Front cover page development

Following the design plan of my mock up, I chose to go with the colour
scheme of blue, black and white as it received the highest votes from my
questioners.
I photo-shopped the featured model using a monochrome filter; changing the
light and density levels to highlight darker and lighter areas around her face
and clothes so that the reader gets a better graphic image of her strong body
language and tempestuous facial expression.
I chose a monochrome setting due to the colours working well with the
image of Sarah holding a guitar, as it gives off the feeling of strength and
rebellion which connotes to the chosen genre of classic rock of the magazine.
After adding the photo-shopped filters I saved it as a PNG, exporting it into
InDesign to start adding in the surrounding text of the cover-lines and
headline.
Using the mock up as a guide line I had a distinct idea of where I was going to
place or use as the cover and headline. The starting process to me was more
about understanding where each of the conventions of the magazine were
going to be placed, making them clear and visually noticeable, standing out
from the cover image, allowing the reader to view the text from up-close and
at a distance.

After doing some rearranging of the text I started to play with some of the
font style (using the idea of serif typeface from my mood board) to give the
cover lines an alternative, sharp look so that it connects with the theme and
vibe of the front cover page rather than using san-serif to which displays a
more casual and laidback appearance which doesnt reflect the genre of
classic rock.
Due to the background being black and white I changed the colour
arrangements of the text so that they didnt blend into the background. Even
though I changed the colour arrangements, some of the cover lines still
weren`t as distinguishable as the others so I tried highlighting the outlining of
the text in white or a subtle light blue to help extenuate the key features of
the magazine.
For the headline I enlarged and stretched the width, to ensure that it filled a
small portion of the top so that it is recognisable within the music genre and
what the reader may expect the content to be based around.

After playing with the cover lines and headline, I picked out a san-serif font
from the website Dafont that gave an alternative edge. Using the snip out tool
I saved the font and exported it to Adobe Photoshop where I created another
layer, using the effects of outer glow. The outer glow creates a decent spaced
border around the masthead, this helps draw attention towards the masthead.
Due to the backdrop being white, I felt that the cover lines features still didnt
stand out from the magazine so I did some more experimenting with other
colour choices for the outlining, I decided to try a darker navy blue, still sticking
with the colour scheme.
With the dark monotone cover image I thought that it might be too dark for
some of the text to show through, so I had a second try at uploading the same
image into photo-shop, but this time increased the level of the brightness with
the curve icon. In my opinion, I thought that it looked better as it showed more
definition and detail in the hair and clothes whereas increasing the darkness
took over and hid some of the aspects of the models features.

The part I focused on next was the main cover line. I didnt like where Id
positioned it at the start because I wanted it to be one of the main focus points
of the front cover. I decided on having it placed mid centre at the bottom third
of the magazine, to say that this is one of the prime features that has to be big,
nearly as big as the masthead.
I felt that the title features were taking up space and could be used for the
contents page instead. This allowed me to have more space to increase the
size of the font, which made the cover lines easier to spot and clearer to read.
Following with more rearranging, I wanted to fill in the space on the right hand
side using the cover line of Linkin Park.
Using the shape tool and text icon I made an advertisement using a free poster
to intrigue and grab the readers interest, making them feel that they`re going
to buy a magazine with compelling contents as well as benefits from receiving
a free poster.

Looking at the layout I still felt that the cover lines still didnt stand out,
therefore I tried the highlighting tool to create a bar across the white and blue
text that overlaps the white space. I felt this made it difficult to see, which
would make the audience uninterested. The readers need lines that are easy
to scan and read as well as having an attractive appearance whilst representing
the theme and genre.
With the main cover line I realised that it blended into the surrounding
background, making it hard to decipher along with the text underneath. To get
a more positive reaction from it I used the same effect that I used for the
masthead by exporting it to photo shop, where the effect of a blue outer glow
was added to the outskirt of the main cover line.
I also had the same problem with the puff (A gift that comes free with the
magazine) ,as it didnt have any character to help it protrude from the
magazine, therefore a brighter colour choice was opted for instead for the out
lining of the shape, to draw the attention inwards towards the puff.

