Distribution: Research

By looking at my evaluation questions, I decided to go into more research 

on different major distributors. 

I found out that the magazine Kerrang is published by Bauer Media Group which helps me reflect and think about if Bauer would be a good distributor for my magazine Unplugged. 

Frontline (Bauer) also sells and distributes over 160 magazine titles. 

However, I also found that IPC media also distribute rock magazines like Uncut which focuses on timeless rock music. 

By researching different distributors, It has helped me think about what major distributor I would actually want my magazine to be distributed by.

DPS - Changes!

My Original Idea

I have decided to take out my first column because it wasn’t equal with the other columns I created. In order to get rid of white space, I decided to look and follow different Rock conventions on a double page spread. I decided to follow the idea below, which involves information on what tracks the group had released. At the end I am also going to feature where The Drej’s album can be bought which I believe would make my double page spread look more professional and it follows typical conventions.  

Changes made

As you can see I took the first column out and changed it into a box with a faded effect. This does not look out of place. I also changed the pull quote to something more interesting which I believe would make my target audience want to read the article. 

Changes I need to make

The slideshow above shows what I need to change in my magazine. I will be making these changes this week and blogging the difference it has made to my whole magazine overall.

DPS - Editing main image

When I placed my image on my DPS, I personally thought it looked a bit dull so I decided to use www.picmonkey.com to make the image look more sharper and appealing.

I used basic editing first by adjusting the brightness to a little and I also added highlights and shadows to make the picture look more realistic and not too edited. This immediately gave my image a better look as it didn't look to dull and plain. 

Then I chose to add the effect "Orton" to give a more effective and professional look. I think the effect relates to the genre Rock as it made the tattoo's more enhanced and colourful.  

Before and After:

DPS - Chosen image

Going through the photo's I took of the 'The Drej', I decided to pick an ideal image of James to feature on my double page spread by following my flat plan. 

Here's the original image: 

As you can see from above, the background of the image was a problem because I orignially planned that my whole DPS background would be black to symbolise that the colour scheme of my magazine is consistent. So I decided to edit the original image in Photoshop.

On Photoshop, I used the quick selection tool to delete the background faster. However, this didn't give a neat and precise result so I used the magnetic lasso tool to quickly select only James and pasted him onto another page. 

The end result:

My logo - Unplugged

Here's the main logo I created for my magazine. The logo will be featured on my front cover, contents page and even my double page spread. The plug also symbolises that my magazine is created from the UK!

Contents page so far..

It's the end of the week and I have nearly completed my contents page! I still need to add some more text but as you can see down below my front cover and contents page do look similar as the colour scheme is consistent and I've also used the same fonts to make it look more professional. 

When creating my contents page, I look at Q's contents page for inspiration and mainly focused on the layout to guide me. I had to change my original idea from my flat plan because not all three photo's fitted together so I decided to move one picture to the bottom to fill the blank space! However, I still need to change a few things with my contents page once I get my double page spread completed.