Magazine Practical Research and Planning: Blog Tasks :)

 Research

1) Use Google to research potential magazines that you could use as your brand/design for this project. Create a shortlist of three potential magazines and embed an example front cover from each one

Elle Magazine

Billboard magazine 

Marie Claire magazine

2) Choose one of the three magazine brands to use for your project. Then find three different front covers for your chosen magazine and embed them in your blogpost. Analyse the fonts, colours and typical design. What is the language or writing style? How are the cover lines written? You need to become an expert in the design and construction of this magazine and its branding

ELLE MAGAZINE: 

Elle magazine tends to have one colour theme for each cover- for example, the cover with Zoe Kravitz has a general theme of the colour red as the name of the magazine is in big red typography and the models' dress is also red. We can also see that some of the supporting cover lines also have been written in red writing. In the Dakota magazine cover, neutral colours like brown and dark orange are the general theme because that is the colour that the model is wearing and the name of the magazine has been written in black which is also a neutral colour- this is also supported by the orange colour of the typography in the supporting cover lines. In the Rihanna cover, the undeniable colour theme is yellow because the model is wearing yellow and the name of the magazine is also written in yellow just to emphasise the colour theme 

Elle magazine uses a Didot font (Serif in nature) for their name of the magzaine and a Sans Serif Didot for the rest of its cover lines to create a visual hierarchy- the most important is the text in Didot (Serif) because it is said that Serif represents "authority, tradition, respect, and grandeur" which explains why that is

font used to state the name of the magazine. Elle magazine is trying to portray the idea that their magazine has superiority over other magazines. The use of Sans Serif Didot font for the supporting cover lines represents the idea of modernity as well as minimalism in order to appeal to a modern audience without the excessive use of typography and extravagant varieties of colours and fonts 

Typically, the model has been placed in front of the name of the magazine and the typography is behind them. The model is generally placed on the middle of the cover through the use of a medium shot which is a type of camera shot that shows the subject from the waist up and allows us to see the model fully as well as leaving enough space for the cover lines to show without being covered by the model. Generally, there are about three or four supporting cover lines and one lead article line. The date of publication is usually written underneath one of the Es of "Elle" in small and faint font, perhaps in order to avoid the problem of the publication date distracting audiences from the cover itself 

Planning

1) On a Word or Google document, plan your main cover line (also called the 'main flash') - this is the main cover story that links to your central image

"Rise in non-binary and gender fluid models shaping society" (written at the bottom of the model in larger writing than the supporting cover lines) 

2) Briefly plan the image you will need for the cover - model, costume, make-up, lighting etc. At this point, simply describe the image you need to capture

Elle magazine tends to use high-key lighting in order to make the model stand out from the background- the subject is brightly lit and has softer shadows. I plan to use Kanye Francis as my model and he will be wearing a red suit and that will be matched by typography also in a red colour. No make-up will be required because Elle magazine is a fashion magazine rather than health and beauty so a statement does not have to be made through the use of a man wearing make-up. The image will be a medium shot where we can only see from his waist upwards where he is facing the camera with a serious facial expression- this is the general theme for Elle magazines 

3) Write the cover lines and any additional text you need for your magazine cover

• "Secrets for success: The key to being the best dressed wherever you are" 
• "De-stress for your best self: Mental health tips to guide you through 2022" 
• "Women in Film: Elizabeth Olsen shares secrets from acting to skincare" 
• "Skin care to best hair: The best rated skin and hair products of 2022" 
• Issue date: May 2022 
• Price: £3.99 
• Barcode: 
  
  
  
  

4) Sketch out your cover on plain A4 paper using your written planning. Take a photo of your sketch and upload it to your blogpost

Photoshoot

1) On your planning document, write the date, time and location of your photoshoot and the name of the model or photographer you will use (you can choose anyone to be your cover model or you can be the cover model yourself)

• Date: Thursday 5th May 2022 
• Time: Between 11:05am-12:45pm 
• Location: DF05 (media classroom in front of a green screen) 
• Name of model: Kanye Francis 
• Name of photographer: Faye Mehdi 

Publication to blog and evaluation

1) Once you have completed your design in Photoshop, go to 'File > Save as' and save your finished Photoshop magazine cover as a JPEG image. Then, upload it to your blogpost

2) Upload two genuine covers of the magazine you have chosen and put them next to your front cover

3) Write a short evaluation of your work: have you succeeded in your brief to create a new, original edition of an existing magazine? Does your cover stand up alongside the genuine covers of your chosen magazine? How professional is your work alongside those genuine examples?

I think I have succeeded in my brief to create a new, original edition of Elle magazine- this is because I have successfully recreated the elements that Elle magazine includes in their magazine covers such as the name of the magazine being behind the subject of the magazine and the same amount of supporting cover lines but used my own cover lines and subject. However, I had issues with the lighting so that reduced how professional my cover looks which is something I could have worked on if I had more time. The font of the typography was difficult to recreate so there is a clear difference in the font between my cover and the Elle magazine covers 

4) Finally, what would you do differently if you completed this assignment again?

If  I completed this task again, I would do the photoshoot in natural lighting because I had issues with making the lighting look natural and blend in with the background so I would make sure I have a natural background to make it look more professional because the image I used was too dark in comparison to the usual colours that Elle magazine uses. I would also make sure to familiarise myself with Photoshop because I spent a long time trying to get used to how it works and that slowed down the process of creating the cover so I if I completed this assignment again, I would make sure I knew enough about the programme before starting