Magazines: Front cover practical task

 Research

1) Use Google to research potential magazines that you could use as your brand/design for this project. Create a shortlist of three potential magazines and embed an example front cover from each one. We recommend looking at lifestyle magazines or a similar genre as these are more achievable to re-create.

2) Choose one of the three magazine brands to use for your project. Then find three different front covers for your chosen magazine and embed them in your blogpost. Analyse the fonts, colours and typical design. What is the language or writing style? How are the cover lines written? You need to become an expert in the design and construction of this magazine and its branding.

Planning

1) On a Word or Google document, plan your main cover line (also called the 'main flash') - this is the main cover story that links to your central image.

2) Briefly plan the image you will need for the cover - model, costume, make-up, lighting etc. At this point, simply describe the image you need to capture.

Lighting:

• Must have strong side lighting
• Lighting must blend in with costume
• Lighting must expose facial features
• Maybe add some coloured light to add abstract???

Pose:

• Pose must fit with costume
• Must be posed to feel natural with costume

Costume:

3) Write the cover lines and any additional text you need for your magazine cover.

• New rookie given a chance of a lifetime with leading team Mercedes
• Redbull challenging mercedes
• Plus:
• Insight of F1 drivers and teams
• The rookies of f1

4) Sketch out your cover on plain A4 paper using your written planning. Take a photo of your sketch and upload it to your blogpost.

Photoshoot

1) On your planning document, write the date, time and location of your photoshoot and the name of the model or photographer you will use (you can choose anyone to be your cover model or you can be the cover model yourself).

Publication to blog and evaluation

1) Once you have completed your design in Photoshop, go to 'File > Save as' and save your finished Photoshop magazine cover as a JPEG image. Then, upload it to your blogpost.

2) Write a short evaluation of your work: have you succeeded in your brief to create a new, original edition of an existing magazine? Would your cover stand up alongside a couple of genuine covers of your chosen magazine? How professional is your work alongside those genuine examples?

3) Finally, what would you do differently if you completed this assignment again?