This is my first draft. Overall, I am very happy with it as it conveys the same elements as my digital mock-up (see right). The picture I used in my digital mock-up ultimately inspired the image I used in my drafts of my double page spread. I did this because I liked the way that the image took the place of the background and ran across both pages. This is good because it incorporates the setting to my advantage, because it reflects the genre of my music magazine, which is country. As for improvements, I feel I could make the 'Summer' title/headline a lot bigger to use up the empty space and possibly make it cross the line over to the other page. Also, for my double page spread to be conventional and correct, I need to add in page numbers and add the names of the writer and photographer, as this is ethical.
This is my completed article for the double page spread of my music magazine. It contains a mixture of first person viewpoint and question and answer.
Country superstar, Summer Lynn, really has accomplished a lot in the last year. After her self-titled debut album reached #1 on the UK Music Charts and selling 1.4 million copies in the UK alone. The album also spawned the hit singles "One Works Better" and "Undermine" which both topped the charts in 42 countries including the UK, Australia and the United States. With her second album's release dawning quickly, she has her eye set on the United States, especially after winning the prestigious Grammy Award for Best Newcomer, which has increased a chances of success there.
Summer arrives at the Acoustic headquarters for the interview looking radiant, still casual, wearing a Superdry plaid shirt, a Jack Wills' cardigan, some Levi jeans and lastly, some simple red converse. Even though it was 7am and dreary day, Summer's up-bringing and optimistic attitude made us all feel as if it was a summer afternoon. After the short interview, we took Summer up to the hills for the outdoor photoshoot. Being typical England weather, I was expecting her to go all diva on us like Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift had previously. But I was wrong, she didn't complain once, she got on with the photoshoot with a smile on her face exclaiming: "You don't get this in Nashville"...
Your new album is entitled 'Freedom', how did you come up with the name?
"I was inspired as I felt that feeling when I left school and my childhood and moved to adulthood. This album is a lot more focused on my journey after I left home and living the dream without anything to stop me. I saw this as 'Freedom'"
Were there any issues in your childhood that made you happy to leave it?
"Well I didn't have a good time at school, I had friends but none of them really shared my passion and interest for music, which in a way made it hard for them to understand me. I also encountered some problems in my last year of school when I had just got signed to Big Machine. But in a way, this pushed me even further by writing songs that expressed my feelings. So maybe I should thank those people. People haven't always been there for me but my music always has"
People like us worry that once you hit it big in the States you will cross-over to Pop music similar to the likes of Taylor Swift, is this true?
"Not at all, not even if its a last resort. The whole reason I write and perform music is because it keeps me going. Music is my fuel. I will always stay with country music, even if it kills me, I grew up with it and it'll always be a big part of my life"
How was it attending the Grammy's and the Academy of Country Music awards with all the big artists?
"It was crazy! It was such an honour to win the Grammy for Best Newcomer and to be nominated for all those ACM's. I met Florence Welch, Adele, Mumford and Sons, Carrie Underwood, and Kelly Clarkson. I was star-struck when Taylor Swift came over and told me that she enjoyed my album! I was in such shock!"
What does the future hold for you?
"After I wrap up the tour, I would really like to get into more film composing. Writing and recording 'Fade into You' for Silver Linings Playbook was a blast and being nominated for the Best Original Song Academy Award was such an honour"
In response to the feedback I have received I have decided to apply the following improvements to my music magazine contents page:
- Differentiate fonts (titles and non-titles)
- Change colour of page numbers to make them stand out more
- Make subtitles subtle compared to titles
- Place black line in the middle of the columns to separate the text
- Make the black stroke thinner and the alignment correct in the editor's note
- Remove second use of editor's name
- Change subscription price to make it more correct
- Caption at the bottom of images to establish the artists
- Credits for who took the pictures
- Make black text stroke less prominent
Strengths: I really like the background and the color scheme. The sections are very organized and it's very clear for the reader to find what they're looking for.
Areas of improvements: maybe make the page numbers of a different color so that they are more visible and it's even easier for the reader to see them
Other comments:
Overall I really like your contents page!
Strengths
You've really captured the genre of the magazine and i love the background!
You've also got some great images. Love the the light blue and white colour scheme.
Areas for improvement
You could change the colour of the page numbers to make them stand out or maybe just the line colour.
Other comments
Like it a lot it's really good. Well set out!:)))
Strengths: Looks professional, decent colour scheme, good range of photos, decent features.
Improvements: In order to improve your contents page, perhaps make text less prominent, bold look. Maybe keep the bold fonts for titles and subtitles and go for a more subtle approach in terms of text.
Any other comments: Perhaps add more unnecessary features to your blog itself in order to help you create inspiration for future work.
This is my first draft. Overall, I am very happy with it as it conveys the same elements as my digital mock-up (see right). The picture I used in my digital mock-up ultimately inspired the image I used in my drafts of my double page spread. I did this because I liked the way that the image took the place of the background and ran across both pages. This is good because it incorporates the setting to my advantage, because it reflects the genre of my music magazine, which is country. As for improvements, I feel I could make the 'Summer' title/headline a lot bigger to use up the empty space and possibly make it cross the line over to the other page. Also, for my double page spread to be conventional and correct, I need to add in page numbers and add the names of the writer and photographer, as this is ethical.
