FRONT COVER.

I firstly started to research a few music magazine covers in order to acquire some inspiration. The one which most appealed to me and the type of magazine I wanted to create was Clash magazine. At a general overview the front cover is quite simple, not overcrowded with information, featuring just a few items that are included inside the magazine. The colour of the title reflect the colour of the main feature, they are both white and the smaller texts on either side of the main image are also this colour. This brings the cover together, without making it look too messy and mis-matched. I like the way the artists name is in large font in the centre and the bottom of the magazine.

I designed a rough draft to follow. I am going to have one main image to cover my whole page. I want to have a centre allignment, therefore I will have my title in the top centre of the page and the singers name in the centre bottom like what Clash have created on their front cover, with the image of the singer also on the centre and text either side of the image. I will keep the colours in the same scheme that is on the dress in the image. I willl have a small heading across the top of the page reading 'number one hippie and folk music mgazine' I will also include a barcode with the issue number and date in the left hand corner of the page.

To start creating my front cover, I first had to pick the background image. I had a variety of shots to chose from, but decided on this one:

I took this shot in Phisoberry Park in Sawbridgeworth, where I had my friend dressed up like a 'Hippie'. She wore a paisley printed mazi dress with wellington boots and a floral shirt to create a festival look. She wore minimal make-up to steer away from the glamour obsessed 'pop' industry, and I used props such as the quitar to show that she is a singer-songwriter, and a bunch of old flowers placed in the shrubbery. She is in centre of the shot as I wanted her to be the main feature on the magazine cover and the allingment of the front cover to be central, it also emphasises taht she is a solo artist. I edited the picture using photoshop to create a more professional looking shot. I altered the hue and saturation of the shot and then altered the brightness of the picture. I cropped a small section of the image and placed it as my background for the front cover. I think the way I have adapted the image would appeal to both men and women. The natural surrounding of the image and the acoustic guitar connotes the natural, laid back style of music the magazine promotes.

I then added text to the cover. I added the title of the magazine, 'DAZE' in a colour I picked from the dress of the singer using the colour opicker icon in Photoshop. I used the font 'Book Antiqua'. The font has a mild use of serif's which connote tradition, and although my magazine is far from the traditional, everyday music, it follows the tradition of 'Hippies' who follow a certain type of culture. The word 'daze' connotes the relaxed image I wanted to portray for the singer and the magazine. The title of the magazine is alligned in the centre to follow the eye of the reader down the page to the singer and then to her name, 'DAKOTA SHINE' I used the same font as the title to keep the allignment flow. I used a bigger font size for her surname as the word 'shine' connotes a cheery image, emphasising the style of the magazine. I then added the three words below the singers name 'flowers | fashion | flaws' as three subjects that would be talked aboiut within the interview in the double page spread. Allitaration and the power of three was used to capture the attention of the reader. I also added text to the top border, above the title of the magazine 'number one hippie & faulk music magazine' as many of the magazines I have researched include some sort of top border with text and also it introduces the type of genre to the reader. I wanted my magaine to have the bear minimum amount of text on the front cover as I wanted to keep with the natural and laid back style of the magazine, therefore I added just two inducements on either side of the main image. One is to win a guitar signed by Eric Clapton- a major influence in the style of msuic my magazine promotes, and the other is to win backstage tickets at a festival. Both inducements are to encourage the reader to purchase the magazine.

This is my final product of the front cover of my music magazine:

I have added background colour to the inducemnets, using the shape icon, I used the colours on the dress, a blue and a pink for the colours. I then added the final touches: I made a barcode on paint and pasted it onto the front cover, I rotated it and scale dit down to fit the bottom, left hand side of the magazine. I then added text 'issue 32- April 2011' to show the frequency of the magazine being monthly and the issue number.