Front Cover DevelopmentIn this document you will see:Experimentation with different colour schemes and fonts

Hand drawn DraftColour scheme will be blue/black. The cover is meant to be recognised as a dubstep magazine from a glance. The size will be A4 portrait and is named dubstep because I am a fan of straight forward names and I prefer this than a vague and uninteresting name.The filter/colour scheme of the magazine would be blue which would make the hair a blue tint and would also make the background light blue.Two coverlines, no exclusive, no headline, no puff, one huge kicker at the bottom of the page, no left third, no splash, no banner and no strapline.

Firstly, I created the photoshop document with an A4 paper size. This is the standard size for magazines and paper - therefore the best size to go with.Even though the first thing I will do with this document is to experiment with typeface use, I will be using it for my magazines draft and final as it saves time.

All caps font looks horrible but the other two look okay. I especially like the T in the lowercase font as it looks unique. This typeface works well for the target audience as it is very edgy. I was unable to download and use the Brush up font as it was not free to use. Instead I found some alternatives that give a similar effect and feel for the masthead and went with those instead.These two look pretty and useable

The font looks the same whether capitalised or not. I do not like how this font looks like as there is a line in the middle of the letters and it looks really silly and distracting. The typeface looks more like what one would use for a horror movie title.

I love this font especially the all caps version. If I use this font I will experiment more with which letters look best with the graffiti effect. The font is also big and thick enough to look eye catching and beautiful at the same time and the target audience would like it as it is very cool looking.This is really cool except it might be a pain to edit if the need arises.

The font kept glitching and changing to another font family while I was making it all caps. However I believe upper and lowercase would look the same. Apart from the mishap, it would be a great font to use.I like this font and how the cuts in the letters D, B, E and P suggest a fast pace and intense atmosphere. I especially like the D in the second picture and I would definitely consider this font as it gives the mood I want the magazine to have.

Looks too much like an art magazine font. I might decide to use it, however Art Brewery looks better. I like the second one the most because it looks more balanced and professional. The T and the U are the most exciting parts of this font, and I love how the T and the E fit together perfectly.

Is appropriate except can be too recognisable as a star wars font and therefore would not be a good font to use if it distracts the viewer from the magazine.

I like how simple yet powerful this font is. It is sci-fi, hip, professional and yet basic enough to work well with barely any margin for error. I found this font while looking through the font dropdown in the schools computer and it made me think Yeah, this will work.I like the lowercase one the most because the DUB part looks like two eyes and a smile which is really cute; its also hidden enough for the magazine to still have its edgy appeal.

Even though I like this typeface and how unique the S, E and the curves in the letters are, it is too thin and not powerful and eye catching enough to be the font for the masthead.

DecisionI have filtered my decision to three fonts that I felt were the most appropriate for my magazine. From these three fonts I might only be able to use two of them: coalition and charlie brown m54 as Dream MMA does not work on the schools computer which will be where I do half of the work. This just means my selection is filtered down even more.I will need to decide on a complimentary font; one that would set a nice contrast for my masthead and make my magazine cover look much more appealing. As Neuropol, Imagination station and Art Brewery was some of the fonts I looked at, liked and feel are quite different to the three fonts above, I will experiment with using them for the coverlines to see which will give the best outcome.

ColoursColour scheme shows night life and a cool climate.One of the suggestions from the questionnaire.Looks too sporty with orange. Tried it because theyre complimentary colours.

Sliver/metallic colour scheme that focuses on the machinery side. I used different combinations and preferred this over the blue palette as muted colours seem to work better.

I do not like this colour scheme so I did not experiment much with it. It is too monochromic and does not suggest much change in colour so nobody would notice. It is also not eye-catching if the entire palette is dark and bland colours.

I tried to do my masthead and colour scheme with warmer colours as well because it was one of the suggestions in the questionnaire along with the colour pink, however the colours do not work will with the kind of magazine I want to create. The red palette I was experimenting with gives the viewer the feeling of autumn and a different mood to what I was going for so I prefer the blue colour with this font.

With this I started using more of the gradient tool. I also changed the background of the photoshop document so the lighter colour could be seen. I do not know if this colour scheme will work well with my photos however I do love this palette as the blues look more appealing than the basic dark blue the other palette had.

Masthead Colour DecisionI have decided on these ways of bringing the colours out. I will make my first magazine with black coloured font and then after that I will experiment with what colours to use out of the following to see what would work best with the photo. If none of them look professional, I will re-pick colours.

