Final Cover Edits/Photo

My Final Cover 

This is my final cover, which was the best from all the other mockups, because of its deep connection to the theme and it relates to 2 genre conventions instead of 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 the final cover 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 final cover, as its color is the complete opposite of the background color, but because of the glow, the text seems smooth and doesn't directly clash with the background. 

 

The main image for the final cover, 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 background nullified 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 separate 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 final cover, 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 final cover 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 the extrme right of the main image, these cover lines are on both the sides of the image, giving them maximum clarity and cleanliness.

 

By changing the position, the cover lines 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 probability that the reader will look at the contents inside the magazine after looking at the coverlines.

 

For the miscellaneous of the final cover, most of the positioning and the formatting is the same, but instead of the date, price and barcode being on the cover , they are now completely removed, 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 bombarded with unnecessary information, but also gives them an opportunity to see these elements as an important part of the cover. 

 

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

Magazine Cover Production

This is the start of my Final magazine cover. I took an image of a UFO with a rainbow effect to it, as this aligns with my conventions, because many art magazines serve as a medium to express different views and perspectives on one’s art, and the photo of a rainbow UFO helps connect these two ideas together. I want my image to be smaller and more to the side, as I will be adding a background soon, in order to try something new, so that it increases the appeal behind the magazine.

This is the part where I start cropping my main image, so that it fits correctly with the background. I start with cutting off my main image’s background, as this background is too dull and boring. It also makes the photo look unprofessional and unappealing, which is not a good sign, as this can make the image less attention grabbing which would mean that it would decrease the number of readers interested in the magazine, thereby harming its sales.

I added a background here, which makes the UFO a part of the space theme I was going for. This is a good sign, as it means that the background is visually appealing and helps the main image blend in with the theme, which will help grab the reader’s attention. I also like this background, because it creates a smooth transition with the UFO, as the bright colors of the UFO fit perfectly with the darker colored background of the magazine cover mockup, thereby creating a beautiful effect. This also means that when I start formatting my main image, it will blend and pop out more, making the magazine cover look even more appealing.

This is the part where I started formatting my main image and background, in order to make it pop out even more and connect it to the space theme, so that it grabs the reader's attention and is easy to look at. I decreased the brightness for this image. I did this, in order to increase the impact of the contrast and saturation, to make the UFO look more professional and so that the image gets most of the reader's focus. The saturation makes the rainbows in the UFO brighter, while making the black sharper, in order to make the photo more defined and give it more power.

This is when I started to add text boxes over the main image. I did this, in order to get a rough idea of where my cover lines would be placed, and what I can do to improve the placement. For this magazine cover, I only added three coverlines, instead of four, in order to make the cover look cleaner and so that the reader doesn’t get bombarded with information. Also, I had to add text boxes to my magazine, because it follows the conventions of an Art magazine because every Art magazine has a masthead, a selling line, coverlines, date, price and a barcode. The placement of the coverlines is very important, as if they are placed right in front of the main image then, the main image will lose its focus, and will fail to catch the reader's attention, and if the cover lines are too much in the corner, then it will be difficult for the reader to understand what is present inside the magazine, and will quickly lose interest.

This is the part where I actually inserted my coverlines, which were made solely by me. I have included these coverlines, in relation to the article, that I am going to insert in the magazine. I decided to put my selling line, right below my masthead, as this not only aligns with my genre conventions, but also give the selling line a more defined position, increasing its focus and impact on the reader. I still haven’t positioned them correctly yet, as I am trying to gauge, on which font I should use, the different sizes of the elements and how the selling line and masthead will correlate with each other. I have also included my barcode, in this part, so that I can change its size, if it becomes an obstruction for the coverlines.

I started to add color to my text. This is very important, as color acts similar to contrast and saturation. The color makes the text pop-out, so that the reader can figure out what the magazine is about from afar. Colored text also plays a big part, in the convention of an art magazine, as mostly all art magazines have colored coverlines, in order to attract the reader's attention. My colors have a different color scheme to my image, so that they pop out more and look and have a more defined impact on the reader. I have made my text’s color, a little bit on the brighter side, so that It doesn’t completely blend in with the background , to the point where the reader can barely see the coverlines. This is very bad, as if the reader is straining to read the coverlines, then they will quickly lose interest in the magazine, and won’t even notice the articles that are included inside the magazine.

