Stages: Music Magazine Front Cover

This is my finished front cover for my music magazine.

My last step was to include a footer bar and chose to have it as an 'INCLUDES' bit, with names of big bands of today that would be included in my magazine. I did this by using the 'type tool', then 'fill' and 'stroke' tools once I had typed all of my bands out so that I could apply my colour scheme colours. I chose to do my 'INCLUDES' part to have a red outline instead of a magenta outline, simply so that an audience could tell that it was introducing the bands in my footer bar. I then rearranged my footer bar with the 'selection tool' and placed it on the bottom of my magazine cover, like most magazines, and next to the bar code.

I had the majority of important elements on my document at this stage, my next option was to include a main cover line and several coverlines. The majority of my coverlines were inserted by just using the 'type tool' and then the 'fill' and 'stroke' tools to include the colours and outline colours, all of which still go by my colour scheme of red, black, white and magenta. My coverlines are all information about my band 'Noize' and either under or next to an image of them, using the 'selection tool' to rearrange and place them. They are only one or two sentences long but include vital information that an audience would want to know what is in my magazine. As much as the coverlines on my music magazine do not stand out as much as other elements, they are still noticeable and all in Stone Sans ITC TT bold font.

I added a magazine header bar for my next step, as I needed to include one like most magazines. I couldn't decide what to have as a header bar so I decided to have a prize winning magazine header bar. 'Win! Free gig tickets for a whole year! Win!' was my decision and I did this by using the 'type tool' and having it 'forward' so that it was over my red box. The font for my magazine header bar is the only text that is not Stone Sans ITC TT but instead, I chose DS-DIGITAL font so that it would be more striking for the audience. I chose a red box and white font as it not only stood out from the magazine, it still worked with my colour scheme. I inserted the box using the 'rectangle' tool and then 'apply colour' tool and choosing a red colour. Then I used the 'selection' tool and rearranged and placed it on the top of my magazine. Once I had done that and looked at my magazine properly, I then noticed an empty space which needed filling, so I thought my best bet was to insert a small image of the band by using the same technique as the main image as well as the 'selection tool' to rearrange the image and insert it in the top right-hand corner, just under the magazine header bar.

My next step was to add four very important things; the bar code, issue number, date and price of my music magazine. I added my bar code into the right hand-side corner so that it is easy to notice for when buying the magazine and in a space where I knew it would all come together nicely. I did this by doing the 'copy and paste' technique, then using the 'selection tool' to resize and rearrange it. I then added the date, issue number and price all together using the 'type tool', then using the 'selection tool' to arrange it to go in the top left-hand side of my magazine so that it was parallel to my bar code and easily noticeable. It fits just under my magazine header bar and above the masthead.

This was the start to my music magazine cover.
I chose black as my background as it is one of the colours of my colour scheme and it works well with photographs as well as using outlines in font writing. I came to this decision using my surveys, research, sources etc. I researched other magazines and their backgrounds and came to a conclusion that the magazine that had also used black with the same/similar genres to me, their magazines had a positive outcome and feedback. My survey helped as it also told me that the main colour people had chosen was black. I used the 'rectangle tool' to drag across the A4 page and then the 'apply colour' tool to change the whole page black. 
 
My next step was to add in a masthead that would appeal to my audience, be remembered and give my magazine credit. I had a few problems with my masthead as the more my magazine came together, the more it blended in with it all. As much as it worked well with my magazine, it started to fade and wasn't striking enough anymore. I had to change around the colours quite a lot until I found colours that would make it more appealing and noticeable. The original colour was going to be white with a magenta outline, like my selling point, but I eventually found that red with a white outline was more striking and it still worked with my colour scheme. My colour scheme is now black, white, red and magenta. I used the 'type tool' to insert my text as well as the 'selection tool' to move and rearrange elements on my front cover.  I also did this for my selling line. The font I have used is called 'Stones San ITC TT' in italic and the rest of my magazine will be in this font too, just not as much in italics. I like this font as it has a 'young look' to it and should attract my target audience, which is 14 years old and above. It is also very clear to read, looks nice, not too formal and works well with my magazine once it has all come together.I then had to move onto my selling line which I wanted to have a 'quote feel' towards it. I had a long think about it, also looking at several musical quotes online and "Music is the rhythm, Lyrics are the rhyme. Sit up, plug in and go" popped into my head. There's a flow when reading it and it speaks the truth because music is the rhythm in songs and lyrics are the rhyme in songs. The "Sit up, plug in and go' bit is basically when a person is to sit up and be ready for the music, 'plug in' is when you have your earphones/headphones or speakers turned on and go is to take in the music. Like the masthead, the font is Stones San ITC TT italic but it is in white with a magenta outline. I did this with the 'fill' tool for the main colour and the 'stroke' tool to include my different coloured outlines.
 
I also added a photograph of the main band featured in my magazine as the main image, like the majority of magazine nowadays. It is right in the centre of the magazine and very noticeable, yet it doesn't distract a reader from any of the coverlines, masthead etc. I chose this image of the band called 'Noize' because it is all of them together and can see each member clearly. I chose to put Ellie i.e. Jasmine at the front as she is the smallest, the lead singer of the band and the only female so she is more dominant than the rest of them, but still does not over shadow the other members. The rest of the band, who are all male, are in a line behind her and you can clearly see them all and their facial expressions. I didn't want a dramatic or posey photograph or anything similar to what most music magazines do, I wanted just a simple and 'smiley' photo that would do each one of them some credit as well as still looking like a new, teenage band. I did this by using 'file' and 'open' so then I inserted my main image, the 'selection tool' also helped a lot as I had to rearrange the photograph several times as well as forcing it to fit correctly on my front cover.