My final design is for the second double page spread draft and this displays all of the text on one side (apart from the page information in the bottom right hand corner of the page) and the image just filling the other half. This allows the reader a clearer view of the image and the text will be clearer to read because it wouldn't have an image as a background to stand out from. This design reflects one of my style models and therefore it has worked for rock audiences in the past, however this was for Classic Rock which is aimed at older rock listeners and therefore may not prove to be as popular with my younger target audience. 

After giving five people in my target audience a copy of each complete  flat plan, I created a survey for each of them to complete and decide which ones they would prefer. The results are as follows: 

Therefore, the three designs I will use to create my print work are the first three as these are clearly the designs that my target audience would like to see the most.