Cover Line planning

I have decided that before I add my cover lines, I want to add a line above my title, speaking of the awards it has won, and or been nominated for, such as 'Best new music magazine', and 'Hottest upcoming magazine.' Before I can add this, I need to adjust the positioning, and location of my title. At the same time, I also have to decide what my cover lines should be advertising, and how they should be doing it. Firstly, I need to decide how many cover lines I shall be putting on my front cover. I have chosen to go with 4, including the one advertising the main artist of my magazine.

To begin, I have to decide what kind of awards my magazine has been nominated for, or has won.  I want these to be real awards, such as Best UK music magazine, and Most Promising new music magazine. Of the awards I have found, I have chosen to claim my magazine has won the Best UK music Magazine 2012, as the time of creation is at the end of 2012, and the start of 2013, so the award would fit the magazine. This award could have also been given my NME, so this could also feature on the cover.

Next I have to decide what I want to make up my cover lines. I have come up with several, however, of the ones I have created the ones I have chosen are as follow:

"Matt Bellamy: The price of fame."
"The Joy Formidable: In the Shadow of a Legend?"
"You, Me at Six: Making waves in the UK!"

Along with this, I also have to design the promotional piece/cover line on the artist I have on my front cover. For this, I was thinking of having a direct quote from the article on the double page spread. For this, I was thinking along the lines of:

"Bringing music back to the good ol' days!"

Front cover initial draft

As I work on the different aspects of my front cover, I shall explain each step, and each choice I have made. and what I have changed in the image. Firstly I opened up a new photoshop PSD, with the following specification:

After I had completed this, I was left with a blank, A4 sized plain PSD. I intend to put all the different elements together, over the top of this, to create my full cover.

Next I have to crop my front cover image, and place it onto my background. To do this, I shall utilize the quick select tool. With this, I can quickly highlight the sections of the picture I wish to get rid of, or in this case, remove the centre image from.  Next, after removing the background, I have to overlay the two pieces, and transform my image. This will have be decreased in size, as the background has been made on a smaller scale.

Next, I have to add my title to the work. The font I have chosen, Birth of a Hero, has to be downloaded from dafont.com. Firstly, I have to download the font, then install it. Once installed, the font can be found in photoshop.

Now I have to insert my title onto my photoshop file. I start by selecting the text tool from the toolbar.

Now I just have to select my font, and then create my text, and change the size of my font to make it visible and legible.

Now I think the image is too dark for the background, so, utilizing the curves tool under brightness and contrast, I shall make it brighter.

 Now I think the image stands out much more, and I am far happier with the result. 

Front cover initial draft main image

So, after comprising my research, and taking all my photos, I have to decide on what image I wish to use for my front cover for my front cover. From the 200 + photographs I took, I have narrowed it down to a photograph which has two variations: One where the model is looking at the camera, and one where the artist is looking down at her guitar.

Personally, I prefer the photograph where she is looking down at the guitar, as the look on her face seems to fit that more than the one of her looking at the camera, so I shall use that photograph in my first draft for my front cover.

Chosen photographs

For my front cover, my contents page, and my double page spread, I have selected a number of photographs to be edited for my work. One is clearly for the front cover, two are for the contents, one is for an 'editors message' as seen in Kerrang!, and a photograph for my double page spread.

Magazine Cover Composition

To comprise my front cover, I shall plan out the layout for my Music Magazine. Firstly I need to decide the size of my logo based on the size of my front cover cover image. From my research, I have noted that the main image of the magazine normally takes up around three quarters of the main page. Therefore, I shall make the image to this size, even if this means editing, or removing a section of the main image. Using this size as my base, the logo shall be at least half the length of the page, and it shall be of a similar width.

The next thing I have noticed is that the main cover tends to have cover lines, which take up one side, and in the case of my magazine, it shall be down the left hand side of the page. These shall be fairly generic cover lines, such as advertisements for other artists and competitions. 

