Contents creation

This contents page is from Kerrang! magazine. I have attempted to imitate the design to follow guidelines and try to create a professional looking contents page.


Breaking down the contents:
>Inside the magazine
- Feedback
-News
-Live Reviews
-Features
-Album Reviews
-Gigs

These tags are on the right hand side of the magazine in a colomn. The headings have been distorted and placed inside a rectangle that has been filtered and had its transparency altered (using page plus tools) to make them look more appealing for the reader.

This Kerrang! contents page uses more than one way of displaying their contents, with their representation of images of the bands that are also to feature inside the magazine. These images are underlined by a caption of where they will be inside the magazine.

The colours of this contents page are reversed so that dark colours are placed on lighter colours to create a contrast to make the text stand out from the background. (The black text on the white background.

Beneath the contents column is a subscription section, which is inside a logo. This logo has been created by taking images of previous magazines and binding them together. Text presses over the logo in white, to create a contrast and make the text stand out.

The title 'contents' has been printed in a bold and sightly flattened font which has then been coloured in yellow, based on a black rectangle at the bottom right hand side of the page.

This is the result from conforming to this Kerrang! contents page. This contents page uses exatly the same layout.

The Kerrang! contents page did not use an image as a background (in which alot of other music magazines have done) instead they gave it a white background. Also this is a simple background, it really complements the design and makes it almost effortless to read. Never the less, i have chosen to use an image to replace the white background. I believe this 'grunge style' background helps bind the contents page together, it makes the page feel more full.

I have copied the idea of a subscription, so i created a logo using 'Fireworks' and positioned this in the top left of the magazine. As this is a metal themed magazine, i used this genre to influence the design. (see post #3 for design creation)

Beneath the 'contents' is a quote from 'The used', i have used used a quote from 'Metallica' which is from a quote site - www.allmetallica.com/info/quotes.php

Step To Fonts

Step by Step fonts

(All fonts created on
Urbanfont.com and Dafont.com)

> Fancy

- Distorted

Used Fonts
Abaddon

> Gothic
- Modern

Used Fonts

-Metal Macabre

These are the fonts chosen for the magazine.

The Name of the magazine (Kataclysm!) is in the font 'Abaddon'. Initially, the intention was to use the font Metal Macabre but on trying it on my cover it seemed a bit over the top and felt quite cluttersome when positioned on the front page.

Contents page

Uses the same font as the front cover to tie the magazine together. The body text is in Times New Roman. This is because Abaddon is too decorative to use for large areas of small text, and I needed something simpler to make the text easier to read and not looking too 'busy' or 'fussy'. In magazine analysis and research i found that the fonts of a magazine are pretty consistent throughout, so i decided to keep it simple and follow the guidelines of another magazine e.g. 'Kerrang!'.

Double page spread

The font of the double page spread is the same as that of the contents and front page. It has the added benefit of reflecting the image of the band, and so the genre of music. Although this is a metal magazine, there are different types of metal;

E.g. Power Metal - Hammerfall

Glam Metal - Motley Crue

Thrash Metal - Metallica

The band featured in the magazine are called 'Kamelot' and are a Power Metal band.

Power Metal -

Is a style of heavy metal music combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal.

Lyrical themes -

Power Metals lyrical themes, typicaly focus on fantasy and mythology (e.g. Symphony X, DragonLand, Ascension and Blind Guardian)

Camaraderie and hope (E.g. Stratovarius, Helloween, Hammerfall, Lost Horizon and Dragonforce)

Personal Struggles and emotions (E.g. Sonata Arctica, Primal Fear, Angra and X Japan)

War and Death (E.g. Manowar, Iced Earth and Firewind) or combinations of the listed themes.

There are a few other themes such as anti religion and politics; these are comparatively rare but not unheard of.

These themes would influence the style of font i use for 'Kamelot's' double page spread, however, in this instance, the font I used for the front cover does in fact represent the theme of their music and style of the band.

(See Second Post*)

The font chosen for the double page spread of 'Kamelot' is 'Abaddon' because i feel it catches more of a fantasy feel aswell as it having a take on the font of a popular role play fantasy game, Oblivion.

It was a struggle to choose between Abaddon and Dragon Master, both possess the feel of Fantasy. Dragon Master looks older, more ancient (almost scroll like, calligraphy) whereas, Abaddon is more sharp and distorted giving it a more modern feel and therefore the edge for a modern music magazine.

- - - - - - - - - (2nd Post) - - - - - - - -