To start with, I have the original photograph that I took of the model, and I have opened it in Photoshop to edit it.

Deciding that I wasn’t entirely happy with the central image, I copied in back into Photoshop and raised the brightness higher. I feel this improved the image as it looks cleaner and more professional.

I also entered the artists name as the main cover line of the cover, and I used this font and colour scheme to match with the colours already used and because I felt that it suited the genre.

I then edit the photo using 3 tools on Photoshop. Firstly I make the photo black and white to fit in with my plan, and then I raised the contrast and brightness of the photo to make the image clearer and more dynamic.

I then copied the image into Adobe InDesign, and then typed in my masthead. I chose a neon purple colour because this is what my audience feedback suggested and it contrasts well off of the central image.

In order to try and create the best cover I messed around with the cover line size. I tried making it this much bigger because I felt that this made more of a statement and made the cover more eye-grabbing.

I then added a pull quote to this cover line in order to fit my mockup design, and chose a quote which I felt would draw in the reader’s attention.

I then added the tagline for the main cover line, using the century gothic font in a think white design. I did this because century gothic is the main font throughout my entire design, and the thick white writing stands out against the black shirt the model is wearing.

I changed the tagline for the cover line, making it shorter and easier to read. I then also added a blue line to separate the main cover line and the tagline, in order to separate the 2 sentences and make the cover design look more polished.

I slightly increased the size of the cover line in order to make it easier to read, and then I changed the colour of the font in the flash to white with a thick black outline. This helps the writing to stand out against the central image and means there is no need for a colour behind the flash, keeping the cover simple but eye-catching.

I decided to put the cover line back to its original size because I thought it suited my brand identity better, instead of being over-the-top. I then added a flash to show the reader that this was the breakthrough edition of the magazine, meaning they know there’s a special feature inside that would bring them new information.

I then thickened the outside edge of the cover line, making it stand out more and seem of more importance to the reader, while also filling up some blank space on the cover.

I changed the album being reviewed within the second cover line to make the info more current, and then added a black outline around the flash to make it more eye-catching, meaning that the reader will think it is more important. I also added a barcode because it is necessary for a retail item, and placed it in the bottom right corner to follow the examples of other magazines.

I then added another cover line, informing the reader there is an exclusive review within the magazine, and used the same font as in the flash and the tagline and pull quote. This is because this choice of font stands out well against the central image, and the placement of this cover line separates it from everything else on the page.

I then added info about the magazine just underneath the masthead on the right hand side. This includes the magazine’s website, the month of release and the price. This is all standard for a magazine and helps to make the magazine as appealing as possible to the reader, as they know the company behind it has put lots of thought behind the magazine.

The final change I made was to increase the size of the artists names of the other cover lines, in order to use those stars’ pulling powers to bring in the target audience. The cover relies on this as the cover star is a newbie to the industry, so recognisable names are needed to make the magazine seem of a higher quality to the reader. The repeated use of exclusive helps to bring in more readers, as fans of these big stars can only find the info out about them within this issue.

I then decided to increase the size of the main cover line once again, in order to make it easier to read and to allow it to make more of an impact on the reader. It also helps to show the connection that she is the model on the cover, and shows the reader that it’s the main article within the issue.

I also decided to angle the flash slightly and change its colour scheme to black and purple, in order to make it fit with the youth-orientated features inside and to make it follow the colour scheme used throughout the design. This makes the whole design seem more professional.

I then decided to add 2 more cover lines to make the cover seem more professional by showing the reader the amount of interesting articles within the magazine. I also grouped them together on the right side of the page to fill up more space on the cover, and to group them together to allow the reader to quickly take in the info.