The document provides peer reviews of drafts of a music magazine front cover. Peers provide feedback on making the cover lines and plectrum more prominent, balancing the layout, using a quote over the model, and adjusting the image and background colors. Based on the feedback, the designer lightens the model background, changes the amplifier color, and adjusts sizes. However, peers prefer the original background, so the designer decides to reshoot the cover image to better represent the magazine tone and stand out.

1. Music Magazine Front Cover Peer Review

2. Front Cover Draft 1 Peer Review The plectrum looks a little isolated, could be made more obvious, the article below doesn't look as if it belongs with the plectrum's cover line. Also a peer advised to try the coverlines without being in boxes Good house style but the cover lines could stand out a little more. The slanted cover lines were good but there were too many and the balance of the page is affected by this. There is a lot of random space around the coverlines, possibly due to the placement of them. The layout therefore needs addressing. The 'Exclusive Interview' cover line was good but peer's suggested I try using a quote to place across my model and to try straightening the cover line itself. The quote would go above the existing coverline.

3. Front Cover Draft 1 Ammendments I also increased the size of my model so she appeared more obvious in the centre third of my page. I increased the size of the cover line and placed it within the plectrum to make it appear more prominent on the page. On the cover lines, to improve their visibility on the page, I used the outline tool to outline the text in one colour, then secondly used glow in a complimentary colour to emphasis the cover lines even more. I have straightened the cover lines to provide more balance for the page Taking a tip from my Peer's I used a quote to place over my model and below included the exclusive interview part. I used the colours purple and yellow more to create a more prominent house style.

4. Front Cover Draft 2 Peer Review Good Points: Improvements : The cover lines are more eye catching The amplifier itself is too dark, could possibly change to a different colour. Consistent use of house style Plectrum still doesn't stand out, also possibly too big. Colour Palette used is very complimentary and strikes the tone for a rock magazine. The model seems lost in the background, try increasing the image size and lightening the model. Or try cutting her out of the background image and placing her on a two tone or block colour background The page is quite balanced in its appearance with the straightened coverlines. Image is anchored with a quote, makes page more accessible to the audience. The page seems dark in appearance.

5. Front Cover Draft 2 Ammendments The comment about the model being lost in the background seemed valid, so I used Photoshop and cut the model out. I then used a fill tool to colour the background two tonal from black to white using a gradient fill in an elipse style. The model now stands out more on the grey background and I have also enlarged the image to draw the eye to the model. The page was a little dark so I coloured the image of the amp purple to lighten the page and minimise the use of black. The purple fits in with my colour scheme. I made the plectrum smaller and used outline and glow in complimentary colours to make the cover lines stand out.

6. Front Cover Draft 3 Peer Review Overall, the improvements made in draft two were noted by my peers. The most noticeable change, that the model was on a lighter background and stood out. The plectrum was also noted as well placed and now stands out. However, when putting draft 2 and draft 3 side by side, my peer’s commented on the backgrounds and how they preferred the look of the draft 2 than of draft 3. This led me to make changes to draft two in regards to the colour of the amp and minor layout adjustments. Peer feedback was important for this exercise as what looks conventional isn’t always what the target audience wants.

7. Changes to Draft 2 and summary From the feedback of draft 3, I went back to draft two and made amendments to the amp, which is now purple, I made the plectrum stand out more, however I struggled to be able to manipulate my image in a way where I could successfully lighten the model and keep the background dark. The attempt to the right is one of many where my experiments ended up with over exposure or the image itself became too dark/ light. In light of this fact, taking on board my peer’s comments, I found that the images I had taken were difficult to manipulate and were not iconic enough to be my front cover image. From this i rescheduled a date with my model and took a different approach to the photo shoot and how I wanted my model to look, paying close attention to the location for the shots.