Stages of DevelopmentFront Cover

Stage 1; Original Image

This is the original image of the photo I want to use on my magazine front cover. It has been resized to fit the A4 size of the magazine.

Stage 2; Editing Image

After playing with Levels and some of the layer features in Photoshop, I managed to get this image, which is similar but richer in colour. I also made the blues and greens slightly richer.

Stage 3; Focusing Image

I used Gaussian and Motion blur to blur the background, putting it out of focus and in effect; focussing the main image. This draws attention to the main image, where I want the audience to be looking.

Stage 4; Header

I first added the header, after trailing a number of fonts. I then come across a minor problem with the writing being black. Half of the header wasn’t visible.

So I…

…added a size 3 pixel white stroke surrounding the font. This made the text visible.

Stage 5; Footer

I then did the same to the footer, keeping the font consistent. The problem I came across here was, I had no area to put the barcode.

I made the font smaller and positioned it slightly to the left, where space for the barcode was created and then it was inserted.

I also wanted to include the issue number, month of the edition and price, I didn’t want this to stand out anymore than the barcode so I inserted a white box and put in the information via small Arial black font.

To show the header and footer are just extras; I put white lines below and above them, respectively. I didn’t put the lines all the way to the end of the page because I wanted to show that although they were a different part of the magazine, they were not separated.

Stage 6; Masthead

I decided to add the masthead, which reads; TUNE. This is the title of the magazine, I liked the font I used but it didn’t stand out as much as I’d like it to.

I added a Satin colour of blue and a blue Stroke, also with a drop shadow. I thought this made it stand out too much as I was trying to replicate the simplistic image of the Vibe magazine.

I thought too myself, I’ve never seen a professional magazine with drop shadow, so I deleted that effect and also the stroke, leaving the Satin blue colour inside the font.

Stage 7; Sell Line

I added the sell line with another white line to keep the recurring theme. The sell line reads; In Tune with the Latest & Greatest Tunes. This was a play on

words as the masthead is tune and in tune meaning; up to date and on the same track as the latest trends and music.

Stage 8; Cover Lines

I then went on to add a cover line, sticking the blue and black theme. I never over done the magazine with cover lines as I wanted to stick to the simplistic look I was going for.

Stage 9; Finishing Touches

Then to finish off the magazine I added a main cover line about the Artist featured on the cover. It sticks in with the theme and is also wordplay on his stage name ‘Simmy Stacks’.

Stage 10; Change of Heart

I then came across a different picture I took, which I thought may be better suited to the magazine cover of the style I’m trying to convey. I was in 2 minds about which was better.

Stage 11; Extra Cover Lines

Extra cover lines were added to fill up the blank spaces and an inverse colour theme to gain interest from the readers and viewers.

Stage 12; Original Image

This was the original image of the new magazine cover; I didn’t need to edit it as the lighting was all correct when I took the picture.

Stage 13; Finishing Touches

To finish off I changed the theme to a dark red, and changed the colour of the masthead and main cover line accordingly. I also moved the main cover line down to show more of the image. I decided I was happy with this so I then decided to start the contents page.