Cover Mockups And Element Choice

What Are Cover Mockups?

Cover Mockups are rough/temporary magazine covers that are made, in order to find the right design, which the audience will find both appealing and intriguing. Magazine designers create a wide variety of mockups, because they are very important for all magazine publications no matter the genre. Ideally, magazine designers create designs that relate to their genre or type of magazine. Mockups are essential, in order to attract more followers for the magazine and its brand, as this determines if the magazine will sell or not. 

The appearance of the magazine's final cover determines the response it gets from the audience, so magazine designers have to make sure that everything is done professionally. To achieve this, they have to create and choose the right choice of magazine mockups. It becomes easy for magazine designers to project how their final cover will look like, once they create a great collection of magazine mockups to choose from. This is not only time-saving, but also saves them a lot of effort when they create the final cover.  

Before printing the final cover, magazine designers preview their designs/mockups “live”, which enables them to make any necessary twitches to their design. By doing this, magazine designers create exactly what they want to give to their audience. Lastly, some magazine designers also give a preview of their mockup to the audience, in order to excite them. This is really important, as audiences love it when they are informed on whatever is coming their way, as it gives them a sense of belonging, and makes them feel like an essential part of the magazine's brand.

 

My Cover Mockups 

 

My first cover mockup, has a very bright and vivid color scheme. I did not include a background for my main image because the art itself covers the whole front of the magazine. The typeface used for my cover lines and selling lines is sans and the font used is Open. 

 

This is a very common font use in magazines because, the font Open is part of the serif font family. Serifs are mainly used in magazines because they instantly evoke a sense of establishment and tradition. Serif fonts also help communicate a mood of intellect and authority to readers. 

 

The positioning of my coverlines are on both sides of the magazine, so that the cover page doesn't feel clustered with information and the reader is able to clearly see the image. I chose all of my coverlines to be in a different color, so that each coverline represents a new article or topic. 

 

I made these colors very bright, so that they could match the color scheme of the main image, while also being able to pop out, in order to attract the readers attention. My masthead is named Artifice, which is another word for art. I made my masthead bolder than all of my cover and selling lines, in order to give it more power and so that the reader is able to identify the magazine's brand quickly and easily.  

 

The selling line for my magazine states that, " Funny Mushrooms!! Who Doesn't Like Em." This selling line is related to the main image, as we can see that, the artist artist and drawn mushrooms in a very unconventional and creative way, signifying that the mushrooms are funny and one of a kind. The selling line also acts as a joke, that is connected to the abnormal size of the mushroom and the butterfly. 

 

Lastly, I have added all the miscellaneous at the bottom-right corner of the cover page. I did this, in order to give the selling and cover lines more attention, so that the reader focuses more on the content that is inside the magazine. By doing this, the reader will also feel less bombarded with unnecessary information. 

 

 

My second cover mockup, has a completely opposite style to my first one, so that I can have a variety of mockups to choose from, when I am creating my final cover. This cover mockup follows a more darker and neo color scheme. This means, that the backgroung is dark, while the text and images are bright, in order to pop out and attract the readers attention. 

 

My image for this mockup is smaller than the first one, in order to make my cover and selling lines more cleaner and clearer. A small main image has many advantages, as it gives the coverlines more space, and also makes the cover look more organised and aesthetically pleasing. I do have a background for this mockup, as I wanted to try it out, to see if it would give me better results. 

 

I choose a very dark background for this mockup, so that it goes well with the contrast and looks more appealing to the eyes. The background is essential to the magazine cover, as it not only makes the image pop out, but also give more power to the cover and selling lines. The selling line for the mockup, is taken from one of my coverlines from the previous mockup, as it better connects with this theme. 

 

The selling line for this mockup is, "Tips And Tricks To Improve Your Art." As you can see, the selling connects to the image that is portrayed. I choose a sketchbook to be my main image, as every artist has a sketchbook, in which they document all their mistakes, experiments and successes.  The sketchbook is just like a blog, and the only difference is that, the content inside it is in the form of Art and not text.

 

Coming back to my selling line, it is pointing to the fact that all of the art that you do in the sketchbook can be improved by reading this magazine. The selling line has a very important role here, since it is acting as a hook for aspiring artists and the people who are beginners and want to improve their drawing/art skills. 

 

The coverlines for this mockup are the same as my first mockup, but are aligined differently, and have more appealing and bright effects on them. These coverlines are all on the left side, instead of being on both sides. This makes these lines look cleaner and clearer, as it prevents the reader from getting their overwhelmed, by looking at so much information at once. 

 

The number of coverlines have decreased in this mockup, so that the cover looks cleaner and more appealing. These coverlines are more direct to the reader and connect more strongly with the theme. They also pop out more in this mockup, because of the neo effect and the dark background, which creates a beautiful contrast.  

