Table of Contents: Images and Articles
Introduction
Throughout this blog, I will be exploring some important aspects of my table of contents including images and article titles. I would like to go towards a more sleek design, one that it is not as jarring and bold as my cover but still impactful. As always, keep in mind that none of the information explained below is set in stone and will change as I continue to learn more about magazines. In my choices, I was inspired by Time magazine the most, which can be seen in my decisions. I thought that it would be interesting to take inspiration from Time for my table of contents as I took inspiration from Bloomberg Businessweek and Newsweek for my cover.
Table of Contents Images
Image One
For my first image, I decided to take a picture that coincided with my main cover line. This is because in my genre, if an image is included in a table of contents, then it is usually related to one of the featured stories, which is coincidentally my main cover line. I wanted to create an effect that was similar to the main cover in order to create a sense of unity. This image connects to my cover line regarding book censorship as this is a banned book in many districts due to the topics that it discusses. This image, if included, will most likely be laid out in the center of the page near the top, similar to the position of the image from sketch one, which was featured in my last blog. The image, if included, will be placed here because it is an image that spotlights an item and is bold. I would not want to take attention away from it so if I was to include it, I would place it in the image spot for sketch one in my last blog.
Before I decided whether this image made the final cut, I thought that it would be helpful to edit it slightly. I did not need to edit it that much as the original picture had some of the effects I was hoping to create already. When I edited this picture, I started with the editing software on my phone. I tested a few filters on my phone and decided to stray from my original plan and make the image black and white. So, I used a filter known as Silvertone. After this, I transferred my image to Canva, the editing software I have been using for my past few blogs. I played with the saturation, vignette, and more but could not find the right filter. I then used auto enhance which made the image much clearer and striking. After this, I decided that I had gotten the image to look the way I wanted and that it would require no further editing.
After this editing, I deliberated upon whether or not I wanted to include this image. After thinking through it, I have decided that I will most likely include this image. I made this decision because the image was understated yet striking and connected extremely well with my feature article. I love the way the shadows accent the book and it conveys the perfect tone. It helps me maintain a sleek look for my magazine, something that I have been finding a bit difficult. I am not 100% sure whether this image will end up in my final product but it probably will.
Image Two
I took this image because upon research, I realized that many current affairs magazines have a section dedicated to other forms of media such as movies, TV shows, books, and music. I decided that in my magazine, in this section I would spotlight an underrepresented genre of music: classical. With this goal, I decided to take a picture of my viola. I did so on a white, eggshell-like background because I wanted to help the image be a bit more cohesive with the rest of my table of contents. This image connects to my article regarding the impacts of classical music, leading me to consider including it in my table of contents. If used, this image will most likely be in a corner such as the box I have sectioned for an image in the bottom left corner of sketch two from my last blog. I would place it in a corner because it does not connect to a main cover line. Due to this, I do not want to unintentionally spotlight the image, leading me to its placement. Before deciding whether or not this image would make the final cut, I realized that it would be helpful to edit the image so that I make the most informed decision possible. I started editing the image using the software on my phone. As I did with the first image, I used multiple filters to see which one would best accent this image. During this process, I stumbled up the filter Vivid Cool and decided that it would be a perfect fit for said image. After choosing a filter, I transferred the image to Canva and continued editing there. In Canva, I continued to test out filters and found one called Drama which worked extremely well with my image. Then, I increased the vignette to 49. After this, I looked at my image and decided that it looked the way that I wanted it to and stopped editing it.
After editing, I considered whether or not to include this image in my table of contents. I have decided that I will most likely not include this image in my table of contents because it does not connect to a feature article and no matter how dramatic it is, it would not add much to the table of contents. Plus, I am not sure whether I wanted multiple images on my table of contents. If I decide to include multiple images, this might be there but most likely will not.
Image Three
As I did for my last two images, I decided to do some editing before deciding whether or not the image should be included in my table of contents. I decided not to start editing on my phone and instead transferred the image to Canva immediately. Here, I did not the edit the image much. I first added the auto enhance filter which made the image much clearer and detailed. Next, I used a filter called Rosie. After this, I paused to evaluate the image and liked the current result, leading to my decision to stop editing the image.
