AS Media Studies Magazine Design Rough Drafts

First Rough Draft- Front Cover LayoutThe main image should

cover the entire front covers background, filling out the entire page. No graphical design on top or bottom such as the ones I used for my preliminary task. I will try to replicate the popular front cover style that uses the main image as its main selling point. There would also be another picture for the secondary feature article as it should appeal to another consumer base. The main image would be the focus of the front cover, as I will use an original picture to capture my audience. 

The masthead should be at the top designed in the font I had chosen before. There will be no graphical elements surrounding it, it will also not have it own background, the background will be the main image.For the layout I would like to keep all the cover lines either fully left or right aligned as it gives off a more serious vibe . The main cover line would be large and across the text while the lesser ones would be smaller and in a different color.

First Rough Draft- Content Page Layout

The masthead will be at the top of the page , using the same font as the front cover masthead. there might be some additional graphical designs around it.

The layout will be split between content and images to make it less monotonous and more intriguing. The images will be related to the most popular game in the contents section. The contents will be equally split according to categories, whether they are about games or simply game related. This design should be simple yet attractive and not too much over the top.

I would use the bottom of the page for less important and informative parts such as giveaways notifications, poster promotions or even and editors note . This part will not be attractive or flashy as consumers don’t really care about the lower part of the page.

First Rough Draft- Double Spread Article Layout

I have chosen my masthead to be at the top left page as it is the classic masthead position so it will be easy to locate, with a short and intriguing article preview so the readers know what its about and whether it will interest them. The authors name and logo of the game are optional, as they will be input only if it enhances the article.

For the layout I have chosen that the main image will cover the left and middle parts of the double spread, making it the most significant and impactful part of the article, its selling point.

The columns will be placed on the right side of the article as they will not be the first to capture the readers eye, that is the job of the main image. The second image should show the game contents, its in game graphics and game play which appeals to the consumer..

Content Sample For The Front CoverFor my front cover I will use six different sub-stories that I think will appeal to my potential consumer and interest them in buying my magazine.

Shadow of Mordor- Read the review about the newest most popular game, its deconstruction and criticism.25 Most anticipated games of next year- Short previews of all the hottest and most wanted games.MOBA Tips- Great advice on how to beat other online players in your favorite gaming genre.Interview With Famous Pro Gamer- Read about what the well known gamer has to say about the future of the gaming industry and his career.Belgrade Comic-Con- Read all about the event, the most well presented games and pictures of some great cosplayers.New Console Released- What does the next generation gaming console present?

Draft Ideas- Outsider Front Cover DesignFor my masthead I have

chosen the Incised901 BdCn BT font for my masthead as it looks cool and serious, with the lifeline symbol to symbolize that gaming is life and to make the design look more attractive.I have chosen a variety of bold fonts, with a variety of colors such as silver, white, blue and dark red to make it stand out more. Through its variety it is meant to intrigue and capture the audience. I have also used word art to make my cover lines stand out more. I will use a secondary picture to show that my magazine is not one dimensional and to try to target people who are not convinced by my main image and cover line.

The main image consists of a gamer with an unusual look, as he does not fit the classic gamer archetype. The man is a professional gamer, a figure recognizable and respected within the gaming community. He in also unusual due to his tattoo sleeve which sets him apart from the rest. The man also plays for Fnatic, a famous gaming organization so its fan base will be attracted.

I have also included a list of game previews in order to show more content that my magazine contains. There also a price tag and dateline above to inform the audience, it is in a small point as it is not selling point.

Deconstruction Of Front CoverI like the style of the main image, the pose and costume present the model as a serious professional in the entertainment industry. The model also has an appropriate look for the magazine name, due to his regular non-geek look and tattoo sleeve. I also like the idea of a second image showing other content in the magazine. The placement of my main cover line is good, as it is clearly visible. I like some of the fonts that I used, as they are visually appealing, even though some of the color scheme doesn’t mix well with the background main image. I think the position of my barcode, dateline and price tag are appropriate. The masthead I have chosen is also appropriate and pleasing as it uses my chosen font and has a cool graphical feature, the li8feline, that makes it stand out.

However, I will exclude the previews part of the front cover and the small snapshot as it feels forced and makes the front cover unnecessarily crowded. I could also place the other cover line either right or left aligned to make it more focused. The bottom part of the front cover page feels empty and boring as nothing is going on there, as it is a less important area I might try to incorporate my second image there instead of at the top. The overuse of different fonts makes the magazine front cover fee amateurish, even though it was an experiment to see if it would work. I will keep my magazine front cover titles as they are related and relevant to the magazine.

