The document provides details on the layout and design of a music magazine front cover. It discusses the programs used, Photoshop and InDesign. It then explains each element of the cover design in detail, including the masthead, cover lines, main image, freebie poster, competitions, and other typical magazine cover elements. Elements were designed and edited in Photoshop then placed in InDesign. Color, fonts, and effects were used to make elements eye-catching and reflect the hip hop genre. Conventions like issue number, date, and price were also included.

1. MUSIC MAGAZINE FRONT COVER CONSTRUCTION.

2. The programmes I will be using:Adobe Photoshop CS3- I will be using this programme to edit images.InDesign- I will be creating my magazine here.

3. FLAT PLANBox out with freebiePosterMASTHEADCOVER LINECOVER LINECOVER LINEMain imageIssue numberPrice DateBarcodeBox out with competition on itThis is the basic layout I would like my magazine to follow as I feel it is very basic but still effective.As you can see the layout very much follows that of the magazine opposite with a few of my own ideas.

4. Here is the background of my magazine, first I had to create it on Photoshop and then imported it to InDesign, I have chosen a black background as I feel the typography will stand out on and contrast well on top of it. Also black is a colour that is associated with hip hop therefore using this colour will play a role in attracting the audience.

5. In the top left hand corner I have decided to have a poster which will represent a freebie that will be present withinmy magazine. Freebies are an effective way of attracting the audience as they cause the audience to feel the excitement of receiving something new. I firstly opened my picture on Photoshop where I edited it. Having edited on photo Shop I saved it as PNG and placed it on to InDesign. After putting it on InDesign I had to play around with the angle until I felt it was right. Here are the steps I took in producing the poster:Firstly I opened my image on to Photoshop and erased the background.Continued on next slide.

6. I then added the posturize affect.After this I applied a black background to the image. Also if you look closely you will be able to see a piece of thread on the face of my model which is hanging down from his cap, I used the clone stamp to remove this. I cloned a part of his face and then used it to get rid of the thread.When placing or adding something on to InDesign it is important to create a new layer, this makes it easier to delete or change a certain aspect of your magazine if you do not like it. I named each layer as this made it easier for me to identify the aspect of the magazine that needed changing or improvement.Finally I placed it on to InDesign.

7. As you can see here the Masthead is quite bold and simple.Masthead- On other hip hop magazines the typography is usually quite bold and simple therefore I selected a font that I felt reflected this( Gills San Ultra Bold). I have used gold because it was one of the colours I have selected for my house style. Also gold is a colour that represents wealth and power therefore by making the mast head gold I believe it will cause my audience to feel like they are buying something that buys them in to this. Having coloured my font gold I applied the outer glow effect as I feel it caused the gold to stand and made it more glossy. I did this within InDesign by left clicking and then selecting the effects option. I created my mast head within InDesign as I have previously mentioned using the Gills Sans Ultra Bold font, after selecting the font I manipulated it by increasing the height by stretching the font.

8. I have created a box out creation in InDesign which I have decided to coloured red. This is because red is a colour which is bright and will catch the audiences attention. On this box out I added text about the freebie (the poster) . As I have mentioned before freebies are an effective way of attracting the audience. I then coloured the font which explained the freebie white as it stood out well on the red. I have used the font Gills sans Ultra Bold for the text referring to the freebie.

9. COVERLINESI placed the cover lines on the left third of the magazine following the codes and conventions. This causes the magazine to stand out while on the shelves and allows the audience to see the featured articles which play a part in attracting them. Articles are another convention which play a huge part in attracting the audience as they allow them to be aware of the content inside the magazine. Therefore I had to make them short and snappy and something that would attract the audience. For the first article I used the name of my model who if she was someone famous in real life would attract the audience as it would be about somebody they admire. I varied the colour of the text to cause the article to look more diverse. For the first part of the article I left the inner part of the text black and added a gold out line, I felt this would draw the audiences attention. For the gold outline I used the outer glow effect on InDesign. After this “I wanna go solo” is in white as the contrasting colours cause the magazine to look more effective. Also to “I wanna go solo” I added a satin effect as I felt it made it look quite edgy and different reflecting the genre of the magazine and also contributing to the mis en scene.

10. For the rest of my cover lines I varied the colours to enhance the appearance of my magazine causing it to look eye catching which would attract the audience. For the second cover line I again used the outer glow, as you can see there is a pattern of solid text and text with an outer glow. I feel this looks very effective.

11. Having selected the image I was going to use on the cover of my magazine I erased the back ground within Photoshop, I chose a picture I felt would be placed well on my magazine and portrayed a hip hop stars persona best. I knew the picture had to be extremely good and excellent quality as the main image of the magazine plays a huge part in the presentation of the magazine. After erasing the back ground with the magic wand tool I inverse selected it and then feathered it to give it a smoother finish allowing it to blend in to the background well. After doing this I saved my picture as a PNG ( so the background would be transparent) and imported it on to InDesign. On InDesign I played about with the positioning of my image, the idea was to have it placed so that it would be overlapping the masthead. This is because I had seen this technique used on a number of other magazines, and I feel it looks very effective.Step 1- removal of the background

12. Step 2-Select inversing the image

13. Step 3- Feathering my image using a feather radius of twelve.

14. Finally I placed my image on to InDesign.Here you can see the overlapping of the image on to the Mast head, this is what I have tried to incorporate on to my magazine.

15. I created a second box out on InDesign for the bottom of my magazine which I coloured red as I would after put a competition on it, I felt it contrasted well with the black and having it in red would again catch the readers attention. I varied the colour of the words limited edition Ipod as I had it in black instead of white like the rest of the text. I did this as I felt it emphasised the importance of the prize.

16. As you can see here there is a blank space therefore I have decided to place something here.I have covered this area by adding another cover line.

17. I placed the barcode in the bottom right hand corner of my magazine front cover in the portrait position, bar codes allow the magazine to be easily identified. Above the barcode I added the Issue number, date and price which would allows the audience to be aware of what they are buying. These conventions are vital as they cause the magazine to look more professional.