Flat Plans

This is my first flat plan for my front cover. I have made it very minimalistic and have based it on the metal hammer cover. The main focus on this page will be the cover image. I have placed the masthead at the top of the page and placed a strapline at the bottom of the page. This creates a frame for the main image. This layout is very plain and it contains no main cells or any main flash. This layout worked well for metal hammer however I feel it won’t appeal as much to my target audience. The target audience of metal hammer has a really good music knowledge and won’t need much information about the magazine to buy it. My target audience is more students and they will want value for money and like to read about new bands. A more exciting front cover would be appropriate.



My next flat plan is how I want my front cover to look. I have placed the masthead on the top of the page which is typical of many magazines. The main image will act as the background with other elements of the cover placed on top of it. To make my magazine look individual I will use different shaped boxes that will contain content. My main flash will be placed sharp cut square which will not only make it stand out but will give it a rock edge. My main cell, which will be located below my main flash, will be in layered boxes. The text box will be placed above the box containing the image. On the right hand side of the page I will place a main cell with a list of other bands featured this issue. This is similar to what rock sound includes on its cover. I liked this as not only does it look good but it appeals to the target audience as it tells them exactly what they are buying. Beneath this I have placed the bar code, price and issue number. I have placed it in the right hand corner as I don’t want it to be the focus of the page at all. On the left hand corner I have placed a banner giving more details about the reviews the magazine contains. I feel this cover will appeal more to the target audience as it gives them more of an insight to what is in the magazine. It also gives the cover more of a design and its a lot more exciting than the other cover.



This is the flat plan for my contents page. I have split the page into three sections. The column on the left hand side contains a list of the things that feature every week in the magazine. The bottom half of the page contains an image of the band on the cover with the page number their interview will feature on. This is so people who buy the magazine who are fans of the band can get to that page easily. The interview with the band is also one of the main features in the magazine and therefore i want it to be a main focus. The right hand column contains images and page numbers of the features exclusive to this week. This is like a bulletin board and i will give all the pictures borders to help add to this effect. People may recognize some bands in the pictures and my want to skip to that page. It also helps give the contents page an unusual layout and rebel look. Although it has a messy layout it is still easy to read and will make it easy for the reader to go to pages they want.

This is the flat plan for my double page spread. This is my layout idea for my interview feature. The top half of the page is an image of the band. The interview with the band is located on the bottom half of the page. There is a small fact box about the band located in the bottom right hand corner of the page. I have placed the title of the page on the left hand side slightly above the start of the interview article. The image of the band is the main focus of the page. If readers are just flicking through the magazine the size of the image should be enough to stop them on that page. They may also recognize the band and want to read about them. I have included a fact box as i feel this will appeal to my target audience. They will like to read about new bands and if they have never heard of this band they may like to know a bit more about them.