Final Magazine Cover

The final edit of my school magazine.

The Process Of Creating My Front Cover

In these first four print screens, I have placed and fitted my front cover image, then also placed my chosen magazine title at the top. I also used a tool to make the image fade naturally into the white on top, where the title is to go.

After placing my title on my magazine cover, I increased its size and fitted it to where I wanted it.
I then added text that relates to my magazine- “Don’t just chase your dreams; run them down!” & ‘New, spectacular sports wing open at St. Daniel’s School; inspiring London’s forthcoming athletes.’
Lastly, I added a barcode to emphasize the authenticity of the magazine.

Photoshoot 2

Here are some images from my second photoshoot, taken after I analysed my first, looking at what needed to be improved and/or changed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided to use two subjects in this photoshoot, to make my images more interesting and dynamic. I also used my local park as a backdrop, which gives a better impression of school grounds than my back garden.
In the end I chose my favourite image and edited it; this is the image I am using on the front of my magazine…

My Magazine Cover Image

 

 

 

Photoshoot 1

For my first photoshoot, I used my younger brother. As my magazine is promoting a new sports wing, I decided to do a sports themed photoshoot. Here are a few examples of the photographs I took:

 



In general, these photographs aren’t great- they would take a great deal of editing as the background is not what I want on my magazine cover.
This led me to do my second photoshoot.

Font Research Part 2

I went on to cut the list further to my top 3 favourite fonts, all very contrasting.

I then treated the three fonts in the same way; enlarged the ‘S’ and merged the bottom and top line together using the s. I did this to see which one I most preferred, and which one I could truly visualise on my magazine cover.





As you can see, I decided to utilise the centre font, as I think it looked more professional than the other two.
To experiment further, and see what looked interesting, I added colour and a background colour of grey (to compliment the maroon font colour).
In the end, I decided that less is more- the first of the three prototypes appealed to me the most, and this is the font that I will use on my magazine cover.





Font Research Part 1

To begin choosing my font, I selected many different types and styles, to see which ones would be best suited.





I then cut these down significantly, to the fonts I believed were best suited to my magazine. I stuck to the idea of mainly sophisticated fonts as it mirrors the high standard of the school. Though I also kept a few fonts that looking a bit less serious; maybe they could make the magazine more interesting but at the same time, not unprofessional.

 

Further Magazine Research

Here are further examples of sports magazines.
There are some similarities between them, and some differences; to start off with, the images used on them. Though they are both midshots, one depicts a person in action, whilst the other is a posed image. I think the inaction image is more captivating than the posed image, as it portrays the essence of sport. Though some may argue an inaction shot looks more untidy than a posed image- in this case I think the inaction shot works well.

Another difference is the amount of writing on each of the covers. The one to the left is quite plain and simplistic, with very little writing, whilst the one on the right has a vast amount in comparison. Personally, I think the magazine with less writing takes on the appearance of a poster over the appearance of a magazine. At the same time, I believe too much writing would have the magazine cover look clustered and messy. Once again, I think the ‘School Sport’ magazine.

On both magazines, the titles are bold and stand out- I think this is very important, as the title usually identifies what the magazine is; therefore it is important to make it stick out.

These are all things I will have to consider when deciding what kind of photographs to use designing and creating my front cover.