magazine cover design how have magazine covers changed with the passing of time ?
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Magazine Cover Design
How have magazine covers changed with the passing of time ?
Early magazines - 1900
Are these covers colourful ?
No – Colour printing as we now know it wasn’t
available until the 1950s
Are these covers intersting ?
No – The people that bought them were wealthy and
wanted the new magazines that became available. Only
since the 1960s have magazines really fought to get
their market
The 1920s and 1930s Magazines become stylish.
There is nothing to say what is inside the magazine.
The covers were ‘posters’ for the magazine itself
Mixing Lettering and Images• Some magazines did mix images and
lettering – even in the 1920s and 1930s. This is the style we see most of all today
Recent magazines now need to tell everyone what is inside
http://aejmcmagazine.bsu.edu/Testfolder/
How to design a cover ….
Masthead The name of the magazine displayed in the typeface in which it is designed. This is the visual branding of the title and is usually done in a unique typeface to be very recognisable
Dateline Month and year of publication, often with the price. Note that a monthly magazine usually hits the news-stands the month before the cover date
Main image In the case of this cover there is a single image of the model Shania. It is used in a classic way, the face is big enough to make an impact on the news-stand, with the model making full eye-contact
Coverlines This magazine uses a lot of cover lines, which are distributed around the main image without detracting from it too much
Main cover line This is very large - taking up about a quarter of the cover area - and comes in three layers, each with a different colour.
The title must be easily recognisable in a display of dozens of competitors. The start of the masthead is important here
Bar code Standard barcode used by retailers
Selling line Short, sharp description of the title's main marketing point
http://www.magforum.com/cover_secrets.htm
Type faces (lettering) is often special and designed for a magazine to reflect what the magazine
is all about. It should be ‘eye-catching.’
What to do next ….
• Make a list of all the features we have to include in a cover design
• Decide on a magazine that you are interested in. Magic, Music, Sport, etc
• Design a typeface that suits a magazine you would like to design for.