PR11

1. Unit 51 Page Layout and Design
Production Commentary

2. Design Programmes
The design program I used to create my music was Adobe
Photoshop. It is a raster graphics editor developed and
published by Adobe Systems. When researching about this
program on the Wikipedia page I found some information
about magazines. Before any type of print media is
published, whether it is a magazine, newspaper, or even
novel, it is likely the case that Photoshop has been used to
enhance and clean up the imagery on many if not all of the
pages. Magazines use Photoshop and many of its tools in
order to enhance the imagery and text in their publications.
Many Health and Beauty Magazines employ in-house
designers to retouch photos of models to enhance their
beauty. They add finishing touches to the imagery by using
tools that balance colour and add drop shadows, among
other edits. This is what I exactly used this programme for it
allowed me to have a professional look for my magazine so I
could edit and manipulate the photos, I also could add the
magazine aspects for example cover lines, masthead, lead
article, badge/flash and barcode etc.
Now onto the word processing work, this came about
when I was writing my article that was going to appear on
the double page spread. The program I used to write it was
Microsoft Word, Word files are commonly used as the
format for sending text documents via e-mail because
almost every user with a computer can read a Word
document by using the Word application, a Word viewer
or a word processor that imports the Word format. I used
this because most computers use this programme and it
allows anyone who want to access my article to read it
without any problems.

3. Formats
When it comes to the media formats I have used a range of ways to help me write my article and had many influences for the designing of
my music magazine. When looking at media formats and how they helped me I mostly looked at different magazine to get influences and
ideas for my magazine. First of all I mostly got all my influences from online magazines such as ones on google images because this was the
bets way to find the ones which were similar to the magazine I wanted. I wanted to go for a simplistic look and very modern because I
wanted it to be classy and easy to look at and read. Below are some examples of how I look like to look visually, for example the one on the
bottom right I liked how the masthead was block colour and was very noticeable from when looking at the magazine straight away. Also in
that example the layout of the magazine has a very simplistic look with the use of only black and white it works really well and I think the
layout is quite similar to mine. Now onto existing media texts that I used to analysed in my product research, the first magazine was the
men’s fashion magazine GQ, I analysed this magazine because I thought it was a perfect example of how it was to look when it comes to text
and the quality of the writing inside. This is because the style of this magazine double page spread had an interview and this is how I wanted
it to be so I got most of the inspiration of this from the double page spread. The next magazine I used was the billboard magazine which was
more similar to the genre of the magazine which I was doing and this had some layout and design aspects in which I wanted to use.
For this magazine I really liked
the style of how it looks, for
example the big masthead you
can clearly tell this is billboard
magazine because of the iconic
logo title. I also liked how it was
very simple and this made it very
effect and work really well. The
use of the monochrome colours I
think worked and I really like
how this was done and then just
the masthead with the brightest
of colours. I also like how they
didn’t have too much text on the
front cover because if they did I
don’t think it would be work as
well as it did.

4. Conventions & Visual Language
When looking at the genre conventions of my magazine, I can identify some of them
which I have used on my front cover and double page spread. First starting with the
masthead it is the title block for the magazine and I tried to make this very eye
catching so it stands outs and attracts the reader. When into relation to music I
called the music magazine MINOR because minor is a musical term and I thought
this could be relevant to the people reading because of their interest in the subject.
When it comes to designing terms I also had it right at the top because this is where
it primarily goes and this where readers would look first to recognise the magazine.
Next we have the lead article, I used the similar idea with the lead article because I
wanted it to be just as noticed as the masthead. I did this again in block capitals
because I wanted to match the theme and keep in consist when it came to
designing the magazine. I placed this just about under half way in the middle of the
magazine and I think it works really well because it still is able to show off other
aspects of the magazine. Next we have the badge flash which is a minimal thing
when it comes to this magazine, this is jut similar to a sub headline but gets straight
to the point for example on my magazine it features ‘Exclusive Interview’ and this is
just a snippet of what would feature within the magazine. Now we have cover lines,
these are similar to the lead article but slightly less important when it comes to be
featured on the front page, they just are like a sneak peak of what is come in the
magazine. When looking at mine my cover lines were just artist and musicians which
were going to be featured in the magazine. Another tiny convention when looking
my magazine and others in general is the barcode this is to be featured on most
front covers so it can be scanned and bought wherever you are purchasing them.
Now onto my double page spread which I will only explain briefly, first we have the
headline and lead article I featured this in the same space similar to the masthead
on the front cover because it would have had the same effect. Next we have the
kicker this is designated under the masthead because it was the thing I wanted the
reader to read next, this is a short introduction for the lead article. Body text is
featured in every type of magazine and I did this in a column style like others on the
right had side of my double page spread, I mostly did this style because the content
of my text was an interview and wouldn’t really be effective any other way. White
space in my magazine I think there isn't too much and not any less and I think this
works really well because of the constituency of the space between text and
images.
Masthead
Barcode
Lead Article
Cover lines
Badge/Flash

