Test Photos

In this post I will be showing the basic photos that I took of my brother, Austin, and how I have looked to incorporate them into my magazine ideas. I have identified which types of photo I thought looked most effective and appealing to my target audience within the design of the magazine by adding in each one and seeing what it looked like.
I took photos in three locations, each with the purpose of either the front cover, contents page and double page spread.

Front Cover

These is the first pictures I took for my front cover. In the images, I wanted to try and make Austin look like he meant business by holding the guitar over his back nonchalantly, but also look cheeky and not too serious. Overall I liked these pictures, however due to the guitar position the width drastically changes which could be a problem when designing the text colors with the black of the guitar. For the third picture, I tried to counteract this by having him hold the guitar by his side with the other hand in his pocket. This image was my favorite in the end and I will try to use an image similar for my main image, but as more of a mid-shot to fit the codes and conventions of many popular magazines such as Q and Billboard as well as magazines in other genres like FourFourTwo (football)

Contents Page

For the contents page I tried some images with different backgrounds. The first image I took was in the same setting as my cover photos, which was so I can cut it out easily and paste on any background I want, whereas the other two were taken outside. I prefer the inside photo as I feel the mise-en-scene of the latter shots don't fit the genre or feel of the artist particularly. This might end up confusing the audience who read the magazine as they won't be sure about the feel of the article in the double page spread.

Double Page Spread

I took my initial photo ideas for the double page spread outside with Austin sat with an amp and guitar in front of a cracked brick wall. I think this looks good for a double page spread as it can reflect how the artist is urban, and also shows his brand of music by using the guitar and amp as props. Furthermore, the brick texture also makes the page look more unique against the rest of the magazine which helps improve the appeal of the article. He is sat looking away from the camera in all the pictures as I wanted him to look as if he is daydreaming almost, however I think I should have tried out some direct address images to see if it made the page stand out more as the reader turned the page.