Task 9

FACTUAL PAGE LAYOUTTask 9

FLAT PLAN

Title

Image

Image

Copy

Copy

Copy

I have created a flat plan for this task which is to create a layout for a fanzine article to which I have written before in a different unit. I will use this flat plan layout as a guide when creating my design within InDesign however I may not stick to it completely. Within this flat plan I have outlined that aspects such as the title and images included within the page will not be on the same level as everything else, they will be placed on the page at an angle, I have decided to do this to create a more informal theme to the article and so that it will fit the nature of the fanzine which will be theme around the Hippie sub-culture. The copy will be over lapping some of the imagery and will all be level and balanced, however the columns will not seem to be in specific places with equally measured margins, the columns will all be offset to one another to create a sort of chaos to the page while at the same time being fully legible. There will be a large background image filling the whole of the page, possibly with a 1cm boarder, the background image may be a collage type image, and will be relevant to the theme of the fanzine or the article itself.

IMAGES : BACKGROUNDS

IMAGES : ARTICLE

FONTS - TITLE

(Flower)

(Flower Bold)

(Typo Garden)

(Flower Generation)

(Hippie Gypsy)

(PW Groovy)

(Peace)

FONTS – COPY BODY

Copy Body (KG Ways to Say

Goodbye)

Copy Body (Candara)

Copy Body (Chaparral Pro Light)

Copy Body (Footlight MT Light)

Copy Body (Freestyle Script)

Copy Body (Simplicity)

Copy Body (SWScrps)

LAYOUT 1

LAYOUT 2

I started this task by developing my copy and sourcing some photographs that I could use within the spread, as I did this I started to get a feel of how I wanted to aesthetically design my fanzine page layout. I started my first layout by opening a new blank document within the program InDesign and creating an A4 double page spread with a 1cm margin, I then created a guide of two rows and two columns, purely so that I would be able to locate the center of each page because I did not want to feel constricted when creating my fanzine layout as within the brief to this task it states that we are to ‘break the rules’, I therefore decided that I would not have set guides and columns that I would work to. Once I had my very few guides in place I then started by placing a possible background image into the spread, however decided to show that margin so that if any text were to run over the margin then this would be more noticeable, making the look seem more rebellious and therefore fitting in with the fanzine culture as well as the hippie subculture which were my target audience. I found an image which would be very appealing to the hippie sub-culture as the colours were very earthy and the text which was included within the image was very positive, with words such as ‘peace’ and ‘love’, which are very well associated with hippies. I decided that having a plain white margin would not look very effective, therefore placed a large ‘tie-dye’ image which fit the whole spread to the document and made sure that the arrangement was to the very back so that the other image was placed on top of it meaning that the tie-dye was now in the place of the margin. I think that this helped to add a splash of colour to the page and it was very in keeping with the audience as tie-dye clothing has been worn by hippies since the 1960’s. After I had the foundation to the spread finished I then decided to follow the same technique that I had been using to create my other page layouts and insert content boxes for specific aspects of the page, however with the other page layouts I knew exactly where I wanted to place the copy and text due to my flat plans being very final, however with this particular brief there was a lot of room to be creative and artistic, so I was not already aware as to where exactly I would be placing my copy and images, this meant that the layout I have submitted is the result of a lot of movement and shifting of the content boxes that I placed at this point within my production. After I thought I had a layout that would work for the article, I then decided to insert three images out of the ones that I had already sourced, when sourcing the image that I could use to anchor my article I was careful to ensure that they were relevant to the article that I had written and that they would be attractive to my target audience. I think that the three images that I chose to use within this layout work extremely well within this spread, the photographs are portraying marijuana in a positive way, which is what I intended as my article is written from the perspective of a hippie, meaning that stereotypically they are bias towards the legalization of the drug, which is why I ensured that the images I used within the page were positive. The positioning of these images are very different to the page layouts that I have produced within previous tasks, they do not fit to any margins or guides and I have set them on a slight angle, meaning that they would not be in line with the text. One of the images runs over the line of the margins that I put in place, the fact that both of these things have been done on purpose adds to the rebellious feel of the spread, this connects also with the rebellious and controversial nature of the article, as well as the sub-culture itself, and the nature of fanzines in general. I purposefully did this as well to make the spread have a scrapbook feel to it also, I wanted it to look as if it has been hand made by someone, which is usually how fanzines look, I think I have achieved this very well. I have also added a small graphic to the bottom right hand corner, which I thought would look good for the magazine logo, as well as page numbers to make the spread seem more realistic and believable. The fonts that I decided to use also played a large roll in the aesthetic look of my page, the font was called ‘simplicity’ and was a handwriting script, however did not have any abnormal aspects that would have made the writing less legible. I think that the fact that the font

