Front Cover Stages

When i was making my front cover, the first thing i done was place the image on an A4 sized canvas. to do this i clicked: File, place, then selected the image i chose for my front cover and then clicked ok.

Next thing for me to do was to add in the title of the magazine "Hustle". Once i had placed the font on the page i had to change the colour of it using the paint bucket tool to fill it. i chose yellow as it is eye catching and stands out. I also began to place the text for my main article. For this i used a plain red bold font to stand out. the red also mixes well with the yellow.

Then i added in the next part of the main article using the same bold text and same size. Then i decided to change the title of the main article to yellow rather than red as it looks more proffesional and stands out from other text on the page.

Next i added in all the other text onto the page, keeping to the house style i used red and yellow text for the articles, i also used white text for certain parts of the page as it stood out more as yellow did not mix in well with that part of the background.

I aslo put in the barcode at the bottom right corner of the page as this is the typical location where you would find a barcode on a magzine.

Finished Front Cover

Here is an image of my finished front cover, I decided to call my magazine Hustle which is across the top of the magazine. The font i used for the name of the magazine best suited the genre (Rap) in my opinion as it sharp and unique which represents the genre well. It is also very eye catching because of the yellow colour and the style of the font.

Above the masthead is the price and date the magazine was isued, the reason this is in smalle font is because it does not need to take up much space. Slightly below the masthead is the website for the magazine.

The articles around the sides of the main image are inspired from other magazine such as VIBE which is my main inspiration. Using different fonts and sizes for specific parts shows that some articles are more important or more exclusive than others.

 

The main article is placed in the centre of the magazine in large text to ensure it stands out from the rest so the reader knows that this is the main article. By being in the centre it is made clear that this article is related to the main image.

 

I also placed a bar code in the bottom left hand corner, because this is where they are commonly found.

 

My house style is red,white and yellow. This is because it stands out well on the background and shows the importance of certain aticles. It is also eye catching and gets the readers attention. I was careful when placing certain colours as in some places they could not be seen clearly and would take away the eye catching effect.

Font

To the left are fonts that i would'nt use as some of them look more for young children as apposed to my target age. Also some of the fonts are difficult to read which be frustrating for readers aswell as my work being pointless. Also considering my genre is Rap non of these fonts fit that genre and will therfore not look as proffesioal or effective.

To the left are fonts that i would use as they are clear and easy to read, therfore the readers can understand exactly what i have written. Also these fonts look proffesional and fit well in with the target audinece as they are not too childish but are not to plain and boring. They also suti the genre of Rap well as they are unique fonts which best relates to the genre. Also some of these fonts will give the magazine lots of variety making it stand out aswell as being unique.

Mood Board

My magazine will be based on Rap music so the artists i have used for my mood board are best known for this genre.

Typography

After analysing several music magazines it is clear that the popular colours used are Yellow's and Red's as these colours are eye catching. Another thing that i have noticed is that all the magazines all have at most 5 colours on the page, this is because they do not want the page to be full of colours as it may lose its effectiveness and will look messy and out of place.

Due to this the colours that i will be using on my front cover will be bright colours like red font on a white background so it looks simple and professional. I chose this because out of all the magazines that i looked at Q magazine was the one that i first noticed which is the effect that i want my magazine to have on the viewers, as apposed to "We Love Pop" which although uses bright colours like pink, it doesn't stand out as much because there is to much on the page and it looks messy and unprofessional, and is more likely to appeal to young children.

Below is a print screen of a mockup of the style of font and layout of my magazine, also there are images of magazines which i have used to decide on my Typography.

My Concept

The Concept of my main artist is based on an upcoming artist (FITZ) who following the release of his debut album is about to begin his first UK tour which will set of in his hometown of Liverpool. The image i have used for my Front cover is him leaning against a brick wall with tape across his mouth and his arms folded. This image represents him as a dark character, the headline on the front cover is "FITZ: THE UNTOLD STORY". The tape across his mouth and the arms folded go's in well with this healdine as it suggests that he is closed about himself and the public do not know much about him.

For my double page spread i used a different artist named "Daniel Cole" who is rated as the next big thing in the music industry and the article will consist of an exclusive interview with the youngster, reavealing all their is to know about him and what he is about. The image i used is him side on leaning against a wall looking down. My article will consist of information such as where it all started and who was his insperation etc.

Magazine Covers

On this front cover the main image is the focus of the magazine  as it is an artist looking directly at the camera. The white background compliments this front cover as it gives us a clearer image of the artist and ensures us that this is the main focus.

The text keeps to the house style of the magazine using the red and gold text. The text which says "JAY-Z" is the largest text on the pages, this is because it is the main article in the magazine as the image on the front cover is also JAY-Z. The other articles in the magazine are in smaller red font so the attention is focused on the main article.

The design of the magazine is very simple, with the logo in the top right hand corner and then the text highlighting that it is based on JAY-Z.

This front cover is similar to the one above as the artist is again the main focus of the magazine, however this one is not a extreme close up of the artist. The image of Eminem makes him come across as very angry and threatening, they have used a gesture code to make him look like this. the tattoos also connote that he is unique, and his attire shows that he is a simple person.

The cover lines are simple, some are bigger than others which connotes that some stories are more important than the others. They have use black and red typography to correspond with the house style of the magazine.

The mise en scene is plain which makes Eminem stand out and it also connotes that he is the most important feature on the magazine. the use of no secondary images connotes that again he is the focus point and he also fits in well with the genre and generic conventions of this magazine.


The masthead on this cover is superimposed by Chris brown which connotes that the magazine has a regularly readership and the target audience will automatically recognise the magazine when it is distributed.

The main image is a medium shot which shows facial expression and his clothing which is quite plain but the main headline which states Chris Brown catches the audiences attention. The mise en scene is again plain which keeps chris brown as the main focus.

The layout of the magazine is busy as all the space is used up.

They have used a house style which consists mainly of green and white which looks clear on the background image.

The text again is all different sizes which connotes that some stories are more important than the others.