This is the fifth draft for my front cover. I have taken out two of the cover lines and replaced them with teases about artists and where they are performing as well as saying that I have interviews with one of them.
I am now pretty satisfied with my front cover, though I may still look to improve the overall quality of my image and text to make it just that little bit more appealing. The issue of empty space is also still present.
From here onward I will just add more cover lines and play with the fonts and effects to change the layout and look of the front cover to make it look more conventional and appealing.
This is the fourth draft for my front cover. I have now moved the bar code to the more conventional right-hand side and placed a date and price (in pounds, euros, US dollars and Canadian dollars, as seen on an issue of NME that I looked at for ideas) above it. I have also moved all of my cover lines to the left-hand side and arranged them, but I am still not completely happy with how they look. The whole front cover still looks rather empty.
Things still to work on:
- Arranging the cover lines so the are more evenly spaced, maybe even adding extra to "fill the space" more.
- Possibly edit the image to make it more appealing, e.g. soften the edges if needed or change skin tone etc. (though I am quite happy with how it is now)
- Generally edit the text so differ between the title and masthead etc. so that the more important features stand out more.
This is the third draft for my front cover. I have added a main cover line as my other drafts didn't have one and put a stroke around the main articles of text - the title, main cover line and the plug text. I have also finally fixed the problem with the main image and text overlapping and made the text go behind the image by cutting out the model and putting him on top of the original image.
Things I still need to improve/add are:
- Finer details such as date of the magazine, price etc.
- Organise the cover lines to be more conventional - move the cover lines all to the left, keep the main one central and fill the space around the image with them.
- Move the bar code to the right side and place the price and date with it - this is more conventional.
This is the second draft for my front cover. I have moved the text around to try and keep it off the image and created a better bar code. I still have an issue with the text and main image as I am still trying out methods of achieving what I want. I have found a better and more realistic bar code, but I have not yet moved it because I still have cover lines where it could go.
Things I could still improve include:
- Making the cover lines bolder, but not as bold as the title.
- Make the title more prominent and more in focus.
- Make the picture more appealing.
- Add more cover lines so there is more to draw the attention of my readers.
- Add a main cover line so the audience know what the main focus of the magazine is.
This is the first draft for my front cover. I made sure I had the basics, such as a title, masthead, main image, plug, bar code and cover lines. These are conventional to all magazines and are something I will need to keep throughout my drafts. I can make them more appealing using different editing tools, but they must stay there. I had a problem with the text and main image overlapping as my whole image is just a single layer. I tried to rub out the text so that it appeared to be behind it, but it hasn't been very successful so far.
Things to improve on:
- Try swapping the plug and cover lines around so they aren't covering the main image and the colours aren't clashing.
- Try and establish more of a colour scheme.
- Move the bar code according to the cover lines and splash - find a more realistic one.
- Edit image to make it more appealing.
- Looks very basic and there is too much space around the main image.
This DPS includes a pull quote from the article in a bold red to highlight it and attract the reader's attention to it before they read the actual article. The two main images that frame the text are placed so that they separate into two halves and break it up a bit so that it is easier to look at and read. There is no reference to the title of the magazine on this page or a title that says it is a main article. It also includes an image on each page, which is not something that I have seen very often, but is quite effective here.
There is a strong colour scheme here between the model's hair and the USA flag, that also ties in with the title "USA Got the Love". A lot of attention is drawn to this image because of this colour scheme and the way it is placed on the page. We generally read from left to right, so the first thing the reader sees is the image, then the title and then the article and pull quote. The name of the model is highlighted in the pull quote in blue, which is the other colour of the USA flag aside from the ones seen and draws attention to who the article is talking about.
This final article differs quite a lot from the others. It has similarities to a contents page with the column about what else is in the magazine and the splashes that link parts of the magazine together. However, we can tell that it is a DPS by the use of pull quotes in between the text of the article and the large picture and title that links to it. There is still a strong colour scheme present here and the blue used highlights the title, pull quotes, splashes and parts of the column on the left.
This contents page for Q magazine has a clear theme that relates to their logo. The colour scheme is very simple but effective and highlights the important parts of the page - the logo etc. There is no letter from the editor and the purpose of this page is clearly just to show you where the most important parts of the magazine are. There are pictures to accompany each article and a small description of what you will find on each page. This is very effective because it gives the reader an idea of what they are going to be looking at before they see it. This lets them decide if they are interested in that article straight away or will leave it for later and the pictures support that by giving the page some flare and colour.
Unlike most contents pages, this one only uses one main image, similar to conventional front pages. This draws more attention that article, and it suggests that the artist featured is the main story featured in this magazine. The large "V" seen in the background is for "Vibe", the title of the magazine, and keeps a strong theme even though we aren't looking at the front page where the logo and title would be featured. The colour scheme is consistent with the text, "V" and image, creating a strong theme that makes the page look more appealing. The use of the red on the heart is striking and draws attention to that picture, meaning that the reader also sees the caption with it and the story behind the picture. Again, there is no letter from the editor and the page exists purely to deliver information about the articles featured in the magazine.
Despite the busy appearance of this contents page in comparison to the others, there is still order within the theme, and all of the text fits in with it, either being red or black. There is still no letter from the editor, but there is a small introduction to a possible story in the magazine. NME have used more organisation with their contents page, splitting it into clear sections for the articles, and also have a band index that shows the reader the pages they need to go to if they want to look at a specific band. There are arrows placed around the columns that highlight specific articles that may be of popular interest, as well as a big red arrow at the bottom that leads the reader on to the rest of the magazine.