Coverline fontNow that I have gotten two strong choices of the font for my masthead, I decided it was okay to move onto the font for the coverlines. For the descriptive line I decided to stick with Charlie Brown M54 as it looks really nice, and I put it in italics for all the examples to show that its different from the coverline. I tried Charlie Brown M54 and I like how clear and readable the font is.

Coalition is not a very good choice as it looks too engaging and if I want to make a kicker, I want that to stand out more than the coverlines and that would be hard to do if I pick this font for the coverlines.

As the Art Bewery and Imagination Station fonts are unavailable on the schools computers, I only decided to work with Neuropol out of the three fonts mentioned. I really like how the font looks in the coverline and it would make the magazine look like it has more variance without it being over the top.

After seeing how nice Neuropol looked for my coverlines, I tried using it for the description however the lack of contrast makes it very unappealing so I will only use Neuropol for the coverline and Charlie Brown M54 for the description as I liked that combination the most.

Kicker FontFor my kicker I tried Charlie Brown M54 first and I like how it looks. I think I will do the same for the description and have it in Charlie Brown M54 font-family and in italics because its the same font as the rest of the kicker, and it would also make it consistent with my coverlines. This font is good because its bold, big and appealing.

Next I tried Coalition. I feel like it worked well however if I use this while my masthead has the same font, I might put this in lower caps so it can look the same but not have the graffiti text effect as it would not look good to have it repeat.This is a good font to use because it is bold, big and eye-catching.

Lastly I tried Neuropol. I like how the font looks like however it would not be eye-catching enough to work as a kicker. Because of this, I will pick between the Charlie Brown M54 and Coalition font-families. This font would work better in an art magazine but not with a dupstep/club music magazine that I want to do.

I have printscreened the entire A4 size photoshop document to see how the font families work together in different combinations. Of course, for everything apart from the masthead I will go back and change so it says actual information about what to find within the magazine instead so what is written is placeholder text to show how the font looks. If there is any problems I find later once changing the coverline and kicker, I will alter what I type or change the font instead so it works. I have definitely decided that my coverlines will be in a Neuropol and Charlie Brown M54 font as the combination works really well.

More combinations, this time with a different masthead font family: Coalition instead of Charlie Brown M54. I like all of these combinations and I also like the layout of all of these as I can still add something on the right like a left-third, and I can put a barcode and price underneath the masthead on the right as there is space for it there and it would still look nice though I can experiment with placement later. I think that having different fonts for the masthead and the kicker makes the magazine looks more interesting and visually pleasing however all the combinations work.

This is how the layout looks like with a image accompanying it. I have picked this image as a sample because it follows the rule of thirds which is what I want my final-choice image to do, however it is blurry so I will definitely not use it for my final image choice. Just like the other combinations I have shown, I have not yet implemented the colour scheme into the fonts as you can see as I just want to see how well the combination of fonts work. I like these two masthead font choices equally.

In these two images I changed the font of the kicker to Coalition to see how it would work with the different masthead fonts, same case with the previous slide. Out of the four variations, I definitely like how the Charlie Brown M54 font turned out to look like in the kicker, but I am indifferent to how the masthead should look.

I want to use around 2-3 colours in my front cover. This is because I want a contrast of colours that will look appealing for the audience. I changed the colour of the font to white in this picture and put it here to see how it would look . I might change the background of my actual picture to be darker in photoshop so the white stands out. Right now it looks nice but kind of out of place and not very eye catching.

To change the font I picked a light blue colour from the colour picker window, and copy pasting the html (as seen at the bottom) I was able to manually insert it into the text swatches if it was not already automatically changed. All I had to do then was select the text layer and it would easily change the colour that way. This applies with all colours and not just the colour white.

Here is one of the colour schemes I have selected for my masthead showcased. When I retake my photos, the background will be the same white wall grey-ish colour so this is helping me see how my front cover will turn out to look with the accompanying colours of the background. I did this with two fonts, using the paint bucket tool to get two separate colours in my experimenting.

To use two different colours like this, I selected the text with the magic wand tool and then used the gradient tool with the desired colours and fiddled with it until it came out in a way that looks nice. I prefer the first font than the second this way.

This colour scheme does not look nice because the font is either too light or the contrast is too great that it looks offputting. I will definitely not do this for my masthead.

The contrasting letters look good but might not be visible against the background if too light, as seen in the second image, so if I do this I will make sure to make the contrasting letter colours look more like the first image than the second.

