Magazine Cover - First Draft - Process and Descriptions

The process of creating this magazine cover proved to be a nice challenge because it allowed us to be creative but also trying to include all the conventions to make it look more presentable. The three of us in the group all played a part in helping to create this cover and we worked well to create this draft.

The main 'issue', as such, we had with creating this was trying to get the models face in front of the text. This meant we had to add two of the same image so that we could place my body in front of the main text, but not the background of the image. Our first attempt to do that was to trace one of the images and cut out the background and then with the other image do the same but cut out my body and then piece them together. However, this proved to be a challenge as we couldn't get the right alignment with the two images.
The next solution was to use the cut out of my body but leave the second image of the whole photo and then place the cut out body over the real image so that if there was a miss cut it wouldn't matter or it wouldn't be visible to the audience, this was the best way and is what we decided to do.

 

This is a breakdown of the three stages it took to get the main image we wanted. As you can see, the cutout of my body isn't overly perfect or spot on but it works for what we wanted it to look like. From this, you can see that the programmer we used to edit was Serif DrawPlus x6.

 To get the image of my body on its own, we used the cut out tool. This software enables us to use a cutout tool. As you can see in the yellow box, there is a brief explanation too.

 Here is a breakdown of what it looks like when the cutout tool is opened. I have also annotated the three main sections I used and briefly explained what they are used for.







From this, you can see that it was not an easy process that we undertook to get this outcome. However, as we had knowledge of the programme it was a lot easier to use and navigate ourselves round so that it took detailed time but not too much time.

The next step was to add the text and other conventions of a magazine cover. We had already included the title (master head) and we needed to add cover/tag lines, straplines, feature article cover line etc.

This is what it looked like once we had created and added the text that we wanted to be included and had thought about where we wanted it to go on the page.

Finally, this is what our first draft looked like when we had pieced it all together.








As I have mentioned, this is only our first draft and we know that changes will need to be made. We have already discovered a few since creating it.

For the feature article cover line we chose to use a quote from an interview that was included inside the magazine. We felt like this would capture the audience's attention enough for them to want to read about it. We tried to include at least one enigma code within the quote so they could buy the magazine, find out some of the answer and then want to watch the film to discover the rest.

We also used a sticker image that we imported onto the left hand side of the magazine that states "Free Posters". We felt like the freebie would entice in more audience also because they would like free gifts. This could of been seen as a technique to 'sell' the magazine.

In our trailer, we tried to maintain a similar colour scheme throughout. For example, we used yellow, black and white. This is called a colour palette which is meant to attract more of an audience as it looks aesthetically pleasing.

On our magazine cover, we tried to use as many different fonts a possible whilst trying to keep it professional and not too tacky. This is also a method to attract audience as it will look better on an initial glance. We used large fonts too and some highlighted outlines to make it stand out and to look better than other magazines.

Our central image is of the main character so that they know who the main feature article is based on. The name of the model (me) is underneath the main feature cover line and the quote included.
We used straplines at the top (above the master head) to include some other articles in the magazine to make them want to read it even more. Other little details were also added to give more emphasis and meaning to the magazine cover. Over time, and once receiving feedback, we will be making changes to the magazine that need to be changed in order for it to look better and include the maximum it needs.