Content Sample For The Content PageFor my content page I will include:The same masthead design(font, color and graphical design) as the one on my front coverSimple backgroundThree pre-prepared digitally manipulated imagesThe following articles-Gaming preview Pg. 3-8:Gaming Preview Pg. 9-14:No Man’s SkyWow: Burning CrusadeShakes and FidgetDeus Ex-Mankind DividedMirror’s Edge CatalystTom Clancy’s The DivisionPg. 15-16 Interview With Famous Pro GamerPg. 17 CS:GO TournamentPg. 18 Belgrade Comic ConPg. 19 New Gaming Console ReleasePg. 20 MOBA TipsPg. 21-22 Fan Submissions and Quizzes

Draft Ideas- Outsider Content Page DesignI have decided to keep my

content page masthead design in the same manner as my front cover to keep a sense of familiarity in the magazine. The same font and graphical design are stylish so its alright to keep them the same, and it might appeal to the consumer over the usual plain content page masthead for gaming magazines.I have chosen the Myriad Pro font as it is easy to read and I prioritize that over visual appeal on the content page as the attractive selling points should be on the front cover, whole the content age should be easy and simple to navigate. I have chosen the blue and red fonts as they make the content page more interesting and are still easy o read, they also blend well with the background.

I have chosen these three images as they are relevant to the newest game releases, hey also appeal to a few gaming consumer demographic as the games contain the fps, sci-fi, adventure and MMORPG genres. They are stretched out so it covers the content page and so a part of an image and the game title are included. I have chosen images of mature games to give my audience the impression that this is a mature gaming magazine.I have chosen a simple grey background for this draft as it is easy to blend with other colors and gives the content page balance.

Deconstruction Of Content PageI have chosen to copy the design of my front cover masthead and use it as my content page masthead as it is masthead that I find attractive and eye-catching. The familiarity it creates is also beneficial as it shows that my magazine is not too formal. I find the images are a great addition as they are mature and relevant to the magazine, they are well done as they show a part of the character and leave the rest to intrigue and imagination and on top of that uses the official game font. The font for the contents are acceptable as they are simple and easy to read which I find most important for content page fonts.

However I disapprove of the background, layout and color scheme. The background scheme is far too simple and boring, although grey is a well balanced color is far too dull to be a content page background without and pattern or other colors. I think that the color scheme does not work in this content page, as the blue and red seem out of place and too bright for a mature magazine. The layout is too conventional yet very unattractive. The images are not well framed and are placed in a very simple method. The division of the two text columns also seems a bit unprofessional and careless.

Draft Ideas 2 - Outsider Content Page DesignI have decided to keep the font the same as in the front cover and first content page rough draft. The place of the masthead will be left aligned as it will be ordered and visually appealing and allow me to add other information at the top of the page.For the other information I have chosen to add a photo of my editor to be more personal with my audience. I have also decided to add information through which the readers can contact me in order to build a good relationship with m y consumers.

For my images I have decided not to include the three long ones that I tried in my initial content page design as they are too visually appealing and are unfocused, they separate the article in a crude way and take up too much space. Here the main image is in the center of the page, the most eye-catching place on the content page. The image will be of the model I used for my double spread article. The secondary images will be complimentary to the most important side articles in the magazine. They are placed next to the articles to prevent the magazine content page from being text heavy, and therefore boring and monotone, as it is supposed to be easy to read and informative.

The article placements will be from under the masthead and wrapping around the main image. There will be many articles in order to try and imitate the design of a real gaming magazine. In my final design I plan to use different font for article name and page numbers in order to make it more exciting to read.

Sample Of The “Interview With Famous Pro Gamer” Article

For my double spread article I will include a list of potential question I will use in the interview.

When did you decide to start a gaming career?At what age have you started to play games and when did you start doing it as a profession?What kind of experience is it to have a career in gaming?Any thoughts on the game you play professionally, do you think it’s going to change and how?What are the games you enjoy playing the most?What was the first game you ever played and passed?Do you have any advice to people who also want to start gaming careers?What are your thoughts on the current state and future state of the gaming industry?What are your thoughts on the gaming community?How did your parents react when you told them about your career choice?Do you get along well with you teammates?What do you think of the team and company?Who are you current rivals and why?Have you though about switching to another game?How did the first tournament you entered go?Do you have any regrets about choosing gaming as a career?

Draft Ideas- Outsider Double Spread Article Design

The layout I have chosen for this rough draft is very simple as it wraps around the main image showing that it is the main focus of the article. The interview itself is in two columns making it easy to navigate through.

The color scheme is the mostly blue image and white text so it can be easily seen and read, however it lacks visual appeal.

The background picture is my main one and I have chosen one that covers both sides of the double spread . In the main focus is the gamer, who looks very confident which makes the interview seem more interesting to potential readers. The masthead is visible as it is in white and a large font. I used word art to make it more appealing. The line itself is a quote from the interview.

