Making my Front Cover + Screenshots

This was the background image I decided to use for my Front Cover, much like many music magazines of this genre, the backgrounds to most pages are not simple. The term 'simple yet effective' - does not apply in this genre of magazine. This is due to colour being a major factor as to whether a person even looks at a magazine on the shelf. The background image I have used brings a vast range of diversity to my magazine, setting it aside from others on the shelf. The colour red, is often associated with many different emotions: hatred, love, passion etc. This can be linked to the genre of music my magazine is focused around. The graphic style on the image also gives a dark feel, with black almost oozing out of the page, and dripping down to the foot of the image, it gives a sense of disturbance, intriguing the reader.

This is a banner I decided to use on my front cover - it was the first thing I placed on the background. This was due to it obviously being in the upmost of foregrounds in relation to the rest of the front cover. It tells us, of the main cover story within the magazine, its contrast in colour to the background immediately grabs the attention of the reader and the blurred images behind the writing are an added feature. I created this image by taking vast amounts of small images when watching 'Death of an Artist' live at chords, and merging them, using lighter and darker effects on Photoshop to create the desired look. The text, however bland it may seem, is the text the band use as their logo - this is my reasoning behind not using a more vibrant text/colour. Its positioning is also vital, at a slight angle (around 80%) this puts it in contrast to the rest of the images and text I plan on using on the front cover, according to my draft - setting this particular cover story aside from the rest.

The title was the next addition to my front cover. Keeping the colour simple, I used a bold font named 'PUNK' from http://www.fontspace.com/category/emo - however I decided to expand on the font itself by implementing areas of dark red, and sharpening the corners. This was due to the front itself being slightly too bland, and possessing a strong enough presence within the cover. The slight variation on colour within the gaps in the title provide it with a stronger essence above the background. The title itself 'ORIGIN', was decided when I did a piece of research to construct the most popular title (research was done within peers at my school ageing from 17-20). The most popular by far with 100% of the votes was 'ORIGIN' - hence why I decided to use it for my published magazine. The pictures at the foot of the page provide a more indie effect to the cover - whilst still maintaining a Rock era with the images themselves (James - singer of the band, screaming. And a live photo of the band playing a gig). The images were individually enhanced using photoshop, where I added various effects such as darker and lighter shades whilst still maintaining a sharp image in itself. I also used photoshop to trim the edges of the picture, this gave them more ragged edges pulling the images from the background, also blending in with the banner pushing in from the left.

Here I added a small promotional offer, crossing the header of the page and also making its own small banner along the right hand side. The offer itself is of free T-shirts, bought with this magazine. Promotional offers are used to attract attention to a magazine, to get readers interested in the cover and make them want to read on to get a better insight as to what is inside the magazine. These offers attract a vast amount of attention to magazines in general - as people may buy various magazines regardless of its genre, due to offers it possesses setting it aside from other magazines on the shelf.

Here is where I added more pictures to the very foreground of the Front Cover. In the bottom left and bottom right of the page I added the images of hands, however these hands were taken from pictures I took at the same gig as the images used in the banner stretching in from the left. These hands give the page a more desirable need towards readers. The colouring used on the hands was tempered with to get the same effect to that on the images behind the 'Death of an Artist' banner. The images themselves are used in representation within this particular genre in the sense that people will want the magazine and the bands within it. People are holding their arms in the air screaming and shouting for the bands within the magazine, this interest shown from people in the crowds for these bands when playing at gigs; will promote the attention and publicity they aquire outside shows and especially in my magazine.

Here is where I added the main banner (header) to the Front Cover; it is in the same colour as the majority of the text within the cover itself and is also used as a promotional mechanism. It reads "MERCHANDISE FROM THIS WEEK'S HOTTEST BANDS.. ONLY IN ORIGIN' - Also, just underneath the banner reads "EDITION #007", this is used to make the magazine fit in with more magazines already established on the shelf. Issue numbers are located on vast amounts of magazines within this genre of music, including Kerrang! and Q. The header itself as I earlier stated is used as a promotional offer. The merchandise links with the image in the top-right-hand corner of the page. Linking areas of my front cover is one of its features which sets it aside from other magazines on the shelf. It keeps viewers interested as every section they read will lead them back to an earlier section, or a new section of the magazine.

This is where I added some more text to my front cover, similar to that in the masthead. It reads 'JAMES SPEAKS TO ORIGIN ABOUT THE NEW SINGLE!' "REPULSA", the name of the single 'Repulsa' - Is genuine and I asked the band about the up and coming single to get information for the double page spread of my magazine. I used a similar font to that in the masthead within this text, apart from the name of the song itself, where I used the genuine text used on the bands page. The colour scheme is kept white, this is because I am following a text colour scheme throughout my magazine cover as I feel it worked really well when creating my practice front cover.


This is the image I manipulated to use on my front cover, this is a screenshot of the image after I had manipulated it, I believe this is a great asset to my magazine as the images are manipulated specifically for reader attention, I feel they bring a sense of lighting and a variety in colour to the magazine also. Here is the image once I had placed it on my front cover (below left). I believe it brings a fantastic effect to the magazine. The range in colours in contrast to the black and white pictures along the footer is incredibly attractive for a viewer and this picture helps push my magazine out in comparison to others on the shelf. I believe the picture also gives viewers an idea as to what gigs are like in lower case bands. With this new addition my magazine has all the necessary requirements to be a very successful up and coming post hardcore magazine.

This is my final front cover stretched to the correct size of a national music magazine (standard magazine is 8" by 10", a magazine of this nature I decided to use 7.5" by 10"). Click to enlarge to the correct size!