There’s a lot of bad design in here, but if you poke around you can find that there are some good examples using grids and more thought out design.
This has a few examples as well, but mainly just single pages or spreads.
And there are a quite a few good examples on Behance as well.
I will say @Smurf2 had good advice about starting with sketches first. Do not just jump right to the computer.
Magazine Comp Assignment
Use the content you choose in the Magazine Concept to layout a magazine article—two spreads (four pages) in length or longer—in full color. Work according to the specifications below to help you follow the principles of good designs and layout.
To help you as you design, here are some things you consider: You may cut the text down to be around 800–1000 words. You may decide if you’d like parts of the text to serve as a lead, pull quotes, or as a sidebar (if you choose to have one.) You may move around elements like the title and the author’s name that aren’t part of the body text. You may use the images provided or find images of your own; in either case, you are responsible for their influence on the design. Think of your first spread as a cover. You might include quite a bit of text (like on a back cover) and you may include no body text at all but the main purpose is to grab attention. Concept is as important as ever.
Turn in
(Every file/folder should be label like this: LastName.FirstInitial.P3, ex. Johnson.C.P3)
Compressed folder containing:
Packaged InDesign Document
PDF
Requirements
5 - Magazine design worksheet (See directions below)
5 - Includes the following document elements
An opening “splash” spread with headline, byline, and lead or deck. (It can also include some body text.)
Secondary spread of body text and images
At least two photos with captions and proper text wrap
Consistent column grid
Pull Quotes
Page Numbers
A dingbat at the end of the article (to show it’s done).
10 - Concept
35 - Design (5 each)
Proximity
Hierarchy
Alignment
Contrast
Repetition
Typography
Works for Target Audience
5 - InDesign Technique
10 - InDesign Styles & Master Pages
Create a paragraph styles for any repetitive elements and apply properly to the document
Use character styles as appropriate to style words inside paragraphs differently
Put any elements that might be repeated elsewhere in a complete magazine on a master page (including columns and other guides) and apply it correctly
5 - Copyfitting (According to the instructions in Lesson 15)
Comments:
Please write your concept in the Magazine Comp Comments (whether you changed it or not) as well anything you’d like to let the instructor know about your design.
I think this is a part of the brief you need to pay more attention to, to get a good grade. Right now your first spread does not look like a cover at all.
Another thing I just noticed after looking at the brief and your work again, is that “in full color” does not mean “everything needs to be colorful”. In full color means that the print would not be black and white only, but that photos would be printed in whatever color they are. If you chose this blue background because you are worried that a white background is not fulfilling the “full color requirement”, then you are misinterpreting this requirement.
Silly little anecdote: I had an art teacher once who gave me bad grades for pictures with a white background because I was just painting on the white page, leaving much of the page “empty”. Once it sank in what he was after, I just painted a first coating of white on the page before I started my painting on top of it. The teacher had to laugh and gave me an A+ later.
What strikes me about that brief straight off is that if it were anywhere close to a live brief, you’d be given the subject and almost certainly a magazine title and, more importantly, a target readership, which, in itself, fundamentally governs the approach you’d take.
As the brief doesn’t state this, that’s where I’d be starting. Decide on your demographic and research other magazines aimed at this readership. Build a picture of the readership and design for them.
This is the part that worries me - is this brief a competition? Or is it Magazine Composition Assignment?
Either way - start in black and white text - and add colour later. I wouldn’t be too concerned having a solid colour background at this point.
Even googling some ideas can drive inspiration - https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk039WdNd75AReVik0cp8PP6KkPA_SA:1609671754989&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=best+magazine+design+layouts&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwigv6TJzv_tAhVyu3EKHXWXBNgQjJkEegQIAhAB&biw=1258&bih=590
You are a person after my own heart! Kudos for that stroke of genius!
Rules and everything aside, your first & second attempt don’t at all grab my attention. That said, the content itself isn’t something that I would normally want to read, but if you could visually make this look interesting, I would likely stop and read a bit of the article before flipping to the next page.