Creating Front Cover

Photo Manipulating Front Cover Image

Aspects of the photo which I changed ; 

• colour of models nails 
• the levels of the background 
• the shade of her clothes
• Removing imperfections

The photo before manipulation 

The photo after manipulation 

Music Magazine Final Front Cover

Since the first draft of the front cover that I posted, I have made the changes that I mentioned previously that I would along with some others that seemed relevant as I continued the development process. Some of the plans that I had made, I attempted but did not look effective; for example the movement of the cross and win feature to the top of the page. I decided to keep this where it was as the cross is also close to the main headline which I also want the reader to have their attention drawn towards. However to make the top of the page slightly heavier I have increased the size of the main title. Also, after experimenting with different ways I could fill the blank space, I have added a small blue banner across the right hand corner of the page which displays the issue number on it. I like this feature as I think it is something that could be used on every issue of the magazine as a form of house style and could incorporate what ever colour scheme that issue of the magazine is following. As planned I included the creamfields logo instead of the text as this is a logo that my target audience are familiar with and will therefore attract them to the magazine. I used a clipping path edge on this logo so that it blended in with the background of the cover. I have re-arranged the way in which the articles are displayed and increased the weight of the text so that they stand out more as well as ensuring they are all lined up giving the magazine an organized finish. 

I am pleased with the outcome of this product, I really like the pose of the model and think that the eye contact with her is especially drawing for the reader enticing them to "enter". I feel this cover portrays the attitude of powerful women that I intended to create. I also feel as if the relatively simplistic colour scheme that I used makes it appealing for everyone as being a chart magazine it includes many genres of music therefore must be flexible for my target audiences preferences.

music magazine first draft

This is the first draft which I have create for the front cover of my music magazine. I feel as if I have already developed this draft quite long way from the initial plans that I made when I followed my hand drawn designs. This is likely to be because the way that all of the aspects of the page were laid out look a lot different when they are completed and on the screen to what they do when they are flat plans on paper. The main reason that I moved things around from what I had planned was to attempt to follow the rule of thirds and create balance on my cover. However I think I could improve this further as the bottom of my page feels a lot heavier than the top of the page as it has many visual weights reasonably close together. I will attempt to move the cross and the win feature to the top of the page which should create a balance between the diagonally opposite which is the headline and the bar code. I have also noticed that my features on the page are not lined up correctly making it look slightly messy and unprofessional  this is something I must amend in my final version. I think that there is also something missing at the top of the page on the right hand side. I will experiment with different elements that I could add into this part of the page to fill the blank space. Finally I think that by adding the logo for creamfields festival instead of the text "creamfields line up revealed" would be a lot more attractive to my target audience as that would be a logo they are familiar with. 

Apart from these changes that I plan on making I am happy with this draft of my front cover that I have produced, I think that it follows the research that I have carried out well and has the potential to be in line with real media products that represent chart music.

Cover Model Second Shoot

When photographing the second shoot for my music magazine I attempted to reproduce the images that I had   previously chosen as my favourites from the first shoot and made the relevant changes. 

 After looking at all of the photographs that I have taken in this shoot I have chosen this as the one that I will use on the front cover of my magazine. I have chosen this photo as I feel that the model is portraying the right attitude that I planned which is a strong female attitude not only with the pose which she is positioned in but also in her facial expressions. This photograph that I have chosen is strongly linked to the research that I have previously carried out. During the process of shooting the images I have varied the outfit which she has been wearing however I have chosen to use the most simple outfit for the final product. This is because i feel it makes the model look the most powerful when she is not over complicated. I also feel that the lighting int his photograph is strong and compliments my models skin tone. However I have noticed there is a problem with this photograph which is that the models nails are on show an are not a colour that fits in with my theme nor matches the rest of the photo. I will use an editor programme such as Photoshop to edit this and ensure that the colour of her nails are a red that match the colour of her lips. I will also use photo shop to make the background of this image a smooth texture and not the crinkled sheet that can currently be seen. These changes will improve the quality of the image before it is placed on my front cover.

Cover Model First Shoot

For the front cover of my music magazine I have completed the first shoot of my chosen model. Overall I took 148 photographs on this session and within that I incorporated a number of different poses, all following my theme of strong, powerful women. I also used 4 different outfit variations on my model. I picked this model as I believe she fits my brief well as she has the two strong features which are important to my photographs; lips and eyes.

Out of all of the photographs that I took in this first shoot I have chosen 7 which I feel are the strongest for different reasons differing between each of them. These are the ones which I ill focus on developing the negative aspects about in the next shoot which I carry out to ensure that my photo sessions become more focused on capturing the final shot.

The positioning of the model in this photo would work well with leaving room for other aspects to be included on my front cover. I like the pose which she is positioned in however would like to make it stronger and facial expression more harsh. This photo was also not taken well as it has come out blurred so I must ensure that I keep the camera stable while taking the shot.

I very much like the facial expression of the model in this photograph as it portrays the strong attitude of my magazine perfectly. The body position that she is in also works well with this. However I feel that she is too far down the page and would like to move slightly closer into her face so that there is more empahsis on her powerful eyes.

Again I feel like I have the model positioned too far down the page and must ensure that when I re shoot this that I remember the rule of thirds as well as the other features that will be going on the front cover of my magazine. However I think her slightly tilted head and raised eye line works really well with my theme of power. 

The positioning of the model is better in this photograph and I think that the costume works well with the theme of a powerful woman as well as the pose that it allows the model to work with. When re shooting this I will adjust the models eyeline so that she looks stronger and as if she is looking down on the accidence. 

I really like the pose which the model is in here, by looking up at her it really emphasizes the power which she possess . I think that her eyes look particularly strong therefore will make this slightly closer up so that they are more noticed.

I belive this is one of the strongest photos that I took. It shows a lot of attitude coming from my model portraying exactly the right mood which I planned out. The slightly messy hair also adds to this effect. I will position this photo next time so that she is slightly further up the page and closer in to her face.

Different to all of the others which I have chosen, this is a photo which I want to re shot as it still follows the theme of a strong woman however I think that it has a slightly different edge to it and shows relaxed power that she is uncomfortable with. The colours on her outfit also portray this. I feel that I shot this photo too far away from the model so this is an aspect that I will focus on next time.

Cover Font Research

I began font research in an unfocused fashion that allowed me to look at many different styles of font that I could use for the title of my magazine. I done this by selecting a large variety of different fonts from the avalibale list. I then began to get more focused as I chose the fonts which I liked the most of of these and develope them a little bit further , by changing the changing the characteristics to what I think would suit them more for example changing the size of letters , boding or italicing them.

After this, the next step I took was to close the best 3 fonts which I though represented the attitude of my magazine to develop into the final stages. Once I had selected these three fonts I changed them amount many times to ensure that I had looked at all the possible ways that it could be.

Eventually I came to the conclusion that I of the font and style that I would put it in. For the final font I have used I have displayed it in both black and red for the moment as I know for defiant these will be two of the clearly dominant colours on the front cover of my magazine however I will make the final decision and colour match them when putting together the front cover.