Finished Cover

This my finished front cover for my music magazine. I am pleased with the outcome of my cover as I believe it looks attractive and unique, I also used the colour theme and font I had chosen to use in the planning stages which shows the planning of the cover was effective and worth doing.

I also believe the overall style of the cover shows that the music genre is rap/RnB, as the cover lines show various artists from those genres, and the clothes the model is wearing, as many RnB and Rap magazines I have read often use the artist in a suit, therefore I had my model wear a suit to follow the style of other music magazines with similar genres. It also matches the colour I wanted to use as its black and white, with the red text.

Current Progress Three

Continuing with the front cover I have played with the circle shape, I have repeatedly changed the fill and opacity of it as the text didn't look as clear, and the circle didn't stand out from the background. I have applied the gradient overlay but made it more transparent. I believe this is unique as other magazines use solid colours for shapes used on the cover. I also moved the text layer above the circle layer, therefore the text layer goes over the circle which makes it look more bold.

I then changed the angle of the headline text "I am the ed-master", I made the text straight as it fills the bottom half of the page and can be clearly read. Making the text straight also allowed me to insert one more cover line about "V festival line up announced", I had to fill the area of the bottom left as it looked bare and I believe the information on a festival is relevant to a music magazine.

I also used the clone tool to remove the reflection in the sun glasses, as the reflection showed me taking the photo, so I cloned the black area of the glasses and replaced the reflection with black.

Current Progress Two

This is the next stage of my front cover, as you can see I have changed the font and the circle since the last post. I have also added more cover lines to the page.

I began by changing the font from 'Legend M54' to 'Indy Pimp', I done this because the old font didn't look clear from distance, therefore it did not look as attractive as it could be, The 'Indy Pimp' font is better as its easy to read and the overall look of the font is nicer than the 'Legend M54' font. I kept the black and red colours the same to follow the colour scheme. The bigger text: 'JAY-Z', 'DEVLIN', 'PLUS' and 'I AM THE ED-MASTER' is a font called 'Jailbird Jenna', I used this font whilst working on my preliminary task and believe it is original and attractive, so I used it again for the Unique Selling Points on the cover. For all of the text used I use a drop shadow and outer glow, this is done so the text looks crisper and is easier to read for the target audience.
The main story 'THE ED-MASTER' has been tilted across the photo, I done this so that it shows it is the name of the music artist on the cover, and it stands out clearly from the cover lines. The text 'Jailbird Jenna' has had a drop shadow, outer glow and a stroke added to it.

I then changed the circle I had created previously, I tilted the circle and text within it so that it looks more attractive to the reader. From my research I have seen magazine covers that tilt the writing of some main points inside the magazine so that they can be easily seen by the reader. I tilted the circle as the 'Top 10 Albums Of 2010' would be an interesting story for readers as they can see what came first. I also warped the text, using the 'Arc' option, I believe this makes the text fit the circle more, and therefore looks more attractive.

Warping Text

I decided to warp the text in the circle, as I believe it makes the text fill the circle more than having it central.

I selected the text tool whilst I had the layer selected, and then selected the warp tool. I chose to use the 'Inflate' style and bend it 45%. I believe this is effective as it makes the text and ellipse look 3D, and it looks more attractive and original, rather than flat text.

I believe this style is effective as the circle/ellipse has been more filled with the text, and therefore the whole image stands out as the text is bold and pops out of the page. I also needed to use black and red as the text colour, because I tried using just one and it didn't look as vibrant.

Current Progress

This is the progress I have made so far, since changing the brightness I have made some progress.

I have added a strap line to the bottom of the page, I done this so I could include more music artists and add more colour to the page, I believe this looks good as the red and black go with the overall theme. I added a drop shadow and outer glow to the text so that it is clear from the red background. The strap line was created by using the rectangle tool, and then adding the text (Indy Pimp font) over the shape as a new layer.

I then added the circle on the top right, with 'top 10 albums of 2010' inside it. This was done by using the ellipse tool. I had the circle behind the text so it is clear to see, as it is a unique selling point, as the reader can see what albums were the best of 2010. After inserting the circle I added the effect of 'gradient overlay', this makes the background match the background of the whole image, I then changed the transparency so the text would be more visible, I also added a stroke to the circle to make it look more distinguished from the background.

