Magazine Advert Photoshop Drafts - A Comparison

After creating two versions of my, I thought doing a comparison, showing how I feel about each draft would be useful in deciding which one I will use to progress with.

My first advert draft I originally thought looked very good. I liked the typeface choice, as I thought it both matched my genre and layout, and thought the colour scheme fitted it well. I also thought the background that I chose to use was fairly conventional, as dark colours are often associated with the indie genre. The quote positioning I felt was good as it included a range of quotes, without needing too much space that could be otherwise used more effectively. However, the big space in the middle I didn't think was very appealing. I tried inserting a number of images here, including a picture of my CD, and the image that is used on my second draft, however neither of them looked particularly good with  the colour scheme I chose, which is the main downfall with this product.

My second draft, uses a full bleed image, the same as that which I plan to include on my Digipak, which is conventional for my genre, and also gives  an image to the album. I used the same font, however I changed a bit of positioning, and the colours as the colours I had originally chosen did not fit well with the image I had. I also chose to add a date so the reader will know when the album is out, adding to its practicality. Although there is space in the middle again, I feel that this works as it allows a bit of space to look solely at the image, and due to the full bleed, this part does not look plain.

Whilst both copies are drafts, I must choose between one of them on which to continue my work on. Personally, I think I prefer my second draft, as it looks much more processional and helps to promote my CD better. However I will make sure to get some feedback before I make this decision.