 

The masthead for this mockup is also the same as the first one, but has the neo effect and is in a lighter color, in order to make it more brighter and more appealing to the eyes. Lastly, all of the miscellaneous for this mockup is placed at the bottom , but a slight change has been made. 

 

As you can see, the barcode is in the same position, but the date and price are in the center instead of being on the left. This alignment gives the date and price a more defined and stronger position. The date and price also have no neo effects, in order to prevent the reader's eyes from getting bombarded by unnecessary information. 

 

 

My third cover mockup is a mixture of the first and the second one. As you can see, there is no background for the main image, but the coverlines and selling lines are glowing, because of the neo effect. I chose to have no backgoround for this image, because its very bright and attention-grabbing in itself. 

 

The contrast between the rainbow and black and white strips is really beautiful, which is both appealing and easy on the eyes. This main image for this mockup, makes this a very good selection for the final cover, as it contains the balance of text and image. The seeling line for this article is the same as the first mockup, but is positioned differently. 

 

As instead, of being on the bottom-right corner, it is right under the masthead, which gives it a more defining and powerful position. I kept the selling same, because the image had a similar art style to the first one, as both had abnormally large mushrooms, which were drawn in a very creative way. The selling line, "Funny Mushrooms!! Who Doesn't Like Em." has a glowly effect to it, instead of just having a different color. 

 

This neo effect/glow will really catch the reader eye, and once they read the selling line, they might think its funny and entertaining. The selling line is acting as an important hook, for this magazine, as it relates to the artists, who draw ordinary objects in unconventional styles. By adding this hook, I am giving them a sense of relatability to the featured artist, which could convince them to buy the magazine.

 

The coverlines for this mockup are also the same as the first one, but their orders have slightly changed, as some of the coverlines connect more to the magazine's theme than the others. These coverlines have also been given a glowing effect, in order to pop out of the image and attract the reader's attention. 

 

The change in the position of the coverlines is really important, as this makes them more cleaner and clearer to the reader, which makes them interested in reading the entire magazine.  These coverlines feature wants inside the magazine, so making them appealing to the eyes is really important, if you want to sell your magazines at a faster rate. 

 

The masthead used for this mockup is the same, but its color and and amount glow has been changed, so that it holds the most power, out of all the other text that is presented in the cover. The masthead also looks really defined, because it is present right in the center of the image, and is directly on top of the biggest mushroom that is present in the main image, giving it a very powerful and defined position. 

 

The miscellaneous in this mockup is positioned very differently from the other, as the date and price are on top of the masthead. The date is located on the top-right, while the price is located on the top-left. By positioning the date and price this way, I am giving the magazine a more organinzed look and giving the other elements, empty space to breathe. 

 

The barcode has also changed, as it is now in the center of the magazine, and is not surrounded by any type of text. This type of placement for the miscellaneous, is better than the placement of the first and second mockup, as not only it gives power to the date, price, and barcode, but also make them way more clearer and cleaner, so that the reader does not feel that they are bombarded with this unnecessary information, but actually look at it, as if it were an important element in the magazine. 

 

Lastly, this mockup had many changes throughout its creation. One of them, was the size of the main image, as originally this image was too big and too dark, making it look very unprofessional and hard to look at, but after some changes in size, contrast, and brightness. The image looks more appealing than ever, and illuminates a sense of happiness with it, because of its bright and vivid colors, mixed with the black and white. 

 

 

This mockup is the best from all the others, because of its deep connection to theme and it relates to 2 genre conventions instead on one. This mockup is the combination of all the 3 above mockups, as this was the last cover I made and incorporated all of the elements that made the others aesthetically appealing. 

 

The masthead of this mockup is the same as the other mockups, but I added a different glow to it, in order to make it easy on the eyes and satisfying to look at. The glow I chose, pops the most out of any text in the mockup, as its color is the complete opposite of the backgrounds color, but because of the glow, the text seems smooth and doesn't directly clash with the background. 

 

The main image for this mockup, is a UFO that is shooting out rainbow like beams, with rainbow like mushrooms on its side. Because this image was very bright and held a lot of contrast, I couldn't make it the only graphic on the cover, as if I did that, the image would be really hard to look at, and in some cases could have also caused eyesores, damaging the reader's eyes, because of its brightness and contrast.  

 

But, a dark background was an easy solution to this problem, as the darkness of the backnground nulified the contrast and brightness of the image, giving the cover a balanced and aesthetically pleasing look. The best part about the image and the background is that, unlike the  other mockups, this background and main image share the same theme, which is space.

 

Allowing the magazine to have 2 genre conventions, instead of one, giving it a much broader audience, which could increase the number of magazines sold. Because, this mockup has 2 conventions, Space and Art, people of both or seperate interests, will be intrigued to look at this magazine and after looking at the contents may buy it. 

