2. The first thing I did when starting the front cover is to choose my image and edit
it. I edited in Photoshop which I have a bit of experience with as I use it in
photography to edit digital photos. I then renamed it ‘Front cover photo’ so that I
would not get mixed up when putting it into InDesign.

3. Then I created my Masthead and magazine name text. In research I have gone through the
different names that I came up with and settled with ‘Assault!’ which works well with a genre
where other magazines are called ‘Revolver’ and ‘Metal Hammer’. I found the font on Dafont,
then downloaded and edited and tweaked it to look like this in Photoshop. As you can see the
background is not there (shown by the chequered grey and white in most software) so that I
can add it into InDesign without the background. This also meant I had to save it as a ‘.PNG’
file instead of a ‘.JEPG’ file (standard picture file type).

4. I opened InDesign and started to put my Front page together. First I adjusted the width and height of both
the page and the picture to the ‘mm’ above. Then I added the background picture in, but before I did that I
had to make a copy of the image in Photoshop and crop it to just the middle persons outline. By doing this
I could overlay it on the original image and over the top of the masthead and create this 3D effect. Then I
added the pre made masthead and adjusted it the right size to fit nicely.

5. This step added a complication to the so far easy process of production. I wanted to use this text font
for the band name, but because of the differing colours of the image I would not work in black or
white, and that was my colour scheme. I tried overlaying both black and white, and changing the
colour but I would not work. I looked back on some of my research for inspiration and realised that
on the front cover the band names are in normal font of the magazine, so I didn’t need a very fancy
and unique font for this section of the task.

6. I decide to go for this text, which looks out there but is still legible. For the
problem with the image and the text colour I easily sorted it by putting a white
box around it, which I think adds to the whole appeal of the cover. I also added a
black ‘blood splat’ that I created on a Photoshop-like program called Sumo Paint.

7. For all of the magazines I looked at they all had a free posters advertisement on
the front of the magazine. I had this on my plan so I added it in as I planned it. I
made the ‘fade to black’ around the images in Photoshop so that they looked
realistic and imaginative.

8. I also added a article plug as many most magazines have at least one if not more. I
didn’t have much space and I didn’t want to clutter the cover.

9. So I had added all of my separate bits to the front cover including the footer of
band names at the bottom and the issue and price. Now I waited to get feedback.

10. Feedback:
• Very suitable colours and a good
composition. Its quite hard to read
the footer of the other bands. I
also like the poster pictures, they
look very realistic.
• Suitable images and fonts that
match the genre of metal/punk
rock. Possibly too much white
behind the text in some places.
• The cut out of the front guy is
pixelated and shows up clearly
that is cut out.
• Masthead and images suit the
genre very well. The fonts work
well and are clear to read.
The two main problems that came up was the fact that the footer text was hard to read , and that the
middle persons cut out wasn't cut out well enough and was pixelated. For the footer, I tried making it easier
to read but without making it too big or compromising the font that runs the cover I cannot change this
aspect. And for the cut out part I did feather it slightly but I did not see it as a big problem as his hair is very
dark and it blends into the masthead anyway.

12. To start my contents page I created these two banners that include the title of the
page and ‘this week in Assault’. I put these in a bright colours so that they are
highlighted and stand out on the page but at the same time I kept with the font
from my front cover linking the pages together. I added the black splodge over the
sub-heading to make it more interesting and stand out from the others.

13. This is the main body of text in on the contents page and actually shows the
contents. The first thing I did was to make the sub headings and the lines down
the page. Then I created the numbers which I had to do individually on Dafont
and then place onto the document. The text was easy to do and fitted into the
space quite well and did not bulk it out. The album cover I actually created in
The online software Sumopaint, and then placed onto my InDesign document.

14. I had a slight problem when it came to number ‘31’ as the black splodge that
made the contents page unique and more interesting made the black writing hard
to read, I then had to make the text white with a black outline so you could read it
on the white of the page and the black of the splodge.

15. I then finished of My contents by added the main image to the top of the
magazine like in Kerrang. This image I took when I went and saw Biffy Clyro live
and so would work very well in my rock, metal and punk rock magazine. I then
added the article tag so that readers new who the image was of and what page It
was on.

16. Feedback:
• Really like the image you have used
and the font. You could make the
sub-headings bolder so the really
stand out.
• I really like this as the picture is
good and the colour scheme works
really well. I think that the white
text in the corner stands out too
much compared to the others,
maybe get rid of the splodge and
then make it black like the others?
• Contents page text box is too large.
Layout of page numbers should be
modified. Subheadings too large.
• Link really well to the front page
with the type of image and the
colour scheme. It is very well set
out except for the splodges as I
think they make the writing near
them too hard to read. Otherwise
excellent!

17. I think the feedback was very good for
this piece of work and reassured me
that I am on the right track. The main
concerns were the black splodges on
the page and the size of the sub
headings.
I think without the black splodges the
contents page would be too boring!
The splodges make it more fun and
interesting and I do not think that 31s
writing stand out too much as its
small. Also magazines always miss out
letters or cover them up like in the
‘This week in Assault:’ in front covers
they are almost always going over the
masthead. My magazine is a running
thing (hence the issue 4) not a new
one which means that the people that
buy it would know what it says
anyway. And for the sub headings I
got a feedback saying that its too small
and one saying they are too big, so
they average themselves out.

19. Original image
Edited image
I needed a suitable image for the double page spread that has enough space
around it for the text and has a gradient side that fades to black so that the text
can be a solid colour. I experimented with the white side but in the end chose to
go dark and the left side on the image. I created the fade to black in Photoshop
and saved the image as a different file just in case I needed the original image.

20. I then added the body copy, by-line, drop capital, and the header to the main
spread. I encountered a problem that I had to much content to fit on my double
page spread without losing the effectiveness of the image so I made another page
to add on as extra content. I created the typewriter –like font by getting the font
off Dafont then deleting the background in Photoshop.

21. For the third page I made it quite basic but still as good as the previous page. I
edited this image in Photoshop by sharpening it and increasing the saturation to
really bring out the colours, I also made the bottom and the sides fade to black so
that the white text could be fitted onto it easily.

22. For the main body copy of this page I shaped it around the image so that it stayed
in the black but also looked more fitting with the image. I also added page
numbers to my pages.

23. After adding tweaks to all three of the pages, I decided it was time to get feedback
on my double (triple) page spread. I used the same method for my other feedbacks
but I chose the people instead of having random people as they were the best at
giving constructive feedback.

24. Feedback:
• Make the ‘T’ on page 24 a drop capital, also I cant read your name under the subheading.
• I cant read the sub heading properly. I like the way that the article doesn't disrupt the
image.
• The ‘They’ at the beginning needs to be the same size as the rest of the body copy on that
page(but leave the ‘T’ big). I cant quite read the sub heading so you could make it bigger.
• I cant read the sub heading very well. Also the title is too small and should not have the
white background. Nice background image. The article seems quite long and page three
does not stand out.

25. I think this has been the best feedback of my three productions and has really helped me
change the thing that need to be changed.
Firstly I used the advice of making my name bigger so that its was legible. A lot of my feedback
wanted me to make the subheading larger an so easier to read, but I think its perfectly legible
and it could not go any bigger without losing the quality so a kept it the same. I tried changing
the background colour on the title to transparent but as you can see above, it does not stand out
enough so I changed it back to the original. Also I thought that the third page was boring and
bland so I added a pull quote to make it more interesting and keep the reader hooked.