I then added the issue number and price under the title, I believe this is an ideal place for it as it is easy to see, and gives me more space for the cover lines. I followed the effects with a drop shadow and outer glow as I want the text to look the same through out. I used different colours for this as it breaks the text up, and therefore its easier to see what edition number the magazine is.

The Title Construction

This is the title of my magazine; The Mix.

Once I had fixed the brightness to the right level, I created the title, I already had chose the font which is 'Hard Rock', so all I had to do was re-size it and change the colour to red. I then added effects to the text, these were: drop shadow, inner shadow, bevel and emboss (gradient overlay) and finally a stroke. I believe these effects make the title stand out from the black and white image as the text is boldly outlined and a vibrant red. The faded effect of the font is also effective as I believe it works with the rap scene, as it is rugged and unique.

Starting The Cover

To start with my front cover I had to change the brightness of the image, the original photo was dark and to change this I selected 'image', then 'adjustments' and finally 'brightness/contrast'. I increased the brightness to 50, I believe this looks effective as the cover will now look crisper and will be easy on the eye to target audiences.

Font Ideas

Before creating the front cover for my magazine, I chose some fonts that I like and believe will look effective for the magazine title. I tried to get a range of fonts as this therefore enables me to choose the most effective font type.
The font names are called:

• Jailbird Jenna
• Hard Rock
• Capture It
• Body Hunter
• A Bite
• Base O2

I like the style of the 'Hard Rock' font (2nd one down), this is because I think it will look effective on the black and white image, the font will be red. The faded text looks unique as I have not seen other magazines with this type of font on the covers. I also like the boldness of the font, as it will stand out from the cover photo and therefore will attract the target audience.

I also like the font 'Jailbird Jenna', I may use this for other components in my magazine, as it is unique and still easy to read.

Double Page Layout

For the double page spread of my magazine I will compose an interview with the artist. So on one page I will have the interview and title of the interview. The other page will show one photo, of how the artist used to live, this will contrast with the cover as it shows they have gone from poor to rich because of their music.

Below is a layout of the double page spread, I think it will look effective as the large photo will break up the pages, and the text will be in one block and easy to follow.

I may change this layout slightly, with the image in the middle of the double page, and the text wrapped around the image, this can be done using Indesign. I believe this may look more attractive and professional as many magazines wrap the text around pictures.

Contents Page Layout

For the contents page, I want to use a simple layout, with a photo on one side taking half of that side up, and the text on the other as well as below the picture. I think this style is simple and wont over-crowd the page, as when I read magazine contents pages I want to find the page I want quickly. The contents page will show where specific interviews and other music news is found within the magazine.

Below is the layout I like, as it can still be attractive and simple to read through for the target audience.

Front Cover Layout

Before creating my magazine cover, I need to create a layout plan. A plan of the cover will benefit me as when it comes to making the cover time will be saved as I will know exactly where I want certain cover lines and other text, I want the layout to be simple, as the colours used will stand out well and too much text will over-crowd the page.

Below is a rough layout which I believe can work for my magazine, the finished piece may look different to the layout plan, but to start with this is the layout of my magazine.

Contents Page Photos

I decided to use another model so I could place another photo on the contents page. I had to use a different model as having the same person in two photos on one page is not professional, and I have never seen magazines use the same artist twice on their contents page.

I had to take into consideration that my magazine is based on RnB and Rap music, therefore I had to choose a model I believed will fit the criteria, based on their overall image. Below are some photos I believe may work for the contents page.

Double Page Spread Photos

The double page spread in my magazine will show how the artist has gone from being poor, to rich as they have become famous. Therefore I wanted a dark shot that reflects a dark past, which differs from the brighter cover and contents page photos. I kept the black and white photos as it matches the theme as the cover and contents.

Below are some photos that I believe can work for the double page spread.

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Front Cover Photos

The magazine I am going to create is based on RnB and Rap music, I had to take this into consideration when taking photos for the cover as the model had to look like they were a RnB/Rap artist. I also had to have the picture in black and white as the colour scheme for my magazine is black, white and red.

Within these 5 photos, there is a front cover picture and also one that will be on the contents page.