seems like it is handwritten adds to the idea of the fact that fanzines are written by fans, it also adds a more personal feel to the article and makes the copy seem less daunting, which is important as there is a large amount of text within this article. I decided to break up the large amount of copy into paragraphs using separate text boxes for each one, I also ensured that the text would be easily read by filling the text box with a white, however altered the opacity of the fill to 70% so that the imagery behind it was still visible. I then decided to focus on the title of my article, I had decided on the font ‘Hippie Gypsy’ as it was a hippie designed font and tied in nicely with the other aspects of the page so far, I decided to keep the font colour black as it made the patterns within the font stand out more and meant that aesthetically the title looked very good. I then decided on the title ‘Let’s be blunt’ for my article, I used this as it is a pun and I thought that the irony would draw my audience in, I think that it works very well, however because the font that I had chosen was a download from the internet meant that an apostrophe within the word ‘let’s’ was not available, however I do not think this matters due to the laid back and casual theme of the page. The page was then finished, I think that this page works very well, and will appeal to an older generation of hippies due to the natural earthy tones and the less obvious ‘hipster’ theme of the spread. As a fanzine I think that the product would be very effective within the fanzine industry. When it came to creating my second page layout I had already got a good feel for how an effective fanzine would be laid out and I had started to understand how to use InDesign to create a double page spread. I decided to use a different mix of background images, fonts and layout to create a layout which would attract a more modern generation of hippies as I thought that the article itself would interest the new generation more than the older one, however is still applicable to both. I started by choosing an image that would be used for the main background, and using the same effective guides and margins as was used within the previous spread that I created, I placed the background image into the page. I chose an image that had lighter colours and included a sketch of a hippie woman and hippie ‘peace’ signs in order to attract the younger generation. I decided again that the white margin did not look right, so sourced a psychedelic image of margin colours to use for the margin and arranged this image behind the initial image, and after changing the opacity of the top image to 70% it gave the background a whole new look which became extremely effective and created the foundation canvas to my second page layout. I went on to insert my images and text boxes, I made sure that the images that I used were very positive again. This time the photographs were more stylish as this seemed to fit the background very well and gave the whole page a more sophisticated and modern look, meaning that it would appeal to the younger target audience. After I had my images in place, which were again offset and on angles over the margins to add emphasis on the rebellious nature of the product and sub-culture, I then focused on the title of my article. I kept the same title as I had before as I thought that it was very effective, however I changed the font. The font that I used tied in very nicely with the background that I had sourced as they both featured the generic peace signs that are associated with the hippie sub-culture. The font was also bold and after adding a thick green stroke to the text, this made the title stand out more as well as coordinating with the other colours that were within the article making the page seem more balanced. I used the same font for the main body of text as I had in my previous layout as it was very effective and made the article clear and legible, li also used the same technique with using white translucent text boxes to make the text stand out better. Overall I believe that this layout is much more effective that my last, as a whole the page is much more bright and clear, aesthetically I think that it is much more attractive as the colour that have been used are much more uplifting and makes the page seem more fresh and new. The fact that I have used the same technique when finding the layout for my copy and images as I had in my previous layout means that again this particular one seems effective and follows the usual fanzine culture. I am very proud with the look of this layout and the level of all my work.