Friday 15 November 2013
Magazine Cover Draft 2
I stuck with the name 'Paradise' for my second magazine cover draft because of the word's connotations of freedom, relaxation, and peace and the fact it's the name of a cocktail. The magazine is aimed at 18-35 year olds.
The main image I have used for my second draft magazine cover is of Taylor Swift. This woman is 23 years old and falls into my magazine's target audience so she's an ideal figure to use on the magazine cover. Swift is often seen as a fashion icon and influences a lot of women's fashion, so the cover image may persuade the audience to buy the magazine on this alone. I've put her whole name on the cover because I see this as quite a sophisticated, straight forward thing to do. I am trying to give the magazine a sophisticated edge so this works well. "Songs, Styles and Secrets Spilled" is a reference to Swift's profession and personal life. Swift is a renowned singer-songwriter and is known to write a lot of personal songs about life and love - her famous other half's in particular. Hearing about "songs" would interest Swift's fans because they are always eager to hear her personal insight into her songs. Swift has fans of all ages, so this will draw in the 18-35 year olds also. "Styles" is a reference to not only her personal styles, but to her recent ex-boyfriend Harry Styles. Her relationship with Styles was scrutinised by the media, so readers will be highly interested in reading about what she has to say on the matter. The link to a relationship will also interest readers who fall into my target audience because they'll want to read any gossip spilled by Swift on the relationship. Finally, "secrets" will definitely intrigue readers because it gives them a personal insight into Swift's life. Women are stereotypically seen as gossips, so learning about Swift's "secrets spilled" is bound to interest my target audience. I believe the cover image and its cover line will draw readers of the target audience in.
The colours I have used for the text on the cover are yellow, dark purple, white and black. I took the yellow and dark purple from the cover image, and decided that white and black would stand out against the image well. Yellow is the colour of Swift's dress so I saw this as a prominent colour to use from the image. Dark purple is the colour of her lips which is a less prominent colour but I felt its subtleness would be effective. I also felt that black and white were good, strong colours to use on the cover. They would contrast against the background to stand out, and would also make the cover more neutral. I didn't want to add too many colours to the cover because I realised from research that magazines aimed at 18-35 year olds don't use too many colours. They use bursts of colour in certain places to make them stand out. This is what I took into account when making this draft. I ensured I spaced out the colour on the cover as well, so the same colour wasn't found in the same place too often. I believe doing this makes the cover more pleasing to the eye. I used yellow for the main title because it's the colour of Swift's skirt which I think makes it the most prominent colour. The main image has a slight yellow tint to it, so it was the best colour to use. I also made Swift's head from the main image sit in front of the main title. This is seen on magazine's that are widely known around the world - usually the magazine is easily recognisable from conventions used on the cover like font, colours and layout. The main title doesn't always have to be fully shown because its recognisable and draws more attention towards the main image/famous person on the front. I have done this on my draft because although the magazine I'm creating isn't widely known, Swift's head doesn't cover too much of the title, so it puts the audience under the impression that it's well known.
I stuck to using rule of thirds for my magazine cover. I did this by inserting two guide lines on my image on Photoshop to get this:
I stuck to using rule of thirds for my magazine cover. I did this by inserting two guide lines on my image on Photoshop to get this:
I did this to ensure that the layout of the cover would be the best it could be. I think this was effective in improving the overall layout of my magazine cover.
The cover lines I created for this cover all relate to my magazine's target audience of females aged between 18-35. "101 Back To Work Outfits" is effective because people in this age group go to work and they'll need inspiration for outfits. The bold "WIN" in yellow draws people into the magazine because it's obvious there's goodies to be won. Women buying fashion ma
Monday 11 November 2013
Magazine Cover Draft 1
The name of my magazine is 'Paradise'. This word has the connotation of freedom, relaxation, and peace, so I believe it's a strong name for the magazine. Paradise is also the name of a cocktail. My magazine is aimed at 18-35 year olds, and it's reasonable to say that the majority of people in the age group will drink from time to time, so the reference to the name of a cocktail also will be a link to my magazine's target audience.