After editing the image, I thought about whether or not it should be included in my table of contents. In the end, I do not think that this image will end up as a part of my table of contents because I plan to not include many images. In addition, the image is nice but not bold. I want the images in my magazine to be bold and make people feel something. I feel that this image does not meet the mark, leading to my decision.
Article Titles
For article titles, I have a variety of ideas. With current affairs magazines, conventionally having a wide array of topics being covered in the article titles. For my main cover lines, I am pulling ideas from my main cover and elaborating upon them. For my features, I decided to use the literary technique of alliteration to make the cover lines a bit more impactful. I gave article descriptors to all of these features as it is a convention of my genre. Though some magazines may have descriptors and others don't, most magazines will have them for their featured stories as that is the focus of the issue. Due to this, I decided that all of my featured stories would have an article descriptor. For the page numbers I chose to have these stories be back to back as I have noticed for this to be a trend in current affairs magazines. I decided to include my main cover line as the first feature as that is a convention that no magazine in my genres attempts to break. I did not include all of my cover lines as part of my featured stories as upon further research, I realized that many magazines do not have all of their cover lines as featured articles so I decided that only my main cover line would be used as a featured article.
1) Conflicting Censorship: How the debate of restriction has affected the nation
2) The Doping Debate: The Olympics and drugs uncovered
3) The State of Eastern Europe: What the world will have to do to prevent World War Three
For my other article titles, I decided to not use article descriptors. Upon further research after my last blog, I realized that most magazines do not use article descriptors for anything other than their featured articles. In order to make the magazine more appealing to a reader, I decided to follow this convention and not use article descriptors. For all of my article titles in general and my two page spread, I plan to use a formal, yet sophisticated tone and voice. To elaborate, I will use high level vocabulary, literary devices, varied sentence structure, and more in order to create this tone. Using such a voice will help better communicate with the target audience as they are educated people who want a reliable source for news. Using a formal, yet sophisticated tone conveys intellect and reliably, two extremely important features for current affairs magazines. Thus, I am using such a tone and voice. For the page numbers of all of my article titles, I have decided to leave them open ended until I create mockups because I am not quite sure in what order these articles will be featured in my table of contents. Plus, I am not sure whether I will create more article titles after this blog so I do want to put anything in place until I am sure how the articles will be arranged in the mockups.
1) History of Banned Books from the Nazis to Schools Today
2) Lakeland Students Petition for Book Inclusivity
3) Trucking Trouble in Canada causes tensions to rise
4) The Predicament of Water Pollution via pipes
5) Guns gone Wrong as school shootings continue to take place
6) COVID 19 is still a "Creation of Imagination"
7) The Impact of Classical Music
For my two page spread, I plan to spotlight the article, "Conflicting Censorship: How the debate of restriction has affected the nation". The reason I am choosing this article has multiple aspects. The first being that it is my main cover line and it would be interesting for me to come full circle on this project. Connecting my two page spread to my cover will help me maintain a stable tone and theme as I will be focusing on the same topic throughout. Second of all, it creates a sense of unity as everything is based around one theme and topic. Lastly, I have the most ideas regarding how to design a two page spread related to this article because it involves a topic I am extremely passionate about. Thus, I made the decision to use my censorship article for my to page spread.
Conclusion
Throughout this blog, I have explored images and articles for my table of contents. For my images, I will most likely end up using image one due to its connection to the cover. I am not sure about the rest of them as it depends on the design I chose for my table of contents. For my article titles, I will most likely be including all of them in my table of contents as it is conventional in my genre for there to be a large variety of articles. I may create more titles if needed but I feel as though I have enough. For the titles themselves, they may be edited but most likely not. In the end, I ended up leaning towards a more black and white tone with pops of color for my table of contents, something that is the opposite of my cover. I think I went down this path because during my research, I have learnt about some tips to make a table of contents shine. I ended up applying these tips even though they were not really a part of my original plan because they made my design more effective. My next step would be to choose which sketch I will use for the table of contents so that I may start putting together my final product.
Works Cited
All previous research and blogs
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