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MAGAZINE PRODUCTION WEEK 4 - ARTICLE FLATPLAN


Okay, on your magazine production work you should have

- Done a DRAFT LAYOUT and FIRST GO of your FRONT COVER
- PITCHED the article you're going to write.
- WRITTEN a FIRST DRAFT of that article & sent it me.
- Done a DRAFT LAYOUT for your ARTICLE

While you wait for me to edit your article and send it back to you, it'd be a good time for you to continue experimenting with Indesign towards making a FIRST ATTEMPT at laying your article out on the page. Complete this part in the following way.

1. Open up a new blogpost. Call it 'ARTICLE FLAT PLAN'

2. Paste in your DRAFT LAYOUT and just add the sentence. 'This is the draft layout I will be working towards'.

3. Using Indesign or Photoshop, try putting the text from your FIRST DRAFT together with pictures to compose your magazine pages. You'll need your draft layout open so you know where things should go - your first attempt should be roughly to your layout. You should be averaging about 500-800 words per page of Indesign. Experiment with coloured backgrounds, layouts, text boxes etc.

- I cannot stress enough how you have to EXPERIMENT and PLAY around, not just get frustrated and do something rubbish in about five minutes.
- Existing magazines will help give you ideas for layouts.
- See if Indesign has any TEMPLATES you can use (it used to)
- Use Google, Youtube, or other sources, to find out how to do individual tasks. If you find a link useful, save it - you could put it into your production diary (this kind of detail = merits)


4. Once you've used up nearly all the time you have this week, add a heading to your blogpost - 'FIRST ARTICLE FLATPLAN ', screenshot your Indesign page(s) and get the shot into your blogpost. Save the Indesign file safely.

5. Open up a new heading in your blogpost - PRODUCTION DIARY WEEK 4 - and as usual tell me

- what you've done this week. List it all.
- how happy are you with your first attempt?
- What do you need to change?
- What trick or skill would you like to learn that would improve your page look?
- Do you think you have to go back and change any elements of the proposal (fonts, colour-choices etc)?
- Do you think you have to go back and change any elements of the draft layout? If so, do so, screenshot it into your post and add a line saying 'From next week I will be working to this draft layout instead'.

PUBLISH your post.

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