I tried changing the colours of the coverlines and the kicker. The lower photos are the colours inverted. I like the second one because the coverline looks more important than the descriptor. Of course the text for the coverlines and kicker are just placeholders, and I willl change them once I finish with my photo for the front cover.

This is what my coverlines, masthead and kicker look like right now. I will probably change the font and the colour scheme again to fit the mood of the actual image I am going to use for my front cover. This is the standard layout I will use and I might also change this later. There will be space for the issue number, bar code, price and even a tagline underneath the masthead.

Pictures in actionAs well as the feedback I got to retake the photos, I was also told to change the colour scheme to match the photos I will later take feedback I was planning on doing. That only motivates me to change the colour scheme more.

Photoshopping

I went through the process of retaking and selecting new photos (as seen in the front cover plan powerpoint) and I ended up selecting this picture to work on.I used the same A4 document with the same coverlines, I just changed the visibility on the coverlines and masthead so I could work on editing the photo.To start with, I made a new layer to start editing the photo on. The reason for this is because my class went to an open day at a university were a student showcased their w.i.p document, and they didnt touch the image directly and I liked that method.

To make sure that the spot healing brush and the blur tool work even on a different layer I changed their settings to sample all layers. The create texture setting is also very useful as it makes the image look much more natural. The spot removal tool is not just for removing spots. This tool combined with the brush tool (and colour picker tool to get the right colour) provides a cover to get rid of eye bags. I made sure not to get rid of too much of the eye bags as they give depth to the eye and getting rid of that makes the eyes look unnatural

On the lips I used the brush tool, the colour picker tool, the blur tool and the spot removal tool to shape and build the lips to the way I wanted them to look. First I carefully used the brush tool, after selecting the colours with the colour picker, on a low opacity to work on the upper left of the lip to make it symmetrical and then with the blur tool I made it look natural. With the spot healing brush I worked within the lip and made the colours more blended that way. After this I was going to select the lightest colour in the lips and enhance the lightest part by going over it with the brush tool however it did not look as nice and stuck out like a sore thumb in the image so I got rid of it

With the same technique I made the eyes look more symmetrical and bigger. The change is subtle but you can see it on the right eye. I also slightly highlighted the right eye to match the left one.

With the brush tool in low opacity I went along the edges of the hair and shaped it to how I wanted it to look. Then using the blur tool on high strength I made the hair look less like a cut-out and more professional instead. Then for the parts within the hair that I wanted to fill in, I used the spot removal tool until the hair gaps were filled in and looked suitable for my magazine.

After this I messed around with some settings like the gradient tool and the layer effects. On a new layer I made a blue gradient with the effect Vivid Light, opacity 44% to change the mood of the image. As you can see in the first image it has a warm, red feel to it but in the second it has a colder and more intense feeling to it which is what I want the image to have.

With another gradient (this time in pink) I used the layer effect darker colour. With a change in opacity, it filled in some lighter parts of the image without effecting the rest. For some of the light parts it did fill in like the skin I went and erased those areas in the gradient layer so only the places I wanted would be effected by this layer effect: so, just the hair and clothes. This is just an experimentation and I might change the colour from pink by pressing the CTRL + U hotkey to bring up the HUE/SATURATION layer

As a last adjustment for now, I filled in the eyes with the brush tool to try to engage the audience more. I am indifferent to this change. I want to make the eyes more piercing, so I might go back and make them more brighter with the layer effects depending on the feedback I get.

This is what my current layout looks like accompanying the current image for the magazine. As you can see, I changed the placeholder text to something more related to my magazine. I have not yet added the issue number, date, tagline or barcode yet. What I am planning to do to improve this is to change the colour scheme of the fonts, and possibly change the font families; make the masthead appear to be behind the models head and change the font sizes and text placement so the coverlines dont fill the width of the magazine and instead are more compact even if they take up more space vertically. These changes are meant to make the magazine more professional. After I do this, I will ask other students and teachers for further feedback.

I wanted to see what kind of colours would work for the front cover really quickly. I did this by using the Ctrl + U hotkey and I altered the colour in the Hue/Saturation window. I prefer blue out of the three colours I have documented.

I went back to the title and coverlines for the magazine and change the font families like the title to Coalition, and the font colour so it would be clearer and easier to see against the picture making sure to keep to two-three colours as a front cover doesnt need anymore than that.I also changed layer 20 from darker colour to normal and just lowered the opacity until it looked natural. I did this because I received feedback saying the filter on the hair did not look good and I should remove it, so I did.

