Creating My Magazine Cover

1. ANCILLARY TASK -
CREATING MY MAGAZINE
COVER
A2 Media Studies

2. STEP 1 = PHOTOGRAPHS
Due to the issue Millie and I faced with our original photo files
becoming corrupted, Millie and I had little choice of photos as the IT
Technicians only managed to save a few. So I decided to meet up with
Ann myself and take a couple more photos of my own which I would
be able to potentially use for my magazine cover. I’ve written a blog
post detailing more about this.
A B C D E

3. STEP 2 = EDITING PHOTO
I decided to use image E as I believe it portrayed Ann as loving and kind,
just as she is in our trailer. I also liked the fact she was slightly laughing in
the photo which made her appear more relaxed and comfortable. After
choosing this photo I opened it up in Photoshop to make it look more
professional.
Firstly I had to crop the photo so it didn’t a white background when it was
eventually placed onto the magazine, which was going to be pale blue. I did
this by using the ‘crop outlining tool’;

4. STEP 2 CONTINUED
I then used a tool called ‘spot healing’ this is used to fill in gaps in a
photo, which I had accidently done when cropping the photo. So
instead of starting again and having to outline the photo to crop it
again, I used this tool which was a lot quicker and gave a great result.
BEFORE AFTERDURING

5. STEP 2 CONTINUED
After I had the image cropped to how I wanted and made sure it didn’t have any other
holes or gaps it in, I then needed to ‘smooth’ the edges and I did this by using the
‘smoothing’ tool and outlining the image of Ann. This tool is very easy to use and is
worth doing as it creates a more professional finish to the image. Although the
results from using this tool are minimal when so zoomed in, which is unlikely to be
noticed by a passing buyer, overall it creates a smoother and cleaner look.

6. STEP 3 = BACKGROUND COLOUR
I decided, like my film poster, to have a
gradient on my background. I chose to
do this because I felt it drew the
attention of the audience to the main
image, which would help it link with my
film trailer. I created this gradient on
Microsoft Word, using a rectangular
shape and choosing ‘gradient’ as the fill.
I then chose the colour I wanted and
chose where I wanted each colour to
start. I chose very similar colours as I
didn’t want the gradient to be too
obvious.

7. STEP 4 = MAGAZINE NAME
After doing all the necessary changes and edits to
the main image for my magazine cover I decided to
focus on the title. First of all I came up with a
selection of names; J'adore, Solo and Edge. I put a
message in a Facebook group chat to ask my friends
which they liked the most (pictured on the right). I
also ask a group of friends in my school for their
opinions which I recorded on my phone. I have
presented these results in a pie chart and posted
them in a separate blog post.

8. STEP 5 =TITLE FONT
After choosing the name of the magazine (J’adore) I needed to decide
on a font, I again choose three fonts and then asked some friends
during a free period at school which font they thought best suited the
name/trailer. I also made a separate blog post for the results of the font
choice.

9. STEP 6 = TITLE COLOUR
After collecting the results from the font choice and ‘Work In Progress’
being the chosen font, I then copied this font into Photoshop and started
to mess around with the colour and size. I decided that I wanted the title
to be pink which would link well with the romantic aspects of the trailer,
as pink has connotations of love and romance (the orange background is
just so I could see where the white image ended).

10. STEP 6 = TITLE COLOUR
CONTINUED
After getting the colour correct, I needed to use the ‘magic wand’ tool
which selects pixels in a image by colour and tone, so I could click on the
white background and it would select it all and I could then easily delete it.
I then had to click on the inside of each letter with a hole, as it only selects
the parts that are joined. After this I could place the title on the top of my
magazine cover.

11. TITLE SO FAR…

12. STEP 7 = TITLE EXTRAS
The Ribbon
I decided I wanted to add something to the title of my magazine and I
came up with the idea of a ribbon. So I went onto google images and
found a pink ribbon which I copied and pasted into Photoshop. I had to
crop the ends of the image as they had arrows on the each end of the
ribbon, which I didn’t want on the magazine. So I cropped it and then
used the smoothing tool to create the professional finish.

13. STEP 7 = TITLE EXTRAS
The Heart
I decided I also wanted to add a love heart to my logo to again play on the
romantic side of my film trailer. So in Photoshop I drew a love heart with
the ‘drawing’ tool, which I then filled in a pink which matched the pink of
the magazine name, using the colour spectrum Photoshop give you:

14. STEP 8 = WRITING
Next I needed to add text to the cover, this would consist of catchy
headlines, in a range of different fonts in order to grab the attention
of a potential reader. I created these by using the ‘text box’ button
on Photoshop and drawing where I wanted to type, then highlighting
the text to change the font and colour when I wanted to. Here are
some I created…
I decided to
write this one as
it linked well
with the plot
line of the film,
as the
protagonist is a
victim of online
bullying.
I decided to include an
‘exclusive interview’ as this
will always catch someone’s
attention, due to it being
intriguing and special. Saying
that the experience was ‘eye-
opening’ also helps portray
our message, that cyber
bulling and homophobia is
real and is a current issue in
society.

15. STEP 9 = PRICING
After creating the main body for my magazine I needed to add the
smaller details, one of these was the pricing. After researching a
couple magazines I found that popular ones such as ELLE and
Cosmopolitan cost around £3. However my magazine isn’t a famous
or well-known so I decided to price mine much cheaper at £1.50. I
then went onto google images and found a barcode which I cropped
and placed onto my magazine cover, in the left hand corner, and just
above the barcode I put a price.

16. STEP 10 = DATE
I lastly decided to add date onto the magazine, as in my initial research I
found this was very common. I chose February due to the link with
Valentines Day and romance and our film was also due to be released in
February so thought bring out the two at the same time would be a good
idea as it could help increase interest and buzz around the film. I wanted
to use a simple font as I didn’t feel it was necessary to make the font
look fancy or ‘fit to the theme’, I believed the date was put on the cover
for convenience so I kept it simple and bold.

17. STEP 11 = TITLE ADDITION
After completing my magazine cover, while looking at it I thought it
was missing something which is when I decided to add a ‘reverse
shadow’ effect to the title. To this I copied the title I currently had
and changed the colour of it to a lighter pink and then positioned this
behind and slightly to the left of the current title on the magazine
cover. This added another layer to the cover and made it look a lot
more professional and interesting.

18. FINAL MAGAZINE COVER
Here is my final magazine cover…