This document provides an evaluation of a magazine cover designed by the student for their final project. They compare their initial cover design to the final design, noting similarities like font choice and color scheme. Strengths discussed include the high quality photography achieved through a professional studio shoot. Weaknesses include a lack of additional photo options due to time constraints. The intended and actual color schemes are analyzed. Inspiration magazines are shown that influenced the simple, neutral aesthetic adopted for the cover design. Overall this evaluation reflects on design choices and provides insights for future improvements.

1. PRINT RESEARCH
Abi Willis

2. This cover has a large picture of a
very well known celebrity which
has clearly been taken for the
purpose of the magazine. It is very
simplistic as it only features the
one photo on a white background.
The image is very controversial as
she stands there hips upward
naked with only a large fur hood
around her head. Her arms are
covering her decency but I feel like
this photograph is very effective.
As this magazine is seasonal, the
title looks rather autumnal with
leaves and trees within the font.
One thing which is very
uncommon for a branded
magazine is for them to change
the font of their title for different
spreads but this is one thing that
Love do. Every magazine that
comes out the title font is
different. The font also goes down
in size as you read down the cover.
The colour’s which are used are very
feminine and bright. They are clearly
aiming this towards their target
audience to women aged around 18 –
25. The colours stand out because
they change and alternate drastically
on the white background. At the
bottom of the magazine there a few
small flowers varying in colours and
some light purple star looking shapes
around the hood of the celebrity.
Personally I feel that the cover to this
magazine is really affective due it not
being over packed and cramped.
Obviously within the magazine there
is a lot of content varying between
images and articles but from the
cover it looks very simple. Love
release 4 of these magazines a year so
they are a lot thicker than the average
magazine but it is very rare that there
is a lot of writing on the cover page.

3. This is the content of a double spread in a Love
magazine.
One side of the page is taken up by a large image of
one of the featured celebrities that they have
interviewed. The photograph taken has obviously
been taken for the purpose of the magazine as all
the colours including the background and the girls
makeup are all combined and work well together.
The contrast between colours is really
effective to the readers. The red lips
really stands out from the picture as it is
the brightest and boldest colour on
there. Even the shade of eyeshadow she
is wearing has a tinge of red to it which
links really nicely in contrast.
At the top of the article in the centre it states
the celebrities name, and the underneath
there is a brief preview in bold and below that
it states some of the assistant writers that
would of helped write that final article which
is below that. The article then starts at the
left again and there are three columns which
follows over onto the next page.
A lot of different shades of blue are used within this photo. The main
background which looks to be of a water substance varies in colour of
blue, even the roots of her hair look like they have a tone of blue to
them. Her eyes are a very bright blue and even the item of clothing
which you can just see on her shoulder is blue.

4. The layout for the Love website is as simple as the cover of the magazine. The home page is laid out on a white background
with different articles across the centre (similar to the magazine). There are different topics which readers can follow by
going on the website.
As soon as you go on the website a large Burberry advertisement that appears at the top and then follows by playing a video.
Burberry and Love have vey close links and do a lot of advertising together.
There isn’t a right lot of colour to the website as the background is white and the font is black. There isn’t any particular font
that standards out like the menu button for example. Below the Burberry advertisement it is just continuous articles that are
mainly about different stylists and fashion. The website definitely isn’t the most exciting but this simplistic look is the look
that they are going for as it looks very ‘artsy’.

5. The colours which have been selected for this magazine are
stereotypically very girly. There are a lot of different shades of pink.
These colours correspond with the background of the photograph and
the outfit/makeup which the celebrity is wearing.
The masthead is the name of the magazine which is in a salmon shade
of pink. Part of the text is covered by the celebrity’s head which implies
the magazine is very popular as customers would already know the
name and specific design of the magazine.
The writing and text bubbles are either black, white or pink which tie in
with the background image.
The main font which is used for cover lines are very similar if not the
same as the title. There are a lot of different headings around the
celebrity which indicates that there is a lot to read in the magazine and
these are just interesting snippets of what is inside.
The image which is used is a professionally taken photo of Ariana
Grande who is currently very popular in the music industry. Her
influence will encourage girls and women to purchase this magazine.

6. This double spread for
Cosmopolitan is very colour
coordinated. Clearly for they
are trying to find outfits that
revolve around the colour red.
These pages are trying to
guide and influence
women on what to wear
for this specific time of the
year. They are trying to
inform them on what is
currently ‘in’ right now
and where they can buy
similar outfits for usually
reasonable prices.
One of the two pages is
taken up by one single
image of a women
wearing all red on a grey
background which really
makes the picture
effective.The white background
with circle of red
clothing on there really
makes it stand out to the
reader.
Although most of
the pages content is
images of different
items of clothing
with small print
writing around.
There is a headline
in the centre of the
page which stands
out. ‘Statement
colour’ is informing
the readers that this
colour is very much
the colour which is
popular at the
minute.
The colours vary between
different shades of red and
they have even thrown in
some shades of pink which
are on a similar spectrum.
The font would
stereotypically probably
be classed as a ‘feminine’
font as it is very fancy and
curly.