I shall also have a cover line, linking to my cover photo, to introduce the cover artist. Once again, this shall be inspired by the other magazines I have looked at, and will vocalize my artist's feeling toward stardom, and how they got where they did. This will also be reflected in my double page spread, and the story I shall create.

Next, I have to consider the positioning of my barcode, and my issue number shall go. I shall be placing them in the bottom left hand corner of the page, as not to interfere with my cover lines. I shall only have this in the bottom corner, as not to interfere with the rest of my cover.

Now, I have to decide weather or not I want to have my title over my main image, or to have it under it. I feel that I should have the title over the magazine, as the magazine is a one off, and thus the tittle wouldn't be instantly recognizable, compared to others.

Lastly, I have to decide what colour, or house style I should utilize. Due to the nature of my magazine, and the audience it is aimed at, I shall utilize a dark red, and black style, as they seem to be the colours that woulds suit my magazine.

Initial selection of photographs

After consolidating all my research together, I have chosen a small selection of around 50 photos from my initial 200. Here is my small selection of all 200. I believe that these would be the best selection of my photos, which i shall use for my front cover, and contents page pictures:

How are artists normally portrayed on the front of Music Magazines?

Artists are portrayed in a myriad of ways on front covers. Some have Artists face the camera, showing specific emotions, such as shock or happiness, where as others show a specific body pose, and certain body language. To help me understand what constitutes a good front cover picture, I shall look over previous magazines and work out what kind of photo will allow me to access or attain a high grade.

Kerrang!

Firstly, I shall look at the magazine Kerrang!, which is one of the most readily available music magazines in the UK. The issue I have chosen to look at shows the lead singer of the band Paramore turned slightly to her right, holding a photograph of herself. The clothing that is being worn is very simple, though that is more to do with the style of the artist rather than the style of the magazine.

The body language is closed, with her arms being drawn across her chest, to hold the photo next to her face. She has her head turned to one side, and is displaying a look of disgust, and or shock to the reader. Whilst I will not be utilizing a story such as the one featured on the front of this issue of Kerrang!, I might utilize something to do with another photo, as this seems to stand out above everything else on the page, even though there are larger, and more obvious pictures on the front cover.



NME

On the front cover of this NME magazine, the main image is of the lead singer of the band Oasis. His is directly facing the camera, with his head turned slightly to one side. His body posture is very open, and his hands are out in front of him, holding a cup of tea.

The reader's eye is drawn to his face straight away, as it contrasts well with the deep crimson coloured background. He is also wearing a white suit, which is of the same colour as the tea cup, which makes the central image stand out even more. There is also a crimson ring, the same colour as the background located on the right hand.

The main picture only has to contend with a few other smaller photos for the reader's attention. The contrast in colours is something I shall try to take into consideration when I am taking my photographs. I shall only use small photographs to promote additional stories on my front cover.

On the front cover of this NME magazine is the artist known as Mia. The main image is of Mia, sitting down, with her hair blowing back, whilst she is smoking a cigarette.

Her gaze is almost looking down on the reader, as if to show a look of either disapproval, or disgust, which links well into the magazine's main story. Her body is slightly hunched over, which reinforces the idea of disapproval, and suggests to the reader a look of defeat, or futility, once again relating back to the main story of the magazine.

The clothing is a union jack style dress, with a denim jacket over the top. This plain coloured jacket draws the reader's eye to her face, so I shall attempt to utilize a plain colour,as to make my artist's face stand out. I shall also attempt to use pale lighting, as that is utilized in this magazine to good effect.


Q

Here is the front cover of the magazine Q. The artist featured on the front is Matt Bellamy from the band Muse. I really like this front cover, as it seems to be drastically different to all the other covers I have looked at.

The main image, which takes up nearly the entire cover, is of Matt Bellamy smashing the Q logo with his guitar. He isn't looking at the camera, but instead at the logo of the magazine. His body is bent over, as he is finishing swinging his guitar round.

