Critical Evaluation of first draft of front cover

Critical Evaluation of first draft of front cover

I believe that the front cover represents the aim and style very well, as the colours, general composition and shaping of images and text (as well as the props used) convey the correct genre. The magazine clearly states the intentions through the mention of various metal bands, as well as the guitar being featured to capture the genre of music and to account for the general house style used. The coverlines, however, are slightly harder to see than predicted due to printing reducing the overall brightness of colours, which makes the main coverline 'Rise up!' extremely difficult to read at distance, completely ruining it's aim to stand out, feedback I received confirmed my thoughts on this. I have decided that I will attempt at changing the 'Rise up!' to a blue colour to match the model's hair; this was a suggestion from some of my peers during a 'hotseat' feedback session. The smaller coverlines and pull quotes are, however, a slightly brighter colour, yet could still be more visible. The coverlines are positioned in a nice way, not obscuring the artist's face in any way, though the artists's darker patches of hair are blending in with the background too much.

The choice of font does work well, though the main coverline is, as mentioned, hard to read from a distance, and the font I created for it does not work very well, though the other fonts are very clear. The background is just a plain black colour which was intended, though it does make it hard to see the darker colours used on the page, therefore I believe that I will need to either change the background or lighten the other colours. The title/masthead is easy to read, as there is a lot of colour differentiation to create a visible shape, especially with the splashes of white.

There is a barcode, as well as the issue number and pricing, though it is a little harder to read the issue number due to little contrast in colour. I do believe that it looks like a music magazine front cover, however it does need to be brightened to ensure professionalism. I think that the only problem with the desired appearance would be the overall darkening of the colours once printed, which can be countered with a brightness effect over every layer.

Photoshop Editing Skills Development

Photoshop Editing Skills

Photograph process

Below is some of the thought process, trial and experimentation, as well as a selection of some of the most successful photos taken of my model for Pulse Magazine's contents page, Cover Page and Double Page Spread. Not all of the photos will be used, furthermore none of the photos present have undergone any form of editing.

Pulse Magazine Articles

'Pulse' magazine articles

Features

This section deals with the featured articles.

John Davies back again

Jack Black Black Jack

'Black Veil Brides' unveil their secrets

Grohvling to Grohl

Ho Ho Hope for humanity

Tours and T's for all

Rising through the ranks
Everyone's favourite Frisbeee goes from a staggering fall to a standing ovation.

Props for the props (fashion advice from a celeb)

Metal goes on, but does 'moshing' follow?

Rockbottom to Rockstar (guide for music)

There will be Blood on the Dance floor

Metal made in Japan

New year's resolutions

Regulars

This section deals with the regular articles.

Fan-works (fan artwork)

Dearest Fans (fan letters and conversations)

Freebies, you say?

Our Artist of the Month

Studio Crash (invading other bands' studios)

Choice Cuts (clips)

Gigs and Giggles

Employee of the month!

Guppy Guitars

Pulse Magazine Flatplans

Below are the flatplans for the pages to be featured in my music magazine completed through Adobe InDesign, embedded through Scribd.

Flat Plans

Interview for Pulse magazine main article

This is the plan for the interview I wish to carry out with the artist I have chosen to feature in my magazine. It will reveal information associated with the model's interesting story, as well as her plans for the future. I aim to cover: Her current health; the reason for her tragedy; her plans for the moment; her plans for the future; her thoughts on current metal news; fan questions; other miscellaneous enquiries and small doses of humour.

Intro
This will just be a short greeting and a little small talk to break into the interview. Few fan questions or rumours may be used to begin the topic.

Interview
These questions will be the solid points to cover, as well as places of refuge for when the conversation begins to stray from the topic.

1. What exactly happened?

2. How and where did this happen?

3. So, what exactly are you doing at the moment?

4. I've been told that you hated the sight of your guitar for a short time.

5. Here at Pulse, we know that the fans are buzzing! How excited are you?

6. Could you give us a little taste of what you'll be pulling out on the 20th?

7. What do you have planned for the future?

(8.) Well, us lot at Pulse wish you the best of luck and hope it all goes well this time round! Thanks, Frisbeee.

(These questions are guidelines as to how I will carry out the interview. The interview covers every aspect of the story, as well as finishing on a high note and getting the info that the audience would likely want to see, such as upcoming gigs and dates of importance. Obviously, the questions or decisions I make can and will likely change due to what the responses are, but these are the solid outlines and points for the interview).