7. This is the top of the home page for the Cosmopolitan website. At the top you can clearly see a banner with their name stated
in white on a colourfully starred back ground. Below that there is an options bar where you are able to select what you are
looking for on the website. If what you’re looking for you can’t see there then there is a search icon in the right-hand side.
Then below the search bar there are the top 5 stories from Cosmopolitan which you can click on to read the full article if any of
them interest you. Underneath the top 5 headlines there is then a new banner which is advertising Boux Avenue as it flashes
up that there is 50% off. This company is fairly relevant to Cosmopolitan as they will have similar audiences of women. It would
probably be a rather unsuccessful advert if they were advertising football boots or something which is perceived as ’manly’.
Then below that there is the biggest image of all, a photo of Ant and Dec with the jungle background. Already you know what
this is going to be about as I’m A Celebrity is a incredibly popular Television Show.

8. On this magazine cover there is a lot of different things going on. There is a lot
of different colours, fonts and images. Heat is a very well known and popular
gossip magazine so their masthead is just above the center of the page. More
commonly the name of the print is right at the top but on this issue there is 3
different stories at the top which they think will appeal to their audience. They
have the pictures of all the famous faces next to the preview so that straight
away just from a glimpse at the cover customers will know what is in there.
Kim Kardashian is a very popular figure in the media currently and there are
two images of her which take up over half of the cover. One of the photos is
clearly a paparazzi shot where she looks very glamorous and elegant. Next to
that image is a photo of her ages 14 which is not as flattering and you would
most not likely recognise her to be the very well known celebrity. There are a
few points which Kim has spoken to the magazine about which allures the
customer and makes them want to read more, this is a very good marketing
technique which the majority of magazine companies use.
First impression from the magazine is that it looks rather cluttered. There is a
lot going on which lots of different stories and colours. The word ’Heat’ is
normally red on every single magazine that they release but that is the only
red which is on the cover. There is a lot of yellow which is a very prominent
colour, but there is also a lot of white and pink text.

9. Red! Red is a very eye catching colour and there is just enough of it on this double spread. A red
banner at the top of the page and the word ‘Exclusive!’ highlighted in a red box below is very
striking.
Like the cover of this
magazine, this double
spread is very
crowded. There are a
lot of different boxes
which text in
overlapping photos
and photos
overlapping text.
Multiple
different
fonts have
been used to
make certain
phrases
stand out.

10. This is the home page for Heat’s website. It structure looks very basic, not like the magazine at all. At the top of the screen there
is a advertisement for Mitsubishi with the option of entering a competition. Below this there is then a options bar which
features their different categories if you’re browsing then all forms of their social media next to them. Underneath the bar there
are multiple articles which you are given the option to click on when scrolling over. As it is a celebrity gossip site that is what the
majority of content is so they post pictures of the celebrity that they are speaking about with often a catchy heading to try and
persuade you to read.

11. Bibliography
http://www.thelovemagazine.co.uk
https://issuu.com/smadardvora/docs/cosmopolitan_uk__october_2017
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/

18. PRODUCTION RESEARCH

19. This is my first attempt at
designing an article on InDesign.
I chose the size of the image
boxes and text columns.
I balanced my boxes out to scale
as if it were a real magazine
article and then put a couple of
different shaped images within
the text boxes to experiment
and try to broaden my
knowledge on the software.
The text I used was from a
website called Lorem Ipsum.

20. This is a double page spread I created after trying out the
software on the previous slide. The task we were set was
to make a double spread including pictures and text based
on a wedding theme. For every picture I got I had to size
up the rectangular shaped box on InDesign and then use
the same size measurements on a blank document on
Photoshop. I then had to edit my pictures on Photoshop
then transfer them to InDesign where they would then fit
in the boxes perfectly.
The grids on the first picture were put in place as
guidelines to make sure everything on both pages were
measured up correctly. I also used Lorem Ipsum on this
article so I could visualise my spread at it’s full potential.
This picture is the start to the second piece of work that I began to create on InDesign. We were given a
set about of grids which we had to follow which was 8x1. I thought about creating a clothes website so I
started getting images of different dresses for the dresses category on the website. Although I didn’t
finish it, I would’ve put text underneath each image with the name and price of the product.

