Final Cover Edits/Photo

     This blog post will be about the final cover photo editing and selection being used for the magazine cover I am creating! As well as visually showing the editing done to this cover, I will also include an explanation of why this cover is good- or bad- and the detailed elements within them. In the end, I will be explaining why I chose the final cover photo that I did. This can also be used as a guide for future designs created by you, the readers!

Review

        Before we begin analyzing the cover I have created, let's quickly review the main cover elements of magazines.

    The main image usually covers most of the front page, and in a food magazine it is often a food or dish on the cover. In order to make the audience want to buy the magazine, the cover needs to be attractive to catch their attention.

    The masthead lets the reader immediately know what the genre of the magazine is. The masthead is also very large and tends to be at the top of the front cover; it usually matches the shade of the magazine cover's main image as well.

    The cover-lines are seen normally on the left/right-hand side of the cover of a magazine. Important articles and selling lines are often stated in this section of the magazine cover. 

    The strip is the most interesting part of the magazine, because it includes information about what details will be mentioned later on in the magazine. 

    The bar-code tells the price of the magazine.

    The content page is the page in the magazine that contains little to no images and tells the page numbers of the articles.

    A puff is the incentive placed on the cover of a magazine in order to make something stand out. Puffs are usually promotions or giveaways, therefore attracting audiences towards the magazine; it is also usually a different color from the rest of the cover so that it stands out even more.

    The double sheet spread is the two-page section of the magazine that contains few images (often one large image) but is mostly made up of headings and text. 

Final Cover Photo W/ Revisions

    

    I used Canva for all editing/placement of this cover.     

    Above is the final cover with revisions that I decided to use. This cover includes a masthead, selling line, two cover lines, a volume number, and the publication date along with a main image. As can be seen, the main image is very large, taking up most of the cover; it is also in the center of the cover. The large main image draws the reader's attention towards the magazine cover, while being in the center so there is still room to place cover lines without them completely overlapping. The masthead is at the upper left-hand side of the page, with the selling line on top of it. I fixed the problem of people possibly thinking that the selling line is the magazine's title because of it being read top-to-bottom, by making the font size of the selling line smaller. Next, we have the cover lines. The two cover lines have been spaced apart, and I decided to place them on opposite ends of the magazine cover in order to fit the main image better, and not blend in with the color scheme too much. The volume number and publication date are on the bottom left corner, staying small and organized because they aren't made to draw in the attention of readers. This magazine does contain a bar-code; however, I have chosen to place it on the back of the magazine in this cover. In terms of color scheme, I went with a more artistic and eye-catching look by using red and green colored text along with interesting 'Open Sans Bold' and 'Open Sans Bold Italicized' fonts; this color scheme complimented the cover, as well as the main image, because the main image contains vibrant colors such as red, green, and yellow. I also decided to use a half-red, half-black coloring for the masthead in order to give it a more bold/colorful look without it being too plain by using just black text. In this revision, I also decided to move the masthead and selling line up, as well as make the cover lines smaller in order to provide more open space for the main image.

Final Cover Photo

     I used Canva for all editing/placement of this cover.     

    Above is the final cover I decided to use. This cover includes a masthead, selling line, two cover lines, a volume number, and the publication date along with a main image. As can be seen, the main image is very large, taking up most of the cover; it is also in the center of the cover. The large main image draws the reader's attention towards the magazine cover, while being in the center so there is still room to place cover lines without them completely overlapping. The masthead is at the upper left-hand side of the page, with the selling line on top of it. I fixed the problem of people possibly thinking that the selling line is the magazine's title because of it being read top-to-bottom, by making the font size of the selling line smaller. Next, we have the cover lines. The two cover lines have been spaced apart, and I decided to place them on opposite ends of the magazine cover in order to fit the main image better, and not blend in with the color scheme too much. The volume number and publication date are on the bottom left corner, staying small and organized because they aren't made to draw in the attention of readers. This magazine does contain a bar-code; however, I have chosen to place it on the back of the magazine in this cover. In terms of color scheme, I went with a more artistic and eye-catching look by using red and green colored text along with interesting 'Shrikhand' and 'Light Shadow' fonts; this color scheme complimented the cover, as well as the main image, because the main image contains vibrant colors such as red, green, and yellow. I also decided to use a half-red, half-black coloring for the masthead in order to give it a more bold/colorful look without it being too plain by using just black text.

Conclusion

    In conclusion, I will be using the revised version because this cover was the best of all other covers that I made. This cover contained vibrant colors, interesting cover lines, and a professional-looking masthead. While it is also the cover that has been edited the most, this cover has a more realistic feeling than the other magazine covers I had created, and gives off a sense of pride instead of disappointment. The color choice used in this cover also compliments the rest of the cover, along with the placing of cover lines being used to create different shades within the colors of the cover lines. This cover fits into the proper conventions of food magazines, because it creates a feeling of creativity or happiness, which is what food magazines strive to accomplish through their magazines.