 

Jumping into the selling line of the mockup, it is the same as the selling line of mockup 2, since the image is not about the mushrooms but about the tips and tricks to improve one's artistic abilities. The selling line makes a perfect hook, for the people who are interested in space, but don't know how to draw space related drawings, as this magazine would greatly help them and would serve as a guide for their future projects. 

 

The formation for the selling and the coverlines is the same, since the glow perfectly contrasts the background, giving the cover a beautiful and smooth effect. Keep in mind, the seling line is located right at the bottom of the masthead, as just like in mock up 3, this type of positioning gives the selling line a more defining and powerful look, which makes its impact on the reader's eyes and mind.  

 

The coverlines for the mockup are the same, with the same type of effects, but what's changed is their positioning. As instead of being, on the extreme left or on both sides of the main image, these coverlines are on the right-hand side of the image, giving them maximum clarity and cleanliness.

 

By changing the position, the coverlines are now more impactful, because they not only go perfectly with the background but also attract the reader's attention, with maximum impact. This means that there is a high probabilty, that the reader will look at the contents inside the magazine after looking at the coverlines.

 

For the miscellaneous of this cover mockup, most of the positioning and the formatting is the same, but instead of the date, price and barcode being on the right-hand side, they are now on the left-hand side, giving the reader more space to look at the main image and the cover and selling lines. 

 

By positioning the miscellaneous this way, the reader is not bomabarded with unncessary information, but also gives them an opportunity to see these elements as an important part of the cover. 

 

Lastly, this mockup is my best mockup out of all the others, since it incorpaorates all of the elements that make a magazine cover aesthetically pleasing, while making it informative and attention grabbing. Suprisingly, this mockup took me the least amount of time, as I knew what I had to include, because of my experiments with positioning and formating on the other mockups. 

 

Summary 

 

 

 

In conclusion, all of my cover mockups had 5 main similarities. They all had the same masthead, "Artifice" which is another word for art. They all had the same coverlines, "Breaking The Norms", "Breaking Reality: Digital Art", "How Manga Changed Art", and in some of them, "Tips And Tricks To Imrprove Your Art." They all also had the same selling line, "Funny Mushrooms!! Who Doesn't Like Em" and also, "Tips And Tricks To Improve Your Art." 

 

The formatiion for the selling and coverlines were also the same, glow effects were added to most of them. The purpose: to make the cover and selling lines cleaner, clearer, and visually appealing to the reader, in order to make a big imapct. Some of my mockups had a background, one had the background of space, while the other had dark background of a structure. Other mockups had the main image covering the whole space, making them the sole element of attention. 

 

 

One had 2 giant mushrooms with a butterfly on top, while the other had 3 smaller mushrooms, with a black and white and rainbow colored background, creating a beautiful contrast. All of my mockups had a date, price, and barcode, but their positions were changed in every cover. The materials I used to make my mockups, was my school chromebook and home laptop. The software I used to make these mockups, is called Canva. 

 

This software allows use to create magazine covers very easily and efficiently. For my blog, I used google blogger, which I had some difficulty in the start getting the picture positioned in the right place and remembering to save after each papragraph, since google blogger doesn't have an autosave feature like canva does. I had some difficulties, during the creation of my mockup drafts, as most of the picture I took, were either too dark or to unappealing to become the main image. But after a spending sometime searching, I found the perfect pictures, which I could use to make an imapactful and appealing main image. 

 

I did format my images, several times, changing the contrast, tone, brightness and adding the background all through canva. I imported my images to google blogger, through downloading my cover mockups through canva and then inserting them to my blog. All in all, I am very happy, the way my 4 cover mockups turned out, and now I am going to find ways to improve them even more, so that one of them can become my final cover for my art magazine. 

Tools And Sources:

 

Canva, Canva. “Collaborate & Create Amazing Graphic Design for Free - CANVA.” Canva, Canva, 2013, https://www.canva.com/.

“13 Magazine Cover Mockups for Designers.” Web Design Blog Helping Website and Graphic Designers, 17 Feb. 2021, https://line25.com/free-design-resources/13-magazine-cover-mockups-for-designers/.

C, Aditya. “Cover Mockups and Element Choice.” Cover Mockups and Element Choice, Blogger, 3 Feb. 2022, https://adityachhabria.blogspot.com/2022/02/cover-mockups-and-element-choice.html.

Rocheleau, Jake. “Magazine Mockup Design: Tips & Resources for Creative Page Spreads.” Vandelay Design, 8 July 2016, https://www.vandelaydesign.com/magazine-mockup-design-tips/.

Jeprie, Mohammad. “Create a Magazine Mockup Using InDesign and Photoshop.” Design & Illustration Envato Tuts+, Envato Tuts, 29 Apr. 2020, https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/create-a-magazine-mockup-using-indesign-and-photoshop--psd-18362.