This document describes the process of creating a magazine cover over 7 attempts. The designer experimented with different models, poses, photo manipulations, color schemes, and layout elements to make the cover appealing to an alternative music genre audience. Feedback from others prompted changes like making the image and text more prominent. The goal was to craft a cover that looked professional but still suited the magazine's style through careful photo editing and design choices.

2. This image is my first
attempt at my front
cover. I chose the
image as a mid-shot
as I believed it to look
quite professional and
clear. The model is
dressed in casual yet
alternative clothing
fitting the genre. I
manipulated the
image to have a
vintage, hue tint to
give it a more
retro, indie look. The
masthead used stands
out starkly against the
brick background
however I think this
front cover image is
not eye-catching
enough.

3. For my second version I chose
to change my cover model
entirely in order to suit the
genre and style of my
magazine. I kept the camera
shot as mid-shot as I liked the
angle and found it to look the
most professional, whilst
showing off the guitar prop
also correlating to the music
genre. The model has red lips
to match the guitar and blue
to match her eye-makeup,
again giving the cover a more
themed attractive look. I had
not yet manipulated the
image entirely however I had
cut around the model and her
shadow to give the image a
more professional look. The
masthead stayed the same to
stand out against the white
background.

4. This image is my third attempt at
my front cover. I kept the image
the same yet manipulated the
models look a lot more. I made
her eyes appear brighter, teeth
whiter, hair blonder and skin
darker whilst matching her lips
with the guitar colour. I also
manipulated the image
saturation to have a
vintage, darker tint as seen with
the first version. Despite this
image I think more work has to
be done to make the cover
stand out a lot more, and more
text has to be added to attract
the buyer. I also think the image
has maybe been photo
shopped too much and looks
too commercial, so I plan to
change this again. In addition
to this the masthead has not
been cut out correctly.

5. This image is my fourth attempt
at my front cover. At this stage I
made the decision to change
the image entirely in order to
appeal to my audience more,
as the image appeared less
commercial and more
alternative. I chose a striking
close-up shot to attract the eye
of a reader, and added nail
varnish to her nails whilst I
manipulated the ends of her hair
to appear a pink tone matching
this with her lips. Despite my
preference of this image, group
feedback showed me that the
image size needed to be altered
so the reader could view the
masthead, whilst I needed to
add coverlines to make the
page appear less basic.

6. This image is my fifth attempt at
my front cover. Following my
group feedback I made the
image a lot smaller so the image
was more of a mid-shot as
opposed to an extreme close
up. I chose the colour scheme of
the image and page to be more
red to attract the attention of
any audience. I added text
boxes and shapes to separate
coverlines and break up the
page. I also placed in a title of
the exclusive article, and add a
picture from a concert to give
the page a more music-focused
appearance.

7. This image is my sixth attempt at
my front cover. I kept the image
the same yet manipulated the
models look a lot more. I added
a few cover-lines and featured
artists that I believed would
appeal to my alternative genre.

8. This image is my seventh
attempt at my front cover. I
added some text in the circle
shape and advertised the
opportunity for readers to win
tickets to alternative music
festival, Reading. I also added
more text along with my concert
image to appeal to readers by
giving them an idea of the
magazine’s contents in an area
that would interest them. By this
stage I was careful to not
photoshop the model too much
so did not continue, as I didn’t
want the focus of the image to
look too commercial and then
not suit the alternative general.