Deconstruction Of Double Spread Article I have chosen to do a very conventional interview design as I like the overall layout of it, with the background image spreading over both sides, but the interviewees only on one side. I think the image choice is very intriguing to the audience, as the model is wearing the gaming headgear to show in what type of interview he is, and he also has a confident and focused facial expression which is very enticing and convincing. The only part of the image I dislike and would avoid doing myself is the right top corner laptop and the bars under the gamer which have been blurred out and in my opinion make the image a bit unfocused. I will try to mimic this image style for my final design.

On the other hand my layout was not very attractive. I have not written the short summary and introduction of the interview as there was not enough space to comfortably do so. The color scheme of only blue and white is also unattractive to and extent as it gets boring and is not very eye-catching, it only advantage being that the white color invisible as it contrasts the blue color. For my final design I would try to make the text more easily readable and still manage to fit the interview I have written, if not then I will rewrite it, with the short introduction and the masthead quote. I like the size of the masthead as it covers the while lower page and is clearly visible, however I would change its color and design to make it stand out much more.

Double Spread-Article SampleAt what age have you started to play games and when and why did you start doing it as a profession?I have been playing games throughout my entire childhood, but I think I started at around the age of 6 or 7. I started taking gaming seriously since I was 17 and I had no idea what type of career I had wanted so I picked what was the most fun for me, even though I couldn’t compete until I was 18. I am fully devoted to my career, my time is now.

How did your parents react when you told them about your career choice?At first they were shocked since they are a bit old-fashioned and wanted me to become a doctor or lawyer, but as time flew by they became more accepting and are now fully supportive of my career which means a lot to me.

What kind of experience is it to have a career in gaming?I have started out my career with League of Legends as it is the most popular game in the world and I was hooked, but I switched about a year ago to CS:GO and its fun to constantly evolve and learn to play better every day.

What was the first game you ever played and passed? When did you start playing online games?I don’t remember my first game, but the first one I ever fully completed was age of mythology. As for online games I think it was in eighth grade when all my friends had begun to do so before me, so I just followed the crowd. Any thoughts on the game you play professionally, do you think it’s going to change and how? I think the competitive scene is really starting to bloom so in my opinion the game is doing great as it is attracting more and more people to play it both professionally and casually.

Double Spread-Article SampleWhat are the games you enjoy playing the most?Competitive games, even though I try to convince my friends I’m not overly competitive I still love to play and win against other players, and get unreasonably upset when I lose. Besides those I also enjoy Rome Total War as it was my favorite childhood game and I still play it from time to time.

How did the first tournament you entered go?Honestly, it wasn’t a very good experience since I got too nervous and couldn’t perform t the best of my abilities, but it’s alright since it was the icebreaker.

What are your thoughts on the current state and future state of the gaming industry?It will just keep on expanding and improving, there will be new amazing titles and sequels constantly as well as major hardware improvements. Gaming is becoming more mainstream every day, since it contains games from so many various titles and genres it can appeal to anyone nowadays. I don’t think this industry will falter, but rather it will keep evolving and satisfying the masses of consumers.

What are your thoughts on the gaming community?I think it is simply amazing, how everyone contributes to the community of their favorite games. I think all of it is awesome, from the artwork and cosplays to the fan-made videos. It’s because of the community gaming has become so popular in modern society.

Do you have any regrets about choosing gaming as a career?None actually, I’m as they say “living the dream”.

Do you have any advice to people who also want to start gaming careers?I know it sounds cliché but I can’t give any better advice so just keep playing what you love most and continually improve every day, learn from every mistake and just follow your dreams and see where they will take you.

Magazine PitchingAfter I have completed my primary and secondary research and my gaming magazine rough drafts and critically analyzed them I have found out that-•Interview double spread articles are very uncommon in the gaming magazine industry•Content page usually use 1-3 images or photos•The front cover almost always uses a medium shot to show off the featured character •The font that are used are simple and easy to read•The color scheme is not too complex, it has complimentary colors mixed together to create a visually pleasing magazine but it does not go over the top as its main selling points are the magazines images, which are stunning and the main focus in the front cover, content page and double spread article.•Double spread articles that are in the interview form are almost always split into two parts, one containing a huge image that covers an entire page containing the interviewee and the other containing the title and text. •The target audience for y magazine are Gamers, people who play video games as a hobby. My most common demographic is late teens and young males aging from 16-22. they are interested in reviews of the current games, hardware information, gaming tips and advice and the e-sports scene.

I believe that my gaming magazine will be successful as it is very unconventional compared to the other modern gaming magazines, as it uses real models for the front cover ,content page and double spread article which is refreshing from a market of gaming magazines which mostly or completely use graphic images. I would like to make a magazine that is unique in its own sense that can appeal to all the gaming demographics using the appropriate images, mode of address and design style.