The document discusses different drafts and iterations of a magazine cover design. It begins by presenting two initial photo options and selecting one to move forward with. Several first draft designs are then shown and feedback provided, noting to use red instead of blue as the dominant color. The final draft incorporates this feedback, making the masthead more prominent, adding more cover lines for a busier look, and changing the font to better match the style. The conclusion reflects on how the final design better achieves an intimidating and rebellious feel in line with the target audience.

1. By Luka Delic

2. Photo Shoot Images
I thought this image was In comparison to the
quite a good one. The opposite image, I believe
close up leaves enough that this one fulfils my
space at the top for the aim much better. The use
masthead and the of sunglasses and the
coverlines . The grenade ability to see the Punisher
in the background is a logo create the
nice touch as it gives an impression of a sort of
incendiary, anarchic feel. punkish rebel, which was
However, I felt it did not my intention for the cover
fit my aim of creating an image. The off-kilter pose
image of a of him with his mouth
rebellious, rock star who wide open suggests a hint
commands authority for of defiance, that I think
the front cover. This is the reader may find
because it features the appealing. The pose is
slightly, which
model smile does not emit an also more suited to a front cover of a rock magazine,
intimating, authoritative quality and is not a pose more than the smirk in the image on the left.
often seen on a cover image. Additionally, I wanted Additionally, the sunglasses add a layer of mystery
his rebellious persona to be reflected in his clothing that may entice the reader. Overall, I thought that this
and props, which isn’t reflected as much here because image showed that I was more aware of my target
his Punisher t-shirt is hidden, and his tattoo sleeve audience and of the rock genre of my magazine, and I
can’t be seen. considered this as a possibility for my cover photo.

3. I left enough space here for the
Chosen Image masthead to reside at the top.
The sunglasses hide the eyes,
which are commonly referred to
This is the image that I chose for as the “door to your soul”. The
my cover. One of the reasons fact that he’s hiding the “door to
why I chose this was due to the his soul” intimidates the reader.
clearer visibility of the elements Additionally, obscuring them
of the mise en scene, especially creates a sense of mystery,
clothing, in the photo. enticing them to open the cover
to discover his true personality.
The tattoo sleeves clearly The close up/ medium shot
connote rebellion (one of the suggests that he’s under the
main impressions rock stars spotlight, connoting that the
provide) and youth, targeting reader will gain insight into
the late teen, young adult him. However, the head turned
audience. away, with no direct eye
contact, suggesting the
The skull connotes death (which attention from the audience he
is a recurring theme in rock receives is unimportant to him.
songs) and an awareness of All that is important is him and
popular culture, due to it being his music.
the trademark logo of the I was aware of taking a photo
Punisher, a character from against a white background, in
Marvel comics. order to create a colour scheme
that contrasted well.

4. First Another early
draft of my
magazine cover
Drafts
During the creation of my
front cover, I created
several first
drafts, experimenting
several styles and
designs, while still
maintaining the same basic
structure and content that
my mock-up outlined.
The main reason why I
liked this draft was because
of the poster edges
effect, which projects an
edgy vibe akin to the film
‘Sin City’, and still
maintains an intimidating
quality. Its
unconventionality was
appealing to me as well.

5. First
Draft
This was my full first draft. Here I used the paint
bucket tool to fill the colour
The choice of blue as a of the skull so as to match
dominant colour implies the clothing of the cover
that Gilles is a cool model to the overall colour
character. scheme of the front cover.
There are several coverlines
and a large kicker to For this text, I used an
conform with the Edwardian Script font. This
convention of a crowded was unconventional as it
cover, and the content seemed to juxtapose the
applied from these targets rebellious, youthful tone of
my target audience (i.e. the image with the
“Green Day” suggests the inclusion of a very formal,
inclusion of the rock band classy font. However, I liked
in the issue, and the the look of it, which
audience of their music seemed to suggest a certain
and this magazine are stylish characteristic and
identical - firm rock fans). mystique about the model.

6. Feedback
Masthead does not catch
the eye of the reader as it
doesn’t stand
out, experiment with
Use of blue is nice choice adding effects to it maybe
as it suggests the coolness
of the cover person, but
try red, I think it would Filling this in blue is a
probably be a better really good effect, links
choice the image to the overall
look and colour codes
used on the cover
Spare space here – more
coverlines?
Use of this ‘formal’ font
does not match well with
Change font size to
the other fonts used.
remain consistent
Change font to one that
throughout coverlines
matches better, Impact or
serif?
Add one more band to fill
this kicker fully

7. Final Draft

8. Thoughts:
Final Draft
In terms of conventionality, I believe that my cover follows
most conventions with its general structure and style.
Furthermore, the masthead catches the eye of the reader
more easily due to the higher noise shadow, and the
duplicating of the masthead layers three times. In terms of
changes to my first draft, the addition of more coverlines
creates the conventional feel of a crowded cover. This is also
why I acted on the feedback provided and designed a button
to add here, to fill the previously spare space here and create
another element that stands out. Additionally, the change of
the predominant colour of the cover from blue to red, creates
a more incendiary atmosphere, that feels more in line with
the personality of the cover model and my intention to create
an intimidating impression of the cover person. Also, the
kicker became smaller because I felt that it was too large
previously and distracted from other elements of the cover.
One more alteration I made, was changing the font of ‘Gilles
Geary’ to an Impact one, which matched the cover better
than the Edwardian Script. Overall, I feel that my final draft
feels more accomplished in achieving an eye-catching cover
that is more considerate of its target audience, one way being
through creating the feeling of an intimidating and rebellious
cover model.