Final Front Cover

Third/Final Front Cover Progression

After my second attempt at creating a front cover, I decided once again to change my style. In order to start this front cover I inserted both the skyline, footer, masthead and the main image.

This is because these are parts of the magazine that need to be placed so that the rest can be arranged around them. You can see that the main image also has a drop shadow inserted, which was used to make it stand out off the page and therefore become more of the main focus that it would have been. I also made the footer slightly transparent so that the main image was not totally covered and give the impression that the information placed in the footer is more important. The masthead is slightly covered by the main image as I have noticed this is many magazine front covers in my research and therefore took that idea and used it in mine. The logo of the magazine is also used next to the masthead so that I can refer back to it and use the logo throughout the magazine rather than using the full masthead.

In order to create the footer and the skyline I had to create a rectangle shape and then change the colour to the same pink that I had featured in my masthead, using the eye-drop tool. I then made the footer slightly transparent by changing the opacity.

The next step I took was to add text into both my skyline and my footer. These are very conventional for this part of a magazine as they display USP's that my target audience would be very interested in. I also added space where I would plan to add images within the footer and also the bar code alongside the date and price. These features are also extremely conventional as it is what stores need in order to ensure sales but also for the audience so that they know how much the magazine costs and what edition it is/whether it is up-to-date.

I chose to keep the price and date quite small so that it would not take up too much room and allow less space for the main stories and more images - as this is what my target audience is most interested in looking at.





I then added my main story headline. I placed a transparent banner over the top of the main image so that the audience then know that the text covering this image is relevant to the image itself. I then used a different font ('French Script') as opposed to the one used in the rest of the magazine ('Impact') so that it stands out and demonstrates it's importance. I also used more yellow so that it stands out more against the pink and black.

Then, I added my images and the text that is relevant. As you can see some of my images have a pink box with a drop shadow used behind them, similar to that of which I used for my main image. This is so that the images stand out of the page when surrounded by the amount of text that I have placed on the cover.

The features I have chosen to use are conventional stories that audiences would find on a pop magazine. I have added an element of gossip, bands, solo artists, star style, tickets and freebies as a way of giving my target audience a variety of different features to choose from. Also, I have placed these headlines and images around the main image so that the image is still central on the page and the main focus along with its headline. There are a few banners and text that cover small parts of the main images but the face of the model used and the clothes she is wearing are still very visible, which I thought would be the main idea behind the layout.




After looking at my front cover I felt as though something wasn't quite right. This was due to space that had been left on the left side of the page on the pink banner I had created for my headline.

In order to fill the space, I moved my headline text around. There is now very little space left on the page and so I now feel it looks a lot more professional than it did before.

Front Cover First Draft

Magazine Progession

The first step towards making my final magazine front cover was to choose my colour scheme. I chose to work with pink, green and white as they are quite feminine colours and so will attract my target audience and also because they work well together.

I also chose my masthead within this part of creating my magazine. I chose this specific text because the layout of it looks very feminine and will attract younger audiences, as older audiences will be looking for something more sophisticated or at least  a bit more stylish.

My next step was adding my main image. I chose this image because the model looks very happy which suggests a happy and fun tone for the magazine. The white flowers on the floral dress were also used to give the connotations of innocence for the model.

While adding this image I also adjusted the levels and brightness of it. This is so that it doesn't look dull and stands out against the white background. It also makes the entire page look more colourful and adheres to the needs of the pop genre.

For this image I also had to remove the background, I used the quick selection tool to do this without having any rough edges. I then went around the model with an eraser with the opacity ranging between 20%-30% in order to give her a softer look against the masthead and any other possible text I will be using later on.

After I had gotten my main image at a standard that I was pleased with, I began to insert some of my text. I started with the skyline and footer text.

I inserted two USP's that may attract my target audience, as younger girls will always be interested in freebies and also the 10 most popular albums of 2014 may attract them too because they are in the era that downloading music is extremely popular and so they will need this information.

The text I used is bold Impact. I used this because it stands out a lot against anything else, it is simple but also very effective in the way that it gets the audience's attention. I also stuck to my colour scheme while creating these to make it look organised and professional.

I then started creating my feature stories. The main story was added first as I knew that this needed to take up most of the room on the page and so I added it first so that all other texts would be placed according to this specific text.

I changed the colour scheme slightly on this text by adding the colours yellow and red. This is so that this article in particular stands out against the rest of the text that will be on the cover later on. This emphasises it's importance to the magazine, rather than just relying on the size of the text.








After a lot of deliberating I decided that this layout would not work for the effect I wanted to have on my audience. This is why I decided to completely change the layout and colour scheme. The following is the process of creating my first successful draft.

The first step I made after beginning to create my second attempt was to insert my footer, skyline and masthead. I also decided on my colour scheme, which is pink, black and white. I chose these colours as pink helps to determine the audience of this magazine, black has been used as it is very dominant and powerful against other colours and so will help my features to stand out, and white has been used because it is quite plain and so would not clash with colours within possible images I may use and also fits well with the other colours in this scheme.

 I then inserted my image. I did this before anything else so that I know where to put my stories in relation to the placement of the image. This is so that there will be no text clashing with the image and will therefore make it less cluttered and look more professional.

The dress my model is wearing has been chosen because of the white floral pattern which matches the colour scheme well and also because the flowers on her dress connote the idea of innocence and gives the audience an idea of what the article inside will be about or at least the type of article it will be.

While adding this image I also adjusted the levels, this was so that the photo would not look dull or boring and would stand out against the vibrant pink I have chosen to use.

For this image I also had to remove the background, I used the quick selection tool to do this without having any rough edges. I then went around the model with an eraser with the opacity ranging between 20%-30% in order to give her a softer look against the masthead and any other possible text I will be using later on.

After placing my image in a place that I found suitable enough for a front cover, I inserted the skyline and footer text.

I inserted two USP's that may attract my target audience, as younger girls will always be interested in freebies and also the 10 most popular albums of 2014 may attract them too because they are in the era that downloading music is extremely popular and so they will need this information.

The text I used is bold Impact. I used this because it stands out a lot against anything else, it is simple but also very effective in the way that it gets the audience's attention. I also stuck to my colour scheme while creating these to make it look organised and professional.

I then started creating my feature stories. The main story was added first as I knew that this needed to take up most of the room on the page and so I added it first so that all other texts would be placed according to this specific text.

I changed the colour scheme slightly on this text by adding the colours yellow and red. This is so that this article in particular stands out against the rest of the text that will be on the cover later on. This emphasises it's importance to the magazine, rather than just relying on the size of the text.

After inserting my main feature article, I then started inserting the rest. All the text fits in with the colour scheme of pink, black and white and the only bit of text which strays from the rest of the text is a band name which has been written different to allow my audience to recognise them. 

Magazine Photoshoot

Images That I Liked

The images above are the shots I had taken in my photo shoot for my magazine front cover. These particular images are the shots I had grouped together because I found them successful in what I was trying to achieve. The model in all of the photos is smiling, which is what I wanted as a way of giving the connotations of happiness and allowing my audience to understand the tone of this magazine.

Masthead Font Choices