2. Step One:
The picture I chose to use for my front
cover was not one I originally intended
to use, however I then thought that it
would look well because there is
enough room around the picture
therefore this meant that my final front
cover would not look to cramped, and
this is one of the things that I wanted
to avoid when researching other
magazines.
This picture is a mid shot which helped
with the choosing of the photo, and it
follows normal convention. One thing I
like about this picture is that the
subjects hair creates an ideal
background to fame the title of the
magazine. I didn’t like the flash that is
on the subjects face and this is one of
the main reasons as to why I chose to
edit the photo.
3. Step Two:
The first thing I did when I opened this photo in
Photoshop is I edited the subjects face, as I did not
like the flash and I thought that it was too bright for
the style of the magazine. First of all I used the
colour pick tool to pick out a colour that was
desirable and I painted over the parts of the face
which had the flash on, I then reduced the opacity of
the layer to make it more realistic. After this I used a
brush called mixer brush to make the subjects face
softer, which also reduced the flash further. To
enhance the subjects eye-lashes I used the burn tool
to define them more, and then to produce the
eyeliner effect I used a normal brush and painted
across her lower eye-lash lid I then reduced the
opacity of the layer and added a Gaussian blur which
made the eyeliner look more realistic.
Another thing I did was I got rid of the stray hairs
that were above the subjects left eye to do this I
used the spot healing brush to clean it up more.
The last thing I did when editing this picture was I
darkened the colour of the subject’s jeans by going
over them with a simple brush tool with the desired
colour I wanted, and changed the layer blending
mode to colour so that the paint fitted well on the
jeans and did not look stupid.
4. Step Three:
I decided that the picture did not look
symmetrical, and the right bottom
corner, as there was a door there, so I
decided to use the lasso tool and cut
out part of the background on the left
and I flipped it and made it fit to the
other side to make it look more
symmetrical, I also erased the edges
to make the picture look more
natural, I also think that the picture
works well without the door at the
bottom.
5. Step Four:
The next thing I did was add my title. I
created my title in Photoshop, the font
of my title is one called bleeding
cowboys. I got the idea of this font from
the internet, and I thought that it would
work well with the theme that I am
trying to set with my magazine as it is
more of a gothic theme of writing. To
create the purple burn effect around the
edges I used the smudge tool and
dragged it up, and down to make the
effect more noticeable. This was
originally orange as I wanted to create a
burn effect but then I decided it didn’t
stand out enough against the subject’s
hair so I changed the colour, to the
colour of her trousers, and I found that
this worked allot better. Another reason
as to why it worked better is because
purple is more of a gothic colour, along
with black, whereas orange is not and I
don’t think it would of been as effective
as the purple is now.
6. Step Five:
The next step I took was the making of
band name, I wanted this to be one of
the first things I put on my front cover
so I knew that I would have room for it
and I could base my other articles
around it. The font I used for the band
name was Algerian, I thought that this
text was an appropriate text to use, as
it is clear and readable but the
particular font adds an artistic element
to the front cover, which I feel is
important in attracting readers. I also
added a black blur behind the text to
make it stand out more. To do this I
duplicated the layer and changed it
black, I then Rasterized the text and
added a Gaussian blur and duplicated
the layer more than once to make the
blur stand out more.
7. Step Six:
The next step involved me adding
two articles to my front cover,
these articles are simple, but I feel
they are effective, I used the
colour purple as I feel it stands
out more, and also it allows the
reader to know that purple is the
main colour of the magazine it’s
self. I have used different texts for
these articles to show that they
are two completely different
things. Meaning that the top ten
most wanted is more relevant to
do with the whole theme of the
magazine then the You Me At Six
Vs All Time Low article.
Again I used the blur behind the
text to help it enhance it more,
and I think that this worked well.
8. Step Seven:
The next step I took was to create
the black bar I have at the bottom, to
create this i simply opend a picture in
Photoshop and painted over it black,
I then dragged the picture over to my
front cover and changed the opacity
of the layer and size to make it fit
across the bottom of my page. To
make the red arrow that is on top of
the bar I created to red squares by
selecting the shape tool in
Photoshop and turned one square
around to make it look like a
diamond and I then merged them to
make the arrow. I then added the
text and thought that by using the
red plus sings it may make them
stand out more, and I think that this
worked well.
9. Step Eight:
The next things I added was the
barcode, the little red lightning bolt and
the album art. I created the album art
in Photoshop, I used the same subject
that is in my front cover and took the
picture of her holding a rose. I then
changed the colours and made the rose
purple instead of red I thought that this
would work well with my magazine as
my theme is purple. I think that were I
have placed my barcode has worked
well and has followed normal
convention of a magazine.
10. Step Nine:
The next step I took was adding
another article, this article was my
first picture article and I feel that it
collaborates well with the page, I tried
to use the same text when I felt that
the article was important, as I tried
not to use a variety of different texts
as this may make the magazine look
unprofessional and scattered. I also
used the same blur behind the picture
and the text to make it stand out
more, and also to make it obvious
that the text is to do with the picture.
11. Step Ten:
I added some text above the
bands name as I found that this is
of normal convention in other
magazines. By adding this I also
thought that it added more to the
magazine and so the magazine
didn’t look so bare between the
text and the subject’s chin and I
feel that it lessened the gap well.
12. Step Eleven:
One of the last things I added to my
front cover was my final article, I feel
that by using only two picture articles
it makes them stand out more on my
front cover and it doesn’t look
cramped I did not edit the picture in
anyway, however I did tilt it to not
make it straight as I did not want it to
look to formal but on the other hand I
didn’t want it to look symmetrical
with the other side, so I did not tilt it
much. I used black boxes with
reduced opacity behind the text as I
thought that it would make it stand
out more because the text is on a
white background, and it helped the
text.
13. Step Twelve:
The final thing I did to my front
cover was I added a darker
effect to the background, to do
this I painted over the
background with a black brush
and reduced the opacity, I
thought that this just made the
whole front cover look better,
as before I think that it looked
to bright for a rock themed
magazine so I feel that the
darker background helps the
front cover a lot.
