DPS Developed Draft

This is made using Layout 2 of my drafts, as I think it is the most effective plus I've made my article fit perfectly into the arrangement. Although it can't be seen on this image, I want to have a white frame around the whole DPS, as I think draws everything together for that neat feel, and keeps the house style of a fresh, clean look. I'm using a greyish background for most of the DPS, as I didn't want to use just white or black, as half of my models clothes are white, half are black so she wouldn't have stood out at all, but I think this is a compromise. When creating the background, I may attempt to make it look like an off-white room, with my sitting image in the corner as I think this would emphasise it's vulnerability, but my creative skills may not stretch that far.

For the font of the title, I've decided to use the artist's logo, but I haven't yet found the real font for P!nk's logo, so I've just used this font which is that of her new album to represent what will be there. If I can't find the font to download, I'll just have to use an image of it and edit it to what I need.
For the blurb font, I've carried on Kravitz from the contents for the house style, and was considering using it for the questions, but I thought this may be too unconventional and I think it's vital that my interview font is just plain and readable to gain credibility.
For the interview font, I had planned on carrying through my Gill Sans MT Condensed from the contents features descriptions, but when I came to try this, it didn't look that readable and just didn't look right. Also a technical problem which would have limited my creative decisions is the fact that Gills Sans MT Condensed doesn't go bold very well so would have looked unprofessional. Instead I've chose to use Gills Sans MT which is basically the smae font except less condensed which therefore makes it very clear. Hopefully this won't damage the house style too much as it's a very similar font.

For the colours, I've mainly stuck to black and white, a convention forthe article, to give it that fake newspaper credibility. The title is the main focus of colour on the page, but as my images won't be stick men, some colour will come from them like my model's red shoes. I was considering tying in the minty green, which will probably be recomended as an improvement in my feedback anyway, but I thought I'd try it without it first.

DPS Image Planning

I have pretty much a solid idea on what I want my images to be like, unlike my cover and contents. After exploring layouts and writing my article, I've focused on promoting my preferred reading of the 2 separate areas of serious music stuff with a more social side, so I've already planned how to encode this into my 2 images. If I have one sitting looking fairly laid back or quite timid it represents the artist as themselves or just a normal person, depending on how my reader interprets it, and the other image can be carrying through my house style of musical props to try and encode my magazine is credible isn't just a flighty pop magazine. I've also had an idea for my back up image if my layout backfires. The stances are;

Sitting on the floor - This is similar to something I planned for my cover and I thoroughly stick with my decision not to use something like this on the cover as I think it's a much more intimate style and so definitely more suitable for the relevant interview, not for the cover. I think this would look casual and laid back, and hold empathy with my reader as it may be how they sit when they're chilling out or maybe even feeling vulnerable, so the level of connotation can vary greatly depending on the individual reader. I think it will contrast well to my more musical shot, as it's just so simplistic and won't draw too much attention away from the article, but will frame it accordingly. It taps into the artist revealing themselves in the interview, even though my interview isn't too personal, so it should encourage my reader to read on.

Headphones full length - This would be carrying on the house style perfectly, as it would be the headphones from the contents and matching the amp on the cover. I was maybe planning to have a crazy facial expression, like a yell, as it would be like a progression from the calm, simple look on the cover, to the enthusiastic smile in the contents, to the scream in the DPS. It again suggests to my reader that the artist is becoming more open, and it's an idea used on the Spin example of a cover, contents and DPS with Duffy, as she's blank faced on the cover, smiling widely in the contents, and going wild in the DPS. Using a full length shot would be a contrast to the intimate curled up image on the other side, as where that shows a personal side a full length shot with a musical prop would represent the star and her career, again showing the 2 sides and balance.

Birdseye view - This is my backup shot, and as I felt I needed an unusual element to my 1 image to keep the house style, I've decided on an interesting camera angle. Hopefully, this would present the 2 sides of my artist as it's personal as it's a full lying down shot, like signifying she's open to anything, although it's a pretty unmotivated pose, but then because of the camera angle it's also very obvious it's an artificial pose, showing that she's a professional artist at a photoshoot. I'm thinking I won't have to use this anyway, but it's good to be prepared.

These are all my definite options for each part so I'll take a range of shots for each, and pick out the best.

