1. The Construction of my Front Cover

2. Before piecing my magazine together, I made my masthead, ‘RIOT’, in Photoshop, first I chose the bold, capital font, Stencil, and then I cropped it. I used a brush tool in white and drew over the masthead, making it look as though it was snow, to match the time period which my issue was to be sold. Then I changed the background colour to a bright pink, so I could see where I had drew snow where it wasn’t needed. To remove this I used the normal eraser and then I deleted the bright background. Then, as a finishing touch, I imported a picture of holly which I stuck on the ‘R’. As you can see from my screen shots, the difference between the writing on its own and the edited masthead is very clear, it is obvious from the masthead on the right that it is time for Christmas.

3. As you can see, I have made a red background which is one of the house colours for my magazine which also reflects the time period which my magazine is issued, Christmas. I have also added my masthead, ‘Riot’ which is written in a bold, capital font to represent the rough, rock side but it also has festive Christmas decorations, portraying the winter season. Along with this, I have included my centre image which represents my lead story of a, ‘Rockin’ JED Tour’. I have chosen a strong image to go on the cover with one person on it so the centre image can remain large. As well as this, I have added a bottom strip and a top strip like real magazines do, here I will put the contents of the magazine. With this, I’ve put a triangle in the corner known as a box-out where I can place a pug or a story to make it stand out. On the bottom strip, I have written a tip-on, luring the readers to buy the magazine because of the free gift.

4. Along the top strip, I’ve added two stories which are present in the magazine, these include, ‘Top 40 Hits’, which shows the clear relevance to music, and, ‘Rock on a Budget’, relating to the target audience. The way in which the top strip is written is a form of direct address is if the magazine is talking to the readers. You may have realised, three significant colours: red, black and white, these are going to be the house colours which will run through out the whole magazine. On the top of the cover, there is a motto also known as a slogan over lapping the masthead, signifying it’s importance, as it runs with the house style through every issue of the magazine. The slogan says, ‘We predict a RIOT’, an automatic link to the title. On the box-out on the top right corner, you will see a skull, this skull is the logo belonging to this magazine and is also apart of the house style because it will appear in the same place in every issue of the magazine. Not only is the skull a logo, but it is a pug too, as it is placed on the top of the magazine, cleverly placed to catch the reader’s attention.

5. If you look the stories on the cover, you will notice that they are placed in the left third where most of the information is placed. In the left third, the first thing you see is the tag, ‘Exclusive’, this engages the reader to the stories placed in the left third. I have filled in the box where the tag is written to make it stand out on the page. The left third has the word exclusive, meaning the stories can only be found in this magazine. This is followed by my lead story, the, ‘Rockin’ JED Tour’, you will notice that the story’s formatting is different from the rest, the font being much larger and bolder. The left third also contains other features known as secondary leads including, ‘The RIOT Playlist’, a clear link to music, ‘Behind the scenes…’, the ellipsis drawing the reader in and , ‘Brand new competitions Win now…’, this is a form of can, enabling the readers to participate and contribute to the magazine. When looking at the writing, you can see that all of it is capital, reinforcing the target audience of: rockers, emos, goths and heavy metal lovers.

6. Over lapping the bottom strip is a promotional picture of a band, which not only promotes them, but the tip-on as well because it is a free poster of the band called, ‘Sweetness’. Here, we have another pug, promoting HMV, who happens to sell music, it is placed next to the skull to catch the readers eye. Near the bottom, I have placed a bar code like many magazines. As you can see, I’ve also added information about this magazine which fits nicely next to the centre image, including: the issue number, the date it’s issued, the price and the website; another form of can because it enables the readers to interact with the magazine. Over at the top, I have added a black star, this will hopefully act as kicker when I add a story over it.

7. Across the centre image is a headline which is also a quote related to the lead story/splash, ‘Rock is everything’. I chose to include this convention because it is found in most rock magazines. Once again, I have used the house colours by reflecting it through the headline. Here, we have the kicker, which has an image behind it, allowing it to stand out, it also has the most writing, this is because the first line is the story itself, and the second line is a quote from the story. In the left third, another story is added, ‘Next Edition Look out For…’, notifying the readers of what is yet to come. The ellipsis intrigues the readers to read the magazine. When looking at all of the stories in the left third, we have a mixture of the house colours, which are used in different ways, I did this so each story would stand out.

8. If you look on the right, there is a big green splash which says, ‘Rock Magazine of the Year’, this is a form of puff; an exaggerated advertising technique. The green splash also represents the time of year, Christmas. Here, we can not miss the snowflakes, these also represent the time of year and fills up a lot of the space. I wanted this to happen, so that there was no excess room, as many rock magazines don’t leave any space unoccupied. My Completed Magazine Cover I wanted this splash to be green so that it stands out, this worked because it wasn’t a house colour (black, red or white).

9. The End