Front cover + double page spread

Unit 51: Page Layout and Design-Production Commentary

Daniel Hopkins

Slide 1: Design ProgrammesI designed my magazine front cover and double page spread in Adobe Photoshop, using various tools in order to make it as professional as possible and to the best of my ability. Firstly, before I began work in Photoshop and before I had even taken photos for my cover, I sourced fonts from the online website ‘DaFont’, which has hundreds of fonts free to use and download. I sourced an eye-catching, visually striking font named ‘Crimes Times Six’, which I think suited the horror theme of my magazine. In Photoshop, I used many different tools, including shadow, brightness, contrast and the clone stamp tool. I changed the colours and size of the text to make them more eye-catching, as well as adding a shadow drop to the masthead to add more depth to the words. Throughout the editing process, I used many tools and elements of Photoshop in order to create my cover and double page spread.

For the article writing stage, I used Microsoft word. I used this application as it is the easiest piece of software to draft large amounts of work and easily save and export it, as well as return and edit it. Also, there are many elements of word that allow me to change the words easily and effectively, which helps leave my written work look professional. Following my initial article draft, I gave it to a peer to mark. Once they had done this, I redrafted my article once more and put it onto my double page spread.

Slide 2: FormatsI have created a magazine front cover and double page spread as part of this assignment. As my magazine has a horror film theme, I looked at both movie and horror-related magazines. By looking at a wide variety of magazines, I was able to get a good idea of what sort of cover I wanted to create. I like magazines with bold and visually striking text and so I took this into account when I was creating my magazine. I like to have the model star in the dead-centre of the cover, with everything else moulded around it. I also like for the model to either be full body or upper body, as opposed to just face/ head. From my double page spread research, I decisively decided that I would prefer to use images scarcely. Some of the magazines I looked at during this stage of my research included Empire. Scream and Fangoria.

Slide 3: Conventions & Visual Language

I have used a strong, distinctive font for my magazine front cover, that stands out effectively and serves it’s purpose excellently. I have used several different colours on my front cover, as there are many associated with the horror genre and I wanted to use them in some form. I used red, which is a classic connotation of horror, because of it’s links to blood and death. I also used purple, because of it’s ‘spooky’ element and link to films involving paranormal things such as ghosts and poltergeists. I also used green because of it’s link to classic horror movies and the ‘monster themes’ of the mid 20th century. In accordance with this, the text that was green on my cover was promoting the opportunity to win ‘classic horror memorabilia’. The primary font I used on both the front page cover and double page spread evokes thoughts of slasher movies, due to its harsh letters and blood-splatter appearance. I think that my image is a convention of horror movies and magazines as the hockey mask is an iconic of the genre (Jason Voorhees- Friday The 13th). I also think the model is appropriately dressed- all in black, wearing skeleton gloves and brandishing a knife. The background is also gritty and I believe is a suitable background. It is almost as if the model is in the movie and at the location where he intends to attack his victims. The masthead is very prominent and bold and thus is a convention. For the double page spread, I used the same font in red- to fit with the theme of the article on slasher movies. I also added a shadow effect to the masthead, in order to make it more bolder and striking. In order to fit with the horror theme, I used a black background with white text. This helps it stand out more and is also very effective for the genre I am using. On the double page spread, I also used a couple of images, both related to the article. I also use another image, placed behind the text. I think this works very well and the use of putting an image behind the text is a general convention of magazines. I also used subheadings and a dropcap at the start of my article. Overall, I used many visual magazine conventions for my front cover and double page spread. The colour theme of primarily black and red worked very well for the horror genre, as did the fonts.

In the primary optical area, we can see the beginning of the headline, which is bold and clear, as well as the knife that the model is holding. The combination of text and props makes the magazine easily identifiable as a horror magazine. I also chose to put the price, date and issue no. in this corner of the magazine. I did this primarily to fill a gap and as there was no room around the barcode in which I could appropriately place it. However, I have seen other magazines do this and so I do not think it is breaking convention. By being here, it also allows people to quickly see the price and the release date, as well as the issue number.

In the weak fallow area, there is typically not much to see on many magazine covers and I have this convention in place here. You can see some text, including a competition offer, but that is the only thing of note. Our eyes usually come to this area of the magazine last.

In the strong fallow area we can see the remaining part of the masthead, as well as part of the model. In this corner of the magazine cover, you can primarily see the gloved skeletal hand of the killer pushing the mask to his face. The ‘T’ at the end of the word also stands out from the rest of the letters.

The axis of orientation brings us from the primary optical area to the terminal area. As we go across the magazine, we can see the killer character as well as the headlines. This step of bringing our eyes across will allow us to see the main theme and lead article for the magazine.

In the bottom right hand corner, or terminal area, we can see the barcode. The barcode is often in this location as it is far away from the main focus and content of the cover. Also in this area, we can see the remaining text of some cover lines, which we will have seen when coming across the axis of orientation.

Masthead

Price and Date

Cover Line

Lead Article

Kicker

Barcode

Cover Model

Headline

Gutters Gutters

KickerDropcap

Subheadings

Subheadings

Slide 4: Audience:I think that the approximate age for readers of my magazine would be around 18-35. I believe that this age range are the most likely to watch and enjoy horror films, so this is why I have chosen it. In terms of gender, I think that my magazine is gender neutral, but it may have a slight leaning towards males. This is because the cover image, as well as the double page spread images, all feature males. However, this is merely because they are the characters and there wasn’t any intentions to make this specifically for one gender. For social class, I would estimate that the demographic for this magazine would be C1/2 and down. This is because horror is a genre that is quite niche and the films are often quite uncomplicated. They are also often films that have a very simple structured linear narrative and many are conventional. I think that my front cover meets the needs of the target audience because it is very conventional. It has a bold masthead, lead article and kickers. It also has a prominent model, which is quite sinister and scary and is in line with the horror genre that the magazine represents. I took the time to use props during my photoshoot, in order to add as many conventions of horror to the image as possible. I wore the skeletal gloves, dressed in black, wore a hockey mask and held a knife. Also on the cover, I promoted a chance to win some horror related merchandise, which is a strong convention of magazines. It also meets the target audiences needs as it gives them something to look forward to, as they could possibly win.