The document discusses the design choices made for a horror magazine cover and poster. These included choosing a distressed font to fit the horror genre, using Photoshop effects like drop shadows and outer glows to make the text stand out, adding a smoke effect using varying brush strokes and the liquify tool to make it appear realistic, and editing the actors' skin tones and adding makeup effects in layers to look polished yet realistic. Banners were included for relevance and to invite the audience into the magazine.

1. For the title font I decided that I wanted to go with
quite a distressed font. The slashes in “Final Cut” could
be compared to the cutting of a knife a common
weapon in the horror genre.
Because I’m somewhat skilled at Photoshop CS5 but not
a professional, I decided to turn to a website called
http://www.dafont.com/. This website allowed me to
look at free fonts what were very high quality. I decided
to go for fonts that were quite damaged and had
associations of violence and horror, as the magazine is a
horror magazine.
As well as using this website I wanted to make it slightly
unique. I decided to add effects I used the layer style in
the Photoshop tab and added a drop shadow. This
made the text look 3D; stand out more.
As well as this I added an outer glow almost to make it
seem like the text is in fact glowing. This further added
to the professional effect of the magazine.

2. I decided to add the smoke effect to the
poster as it broke up the main image into
thirds. This allows for the audience to focus
on each character separately, yet
simultaneously draw attention Sam in the
centre of the magazine.
I added the smoke effect using the
paintbrush tool, varying in gradient for each
stoke this was probably one of the harder
tasks for the magazine. But I’m pleased with
the outcome as it adds depth to the
magazine too.
After doing the paint brush tool I added a
Photoshop effect called liquify then further
distorted the shape to make the flow
appear more realistic.
The final adjustment I added was the the
blur tool as smoke is very soft. The brush
lines left a very blunt brush marks so the
blur tool helped smooth it out further.

3. For the main actors within the
magazine I decided to Photoshop
their skin. This added to the overall
professional quality but also aided
in the appearance.
This was the hardest task as I
needed them to look realistic, yet
polished. This meant that I worked
in layers rather than on the final
image as it was easier to simply
undo.
I used several tools like the dodge
to add highlights on cheekbones
and eyes and burn to darken certain
areas.
I decided to not add the bruising on
Sam (the centre) character as I
wanted to portray her as strong.
This is why I posed her this way and
allowed her to take up the major
third of the magazine.
Adding effects to their face such as makeup (the lipstick was added later on
rather than it being in the actual photoshoot) and bruising. For this I
experimented with different brush tools and layering them by increasing the
flow of certain brushes and colours.

4. The use of banners and stickers in
magazines is very common so I decided
to make my own. This was one of the
easier tasks as it just involved
distorting the shape of a straight line,
then tilting it.
This was a feature I took direct
inspiration from film magazine. The
banner almost invites the audience
into the magazine as it hints at key
stories within the magazine. In my
banner I decided to put a story that
was relevant to the time and the
audience. As my target audience are
around 18-25 they would be far more
interested in breakout actors/actresses
as they are closer to their age.