Music Magazine: Finished Front Cover

This is my finished front cover for my music magazine. I am pleased with the outcome as it has a professional outlook; it uses left thirds, consists of a cover line and most importantly the mast head is behind the person in the picture contributing to it looking even more professional.

To improve:

To improve my front cover, I feel that my cover line and left thirds would need to be at a larger font so that they are easier to read at a glance. As well as this, I feel that the text below the "Exclusive Interview" left thirds needs to have a black back drop box with red and white font, tying in with the above text. The reason I haven't edited the front cover; there was a corruption in the file and this was my saved JPEG copy.



When I create my contents page and double page spread, I will ensure that the colour scheme, font types and sizes will be used throughout.

Click on image for a larger, higher quality display.

As Media Front Cover Checklist

Does your main image relay your musical genre? 

I  feel that my main image found on my front cover is appropriate for my music magazine genre. This is because the  the artist in the photo is holding a guitar relating to my genre: acoustic/folk. As well as this, a bold use of colours is used to make the image appealing and to encourage my audience to buy the magazine. The fact that there are no bright, florescent colours on the front page supports my genre with regards to a pop/rock magazine that would be bright and eye catching.

Is your MASTHEAD relevant to the genre? It should be the biggest FONT on the page and in CAPITALS? 

The masthead relates to my genre as the original definition of 'fusion' in music was two genrers mixed together such as rock/pop, rock and roll. I believe that the Masthead was relevent as I am combining two different but similar genres (acoustic/folk) into one magazine.

Have you used a variety of FONTS and SIZES for your COVER LINES?

The font type I have used for my masthead is Playbill. Even though this font type has a serif outlook, I feel that it is appropriate for my masthead as it is in capitals, bold and appealing for my audience. The reason I have chosen red for my masthead is; it ties in well with the red on the person in the front cover photo.

The font type I have used for my left thirds is Helvetica Neue. When arranging my fonts, I had to consider what size it was going to be on the front page. I understood that the left thirds and cover line couldn't be bigger than the masthead. Therefore, I made my left thirds size 12 and my main cover line of the artists name size 72.

Is your main COVER LINE clear? Does it relate to your image? It should be bigger that all the other COVER LINES.

I acknowledged that my cover line was important as it was the artists (the model on the front page) name. Due to this, I had to ensure that the cover line was bold, eye catching however, in alignment and relatable to the other texts and colours. My main cover line is bigger than the other cover lines as it is important for it to stand out.

Do you need a TAG LINE?

I have chosen not to have a tag line for my music magazine as I wish to express the inner meaning of my magazine through the cover line and left thirds. I also felt that it was important the readers have their  own opinion on stories and pictures consisted within the magazine.

Are your COVER LINES relevant to the genre? 

My cover lines are relevant to the genre as they relate to stories included in the magazine for the audience to explore more about that music genre.

Have you got a BARCODE? 

I have a barcode, issue date and price found on the bottom right hand corner of my magazine. When analysing other music magazines, some situated their barcodes on the back of the magazine however, I kept it on the front page as that is where they are usually expected to be found.

Have you got PLUGS and PROMOTIONS?

I have used a variety of different front page conventions on my magazine front cover. Although, I haven't used them all; I didn't want to clutter my front page making it look unprofessional and fake.

Have you got a DATE and ISSUE number? 

My date and issue number have been grouped in the same area as my barcode.

Music Magazine Front Cover Building Process

To successfully complete my contents page, I used Adobe Photoshop Version CS6. I believe that Photoshop is the most appropriate software to create my music magazine front cover ensuring it has a professional outlook; I understand how to use the effects tools more. Also, I found that my front page would require almost double the time and concentration to be certain it was to my satisfaction. Ensuring that it was appropriate for my audience and genre: acoustic and folk.

 Step 1:

To begin my front cover, I found the appropriate picture I wished to use. I found this task highly challenging so to assist me, I narrowed the photos down to five and then picked my favourite.

To have the masthead so that it was behind the artists head, I created layers, cut around the artists head using the lasso tool, copied it, situated the masthead where I wanted to be and finally, pasted the section of the artist head over the title "fusion".

Step 2:


Next, I began to create the cover line which was the artist name. The reason I made my cover line the artist name is because other music magazined did so. The main story is about them. I believe it had an effective influence on the audience and that they were immediately drawn into buying the magazine as they knew the artist well. In theory, Jerry (or "Jezza") is a known new artist with thousands of people wishing to know more about her.

Step 3:

Step 4:

To create my cover line, I used boxes, bold text and colours (such as white) that would stand out against the background. To ensure that my front cover was simplified for further editing, I created layers for everything on my page. I could of flattened it so that it was all on layer however, this would of made my work more difficult to edit. The side bar on the right is where I could see what layers I had on my front cover.

Step 5:

Using another music magazine as a guideline for mine, I ensured that it was't too similar therefore, experimenting for a decent outlook. When I had my main cover line centred, I felt that it blocked to much of the picture therefore resulting to it being unappealing.

