I used Quark to make my contents page and although I used it for the preliminary task, I only briefly used it and I still had to do a lot of playing around and adjusting things to make them fit and look right on the page.

I started with the basic layout by inserting the banner at the top in purple because this is the main magazine colour, which I decided using my audience research. In the banner I included the title ‘indigo contents’ along with the issue number, date of release and magazine website underneath. I then began to insert a few images that I wanted on the page and tried to see where some of the category text boxes would fit.

I decided the banner looked too empty and it was too big so I put the issue number, date of release and magazine website underneath the banner instead and changed the font of ‘indigo contents’ to make it look bigger and fill more space. I also changed the places of the picture boxes to a position I thought looked better and would easily fit in the text when I put in the columns and categories.

I made quite a lot of adjustments to reach this point by changing the colour of the text box to grey and the text to purple, as well as changing the font of ‘indigo’ to match the font of the masthead as the font of the masthead is also the same as the font of the magazine name in the contents page. I put the issue number, date and website back in the banner as I think it makes the page look more organised and fits better with the way the banner is now layed out. I chose the picures I was going to use and insterted them in to the boxes to make sure they looked right and started to put in the category titles in to boxes and insert some of the text.

I made a few more adjustments that made quite a big difference to the page and started to make it look a lot more professional. I changed the colour of the box to a darker purple and the font to white which look a lot more sophisticated and mature and underlined the category titles rather than putting them in boxes. I then made ‘contents’ a bit bigger than ‘indigo’ because the contents title is always the biggest text on the page. I also included more information in the text, so that each page title includes a short description. I also made the text a lot smaller so it doesn’t take up as much space so I can include more information, and it also looks more professional.

I changed the category titles again so they are back in boxes rather than being underlined which looks better. I also changed the banner so that ‘contents’ comes before ‘indigo, so that the two titles are obviously separate rather than being ‘indigo contents.’ Furthermore I put the issue date and number and the website back under the banner which I think looks lots better because it means I can make the font inside fill the whole box. All I have to do to finish the page now is insert my pictures in to the boxes.

I decided this was going to be the image used for my cover image because it fits well and the model on the front looks indie as she has long died hair, piercings and is wearing a checked shirt. Furthermore she is standing in front of a rusty locker which is a typically indie setting.

I cropped the image and adjusted it’s place on the page so just the model’s head and shoulders can be seen as this is typical of the professional indie magazines I looked at.

I decided on the font of the masthead in order to reflect the magazine as well as following my decision in the production plan. I had already decided the main colour would be purple, so I thought this type of purple was best as it’s quite deep and sophisticated. I also added the barcode as this is a vital part in making professional music magazines.

I next added the main coverline which I played around with a bit to find the colour and size that made it look recognisable and make sure it didn’t blend in to the background so it couldn’t be seen.

I included all of the coverlines which took a while because I had to put each line in it’s own text box to make sure there wasn’t big gaps between each line and make sure all of the text fit nicely around the model’s face. Once I had included all of the coverlines it made the page come together a lot better and looked more professional.

Finally I included the positioning statement and some of the bands included inside and moved the masthead to the side of the page so it didn’t look as empty on the page and I prefer it here.