DPS Layout Drafts

I've had some previous ideas already about how I'd like to layout my DPS, so it's just a matter of trying these out to see if they work. I know the basic features of my DPS are the block of the article, image/s and the title, which is conventionally the artist's name. I think I will have just the artist's name as it is much more simple and credible, especially because so much of my language is clichey and a bit cheesy. The title will also be in the artist's trademark font, as I didn't do this on the cover so I'll transfer it over to the DPS. My 3 main ideas are;

Layout 1 - This is inspired by the Kaiser Chiefs DPS layout, which when I analysed I thought was a subtle way of changing the convention of a 1-sided interview, by having the image on the top and writing across the bottom. This is similar but basically the opposite way round. So it is unconvential that it's not 1 sided, but it's also incredibly unconventional in the way it features 2 images. Although I only analysed that of bands, I have some of solo artists in my collection and there always seems to be 1 separate image, but I think it's a bit more quirky and unusual to have 2 images blended into 1, especially as it's the same person. It's a very common effect to use, although maybe not on music magazine DPS, but I still think it's clever and has a lot of different connotations. For instance, it's like she's in 2 places at once, maybe representing the balancing of her career and leisure, mirroring that balance in the article, or it could be representing 2 different characters, and it could be emphasised using 2 contrasting images. I'm pretty definite on what kind of images I'd like when it comes to image planning, as I'm trying to keep a house style running through them as well, i.e the musical props. I'm not sure I like the placing of the title in this one, and maybe it's not obvious enough and a bit too unusual, as I'm thinking it looks a bit awkward.

Layout 2 - This is fairly similar to Layout 1, but just generally rearranged. I had initially planned to have it swapped around, so that the sitting image would have been resting against the writing block, but Ms Furness suggested to have it resting against the side of the overall box, which I think works much better as then they're facing towards the article, maybe encoraging the reader to look at it. This also goes against the conventional 1 sided DPS, by having the article directly in the centre. I think this works to an advantage as it puts the main focus on the article, as it should be on a DPS, then the images are contrasting and on either side, and as images on a DPS give identity to the artist, having 1 on each side gives the reader either more control or 2 contrasting representations of her. I also think the placement of the title is much better here, in a more conventional placing (one of the top corners), so the whole layout wouldn' throw my reader off to much as there is still a very conventional element.

Layout 3 - I thought I'd try out the conventional layout of a DPS, just to see if it would be effective at all in my eyes. It is the very basic title at top, article on one page, image on the other layout which is the frame work for most of the ones I've analysed and looked at. I don't think it would be suitable for my magazine, as I'm trying to keep a running house style, and the layouts of both my cover and especially my contents have been unconventional in some way, so surely I should keep that element present in my DPS too? To make it slightly unconventional, I've represented the use of an unusual image, but this is done anyway in some DPS, as normally it's kept simple and basic on the cover as to not offend, but often they tend to be more wild and intriguing on the contents and DPS, like a progession of revealing. I think this can be my back-up if my more risky layouts don't fit together quite right depending on the images and P!nk logo, so I'll plan an image for this just in case.

I think I prefer Layout 2 at the minute, but if I do plan for that one, I know that if it doesn't seem to work I could use the same images and just rearrange it into Layout 1. Also Layout 3 is very safe and won't take too much preparing as a back up, I'll just plan a very unusual style image.

Final DPS Article

This is my DPS article, and I've mimiced the bold effects I'm going to have on different parts to make it conventional and clear;

As Bolt trudges up the endless flights of stairs to the top-most studio apartment, in the building illegibly scribbled down onto our schedule, clutching our takeout Starbucks macchiatos for dear life, it really doesn’t feel like we’re about to meet a pop rock legend. We finally reach the door, give gentle rap, and there appears P!nk looking surprisingly perky for 7am on a Monday morning.

She invites us into the humongous loft apartment, temporarily rented from a friend while she polishes up her new single here in central London, where we can hear the faint sound of The Killers in the background. Obviously the catalyst of her luminosity, she also has the recent success of “So What” to thank. A bulky career, spanning 8 years, means P!nk is now infamously known for her kickass infectious pop infused with that trademark honest humour, showing she has the guts to say what everyone else thinks. Her outfit today certainly doesn’t disappoint in that respect. Teamed with boyfriend jeans, her plain white tee emblazoned with decapitated Ugg boots says it all…

Nice tee.
Yeah, I hate those god damn things! Why would anyone pay £200 for a f***** teddy shaped like a boot!? I think it’s ironic they’re made from sheepskin when they’re such a sheeple trend too.

Sheeple?
You know, sheep people? Everyone wearing the same thing, it’s just lazy fashion, people who have no creativity or originality, it’s just not what fashion’s about. Sheeple should be ashamed of themselves.