Step 6:

I added a barcode and a date of issue to the front page so that it looked more professional and real. I situated my barcode, price and date of issue on the bottom right hand corner as that is when they are typically found on a magazine front cover. Some magazines chose to put their barcode on the back page but I chose to have it on the front as that is the most common place.

When designing my left thirds, I felt that it would be good to have them similar to my main cover line but in a smaller size. The reason for this is because I wished for my front cover to be appealing, in line so that nothing looked to out of place and a set colour scheme. When creating my left thirds, I could of easily had an out of the box scheme colour but this wouldn't look good and would be unbelievable. As well as this, it would restrict the attraction of audiences.

Music Magazine: Flat Plans

These are my flat plans for my music magazine with some annotations on the conventions I will include on the pages. I chose to draw out my flat plans as I felt that it was easier for me to visualise through drawing. By doing this, it also allowed me to explore more in depth about what I wished to have on my pages as it was in front of me and not on a screen. 

This is the flat plan for my front cover, when designing it, I ensured that I had a variety of conventions that would definitely be on the front page. I am aware that flat plans are a guideline only however, I do what I can to stick to them as close as possible. Discovering other music magazines also influenced my decisions on the layout as I often found better designs. 

When drawing out my contents page, I wished for the photo to be large but not too big so that it is overwhelming. With my bulletins that showed what's inside the magazine, I added a short sentence introducing what's included on that page. I wished for the audience to focus on this. Moreover, I added the magazine website on the top right hand corner so that the reader is influence to look on the magazine website.

My double page spread will have a more casual, easy read outlook. From analysing other double page spreads, I have decided to have the picture of the artist on one side of the page looking towards the story. I have found that pull quotations from the interview will be used to divide paragraphs and hock and audience into reading more. As well as this, smaller boxes were found on the spread with added extras, this will be considered for my work. The name of the artist will be printed over the story as the headline as it is continuous from the main cover line.


I physically drew out all of my flat plans and didn't digitally draw them as I believe it is easier to visualise what you wish to have through drawing. 

Music Magazine Pictures Overview

This photo is well presented for what I feel would look good on a double page spread. The reason for me not using it on my front page is because it is difficult to situate the left thirds on the photo unless I flip the picture. However, because the person in the photo isn't looking at the camera, I feel that it is irrelevant as it wouldn't encourage an audience to buy the magazine. I also feel that the location of the picture relates well to my music magazine genre of acoustic/folk; it originates from an urban background. As well as this, I wished to emphasise the background the artist was from so that the audience had a more personal encounter whilst reading the story on Jerry. 

I feel that this photo of Jerry is good and was highly considered for the front cover of my music magazine.

The reason I chose not to use this photo for my front cover was because the artist was too centred which made it difficult to design the magazine front cover. In my research, I found that some music magazines had the artist centred although, they had a full body shot. When looking at other music magazine front covers, the artists who were centred usually had a full body portrait which made it look effective. This photo is a medium close up and wouldn't look appropriate to be on a front cover as it is centred and over posed. When I planned the picture for my front page, I wished to have a neutral background, which this has.

Passion and love are two prime feelings shown in this photo which is great for an audience to see. I feel that for the feelings of the artist to be presented to an audience is a key way in attaching people to read as well as engage more with the magazine. I will use this photo on my contents page introducing the article that will be found on my double page spread; an aspect of my article will be talking about the artists feelings in what they do.

This photo is ideal for the front cover of a music magazine. I feel that it had a more rocky impressions therefore, this isn't appropriate for my front cover; photo is in black and white and the person in the picture is wearing black. Besides this, the bricked background gives the connotation of rough, solid and unmissable music which I believe is irrelevant for my magazine genre. 

Photography Plan Music Magazine & Summary

I felt that my photography shoot was successful; I now have a variety of good images that will contribute to my music magazine. When taking the photos, I ensured that the mise-en-scene, lighting, space was pivotal to get a good image.

Annotated Music Magazines

When doing my research, I ensured that I annotated a variety of magazine genre conventions so that I had a broad understanding on what would be consisted in the genre and what the audience expect to read.

 

NME is associated with a variety of different music genres. Even though I wish to make my music magazine specific to its genre, I feel that NME is a good source to analyse as it develops my understanding on the areas I should include in my magazine for my audience. Furthermore, the front cover shows a good range of magazine font page concepts. 

This contents page from the music magazine "Q" presents clearly on the kind of layout I wish to include in my music magazine. Specifically, I like how they have sectioned areas of the magazine in a column alongside with a large picture focusing on the main story. 

This double page spread uses pull quotes which I find effective towards the readers as the main statements from the interview hock them in to read. As well as this, I like how the artist have a picture on the right hand side of the page with another quotation from the interview: I will highly consider this. Even though the situating of pictures and text is good, I find that there is limited colour which is bland and unappealing for the audience. Thus, I am going to have more of a variety of colours relating to my front page.