21. After creating the double page spread we were asked to create a website of our choice. I started to make
two on two different websites, my first one was a makeup company which I made on Wix. I chose my
images online and placed all my pictures and text where I wanted to make it look like a professional
website.
The picture on the top is a screenshot of my home screen. This would be the first page on my website so
that when the link is clicked this would be the fist thing that the customer would see. It is very simple
but I feel like its affective as there isn’t too much going on and would appear user friendly (which are my
intentions).
The second picture is another page on the website which you can reach by clicking on the ‘What’s New’
option at the top of the home screen on the menu bar. This shows the three newest products which are
now available to purchase.
This is the second website that I created. I used the same name for both websites as a comparison and
they are both make-up related. It is still very simplistic as that is how I imagine my website for my final
project to look.

22. This is the cover that I produced on Photoshop. I got an image off the
internet which I used for my background picture of a model with
extravagant make-up.
I wanted to keep it straight forward without too much clutter and a lot
going on. I wanted to keep it simplistic as this is how I aim to do it for
my final project.
I tried my best to link all of the colours together as I wanted it to look
structured and organised.

23. IDEA GENERATION

24. BACKGROUND
IMAGE
MASTHEAD
TEXT
TEXT
TEXT

29. MY FINAL PROJECT
EVALUATION

30. COMPARISONS
On the left is my first attempt at creating a
magazine cover and on the right is my completed
cover. I wanted to make my final copy similar to
the one I first designed.
I decided to stick to having the colour fading
background and I chose similar colours just a little
bolder. The same applies for the title as it’s the
same font (Bebas Neue) but I just used it in bold as
there is more writing on my final piece so I wanted
it to stand out more.
On both covers I used relevant colours by using the
eyedropper tool on Photoshop. I took colours from
the makeup or the skin tone on the models to link
it to the font.
Prior to designing my first cover I knew that I
wanted to keep it simple and brief and that is what
I have attempted to do on both of them although
there is a little more detail on my final cover.
On my first cover the title goes over the models
head as it is a larger up-close image rather than on
my final piece where her hair just cuts in between
the letters and there is a lot more of her body on
show.

31. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
PHOTOGRAPHY
The photograph that I used on my cover was one which I had taken with a professional camera in a studio
with the right lighting therefore it is a high quality image. I knew what kind of model I had in mind to fit
the colours and theme I was going for. It required them to be of a slender build, fair skinned and dark,
long hair. Luckily one of my friends fit the criteria I was looking for. Sometimes on magazine like Heat they
often have paparazzi shots on the front and candid photographs. I am happy with the majority of pictures
I got although I wish I had got a few more different
shots if I had of had more time. That was a weakness
to my project that it was all a bit rushed for timing,
next time that would be something I would improve.
The photos that I have
attached are a couple of the candid shots that I got. I
took a few just in case they could be used, which in
fact I found a use for them on my website.

32. COLOUR SCHEME
Original colours intending on using:
Colours which were used on final cover:
The colours on the top line were the colours
which I intended to use while I was planning for
my final magazine cover. Overall I think I stuck
to the colours pretty well, as there isn’t many
different colours on there but the bottom line
are the colours which are most commonly
seen.
As this is a seasonal magazine and this specific
issue is winter I decided to keep it cool colours
with different shades of blue and purple. I feel
that these colours will appeal to my target
audience as they are calm and easy on the eye
which is the style I intended on going for. I
didn’t want to have any particularly bright
colours on my cover and if I did use a brighter
colour I turned down the opacity so it fit in
with the rest of my theme.

33. These are all the type of magazine covers that inspired me to create mine the way I did. Each one of them individually would draw the attention of a similar audience therefore the layout of them
are all very similar.
The LOVE and BAZAAR magazines are both very very similar in a few different aspects. 1) The colour – both magazines are very neutral and there is not a lot of bright colour to them but both of
them have a little bit of boldness on the model. The LOVE model has a red statement lipstick on which does brighten the page while the model on BAZAAR has blue eyeshadow on which also
draws attention. 2) Both covers have large titles at the top of the page but both of them have a couple of the letters partially blocked by the models. The company are able to get away with this
as the brand is so large and well known, customers know what to look out for when browsing. 3) Neither of the magazines have a lot on writing on the cover.
The second magazine, in the middle, MAKE-UP, is a lot more extravagant. There are a lot more colours which are very bright and eye catching and more text on the page.
My magazine has links to all three of the above. The first one as it a picture of the model with more of her body showing rather than a shoulder shot like the other two covers. On my cover you
can see to the hips, similar to the LOVE magazine. On the second magazine, MAKE-UP, there is more test on the cover compared to the others, similar to mine. There are different headings to try
and lure in the reader. Then the similarity of my magazine and the final one, BAZAAR, is the eye direction of the model. While the other two covers have both models looking directly at the
camera, mine and the model on BAZAAR are both looking away.