After changing the font I thought it would be more dynamic to have the lower coverline on the bottom right instead of just underneath the other one. I like how this looks and I believe it is easier to read as well as it is framed by dark colours. The thing I am the least happy about is the kicker as it is hard to read because of the colours behind it. Sadly there is no font option to have a black border around the text and I do not want to do this manually so I will keep it this way.

I added an issue number on the right side of the magazine underneath the masthead in the font coalition as it is one of the fonts I liked and was planning to use and it also looks really good and spaced out enough so you can see the numbers clearly. I used the same colour as the subtitle for the cover line as it would link in and look nice.I put the magazine price (2.50 decided by the questionnaire feedback) at the bottom left of the magazine so the viewer can look at what the magazine has to offer before being told the price.

I added a barcode using the barcode brush on Photoshop and I put it on the left underneath the masthead so it could balance the top part of the front cover.

This is what my front cover looks like so far. I was told by a classmate that barcodes for magazines are usually taller and have the issue number/date above them and usually prices with a white box so I will change this layout and include the latter. I will also make the coverlines smaller and include more coverlines. I will also play around with the fonts more and maybe put filters on the image so it looks more appropriate. I will also add more conventions such as direct address, a button and an exclusive.

I decided to take one of the barcode images from the internet, from this site: http://www.centralbooks.com/barcode.html as none of the barcode brushes were suitable for me to respond to the feedback. I will get rid of the ISBN number as it is typically found on books rather than magazines and I will use the white space to include the price and issue number.

Going back to the font research I have done, I believe Charlie Brown M54 would be a more appropriate font for my masthead than Coalition. I like Charlie Brown M54 for the coverlines though I will use Neuropol for the lure. I will also use coalition for the kicker and the left third. For the button I will add, I will use Charlie Brown M54 as I will only have three font families used in my house style. Once I change to these font families I may experiment with colour schemes again and after that I will change the rest of my magazine to fit with this new house style.

This is the new placement of the text on my magazine. I moved the coverlines to the left which is does not follow standard media conventions, however it looks very nice on the right and allows the reader to see the more interesting topics on the left as eye flow would draw their eyes to that. In this layout I have not yet added the barcode, the button and the puff which I am planning on adding. I had received feedback on the placements and we both reached the conclusion that this is a very good layout that has impact, is eye catching and fulfils the purpose of advertising. I wanted to emulate how a lot of magazines have a lot of text and I believe I have done this well.

To make the button on the magazine I used the ellipse tool to select an area on a new layer then I filled the area with orange and used a soft brush to blur a dark orange and white into the circular area and then I deselected the area. After I did this, I added Charlie Brown M54 white font onto the button.

Once I got rid of the ISBN text on the barcode with using a white brush tool and then I wrote the issue number and price in a neutral font. Once I did this, I grouped the barcode and the text together and flipped the barcode so it faces the right. Doing this allows my magazine to look more realistic as a lot of barcodes are placed vertically at the bottom of the magazines page.

To make the puff I typed a slogan in Charlie Brown M54 font, size 22 and left spaced between the we and the have so it could nicely fit in where the T is in dubstep and look really cool and professional as well.

I had a layer with an image I got from the internet a while ago while I was experimenting with colour schemes, however once I implemented it into the magazine back then, I didnt like how it looked but I kept the layer with the light effect on it. I stopped hiding the layer to see what it would look like with my new layout and I like it however I cannot find the source of this image once I looked for it again so I would not be able to use this filter effect.

Here is how both designs look like side by side. The left one is slightly more legible and its clearer what the focus is.

This is what my magazine looks like so far. I received feedback to edit some of the text, change some of the font colours and the button to red to match the picture, make the image more eye-catching, to make the barcode more professional and to bring the masthead back behind the models head.

In response to the feedback I included the date on the barcode to make the barcode more professional.

I used the Hue/Saturation tool to change the button colour from orange to red to match the picture. I also edited the text to say concerts instead of events as events is too broad and vague.

I duplicated the masthead layer and made it a non-text layer so I could erase part of the masthead so the model can be in front.

I changed the photo filter to vivid light fill 49% to make the background and the model look especially blue so the magazine would be more eye catching.

I changed the leading text for the cover lines to red so it would match more with the models headphones as the feedback suggested.

I received feedback to make the barcode smaller and to make the plastic people lure text white. To do this I used the font tool and the free transform tool to make the barcode smaller.

Final version of Front Cover

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