He is wearing a black jacket, which is covered in red lines/linings. This, once again, is more to do with the style of the artist rather than that of the magazine. The look on his face appears to be one of either intense concentration, or one of anger, which would explain why the logo has been smashed.

The background is also fairly plain, which is something I shall take into consideration when taking my photos, for my magazine. I shall also, as with Q and NME, give my artists a unique style, that makes them stand out, like the jacket in this picture.

BBC Music Magazine

Here is the front cover of an issue of the BBC Music Magazine. The artist featured on the front is Sarah Chang. I am not particularly fond of this cover, as it the colouring is too plain for my liking.

Her gaze is directed at the reader, or as though she is looking off into the distance. She is wearing bright colours, which do contrast well with the background, as it is rather plain. She is also holding a violin, which relates to her music.

There are also very few other photographs on the front cover, which doesn't distract from the main image. This is the only thing that I find to be to my liking about this cover, although it is also a feature of a number of other magazines, so it isn't unique to this magazine.

Magazine Title: Renegade

After composing my list of possible titles, I narrowed my list of names down to 6 choices. These were:

• Renegade- 7 votes
• Absolution- 2 votes
• Dissidence- 2 votes
• Execell- 1 vote
• Arcadia- 2 votes
• Euphoria- 2 votes

I sent round a survey with my planned names on, and the results were rather unanimous: Renegade was the clear winner, with 7 votes. None of the other results came close to Renegade, with all but Excell being given only 2 votes. So the title of my Alternative Rock music magazine shall be Renegade.

This result surprised me, as I thought people would vote for Absolution, Arcadia and Euphoria, as I believed they were the most fitting for an Alternative Rock music magazine, however this is why I did the research: to allow for public opinion to influence my work.   

Potential magazine titles

The Genre I have initially chosen to write my music magazine on is classical music, simply because I have an interest in said genre, and I feel that the style of the cover would be far more suited to my style of working. The names I have initially began to think of include:

• Claves
• Major
• Falsetto
• Symphony
• Allegretto: Allegretto is the title for a tempo, which is faster than allegro. I really like this title, as it is a strong, and distinctive title.
• Minor
• Baroque
• Requiem: A requiem is the name of a musical composition setting parts such as mass. I think this would be a good title for a classical music magazine, as the name is suitable. 
• Sonata
• Schubert
• Amoretti
• Chorus: The chorus is the central piece of music in a song, and is also used as the name for a Choir, so I think this would suit the name of a classical magazine. 
• Tenebrae
• Valletta 
• Overture: This is the technical term for the start of piece of music, or the prelude of a piece of music, that leads into the main section. 

My personal favorite out of these names is Allegretto, as it literally means: "A fast tempo", and I think that it is a good title for a classical music magazine.

However, the other Genre I am considering to utilize for my magazine is Alternative. This is because I prefer this to classical music, and with some effort, I feel that I could achieve a high standard of work. The potential names for these include:

• Illumination
• Looking Glass
• Requiem
• Flow
• Pulse
• Bane
• Sonic
• Reckless
• Outsider
• Newcomer
• Drifter
• Renegade: This title means an outsider, and my target audience are seen by UK Tribes as outsiders, so the title fits the audience.
• Unknown
• N.M.H
• Absolution
• Dissidence
• Virtue
• Cardinal
• Exceed/ Excell
• Arcadia: This title has no real meaning, yet this title is by far one of the most unique of my selection. 
• Edge
• Razor/RaZor
• Eternity
• Euphoria: Euphoria means a feeling of happiness, so I think this a good title, as it would reflect the feelings of my audience.

Out of these, my favorite title is probably Euphoria, as it literally translates to a feeling of happiness, and yet it sounds unique enough to stand out from other magazines. It also sounds like the possible name of a band/song that would be featured in my magazine. The words that have been highlighted/increased in size are the names I am considering using for my magazine. I shall devise a poll to see what the public think, and that will ultimately influence my choice of name.