5. Now I will explain the use of the Guttenberg Design Principle in my finished
magazine designs, first of all the magazine name ‘MINOR’ has been put at the
top before the lead article so readers will be familiarised with the masthead
and therefore be attracted to read it because of their knowledge of their
magazine. Small details for example ‘magazine’ are under the masthead and the
issue number etc. Next we have the strong fallow area , the cover lines which
are directly underneath the masthead title and these gain have importance
because the cover line say what is being featured with the magazine and
because of this this is what will grab the readers attention into buy the
magazine. In the weak fallow area on the left hand side we have little tag lines
and a sneak preview almost to what is the magazine, this isn’t as big as the lead
article which is why it is much smaller and less effective and important as the
main article. Terminal area is next, the lead article is represented in this area,
very similar and symmetrical to the primary optical area. As Animus are the main
article their name is also presented in this area, these bits of information are the
most vital because this is the key way to draw in the readers for the magazine.
Axis of orientation, this is what pulls the read in all together and this is why the
photography is in the middle. This is where the reader will first look because it
takes up the whole page and your eyes are just drawn to this automatically. Now
onto the connotations of colours and fonts used in my magazine, first lets start
off with the font. I used a very basic font, something that would stand out and
attract the reader to my magazine. I did it a good size so it fit across the page
and also allowed room for other text and I think this worked really well. Most of
the text of the top of the magazine is the same font and I just made the text
smaller so it doesn’t take so much attention off the masthead. I used the theme
of the blue to match one of the models hair because the use of any other colour
wouldn’t of worked as well as blue did. I think the blue tone gave the magazine a
very relaxed and chill vibe, I think it worked really well with the other font colour
which was white. I used white because it’s a very simplistic colour and think goes
with almost anything, I used it for the masthead and lead article cover line
because I thought these were the most important things which needed to be
mention when it comes to the readers reading the article.
Conventions & Visual Language Primary Optical Area
Weak Fallow Area Terminal Area
Strong Fallow Area
Axis of orientation

6. Audience
Here I will talk about the audience for my magazine in terms of age, gender and social status and also I will
describe how it meets the needs for my target audience. First staring with age, when it comes to the age
and thinking who would read my magazine I would definitely think it would be around the ages of 16-25, so
late teens early twenties. I think this because the music in which the lead article models produce is more for
the younger generation because house and EDM was very popular until the early 00’s. Now onto gender,
when it comes to gender I think it can be quite diverse because of different aspects. For example ANIMUS
are the lead article and these are two young girls who are aspiring DJ’s and with the hopes and dreams of
becoming big, this could be insuring to young girls who read the magazine and therefore following their
own dreams because of the motivation of ANIMIUS. On the other hand they are both beautiful and
physically appearing to look at and therefore young boys might have an interest in there look and this is why
I think it can be quite diverse when it comes to gender. Now social status, when it comes to thinking who
this would be targeted for logically it would be the working glass. This is because I think the type of
magazine is well suited for this class, for example the use of text within the magazine the way words are
said and pronounced and I think this is why I suited it for this social class. When it comes to meeting the
need for my target audience I think it works really well, for example my magazine features the duo DJ’s
ANIMUS who are pretty and appealing to the eye but also inspiring because of their journey to stardom.
When it relation to gender the male side would find them attractive the females would be motivation
because of their journey and this is how I think I have met the needs for my target audience.