1. MAZINE COVER EVALUATION

2. For the image on my
magazine cover I decided to
use an image that mostly
fitted the conventions of other
magazine covers, through the The selective black and
direct eye contact with the white is effective
audience and the bold colour because it takes away
of the red that links with the attention from the back
colour of the text. The ground and keeps the
character is the last girl, as colour palette simple,
she is the main character as the only colours that
along with the villain, but the can be seen are red,
villain is mainly used on the black and white. While
poster. The expression of the taking the photo, I also
model is quite serious, setting used a larger apeture
the atmosphere for the genre. to create a shallow
I edited the saturation to depth of field, so that
make her stand out more and the background is
enhance the colour. I also slightly out of focus
edited the background using which keeps all the
selective black and white in audience's focus on the
order to make the model model.
stand out further, as well as
being able to keep the
background of the road that
the film is set on to show the
context of the film.

3. For the main heading, I used a glow tool for the text
to connote the supernatural and psychological
themes of our trailer, a technique which is used to
these sub-genres for example in the Paranormal
Activity poster. My font is also similar to that used
by Paranormal Activity, with long thin letters. The
white reflects the colours used on the text in our For the masthead, I used a simple sans
trailer, as we did not use a red, because that is a serif font that is bold and added a drop
convention of slasher films that are more focused shadow to make it stand out. I used a
on the death and violence in the film. I placed my red colour and layed it out similar to
heading along the centre of the page, over where Empire magazine, making it effective as
the model is in the centre third. Is it also the largest it looks similar to a real magazine. I
heading other than the masthead, making it the used the tagline “the worlds biggest
main focus of the cover. I also added a sub heading movie magazine”, using a small font
which summarizes the article in order to draw in the and placing it in the left bottom corner of
audience and make them want to see the film and the masthead, which draws in the
buy the magazine, with the statement that is the audience as the phrase implies the
most horrifying film of the year which would appeal popularity of the magazine on a global
to the young target audience of horror film fans. scale. I also added the price and date in
the gap of the “M”, similar to the placing
used on Empire magazine. I made the
image overlap the masthead in order to
keep the image the main focus, and the
magazine name is still recognizable.
This is often done on magazine front
covers to maintain impact.

4. I added a circle shape with only the outline, and a clear centre in
order to not use a block colour circle, as this may take away attention
and be obtrusive to the main image. I also added a gradient to the
sides of the circle to allow it to blend in to the background. In this
shape, the heading “horror special” attracts the target audience, and
the list of recent films that will create interest and let the audience
know some of the content that will be inside. I think this is an effective
way of adding information to the page, as it does not take a lot of
space but it adds dimension and interest to the cover and follows
conventions of current magazines.
Another way of formatting an article I used is a small banner with the
heading “classic slasher”, which attracts the audience, especially a
slightly older audience that may be fans of older horror films and
classics. I added a noticeable drop shadow that makes the heading
look more like a poster, which is effective because it adds a old
fashioned poster feel to the text, along with the slanted text and
banner. The list of films will again draw in the target audience if they
are a fan of this genre. The alternating colour between white and
grey makes the list look more interesting and allows the audience to
easily differentiate between the titles of the films.
I used red bold text in different sized to add impact to this heading,
using “TOP 50” in the largest font, and using “of all time” to make the
article seem more important and essential, as the audience will be
drawn in to find out which horror villains will be including in the list.
The “plus” is used in a cursive font to oppose the sans serif bold
font, and used a yellow colour to stand out from the red and blacks
used in the majority of the cover.

5. I used a banner at the bottom of the page, as it is a common convention used on magazine
covers and is an effective way of adding information to the page. The background I used is
yellow, in order to link with the red and black, and add a pop of colour to the page making it
more attractive to the audience. I used black text with red slashes to separate the film names,
as well as to highlight the “plus!”. The film names attract a particular audience, as fans of these
films will be likely to be fans of our film, as these are all psychological and supernatural horror
films, which links to the themes of our storyline.
The colour scheme I used is a conventional combination of black, white,
red and yellow. The black and white is used to create the bulk of the
text, while the red colour is used for more bold headlines and the
masthead in order to highlight words which will attract the audience and
make them more likely to buy it. The red also links with the colour of the
shirt in the image, a technique often done in magazines. The yellow is
used in small amounts to add brightness to the cover and create an
interesting looking cover. By using limited but effective colours, I feel my
colour scheme works well with the image and looks professional overall.

7. The first draft has been
improved by colour, with
increased size and zoom and
added brightness and
saturation to add impact to the
image.
There have been more drop
shadows and design features
that create a polished look to
the final draft.
I have mostly
followed my
initial flat plan,
while adding
features along
the way to
make the final
product more
successful and
conventional.

8. While improving my drafts, there were changes
I made to make the magazine look more
polished and complete. In the first rough draft, I
had the masthead overlaying the image which
took impact away from the girl where the
attention should be focused, and it looked less
professional. In the second draft I created
another layer to bring infront of the masthead to
give more impact to the image and improve the
draft, however the hair looked messy and
unfinished. In the final draft, I improved this by
using a small rubber tool and zooming in to
carefully remove the stray hairs, creating a
cleaner outline and a better silhouette, making
the title and the outline look better and more
professional.

9. I am pleased with the overall effect of my
poster and I think it is effective towards my
target audience. The image creates a
connection with the audience, and the
combination of her pose, facial expression, the
heading of the title and the subtitle creates
enigma, making the audience question who
she is and what happens to her, as she is
looking at the audience while slightly turned
away which looks almost as if she has turned
to see what is behind her or is looking to the
audience for help. The headings and features
on the magazine make it look professional and
interesting without cluttering the page and is
able to draw the audience in to read and buy
the magazine. I feel it follows common
conventions of current magazines, by using
elements such as banners, the colour scheme
and using techniques such as drop shadows
to create more impact.

10. I am pleased with the overall effect of my
poster and I think it is effective towards my
target audience. The image creates a
connection with the audience, and the
combination of her pose, facial expression, the
heading of the title and the subtitle creates
enigma, making the audience question who
she is and what happens to her, as she is
looking at the audience while slightly turned
away which looks almost as if she has turned
to see what is behind her or is looking to the
audience for help. The headings and features
on the magazine make it look professional and
interesting without cluttering the page and is
able to draw the audience in to read and buy
the magazine. I feel it follows common
conventions of current magazines, by using
elements such as banners, the colour scheme
and using techniques such as drop shadows
to create more impact.