Final front cover construction

I began my magazine front cover with this image. I removed the background by using the magic wand tool so only the model remained, this would be the main image on the cover advertising a feature on a fictional band that exists within the magazine 'DAWN'.












I then created a background with the gradient tool, I used a grey/blue colour to contrast with the model's skin. I picked this kind of gradient as it looks like there is a light source present behind the model.











Here I added several banners, I would later add information on the features of the magazine in these banners in order to make them stand out better to the reader. I decided at this point that two of the main colours on the cover would be yellow and black.












I added a few different shapes to the cover page, the edges of the sticker and torn note paper shapes were rubbed away to create a more rugged and rough look to conform to my genre. I also added text to the lower banner, the bands featured are very popular and would ensure a wider readership. The bold, simple font couple with a contrasting colour scheme makes it easy to read.











 I decided to widen the use of colour at this point. I made use of green and white for the more important 'in your face' text that advertises important features.

















Here I included more banners to go behind the text, the black on green and vice versa made the text stand out quite well. The white on black text stands out rather well and compensates for the smaller size used.

I opened this image in Photoshop and used black and white settings to make it black and white, I cropped the black and white image and added it at a tilt to the top right of my front cover to accompany the top banner text.

I used an unedited image on the bottom right of the cover to advertise one of the features, I chose this image because it looks like a music studio shot and therefore fit the genre successfully. I also added a bar code, and the text "March 2013 Issue 01"

Finally I added the two logos I created in earlier in Photoshop, the masthead 'MOSH' and the band logo for 'DAWN'. I created these logos by rubbing out certain bits of the letters while changing the opacity of the eraser. This is my final cover design.