The main image I have used for my draft cover is of Jessica Alba. Jessica Alba is 32 years old, so she falls into the target audience, making her an ideal person for the cover image. She's well known to the target audience, so people may be persuaded to buy it just because she's on the front. She's known to be very fashionable and influential, so women may be interested in what she has to say. From analysing a Glamour magazine cover, I noticed that they name the celebrity by their first name to make the magazine seem more personal for the reader. I have taken this idea on board for the draft because I feel it's a really good way to draw people into buying the magazine because of the personal basis of referring to them by their first name. "The Road To Recovery" was the subtitle I wanted to use under her name. I believe this already tells the reader that the audience will see into her life and how she's recovering. The subtitle is quite vague - the audience won't know what's happened to her and what she's recovering from, so this makes the audience want to buy the magazine and find out what's happened. Her talking about her "recovery" is another way that the magazine is made to be more personal towards the audience. Letting us know about her recovery makes the reader feel important - that we're special enough to be let into her life.
The colours I have used for the text on the cover are black, blue, pink and white. These are all variations of the colours from the main image. The shadows on Jessica Alba's face are quite heavy, so black would be a suitable colour for text. The light blue was a variation from the dark blue on her dress. I didn't want to use dark blue because it wouldn't be bright enough to stand out on the cover. The pink is a brighter colour from her lips. Her lips are rosy coloured, and the colour would pop off the screen and stand out, so pink was a good colour. I finally used white because the left side of the photo is brightly exposed, making it a bright photo, so white would balance out the other bright colours well. The main title is pink because from all the colours I decided to use, this colour was the boldest and would stand out the most. The main title is designed to stand out and draw the reader's attention, so it was important to use a colour that would stand out. For the rest of the cover lines, I used colours that would stand out the most against their background so that the text wouldn't blend into the background and would be difficult to read. I also ensured that I didn't use too much of the same colour in one area. I used roughly the same colour the same number of times in even areas around the cover to make it aesthetically pleasing.
I checked that I was using the rule of thirds with my cover by adding two guides like this:
I ensured that the cover lines stayed in the guides and didn't move out. To improve the rule of thirds with this draft, I could have moved the image so that Jessica Alba's whole face was in the middle third, but I believe that having half of her face in the middle third would work just as well in this case.
The cover lines I created for the cover all relate to the women who fall into my target audience. "Set Trends This Summer WITHOUT Breaking The Bank" is effective because 18-35 is an age where money can begin to become an issue. Shopping is a guilty pleasure for most women, so being able to shop "without breaking the bank" is important for women. The capitalisation of "without" is to draw more attention to that cover line. "Flawless Skin" is in a bigger font because having good skin is an important thing for women. Appearance is something 18-35 year olds take seriously, so "Summer Skincare Tips From The Experts" will be something they'll find useful, so therefore will draw the target audience in. Having the word "experts" in there makes the information more trustworthy so the women will be more likely to buy the magazine and believe what they read. Society will trust most things "experts" say, so putting this on the cover will draw people in. 18-35 is also the age that people start beginning relationships and usually start to settle down (in latter end of the age group), so trying to find the best man for them is something they'll be interested in. The cover line "Read His Mind" is in a bigger font to draw attention towards it. Reading minds is something women would love to be able to do, so reading "his" mind would be even better. Saying "his" is indirect, but usually the reader will have somebody in mind. This will, again, make the cover more personal and will make the audience want to buy the magazine more. "53 Foods That Will Get You That Summer Body" is another reference about women caring about their appearance. 53 is quite an obscure number and will intrigue the audience. It's also a high number so the audience will know they'll be getting plenty of information. Women tend to have to be guided with healthy eating so that they know they're eating exactly what they should be, so this cover line will appeal to women in the age group. All of the cover lines have been coloured appropriately and have been thought out in order for them to appeal to my target audience.
