Main Task Flat Plans

 I tried to make sure all of the key factors in a front cover was included in my flat plan. This was a simple yet effective layout that I felt would be suitable for my style of magazine.

While making my magazine I decided it would look better for my masthead to spread all the way across the top of the page as this made it stand out more and made sure it did not look stretched. It also meant the image would cover the bottom of the masthead just as many of the real magazine examples do which usually shows that the magazine has a large enough reputation that it is recognised without being able to see the whole name. Therefore having the image cover part of the masthead creates the idea that this magazine is already rather popular which may influence others to purchase it.

I also decided not have images on the cover that make a link to other stories inside. This was mostly as to not draw attention away from the main image which, as the story suggests, would appeal to many people as she was on a popular TV show so a lot of people would recognise her even if they aren't a fan of the magazine so may buy it purely for that story especially as the word "exclusive" is used to make the reader think the magazine has connections to big stars and will possibly have more exclusive stories in the future.

Upon finishing, the date and price would no longer fit so I decided to put it under the masthead on the right so it is on the opposite side of the other piece of essential information- the barcode.

I will have the word Contents going across the top of the page so the reader knows what will be on this page. 

There will be three sections on my contents page. I will have a page index on the left to guide the reader to other stories which is where it is in all of the examples I have seen that include this convention. The images that show stories in the issue will have a larger section with a competition in a small box under this. The image of the main article will be in one half of the assigned section as this is the most important with three images for smaller stories overlapping down the side with the page numbers in different positions on top of the image.

The date will be above the title so the reader can easily see when the issue was released and so how up to date the stories and competitions are.

A popular convention of a double page spread is for the title to be at the top of the page as this is the first place the reader looks so they will know what the story is about. I decided to keep this convention as it makes sense to know if they will be interested in the article or not.

I will keep the use of an introduction so the reader will have more information about the person being discussed in the article before deciding whether or not to continue with the story.

My article will be in two columns with a large gap between the two. This is so the text is spread apart enough to make it easier to read as having too much text too close together can put off readers who do not want to take in too much information at once. It also leaves space to include a pull quote which is a convention that almost all magazines use so would be beneficial for me to include.

My main image will take up most of the opposite page but because it has been cut from the background, it means there is space for other images to be placed in a bubble and for captions for all images on the page.