Constructing the Front Cover in Photoshop

To construct my Front Cover I used Adobe Photoshop CS5, this technology allows me to edit photos and then insert text and other features on top e.g. Masthead and a bar code. The layers allow me to move features around so that they are either underneath or on top of other features.

I opened a new Photoshop document in size A4 to meet the requirements of my brief.

I then inserted some text for my Masthead because it is a conventional feature of Print Magazines. I made the text a big enough size so that it filled the width of the A4 page.

I then chose to make my typeface longer rather than wider so that it took up a sufficient amount of room as a typical Masthead would i.e. approx a fifth of the page.

I then added the other part of my magazine title within my other text, because I saw it done on the cover of Entertainment Weekly (see below) and took inspiration from that, as I don't think it is commonly done but I thought it looked better than "The Jazz Singer" all on one line.

Then I opened up my chosen image that I wanted to put on the front cover so that I could edit it appropriately.

I have opened my own original image in Photoshop and started by duplicating the image so that it had a background layer and then started editing the photo by using the spot healing brush tool to clear any blemishes on my model's face.

I then chose to use the blur tool selecting Filter>Blur>Gaussian Blur to enable me to edit my photo and enhance my model's skin.

I adjusted the Gaussian Blur to a suitable level so that I could still see the outline of her silhouette, but the skin appeared softer and completely unblemished due to the blurring of the skin tone, it appears less grainy and more porcelain.

I then added a layer to the duplicate to allow me to edit the eyes, mouth and other features.

Then I used the Brush tool to erase away the blurriness around the model's eye, mouth and other key features i.e. nails, nose, eyebrows and pearls on her dress.

This is the finished image after the editing that I did.

I then opened up my image of glitter to use as a background for my Masthead, an idea which I got from looking at a past issue of InStyle magazine. (see below)

Then I added the glitter background to my masthead and changed the colour of my font to white, which is still a conventional colour to be used within magazines. 

I created a bar code using http://www.barcodesinc.com/generator/index.php this website allowed me to type in some text and generate a bar code from it and inserts it onto the bar code. I put the issue no. 054 and the price £3.40, allowing me to incorporate three typical magazine features together into one.

I then selected all, copied and pasted it onto my background. I then selected Edit>Transform>Shift and held down the shift key while adjusting the size of my bar code so that the length and width stayed within the same proportion. I made it a suitable size to fit into a bottom corner of my magazine.

Then I selected Edit>Transform>Rotate to turn it 90 degrees so it was portrait rather than landscape.

After saving my Masthead as a JPEG file using the Snipping Tool (as seen above) I opened it up in Photoshop to allow me to select only the Masthead.

I then used the Masthead to insert it onto my original background and then selected Edit>Transform>Scale to make it smaller and then rotate it to have a smaller copy of it on my bar code. I did this because I had seen it other magazine for example on the cover of InStyle. (as previously mentioned above)  

I moved my Masthead text down slightly to incorporate room for a Skyline, enabling me to add another smaller feature to my magazine in another way other than a left third.

Then I added my edited main feature photo to then be able to add text around my model's face.

I then added my own original image of glitter to put behind my masthead text, then I changed the colour of my Masthead to purple to allow me to create a house style throughout the remainder of my contents page and double page spread. I also change the small Masthead on the bar code and the colour of the Skyline feature.

I then started to add all of my text like the left third and the main feature headline, because these are the conventional features of a magazine.

I moved my bar code to the other side of my magazine so that I could move the main feature headline further towards the right and make it bigger to make it completely obvious to the reader that it is the main feature of the magazine. I also edited the size of the text in the left third so that it was suitable considering they are the smaller features of the magazine. I also changed the colour of part of my main feature headline and a line in my left third to fit in with the house-style.

I then changed the font of main feature headline and added a quote to act as anchorage to draw in readers. I selected Edit>Transform>Skew to edit the quote text and make it look italic, which I think is a suitable way to represent that text because it has been taken from the body text of my double page spread.

I then selected all of the text items in my left third and selected Edit>Transform>Scale to adjust the size of them equally. I made it longer and narrower so that the text didn't cut across the main feature photo.

I aligned the main feature headline centrally to draw the reader's eyes into the middle where the text and photo of the main feature are.

