2. The first step I took in creating the first draft of my magazine was adjusting the
background. I had already taken this photo up on a hill near my house. But as I had
taken it in the autumn season, it was very dull and didn’t represent the country music
genre that I was aiming for. I decided early on that I would use this picture for the
backdrop for my main image. I decided to adjust it to make the scene look like it was
spring or summer as this fits with country music more. I used the colour replacement
tool to do this, I picked my colour of sky blue and coloured the whole sky in this colour,
zooming in closely to avoid going over the edges. While it looks obviously edited and
fake, once I add the main image, masthead and everything else, it will be less obvious.
3. The next of creating my draft was the editing of the main image
before I added it to the background shown in the slide earlier. To
get rid of the background, I used the magic wand and select tool.
Although at some times, I had to zoom in to delete any other bits
of background that the magic wand and quick select tool failed to
pick up.
4. After placing my main image in a separate file over my
background. To make it look more realistic I decided to
zoom in even closer and erase any more tiny bits of
background that minimize its realism. After I did this, I
added a very subtle shadow effect make it blend into the
background and increase it’s realism.
5. After cutting out the background the same way as I did
with my main image, I decided to add an effect to my
masthead to make it look more 3D and stand out among
the background and main image. So, I added a the bevel
and emboss effect which I think really makes it stand out
more that it did previously.
6. Next, I first of all adjusted the lighting and brightness in my main image to make
it fit into my background better. I also added in the masthead and placed it
behind my main image so the head of my model slightly covers it, I did this as it’s
a common convention for magazine front covers and adds realism. Lastly, I added
in my barcode as this is again an important convention of a magazine. I added a
white box above it and clearly stated the issue number, the date, the price and
the website for my magazine as a lot of magazines put these bits of information
in the same position.
7. Next, I came up with the name for my artist and added this as a
headline. I coloured it in the same colour as the sky in the
background, as blue is one of my main colours in the front cover. I
also added a stroke effect to make it more visible and added the
bevel and emboss effect to make it look more 3D. Then, I added a
quote underneath as part of the headline and I also used the stroke
and bevel and emboss effect.
8. Next, I added in one small feature and a plug. “The 2012 Hot List” was
inspired by a Rolling Stone cover that I have mentioned earlier. I created
this earlier with some boxes and text. I also added a bevel and emboss
effect to again make it look more 3D. The plug was created using a circle,
some text and some small pictures. I added a bevel and emboss effect on
the circle to make it look more like a sticker and I also added a stroke effect
on the text to make it more noticeable. I also added two pictures, one of
the gibson logo and a gibson guitar to show the prize.
9. The next part of the process was adding my main features. I decided early on that
I would have a small number of features on my front page due the fact that my
background adds much more depth as it is. I added these using the text box tool
and I coloured them in blue and white which are two of my colour choices. Then, I
used the stroke effect to make the text stand out. I used the font sizing option to
adjust the font size to fit my needs. The final touch was adding a picture of the
album that the feature was based on. I used the bevel and emboss tool to make it
look more 3D to give my magazine more depth. I also rotated it slightly to make it
look like it’s on a slant.
10. The next part of the process was creating the banner for the front
cover of my music magazine. I used a box in one of my chosen
colours, sky blue. And I added a transparency effect to make it
blend in better with the magazine and look elegant. I decided after
that that I would use this as a feature as well as a banner. I added
the title of this feature using the text box tool and used the fill tool
to make this title in one of my three chosen colours, light red or
pink.
11. I then came up with a very spontaneous idea that I feel was one of the best decisions
I’ve made with my magazine. I came up with names of all the different country and
folk artists and typed the name in the text box. I started with Faith Hill, as this was
my first, I made it the biggest of my artist names, I then placed it into a sector of the
box. I added all the different artist but made them differentiate in size and made
them all fit into place like a collage, so there was no gaps in the box. I then added a
stroke effect onto each of the artist names to make them stand out as they were all
in a white font. And that was the last step into making the first draft of my music
magazine!
