Construction, Double Page Spread

To produce my double page spread I used a programme called InDesign.

InDesign is a programme great for making double page spreads as it allows you to insert different types of grids in order to help you structure your work. Before placing any items on the page I decided to add a grid. I did this by setting the page to A3 as double pages spreads are double the size of an A4 sheet, I set the layout to landscape and added 6 columns leaving 3 columns on each side of the double page spread. I then applied the layout and came out with a white page of six structured columns which would help me lay out my work.

After this I decided that the best thing to do would be to import the main image first before the text as it would be easier to move the images around rather than all the text. I found that the main image lacked brightness and contrast therefore I decided to edit the picture in photo shop. I edited it by going to 'Image', 'Adjustment' then 'Brightness and Contrast'. After applying what I though was suitable, i realised that the picture could be emphasised more if it had a bit more colour in it, furthermore adding saturation to emphasise the red lipstick and skin tone to make the whole image stand out. When this was completed and I was happy with it i saved the image as a 'PNG' which excludes the white background behind the image and 'placed' the image in InDesign by clicking 'File' then 'Place. I then placed the image on the write hand of the page in order to place the text on the left hand side.


So, the image was placed and it was time to include some design elements that would make the double page spread layout and colour scheme match the front cover and contents page. Its easy enough putting page numbers at the bottom but used this to my advantage to import similar design elements into it from my previously constructed pages therefore I decided to make border at the bottom of the page where I could include the page numbers and the website down the bottom. I did this by simply applying the colour black to the rectangle icon, created a rectangle which I would later on resize on InDesign, saved it as an image and imported it into InDesign. I also decided to extract the red and white from my contents and front cover to bring across the design elements and used this to design the page numbers which would be placed at the bottom of the page. At the end it looked like this: 

The next step I encountered was to add the title of the double page spread before adding the text as I wasn't sure if my positioning would be exact as my flat plan was not accurate. The article that I wrote for the double page spread was based on an interview, therefore keeping it plain and simple I simply called it 'Exclusive Interview' which was also one of the cover lines on the front cover. The font used was extracted from the front cover in order to keep the design elements consistent and I also decided to add a red underline underneath the double page spread title to separate it from the text.

Finally, it was time to insert the text onto my page. I must admit it was very easy to do. InDesign is really good for projects such as this and producing magazines as when including text, if all the text doesnt fit in one collumn it allows you to bring the text over and insert it into another collumn. You are also able to copy and paste what you have previously typed up for example i typed up my article on microsoft word and it would have been a very long process having to type up the article again word for word. This is why InDesign is very handy. I had to decide whether the introduction of the article was best places going across all three collumns or to start it off in one collumn and maybe make it bold or italic to stand out but from my research many magazine article introductions mostly go across the collumns. I inserted the text making the questions red and bold so that it stood out from the rest of the content to prevent confusion from the questions and the answers. I used 'tahoma' which is a very casual font in order to prevent difficulty in reading the article.
As you can see from the previous screen grab, I created a transparent 'E' as part of the background to contribute to the house style and also has connections to the name of the so called artist that I have used to be the topic of my article. I did this my typing the letter in 'Times New Roman' resizing it and then clicking on object, effects and transparency. I then experimented with the capacity of it to make sure that the transparency of it didnt effect the ablity for people to read it.

As there wasn't enough space on my double page spread to include everything that I wanted to put, I decided to create an extra page to continue the article from my double page spread. Above we have the title of the extra page that I created 'EL MANYERA

Text was added in the same way as the first double page spread by copying and pasting the content of the text from microsoft word and inserting it on the page again editing the text with the use of red and black to separate the questions from the answers as my article is based on an interview.


This leads us to how I inserted the images displayed on the page.

I chose one of the possible images I took to use for my double page spread and realised that I didn't like the shape of the image as it was a traditional portrait take photo and noticed that if the image is going t be placed in between text, the sharp edges of the picture may make it look out of place or unprofessional.






To resolve this I came up with the idea to make the image circle instead of rectangle. I was unsure how to do this therefore I went on youtube to find tutorials that would help me. This is where I was introduced to the Elliptical Marquee Tool. Similar to the crop tool I used this tool to crop the shape of a circle around the image.

After this, It was finally time to insert it into my article, but it came to mind that I could bring specific design elements from my contents page and front cover page to keep the consistancy of the house style therefore I decided to use the drop shaddow tool. I then decided that the image was ready to be put into the double page spread in which I went on to InDesign, File, Place and selected the image that I edited. 

I used text wrap to allow the text of the article to work its way around the image rather than having text flowing through or beneath the image. I done this by going on text wrap, and choosing the type of text wrap and what part of the image to wrap which was both right and left sides and detecting the edges.

Here I did something similar but with text instead. The text that I wanted to include was used as a pull quote which is a quote taken from the article which may be classified as a significant quote and enlarging it and changing the style to make it stand out. The text type that wanted the pull quote to be was not included in the InDesign programme therefore I typed it up in Photoshop. In order to import the text into Indesign I saved the text as a JPEG making it an image and placed it the same way that I placed the first image.


This was the final aspect of my extra double page spread.