MAIN TASK 1: Front Cover Development

For my front cover I had gone through a series of processes and developments in order to create my final piece. Screenshots below are of the different experiments and drafts of my front cover. This varied from places of the title, to sizes of font, to structure of text or colours. Receiving feedback from the public made me help which ideas to choose, although on many occasions I did feel that my view and choice did look better and therefore had gone with that. But the screenshots taken was after the piece had been created therefore, on the right side of the images, section "layers" has everything there already, therefore I had to unclip them to remove it from the page in order to show the different steps. This had been quite difficult as it would have been easier to just take the screenshots while creating the magazine.

I first started off by placing an image of the model on photoshop which I had kept changing as I wanted something that would be serious and dramatic. I decided that a mid-shot would work best as that is how "VIBE" magazines have most of the time, I then altered the brightness and contrast of the image and also used a "spot healing brush tool" in order to get rid of any blemishes on the model's face.

Then I started placing the title, I had first thought of having the title as "BASE" but then as it was too short, I could not find a font where it would stretch the word in order to fill the entire top section of the page and so I had changed the title to "OVERDOSE", which is a longer word, therefore fitted well. I altered the position many times by having it placed at the top, at the bottom and along the right side, vertically. This was because, having the title at the top it had overlapped the model and covered his hair. 

And so I changed the positions of the title, but then decided it would be best to have it placed at the top, as most magazines have it there and also in the other placed would overlap the model's clothing which I did not want.

I then had to decided that to have the title there, I would have to change the size of the model and have it smaller, but I could not do this as the background and model was one image. And so I decided to have the two separate. As I wanted more of the brick background to be seen, therefore I had placed only the brick wall image on the entire page. 

I then got an image of the model and had to re do the brightness and contrast, I then cropped out the background, I had to also erase sections around him, which was quite difficult especially around his hair.

But as it is placed at the top, this enabled me to change the image size of the model as first, the font was too big and overlapped the model, covering his hair. Therefore I re-sized the image, I then chose the font and I wanted something quite thick and bold, I went through the entire list of selections and chose "Impact". This was already a capital letter word therefore it worked perfectly as capital letters are more bold, even when it is in a thin font.

To then add a slight shadow around him, as by erasing the background off the image made it look very clear that it has been "rubbed" out and so I  had to add something that would smooth out the image and add a bit of a shadow blending onto the background. In order to do this, on the right side of the image below is the section of the different layers. The one highlighted has the steps below of how it had been done.

However, most magazines I had seen especially "VIBE" had their titles placed next to the image but the image overlapping the title. And so as my image of the model and background was separate, this enabled me to have the title in between in the layer section, making the title placed under his head but due to the slight shadow around him, it created a nice blend.

I then added the name of the "artist" making sure it looks like a stage name as most R&B and Hip Hop artists have a stage name and not their real name. This is because their real name is considered unattractive, dull or it presents an undesired image. And sometimes they change their name to something unusual or outlandish to attract attention. Therefore I had chosen "Zed Eclipse" as it is not a normal name but sounds very interesting and so could appeal more to the audience.

I then added a barcode which I had downloaded from "Google Images", as it opened up on another photoshop page, I had to drag it into this page. I then added a price of the magazine, by seeing the results of the questionnaire, it allowed me to choose a price on the most suggested. I then converted this price to "$", this shows how it can also be sold in the USA, showing how it is quite broad and at a high level.

Next I added a question "Who is the best rapper ever? you decide", this had been inspired by one of the "VIBE" magazines. I felt that this engages more with the audience by asking them a question and specifically mentioning "you" made a greater impact. Also as this genre involves rappers, therefore the magazine would likely to contain some information about famous rappers. I made the section where I wanted it to stand out, in a different colour to the rest of the text, in this case I made the "The best rapper ever" in purple, making it eye-catching.

Then I added a list of artists who will be featured within the magazine, again I thought of creating some as stage names to attract the audience. As well as I added some "normal" names as some artists do still wish to keep their real names. Therefore I felt it would be best to keep a variety, and most likely groups would have a stage name. This is evident about which names are a group and which are a single artist. I then changed the colour by having a pattern of white and purple, this created a more captivating feel as by having it all in white would be quite boring.

