Magazine Cover - Step by Step

For one of my props that I am using within my music video is a magazine. I didn't want any magazine, I wanted to create a front cover that I could use. My inspiration came from a magazine called 'Guitarist', I have done a similar copy, with my own ideas added to it.

This is the original copy of the magazine 'Guitarist', I decided to use the same logo and font and added my own ideas to it. I am going to show you step by step, how I created the front cover.

I used Abode Photoshop CS4 to design my magazine cover. I opened up an A4 sized piece of paper, I decided to use a gradient toner for the background. The reason I chose a gradient background was because it look more unique and effective, rather than just a whole colour. This also matches my theme that I am using for my CD and Website, black and white. The logo is in 'Times New Roman' font, this is not the original font used on the magazine, but it was as close as I could get it to the real item. The 'G' and the 'T' are slightly off the page, which I have tried to copy as best I could.

I then photographed a blank CD and imported it into Adobe. I re sized the image, so it was small enough to fit into the top left hand corner, without the image looking over stretched. I then used the eraser tool , to erase the excess background around the CD. I then use the 'Rectangle Tool' to create a blank box, I changed the colour by using the colour mixer. As the background is black, I wanted to keep it the same colour, so when I incorporated some text, the font colour would stand out. I then rotated the image by going to 'Edit', 'Transform' and 'Rotate', this allowed me to rotate my image to a side angle. I then repeated the step for the text, I used yellow for the font as it stands out from the black background. Next I wrote 'Issue 265' in the top right corner, this states what number the magazine is.

The next part of the process was to add iconography, the whole idea of my magazine is to promote the band. However, 'Moot Point's' lead singer loses his wife in a motorbike accident. The whole song is about Dave (Lead Singer) feeling sorry for him self, drinking him self silly because he has lost everything in life. I decided to add an image of Dave in the recording studio, this is my main image for the magazine. I wanted the magazine to tie in with the whole video, which is why they are on the front cover. The original photograph had foam behind it, I used the 'Eraser Tool' to get rid of the excess background. I used a 19px brush to remove all the detailed parts and a 21px brush to remove the larger parts of the image.

I then added my first article, by using the 'Text Tool' 'EXCLUSIVE, MOOT POINT'S LEAD SINGER LOSES WIFE IN MOTORBIKE ACCIDENT'. With this being the main article of the magazine I had to make it look flashy and eye catching, I decided to put the 'EXCLUSIVE' in a bold and vivid yellow and the rest of the text in a bright white.

Another article was added, this is a random article so it looks like a proper magazine. 'HOBO TO HERO' is in a dark black with a vivid yellow background. 'I HAD NO JOB, NO MONEY, NOTHING!.' this piece of text was in a bloody red which connotates danger and evil.

I decided to add some advertisement to the magazine, ' NEW FENDER RELEASE' is in a white font, overlapping the red and white guitar. 'STRATOCASTER' is also in a bright and yellow background with a piecing red font, which will capture the audiences eye.

Finally, I added a few more articles based on the band and other articles involved within the magazine. I also added a bar code at the bottom, I am going to add another image of Steve Pettitt in the bottom left hand corner, which has and involvement within my video.