Then to finish off my Front Cover I moved the left third text more towards the right so that there is a suitable amount of room around the edges of my magazine. I also moved the bar code back to the right of the cover so that there isn't too much on the left side. I finished off by adding a dateline above the left third, a conventional feature of magazines, I used an even smaller font because it isn't a very important detail of the magazine, but I felt it still needs to be featured.

Front Cover, Double Page Spread and Contents Page

Different Masthead Ideas

I took the idea of having a glittery block behind my masthead when researching the conventions of a front cover I came across a masthead with a similar thing. I got this picture off the internet to test it out. As it is not an original image and I think it works well so I took some photos of my own.

In this version of my masthead I have chosen to use a different coulour for my font as black and white are both conventional colours used for magazines.

I have experimented with colour again as purple is also a conventional colour. I prefer this as it gives it some coulour and create a house style.

Draft Contents Text

Inside this Issue

On the Cover

144     EXCLUSIVE: with the Dixies

134     “The Many faces of Mimi” Mimi Marx and the man who changed her life

124     Heart of a Woman – the life and times of Etta James

116     Life Stories – Louis Armstrong

156     Anti-age your playlists get yourself into the 21^st Century

Features

154     Illegal downloading and who it really affects we found out the shocking                                      truth

52       Contributors The Jazz Singer team up close and personal

77       1 girl, 6 iPods One investigative journalist finds out which one’s best when shopping at Apple

100     Music Cities Special Our pick of the best European jazz festivals

138     Reporter – the future of X-factor Can it really survive?

113     Under the Spotlight: Dexter Gordon

38       Masthead

46       Coverlook Get the look from this month’s cover

64       People Watching what are you listening to?

114     10 most wanted ways to compliment to listening

71       Looking Back: A history of Jazz

News

105     REVIEW: The most influential jazz musicians of our time

150     HOW TO: Spring clean your CD collection Yes it’s that time of year again

72       HISTORY: The Origins of Jazz

44       thejazzsinger.com online polls, win tickets to London Jazz Festival and more

158     Jazz 20 with Paul Gambaccini

Inside Every Issue

50       Letter from the Editor

102     Culture Club – latest film, book, and of course music releases

146     Ragtime Blog Sarah’s Montes’ view on all things stylish this month

137     Under the Spotlight: Cleo

167     Competitions

164     Subscribe

56       Letters

60       Horoscopes

168     On that note…

Draft Contents Layout

I have chosen to use this template as an idea as to how it could be laid out. I chose to do it as shown above after looking at different examples of contents pages and decided that although they have a photo to represent their main feature they also have photos for their smaller features. Some contents also have a small note from the editor and a little feature on how to subscribe and also maybe a pull out quote that features in one of their articles.

 This contents shows three images for their smaller features and highlights their cover story items thus making them easy to find for the reader.

 This also shows an image to represent a smaller feature and highlights the cover features.

This shows an image representing their main feature and has a section dedicated to their cover stories "on the cover."

Draft Photos

I like this image of the model as her stance shows attitude and she has a very striking face with red lips and curly blonde hair. Her features make her stand out creating a bold image. The black dress with the string of pearls around the neckline also holds connotations of a higher class and appeals to that audience.

I like this photo of my model for the same reason her striking features and the hand to face makes her look slightly innocent as does her facial expression.

I like this photo of my model as it is a side view and unconventional, but can not be used on the front cover as  she doesn't look at the camera and therefore isn't engaging with the audience. I think this image would be better suited on the contents page.

I like this photo of my model as it is an over the shoulder shot of her and slightly unconventional. I don't think the photo would work on a front cover as she doesn't look directly at the audience, but it's nice as an image for the contents page.

I like these two photos of my model as she is smiling and I like her pose and the way she holds her face between her hands. I think these images would work nicely in black and white or sepia and within the article spread.

I like photo of my model as it is very striking and a bold medium close-up shot of her face showcasing her features in a way that makes them stand out. The image isn't fussy so everything looks more accentuated.

I like this photo of my model as it shows another pose that was tried out I also think this would work well representing the main feature on the contents page, but wouldn't use it on the front cover as I think the pose dominates too much attention.

Front Cover Draft

I created this draft on Photoshop to try out a different name and font on the masthead. I chose to use the blue colour on the main feature headline and the smaller feature to link to the colour of the model's eyes. I like the image because it isn't too busy and quite striking. I believe it is simple, but effective. I would like to use a medium close-up to close-up for my main image to make it stand out as it will be bold.