The Time I Switched Things Up (Front Cover)

As I had nearly completed my whole magazine, I decided to tweak certain elements of my front cover, and contents page as a result of audience research. The first element I changed was the background of my front cover. I changed this to black as I did not want a reoccurring aspect of gradient backgrounds, especially as it looked stronger on my double page spread. 

I then decided to change the shape background of my additional image from black to grey, changing the image also so it does not look like the model is 'floating'. The image I have chosen gives off a more hip hop vibe, due to the clothing. In addition, the 'lakers' logo matches well with the masthead, coincidentally. 

Finally, I enlarged the main image to make 'Jay G' be the main focus.

The Time I Almost Completed My Magazine

This is my double page spread article that I have done so far.

The Time I Changed The Gradient

As a result of asking my fellow peers, I decided to change the gradient background of my front cover. This is so that the top left of my magazine gives off a 'cleaner finish'.

Below is the final product.

The Time I Finalized My Front Cover

As I have now completed my front cover, I asked my teacher her opinion. The only element of my front cover that she wanted me to change was the size of the barcode, which is what i have now done. Below, I have placed a green arrow in the current reduced size of the barcode. 

I have decreased it and my magazine now looks complete. I will now write my article in Microsoft Word for my double page spread.

The Time I Made Changes Part 2

With my previous front cover, I was concerned about the top left corner of it as it seemed 'bulky' with cover lines. This is how it looked previously. 

Here under 'Exclusive', there are two lines underneath which seems to create an overcrowded effect. I have now taken out 'Exclusive' with the Hard Kaur and 50 Cent cover line. I then moved all the artists upwards and played around with the layout of the additional image of Rachel. After, I placed the Hard Kaur cover line beneath it so it looked in proportion with the rest of the content. Below is my current and changed front cover.

The Time You Saw My Changes Part 1

These are the changes that I have made so far with my front cover and contents page.

In my contents page, I have switched the layout of where my editors letter was and have placed convergent media too. Additionally, I have added more articles underneath the cover story section.

In my front cover, I have zoomed the front image so there is more emphasis to his face. I have also added additional images and placed my cover lines differently. 

This is my final product so far, however, I will continue to make small changes as I make my double page spread. 

The Time I Added Images

I have made many changes to my front cover so far and this is what it looks like:

In addition, I have added an image of actual artists: Mickey Singh and Waseem Stark. Below is the image I added along with the webpage of where I found it.

http://www.browngirlmagazine.com/2014/07/mickey-singh-talks-new-albummickstape/

The Time I Was Critiqued

Due to the fact that I finished both my front cover and contents page, I asked my Media teacher to critique my work. Below is the list of changed I should make in order to achieve a stronger grade for my magazine.

I will begin to make these changes and document them on my blog as I progress. 

The Time I Placed A +

One small change that I have placed in my magazine is changing one of the " -- " to a "+" sign as this is used in many magazines. I find this feature to be very distinctive and different than having multiple hyphens placed. I have circled where I have made this change.

The Time I Finished My Front Cover

As stated in my previous blog, I decided to add a gradient background to my front cover in order to look more aesthetically pleasing as a plain white background would not entice anyone in to reading it. 

This is my finalized front cover. As I continue to make my magazine, any changes will be documented in my blog

The Time I Experimented

As my initial choice for my background colour of my front cover was white, as i continued to add cover lines, it came to my attention that the background looked very plain. This made me experiment with different gradient tools in order to take into consideration what my front cover would look like with a gradient background. This is what I came up with...

This is my cover so far without a gradient

This is a very subtle gradient background 

I like this background. I will change the colour of the word "interview" and "hunterz"

I also like this due to its simplicity. 

I will continue to experiment and will post my front cover background choice in my next blog post

The Time I Started My Front Cover

As I have completed creating my contents page, I have decided to start my front cover. This is what it looks like so far...

Double click to enlarge

I want the background for my front cover to be white due to the fact that my contents page is black. I think that personally, the orange looks better against a white background, especially as my model's t-shirt is white. I may make changes to the background once I've placed all my cover lines etc so then I can make a final decision. The changes that I make will be documented on my blogs.

The Time I Created My Contents Page

Due to timing issues with my models, I decided to create my contents page first to experiment the tools of Photoshop and increase my knowledge of the software. This is my completed contents page.

Double click to enlarge

As I continue to make my magazine I will make changes and document them in my blog, however, in the mean time I will continue creating my magazine by moving onto my front cover.