Drafting/Planning - Creating my own double page spread

For my double page spread I decided to use a classy picture of Lily Allen on one side and the article on the other as this is a typical layout I have seen in many magazines that I have looked into.
I stuck to a basic, simple colour scheme to maintain the simplicity and class that is shown in the picture and to keep the magazine looking neat, tidy and professional. The title 'a day in the life of Lily Allen' is written in the same colour as the background and the text is written in a black colour which matches Lily Allen's dark hair. The background is kept white to keep it looking simple and classy and also to match the colour of the dress she is wearing in the picture.
A quote from the article is written over the picture of Lily to draw attention to what the article is about and what is included in it. This is also a common thing to do in an article of this type and I have seen this used in all of the double page spreads like this one.
I have kept the layout of the text stereotypical to a common magazine by using columns and dividing the text into paragraphs. This makes the text easy to read and makes the page look professional and neat. There is a brief summary of the article at the top of the page to give the reader information about what the article is actually about and give more insight into the title and who Lily Allen is. It is also bolded to draw the readers attention, along with the information about the release of her single at the bottom of the page.
I also included a picture of Lily Allen with one of her children as she speaks about them.a lot in the article and it gives more insight into the 'Life of Lily Allen'. It has a caption to explain the picture.
I have maintained a girly image like the front cover and contents page as I have also used swirly writing which looks pretty and attractive to the female target audience and I have also used a very feminine image of Lily Allen.

Drafting/Planning/Research into similar products and target audience - Creating my own magazine cover and contents page

Front cover
I decided to use Lily Allen as my cover star as she has been the inspiration for a lot of my blog and she is the style I want for my magazine. I also decided to use the rolling stone magazine as I have done a lot of research into this magazine and know about the style and features.

Firstly, I removed the background of a picture I found of Lily Allen to make it look more professional and in the style of a magazine. I used this photo as in the picture she is maintaining direct address with the reader and it is a medium close up which is usually used on magazine covers.

I wanted her to have a white background as it would make her stand out more. I also wanted the background to be white as she is pale and wearing light coloured clothing so a bright colour would not have suited it and any other colour would not have been as effective. Her dark hair and eyes also stand out, but they wouldn't look as bold if she had a darker background.

I put the image of Lily Allen in front of the masthead as this is what magazines tend to do as the masthead is easily recognisable and it makes the model the centre of attention and the focus on her. The image takes up the majority of the page so there is not much negative space. However it is not too crowded as I wanted the design to look simple and elegant.

I then added a cover line 'A day in the life of... Lily Allen' as this is what the article in my magazine is called. Also, readers may find it interesting to find out what a celebrity as big as Lily Allen does during a normal day. I used swirly font as it looks very girly and Lily Allen is dressed prettily and very feminine so my target audience will be women. I matched the colour of the headline to the colour of the masthead to make it look professional, and tidy. I did not want to mix too many colours together as I wanted the look to be simple yet effective.

I then added a bar code, price and date line to it as these are part of the conventions of a magazine cover. I again matched the colour of the text to the masthead to make it stand out from the white background and to keep it looking simple, with a simple, classy colour scheme.

Contents page
As my target audience is women, I decided to stick to using swirly, more girly writing for the contents page as it looks classy and this font looks like a females handwriting. I again kept the writing the same red colour as the masthead to maintain the colour scheme. I also kept the background white to continue the colour scheme and keep the simple look I am going for.

I put a picture of Lily Allen in the centre of the page and put a dark border around it to make it stand out as she is the main article in the magazine. I gave the picture of Lily Allen a grey coloured background so it stood out even more and her clothing could be seen more clearly as in this image she is wearing white.
I also used pictures of two other female singers - Katy Perry and Cheryl Cole who are also very girly and would attract and gain interest from my target audience. I chose these images imparticular as they match the colour scheme I am going for.
Also, the images of the two women are similar to the picture of Lily Allen on the front page as they both have dark hair, are wearing pale clothing with a white background so the same theme and style is beginning to continue throughout the magazine.
I made the picture of Lily Allen slightly overlap the other two images as she is the most important and the main feature in the magazine.

I kept the theme simple as I did on the front page and it makes it seem more classy and neat. Everything is spaced out and looks more professional than it would if I added more to it.