Pre-production Work

Working with photo shop

I like the idea of contrasting colour with black and white. Using invert and curves I can manipulate the original image and placing it in a strongly coloured background creates an almost 3D effect, making the image stand out.

When researching the design for my masthead I found the old English style font as the most appropriate. As it has connotations with script style tattoos which many rappers have.

I like the idea of having my text in boxes or in a boxed format. Making it easier for the audience to see and read. With clear titles and heads to indicate the different sections of the magazines content.

I liked the idea of using a silhouette or a body outline of one of my models. Adding subtlety to the overall image and depth.

I started to think about a colour scheme to create a house style which I would use throughout my magazine on the front cover, contents page and double page spread.

Developing Ideas using Brushes

Creating multiple layersBut using the same brush and simply changing the colour, size or visibility and placing them on separate layers, I was able to move them around freely. Also with using free transform I could pivot and flip the brushes to create the exact look I wanted.I carried on which the idea of colour changing it up and using blacks and greys for the background and colour for the masthead and brushes. With just using varying shades of grey in the background with a simple brush design.

Left 3rd - Main image or Lead Article, Cover Lines

Working on Content Page

Creating a House Style

Keeping the house by using the same colours and fonts throughout.

Pre-production ConclusionAfter trying out several ideas using photo shop, PS brushes and dafont I font it hard to continue these ideas to create a magazine my target audience would buy. Even though we are encouraged to use these elements I font that especially with the style and genera of music I was looking at, that R&B magazines don’t tent to use brushes as much as other magazines like kerrang and indie-rock magazines. R&B style magazines have very simple house styles, relying on poster style images and clean formatted cover lines to sell their magazines rather then lots of colour and brushes and animated effects. With this in mind I will start again focusing more on making my front cover, contents page and double page spread look more like they have just been ripped straight from and American style magazine like Vibe, which targets the same audience I am with my magazine. Although I will not be using any of these mock-ups and part of my final work I will be applying some of my ideas on the my finished piece, I still like the idea of formatting my contents page into boxes, or having them grouped together so they look that way. And I still like the idea of having my articles in the left 3rd but I will not be using brushes to create my background, instead I am opting for a more minimalist look.