Gradual Production - Nicola's Front Cover

Step 1

I started the production of my front cover by editing my chosen picture. I used the quick selection tool in photoshop, to get rid of the background around my models so that the image would be the main feature of the page, i also brightened the picture slightly to avoid it looking too dull on the front cover of my magazine.

I then added the title 'VOLUME' across the top of the page in the font 'denial', which is the same font used for the title on Amys magazine, but i changed the colour of the font to tie in with my colour scheme which was going to be red, white and yellow. I chose this colour sceme as it complements the colours in the photo of my band, and also gives the impression that the magazine is for a slightly older audience. The matching font titles but differnt colours of our two titles makes our covers like two versions of the same magazine. The tagline 'turn it up' is also used on both magazines and is situated in the same place, also making our magazine covers have a similar look.

I also added a box across the bottom of the page, advertising what features were available in the magazine, without adding full titles for them. I feel this gives the magazine a modern look, and also makes it look as though there is plenty of value for money with in the magazine. I also added the box as i felt there was too much unwanted empty space towards the bottom of the image, which may make my magazine cover look a bit boring and unappealing.

Step 2

I then added the name of the band 'othersideup' onto my magazine cover. I decided to rotate the title slightly, as this gave the cover a more fun and playful feel, and also gave the impression that the girl was holding the title due to her hands being held up in the picture. I also changed the colours of the words to yellow, white then yellow which again ties in with the colour scheme and makes the title look more playful, as opposed to being all one colour, where it may have risked looking boring on the front of my magazine.

I also added a subtitle 'their first interview' under the name of the band, to give potential buyers of my magazine an idea of what the magazines main feature would be about. I wrote this subtitle in a bold red, to make it stand out, but made it smaller so that the name of the band would still be the main focus.

Step 3

I then started adding small subtitles along the right and left sides of the page, advertising smaller articles that would be available to read in the magazine. I wrote the main subtitles in red and then had a small introduction to what they were about underneath in smaller white writing. Again, these colours complemented my colour scheme, as well as making the titles stand out and appeal to potential audiences. I spread these titles out equally around my page, to avoid my front cover from looking cluttered, but also giving my cover a modern look.

In the bottom right corner, below the name of the band, i felt there was too much empty space, so i decided to add a competition advertisement. I added a small yellow circle on photoshop and then made it look translucent so the colour didnt look as harsh against the background picture. In red again i added a short sentence on what the competition was about.

Finally, I added small pictures relating to what each title was about on my front cover. I put these on angles next to each title, which again gave a fun feel to my magazine cover. They also gave my magazine cover a similar look to Amys, as she was also using small pictures next to her titles, aswell as a similar competition and relating picture.