During the hot desking I received positive and constructive feedback e.g. there
needs to be more variety of brighter colours, as well as comments saying that
the black highlighting didnt quite work with the other conventions of the
magazine. From this feedback it helped me realise where I needed to make
adjustments in order to take a step closer to creating my final front cover page.
Even though I got good feedback on my masthead, I didnt feel that the
calligraphy style font was what I wanted to represent the theme and genre of my
magazine, going back to my other selected font style (Mastodon). Using the snip
tool I exported the font to Photoshop where I added a 3d embedded layer that
looks like the masthead is projected out from the magazine. I wanted a shiny
effect from the interior of the black font, to make it appear as though the light
was reflecting off it. I kept the idea of the glowing background, but changed the
palette to a more energetic and lively colour, with the brightness increased to
achieve the bright level of yellow.
To me the advertising, freebie sign wasnt standing out enough therefore the
reader would not have taken much notice of the free sample off that hopes to
persuades the audience even more into buying the magazine, so I thought it was
more important to make the text have a yellow outlining, and by increasing the
font size of the words FREE, because that`s the main promotional area that
influences them in their thinking that they`re getting a good deal for their
money.
After taking the advice of my peers to add more colour, I started seeing a better
quality of range within the cover lines. However, the front cover image in my
opinion didnt fit with primary and white colours as the contrast of the
monotone and dull set up loses that feeling and appearance of a graphic rock
magazine.
To sort out this concern, I downloaded Photo Studio on my phone using the
collaboration of the two effect filters, (antique and folio). Thus creating a better
quality of graphic images that brings the presence of youthfulness to the models
features ( which helps connect with the intended target audience ageing from
the range of 16-19), but overall, it still keeps the impression of that retro,
alternative ambience that Im trying to capture, so that it links in with the genre
and theme.
I added the final touches in Photoshop with the curve tool; finding an even
balance between the level of brightness and darkness.
Looking at the differences between the masthead and main cover line, I felt that
that Metal Legion needed a new design to fit in with the other element. I
wanted there to be some similarities between the main cover line and
masthead to signify how Soundwave is endorsing the singer and band Metal
Legion by giving it the same uniform colour. Going back to Dafont, I chose a
style of font that has a heavy metal form called (Iron Maiden). The effect of
outer shadow was added, reflecting downwards towards the description
underneath.
With each of the band names I wanted variety in the font styles to represent
the differences, showing that they all have their own unique look, style and
persona, detonating through the boldness, style, size and colour in the coverlines.

The next set of feedback given from the tutor helped me realise the
importance of spacing between the paragraphs. The gaps between the
covers were set too far apart, so I went to paragraph to refine and tighten
the space within the paragraphs, creating relationship between the cover
line heading and description.

I was advised that the description underneath my main cover- line was too
long, therefore I took out the unnecessary bits of text which gave me extra
space to enlarge the main cover-line itself. This creates a bigger statement to
the reader.
This also allowed me to reposition the cover-lines on the right-hand side down
the page because I was planning on moving the free poster advert near the
top of the page, thus becoming one of the focal points of interest that will
entice the reader to buy the magazine.
The next element of construction was the barcode; for the barcode I went on
urban front where I made my own code. This was then copied and saved to
my files using the snip tool. The barcode was then uploaded to InDesign
where I added the other key factors of the date, issue and price.

Some of the bands didnt quite fit into the criteria of classic rock, so I replaced
Linkin Park for a more iconic rock band such as Dio.
I noticed the majority of bands were male so I needed to exchange some of the
Plus cover line bands (Pink Floyd and The Police) with Evanesce and Paramore
(female rockers).
I did some final editing of the spelling, paragraphs and columns to make sure
the structure of the layout was easy and clear to read.
With my final front cover project I uploaded and, posted the contents to my
blog.