My Final front cover

So, here it is, my final front cover (although I might change it slightly if I get any feedback). I created it on Adobe FIREWORKS as it's very easy to construct different documents, I could add fonts and images and manipulate them with ease. 

Headline: The headline is very bold, so its easy to recognise, I constructed it on fireworks (see previous post) which allowed me to add the 'amp cable' effect running through it, therefore linking to my genre of alternative rock. The colours used are part of my colour scheme, so everything ties well together as the black and white promote colour contrast.

Main image: My main image is a close up/ medium close up angle of my main artist, she is making a form of direct address as she is looking directly into the camera. The image itself links with the colour scheme as the artist is wearing black to contrast the artist from the text . To anchor it to the fact that it's the main article, I highlighted it's importance by overlapping it slightly over the masthead to make it stand out by using a combination of the eraser and magic wand tool. Any small imperfections on the image, were removed using the clone/blur/healing tools on Photoshop.

Fonts:In terms of the fonts, I kept them the same as my draft. The bigger the font, the more important the article, this is proved by the headline being the most bold and colour contrasting. For the rest of the text, I used fonts such as 'brain flower' and 'are you freakin kidding me', sourced from Da fonts, these were in assorted colours like a bold blue or magenta to stick to my colour scheme and to create a sense of a unique magazine. The secondary leads have boxouts under a few of them, this is to make them stand out, I used a white rectangular boxout on the blue/pink fonts by using the rectangular vector tool on fireworks and a blue paint smudge under the 'Brit award' article to add an unusual edge using a size 32 brush on photoshop then copying the image onto the cover .

Text layout: In terms of the text layout, it is different from the first draft. Firstly the headline is on the right rather than the left and the secondary articles are located in a different place. All of the articles 'wrap' round the main image so the face isn't obscured. I shifted and moved the text to my liking using the pointer and scale tool to stick to the rule of thirds, in the sense that the text is located on the left and right hand sides to allow the main image to occupy the middle third.  

Headline:The headline is the largest font on the page, so it stands out. I decided to use a font in a rustic brush/handwritten style to make it seem more personal, hence linking to the fact that's it a direct quote from a Q/A format article.

The advertising puff: The advertising puff is located to the left of the page rather than the right like in my draft, I used the glitter box out to link with the glitter used on the contents and double page spread to create unity. I achieved this by using the circular marquee tool to 'cut' out a section from my original glitter image and placed it onto the cover using the pointer tool. I used a different font to anything used on the cover so it stands out and the circular shape catch the readers attention.

The text: The text itself is advertising different articles, rhetorical questions, persuasive tag  words ("NEW" "WIN") draw the readers attention to various areas of the cover. I created all of my own bands and artists so my work isn't conformist.