I'm really happy with my first magazine cover draft. I believe all the aspects of the magazine will draw women into buying it, so I'm overall very pleased with the first draft.
The main image I have used for my draft cover is of Jessica Alba. Jessica Alba is 32 years old, so she falls into the target audience, making her an ideal person for the cover image. She's well known to the target audience, so people may be persuaded to buy it just because she's on the front. She's known to be very fashionable and influential, so women may be interested in what she has to say. From analysing a Glamour magazine cover, I noticed that they name the celebrity by their first name to make the magazine seem more personal for the reader. I have taken this idea on board for the draft because I feel it's a really good way to draw people into buying the magazine because of the personal basis of referring to them by their first name. "The Road To Recovery" was the subtitle I wanted to use under her name. I believe this already tells the reader that the audience will see into her life and how she's recovering. The subtitle is quite vague - the audience won't know what's happened to her and what she's recovering from, so this makes the audience want to buy the magazine and find out what's happened. Her talking about her "recovery" is another way that the magazine is made to be more personal towards the audience. Letting us know about her recovery makes the reader feel important - that we're special enough to be let into her life.
The colours I have used for the text on the cover are black, blue, pink and white. These are all variations of the colours from the main image. The shadows on Jessica Alba's face are quite heavy, so black would be a suitable colour for text. The light blue was a variation from the dark blue on her dress. I didn't want to use dark blue because it wouldn't be bright enough to stand out on the cover. The pink is a brighter colour from her lips. Her lips are rosy coloured, and the colour would pop off the screen and stand out, so pink was a good colour. I finally used white because the left side of the photo is brightly exposed, making it a bright photo, so white would balance out the other bright colours well. The main title is pink because from all the colours I decided to use, this colour was the boldest and would stand out the most. The main title is designed to stand out and draw the reader's attention, so it was important to use a colour that would stand out. For the rest of the cover lines, I used colours that would stand out the most against their background so that the text wouldn't blend into the background and would be difficult to read. I also ensured that I didn't use too much of the same colour in one area. I used roughly the same colour the same number of times in even areas around the cover to make it aesthetically pleasing.
I checked that I was using the rule of thirds with my cover by adding two guides like this:
The cover lines I created for the cover all relate to the women who fall into my target audience. "Set Trends This Summer WITHOUT Breaking The Bank" is effective because 18-35 is an age where money can begin to become an issue. Shopping is a guilty pleasure for most women, so being able to shop "without breaking the bank" is important for women. The capitalisation of "without" is to draw more attention to that cover line. "Flawless Skin" is in a bigger font because having good skin is an important thing for women. Appearance is something 18-35 year olds take seriously, so "Summer Skincare Tips From The Experts" will be something they'll find useful, so therefore will draw the target audience in. Having the word "experts" in there makes the information more trustworthy so the women will be more likely to buy the magazine and believe what they read. Society will trust most things "experts" say, so putting this on the cover will draw people in. 18-35 is also the age that people start beginning relationships and usually start to settle down (in latter end of the age group), so trying to find the best man for them is something they'll be interested in. The cover line "Read His Mind" is in a bigger font to draw attention towards it. Reading minds is something women would love to be able to do, so reading "his" mind would be even better. Saying "his" is indirect, but usually the reader will have somebody in mind. This will, again, make the cover more personal and will make the audience want to buy the magazine more. "53 Foods That Will Get You That Summer Body" is another reference about women caring about their appearance. 53 is quite an obscure number and will intrigue the audience. It's also a high number so the audience will know they'll be getting plenty of information. Women tend to have to be guided with healthy eating so that they know they're eating exactly what they should be, so this cover line will appeal to women in the age group. All of the cover lines have been coloured appropriately and have been thought out in order for them to appeal to my target audience.
I'm really happy with my first magazine cover draft. I believe all the aspects of the magazine will draw women into buying it, so I'm overall very pleased with the first draft.
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