For my final magazine cover, I also included a neon effect for my masthead, selling and coverlines. As they make the magazine cover look more thematic. The neon also makes the text correlate with the main image, and creates an amazing contrast with the background. This neon effect also gives the text a fresh new look and an excited personality. This also makes the reader excited, and eager to buy the magazine. The neon also attracts the reader’s attention, more than any other element, which is good, as this makes the magazine cover special, which makes the reader curious of what’s inside the magazine, thereby attracting their attention and increasing the magazine’s viewership.

This is the part where I finished positioning the text present on the final magazine cover. The way I have positioned the text, gives the reader an easy view of what the magazine is about and also gives enough space for them to admire the main image. The coverlines are not too close nor too far away from each other, as if they were, then the reader would either be bombarded with information, or would have a lot of difficulty navigating and connecting the cover lines together. I also aligned most of the text on the right side, because whenever a person sees a magazine, their eyes always start reading from the edge of the magazine and not from the center. This makes the coverlines extremely valuable, as if they are located right at the edge of the magazine, then the reader will be able to absorb the information from the coverlines at a much faster rate, thereby giving them a very quick synopsis of what the magazine is about and what it contains.

Lastly, this is the part, where I made my final tweaks to my final magazine cover. I changed my fonts, so that the cover represents a variety of texts. Also, the fonts make it easier for the reader to diffrentiate bettween the coverlines, and helps them understand how each coverline talks about a different topic than the other.  The fonts I used are Kitsch Display Black for the masthead, Code for the selling line, Sergio Trendy for the first coverline, Playfair Display Black for the second coverline, and Neue Machina UltraBold for the third coverline. All of these fonts create the feelings of power, impact, intensity, and boldness.  It is very common for designers to revise their cover and look at it from a reader’s perspective, so that they know whether the cover is going to benefit or harm the magazine’s sales. This is a very important method, as it gives the designer the opportunity to reevaluate their magazine cover, to make sure that it aligns with most of the conventions of their selected genre, correct their mistakes, if any, so that the final cover looks professional, appealing, and attention grabbing, in order to ensure that the magazine sells. 

 

                                                     Changes 

 

 

After creating my final cover, I asked my family and peers about what they felt about my final magazine cover. After taking their feedback into account, I made some major changes to my final magazine cover. Firstly, I decreased the number of colors I used for the text, as it was looking unprofessional and tacky.  I decreased that amount from 5 to 2, these were light turquoise and purple, as they had a very unique style to them, and were the most attention-grabbing out of the others. So, I changed my text colors to only turquoise and purple. The Masthead is turquoise, while the selling line is purple. I followed the same order for my coverlines, as I made the headlines turquoise, and the information below them purple. I also increased the neon for my colors, in order to make them more appealing and bright. For the fonts, I made all of my coverlines the same font, instead of giving each of them a different one. By doing this, I am making my cover lines more defined and more professional. The font I chose for all of my coverlines, was Neue Machina UltraBold, as it creates the feelings of impact, power, intensity and boldness inside the reader's mind. I also changed the positioning on my coverlines, so that anyone could be able to read the magazine cover lines from both the sides. Placing the coverline on both sides, not only gives the reader the freedom to read the coverlines from any side, but also makes the cover look clean, professional, and easy on the eyes. This placement also prevents the feeling of getting bombarded with information, as the cover lines have adequate space between them, which prevents them from looking congested and mushed. For the main image in my final cover, I increased its size by a lot, as in the previous draft, the main image was looking abrupt and was not matching the background. It was also very small and was attention-grabbing at all. This is bad, since the main image is supposed to be the most focused element out of all, as its purpose is to grab the reader's attention, so that they feel interested in looking at the magazine. This is why I increased the size of my main image and gave it more focus than the other elements, making it more impactful, powerful, and defined. I also decreased the size of my background by a lot, as in the previous draft, it was making the main image too abrupt and unnatural.  By decreasing its size, and making it a border, I was able to achieve the correct amount of space covered. As the border, not only made the cover more defined, but also connected to the main image, increasing its flow and making it look natural. Lastly, for the miscellaneous, I removed my date and price, as they were making the cover look unprofessional, and unappealing. By removing the date and price, the reader won't feel like they are being bombarded with information as there is more space and less unnecessary information. I also changed the positioning of the barcode and made it look smaller, in order to provide the maximum space between the text, and making sure that the barcode doesn't impact the overall appearance of the main image and the magazine cover, as a whole.

Tools And Sources:

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

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.

C, Aditya. “Cover Photo Editing/Selection.” Cover Photo Editing/Selection, Blogger, 6 Feb 2022, https://adityachhabria.blogspot.com/2022/02/cover-photo-editingselection.html