I then thought that it would be quite vital to have a subheading of the list, in order for it to be clear what the list is of, this is due to the audience not knowing the artists names. I changed the "10" to a slightly bigger font than the "Featruing" this is becuase I noticed that the numbers on "VIBE" or other "Hip Hop" magazines have the number in a larger font to the rest. 

I wanted it to be different but be the same colour font, therefore I decided to have an outline around the text. To do this I had to double click on the layer of the "Featuring 10" and this box would pop up which is shown below. I would then have to click "stroke" on the left side of the panel in order to choose the colour I want the outline to be and I also can alter the "thickness" of the outline.

Next I added a short quote which links to the genre and theme, this was found from "Google" by simply typing in "R&B quotes". I changed the position of the quote a few times by having it at first in a slight bigger font and placed above the name of the artist. This was so that it looked like a main quote in general from all artists as it involves them all. But then I wanted it to seem like it was a quote from the artist shown and so changed the colour to white so that it matched and placed it below the artist's name.

To then add some of the purple colour on the left side of the page as well, as I felt it was all on the right side only. I added "New takeover", this creates a very powerful look of the artist shown as this mentions how the artist is a "new comer" as well as showing how popular or well the "singer" is by taking over within this genre. And as it is placed just below the name of the artist, it shows a linkage of the artist to something for example, some people are known as a "legend". Having a characteristic linked to the name makes the person more well known.

Looking at the "VIBE" magazines I noticed how all of the magazines have a line of text along the top of the page. And as this had space at the top, due to the title being placed near the head, this gave me plenty of space to have text at the top. And so I put a word on each topic, that summarises what is included within the magazine. This I believe would grow further interest due to the audience immediately knowing what else is in the magazine without really opening up the magazine. And as it is put in one word for each section, this gives a quick idea of what it involves.

Due to the left side of the page being quite plain, I thought of putting another piece of information but decided to put something that would include a number. This is because magazines under this genre have a lot of bold numbers placed on the cover. And so I thought of having the information of "20 new tracks" being added, in order for the audience to know that it includes information about new songs.

But I then looked at "XXL" magazines and saw that a few have the information of "Hip Hop" being for 40 years and so I thought that would work nicely with my magazine as I already have something linking to "R&B" but needed some information about "Hip Hop" as this is intended to be both genres. I then added the outline and had the fill in the same as the background, this is how the "XXL" magazines had done it as well which I thought looked delicate yet stands out.

I then decided that the colour theme of white, grey and black was evident but the colour of purple being the main featured colour was not too noticeable. And so I decided to change the title to purple, but it did not look professional as it was a matt finish.

 But looking at one of the "VIBE" covers, I thought of having the title in two colours horizontally, by blending the purple into black. So in order to do this, I double clicked the layer of "Overdose" and selected the "Gradient overlay" on the left side. To then change the colours I had to double click on the section where it has the drop down button of the colours.

This box below, had then opened up, to change the colour I had to double click the little dragging arrows on the either ends of the line of colour. I could then alter to how much black I wanted by increasing or decreasing by the use of the arrow. To also change the sharpness of the two colours by either smoothing it out in order to blend nicely or to have a sharp change between the two colours.

 And as the model's hair is black, I thought the purple side should be near the model's head and the black part at the top.

COLOUR EXPERIMENTATION:

During the process of creating the front cover, I had also experimented with different colours, which I had done right at the beginning. These are the different colours I had experimented with,I had first tried out a bright blue but it was too subtle and blended with the grey background, making it not stand out. The green also I felt was too bland and not eye catching, however these two colours blue and green are very rare in R&B/Hip Hop magazines as the colour most often used is red. Therefore I tried that colour, but felt it was too mainstream as the front cover just looks too similar to "VIBE" OR "XXL" magazines. Whereas I wanted to go for something different yet very eye-catching and suits well with the theme.