So, are you pissed it took you this long for a No.1, especially against the sheeple in the business?
Haha, not at all. Some artists never get one in their career so I feel pretty lucky really. I accepted a long time ago that not everyone thinks the same way as I do and because I don’t try and play it safe with my songs, it’s inevitable that there’s a club of P!nk haters out there.

You’ve called your sixth album Funhouse. Really? Haven’t you had a pretty rough year with your split [from husband Carey Hart]?
Well originally I wanted to called it “Heartbreak is a Motherf*****” [grins cheekily], but it’s definitely not just a break-up album. My metaphor for the title is the way I see life and love. I see them as a carnival, where the clowns are meant to be happy, but they’re really scary, and the carnival itself is meant to be fun, but is sometimes kind of creepy. But still, we go and we force laughter and buy cotton candy and strap ourselves tight into rides. That’s like life and love to me, the way they’re supposed to be fun but can sometimes be super scary. And the funhouse mirrors, that distort you so you can barely recognise yourself, and you ask yourself “How did I get here?” and “How do I get out?” but then you feel like you want to do it again, which is the same way I often feel about love and life. But I do openly admit some of the songs on Funhouse are about him.

We see Carey’s in the video for “So What”…
That was great because a lot of people were accusing me of being hypocritical and slagging him off in that song even though our split was fairly friendly, but after everyone saw the video they just shut the f*** up. Even better he had never heard it before we shot the video, he trusts me like that.

Would you say you’ve moved on from piss-take “Stupid Girls” style songs?
This album is my most vulnerable to date, but there still are those “I don’t give a crap what you think” songs like “So What” and “Bad Influence”. I’m not going to abandon the style I’ve made my name with, as it’s true to me and I’m not going to make a U-turn to fit in with anything else, like some other people, mentioning no names. But I have expanded my emotional horizons on a lot of songs, as I’ve never been afraid to expose my soul as well as speak my mind.

P!nk’s turning emo [sarcastic shocked faces].
Not happening! All that “music stops me self-harming” shit is overrated anyway. I put it in the same category as Ugg boots, size zero and McDonalds.

What would that category be?
Bullshit.

Writing my DPS Article

Instead of beginning with layouts for my DPS, I've chosen to write the article first because it's the main element to this part of my magazine. I used my research into individual articles and my summary to write a conventional interview, and hopefully my style of writing is professional enough. However, writing my own was slightly different to those in my research, as I'd only analysed those of bands not any solo artists, so I just adapted conventions accordingly to suit my article.


Because I didn't know quite where to start, I used various sources for inspiration. I used the Kaiser Chiefs interview for quite a lot of my writing techniques and to get the balance between chatter and music info right. I wanted to keep my answers very realistic, so I used the biography on P!nk's website to capture the essence, as I think had I just imagined stuff up, it might of got a bit too far fetched and ruined any professionality.

I'd already decided on a Q&A style as it's better for many reasons, as I predicted and then proved by my questionnaire. But on re-reading some DPS using that format, I noticed not all the questions were actually questions. Some were just statements the artist responded to, so I'll do this to add humour and stop the over-questioning feel which may seem a bit juvenile.

I started with conventional scene setting, which gave me a good foundation to start my actual questions. I gave the location, set the mood, some background information about the artist and a fairly random chattery topic (hatred of Ugg boots) which lead me onto the questions smoothly. I dropped in some popular culture language, like Uggs and Starbucks, which hopefully settled the reader into the article as they're good signifiers of current hegemonic interests at the moment.

After lingering around this light topic, I moved onto some talk about her new album, to represent that musical information side. I included a philosophical metaphor about the name of her new album, which hopefully isn't too deep but I'm hoping it'll help with personal identity and teach some readers a value, and won't have the aberrant reading of showing P!nk to be really weird. Risky though.

I asked some more music questions, combined with personal information, then veered to the social chatter side again with a sarcastic comment. I want to give the impression the article is longer and carries on, so I'll finish here for my double page spread.

I think I've managed to continue my house style in the writing, that blunt humour as used on my cover and contents, and it's helped by the statments, as I begin with the statement "Nice tee." in reference to P!nk's bold t-shirt. Also in class today, we did an exercise about carrying on house style in the DPS, and as my work was used as an example, I learned that the humour was part of my house style. I think I'll naturally make sure the look of my DPS incorporates my house style, obviously with the colours and a slightly unconventional layout, as I've had for my cover and contents.

I'll post my final article in my next post.