This document outlines the process of planning and designing a magazine cover. The author begins with basic sketches showing planned elements like the masthead, cover photo, and text placement. Through multiple revisions, the author refines the design by adjusting font styles, colors, backgrounds, and element positioning. The final revisions involve overlaying the cover photo on top of the masthead for a cleaner look and moving some text to fill blank space.

1. The process and planning of my
magazine pages

2. Cover
Straight after researching some music magazine covers, I had an idea
of what I wanted for my front page. I like the effect of a close up photo
as the main focus of the page.
My initial ideas for the masthead
are something simple but bold
and sophisticated.
I plan for my text to be all
on the left side, but as you
can see I haven’t thought
about where the cover
Original sketch plan story text will go.
This is a very basic plan
of my cover as I have
not planned where the I want the cover photo to
barcode will go, or be full page and for it to
where the date, price be a posed close up shot.
and tagline will go.

3. Developing ideas for my cover page
Date and price are
Placing the important to a
tagline right under cover as they are
the masthead necessary
makes it difficult Date & information to the
Price
to miss, and more buyer, however as
recognisable. they are not main
features, they only
need to be in small
I planned for the writing.
cover text to be
mostly on the left I rethought the
hand side, as it cover story text
keeps out the way and decided to
of the models place it lower
face in the photo. down on the
page, under
where the models
Barcode
After completing face should be.
this plan I realised
I needed to do The barcode is essential to the front page, as it has to be easily
some more accessible for the shop assistant scanning the product, and it cannot be
rearranging, as place on the back, as usually there is an advert on the back of a
magazine, and the advertising company would not want a barcode
there would be a
interfering with it. The barcode does not need to be obvious, so just at
blank space. the bottom and out of the way.

4. Starting to produce a front cover
I struggled when
designing my Cover photo – full
title, so at first, page, but I chose a
while I was photo that wasn’t
getting as close up as I did
everything else not want to disrupt
done, I picked any text.
a basic font to
just show where
The text here is very
the title would
pink, I want it to be
go.
more of a pink red
The tagline is colour, so it is not just
very basic, as I aimed at girls.
do not want
too much
going on in the I used black boxes
front cover. behind the text to
separate it from the
photo. This makes it
Black backgrounds easier to see.
on the text
compliment the
black clothing and
Barcode at the
dark features in the
bottom, out of the
picture.
way of the articles.

5. After searching through lots of different fonts (read my earlier blog
posts) I came to find Elephant, which I like due to its simplicity and
sophistication. Here I have played around with the format of it.
Here I decided to put a Date and Price just
black background under the masthead,
behind the masthead, small text, but visible.
as it makes it clearer
‘March 2012’ – shows the
and bolder, and I did
date however needs to
not like the contrast of
be more specific,
the pink on the cream
coloured background. I have made all the
text the same font as
‘World
my masthead, this
exclusive’
makes it more
persuasive
sophisticated and
buying
professional.
techniques
Same as masthead
font, style and
colour, looks less
complex and more
corporate.
I have based my design on the colours black, pink and white, this gives a rock
effect also, you do not want too many different colours on you front page. I
have also stuck to one text, so the magazine looks more professional.

6. I have adjusted the In the last design, I had felt
height of the that something didn’t look
masthead as I think right. I then realised that the
the title needed to heading was overlapping
be bigger, bolder the very top of the models
head. I thought this looked
and more striking.
unprofessional so, using
Photoshop I cut out the
I changed the text here model from the original
to regular from bold, as photo background, and
it is easier to read and layered her over the top of
better spaced out. the masthead. The
masthead is still readable
As I’ve progressed with and identifiable as the
model only slightly covers a
my media magazine, I
couple of the letters.
think I’ve recognised the
parts that are not as I’ve moved the cover
successful and parts that story heading and
are. The last design I felt text to the left hand
was too block and side of the page, as
structured, so here there was a blank
I have changed the space that needed to
background shape to a be filled, I think this
circle, to add has made the cover
something different to fuller with just the right
the cover. amount of text and
See next blog post for finished cover design. spaces.