P5

1. Experiments
Tamzin Twose

2. Process
Real Magazine My Magazine

3. Process
For my production experiment, I am recreating a magazine
cover to learn the conventions.
I created an A4 document in Adobe Photoshop. The first
thing I looked at was finding a similar background to the
one in the real magazine. I noticed the feature article was
based on river fishing so I tried to pick one of a river, with a
grass bank.
The next task was to replicate the feature image of the
man. I tried searching online for a similar picture, but I
wasn’t happy with the pictures I found so instead I decided
to cut him out of the main picture. I did this by opening up
the magazine in a new Photoshop document.
Using the quick selection tool I dragged the cursor over
parts that I wanted to select and then copied the selection
and pasted it into my magazine document. The real
magazine image is a smaller resolution than I had hoped so
when pasted the image it was small. I used the scale tool
to make it bigger which may affect the quality, so when
creating my real magazine I will ensure that I have images
in the correct resolution.

4. Process
After copying and pasting the selection into my
document, the picture was left with parts of the
real background that I didn’t want in my picture so
using the eraser tool I removed any unwanted
edges and then using the smudge tool I tidied up
the edges to make them blend more and look
smooth.
In retrospect, I probably would have been better
using the polygonal lasso tool but, being new to
Photoshop, I didn’t notice this tool until later in my
experiment.
I couldn’t replicate the image under the barcode,
but I realised by leaving it in, I could easily see
where the barcode needed to be placed and the
details needed.

5. Process
With my background added and feature image in place, I recreated the two selling lines. I did this using the rectangle
tool. I then used the colour picker on the real magazine to pick out the orange colour for the bottom rectangle.
Now that I had these in place I could create the masthead.
For the font I used Franklin Gothic Heavy. This was slightly different to the original sans serif font, but it was the
closest one I could find and actually worked really well. For the “improve your” text I changed the font to Franklin
Gothic Demi as this was still bold, but not as bold as the heavy font. I also altered the tracking to bring the characters
closer together and the leading to bring the separate text lines closer together.
Because the background image was different to the original, the sky in the image was too cloudy which caused the
headline to blend in. I noticed in the real cover the headline had a slight emphasis around the edges. To recreate this,
I added a contour and a drop shadow. This made the title much clearer and made it stand out from the background
image.

6. Process
For the barcode, I placed a white rectangle over the existing box, using the rectangle tool. I then found
a picture of a similar style barcode and inserted it in to my document by dragging and dropping it. I
used the scale tool to resize it and make it smaller to fit within the rectangle.
I created the gold rectangle, and coloured it by picking the colours from the real magazine. I gave it a
gradient, by picking one the orange, yellow, orange gradient and changing the colours o match the
original. Using the text tool, I added the date, price and issue number. I had to make these up as the
quality of the real magazine image wasn’t very good which caused the text to be blurry.

7. Process
Next, I added in the plugs at the top of the page. I did
this by created a rectangle using the rectangle tool for
the top left corner. I used the skew tool to rotate it
and edited the corner radius to create curved corners.
I created the circle using the ellipse tool and then
coloured them both in red, by picking out the colour
from the main magazine using the colour picker tool.
I then added in all the text for the plugs and he top
selling line using the text tool and set the font to
Franklin Gothic Heavy and then adjusted the leading
and tracking.
For the bottom plugs and selling line, I duplicated the
top left rectangle and scaled it up to create the
bottom left plug. I then added in all the text using the
text tool. For the picture of the fish, I found an image
online and using the polygonal lasso tool I selected
around the part of the fish that I wanted to select. I
then copied and pasted it into my magazine
document. I used the skew tool to angle it downwards
slightly, and then using the clone tool, I filled out
parts of the fish that were missing so that it went up
to the edge of the red rectangle. I’d gone over the
edge slightly so I used the polygonal lasso tool to
select the parts that ran over the edge of the
rectangle, that I didn’t want, and deleted it. This
created a perfect straight line.

8. Process
Finally I added in the feature article, sub heading and kickers. For the main headline, I
used the Franklin Gothic Demi sans serif font. Using a ruler and guide, I lined it up
with the masthead as this is a common convention of magazine covers.
For the subheading and kickers I changed to the Calibri font. I set the sub heading
“Tie Perfect Carp Rigs” to bold but the rest I set to regular.
I added in three small squares and inserted an image of a red tick which I duplicated,
so that I could recreate the kickers. Using the ruler and guide I ensured they were all
lined up correctly.

9. Process
When I’d finished adding in all of the elements of my magazine cover, I realised that because I had to use a different
background to the original, the text colour didn’t contrast well. I tried adding a highlight to the subheading “Tie
Perfect Carp Rigs” but then I realised that they hadn’t done this on the original magazine. I could have altered the
contrast of the background, but I feel that because it was a cloudy scene that this would make the image look dull
and unappealing.
Instead I searched online for another image to use for the background. In doing this the text was now readable and
contrasted well. If I hadn’t been recreating the other magazine exactly, I would have tried another font colour.

10. Reflection
• What elements of your experiments will you
include in your final product?
– In my final product I will use a large central image, with an appealing relevant
background image. I will use a clear masthead in a large sans serif font. I will
include subheadings and kickers in smaller font sizes, relating to other articles
that might be within the magazine.
– I will use a consistent colour scheme throughout my cover and ensure that all
the elements of my magazine are lined up correctly. I will create coloured
boxes to emphasise plugs for the magazine.
– I will ensure that my colour scheme contrasts well with the background image,
in order for the text to be readable and appealing to the reader.
– I will ensure my magazine cover has a barcode, issue number, date of issue
and price to follow legal requirements.