What I've Learned From the Mock Up Cover...

I believe that I could have analysed ten various music magazine covers, yet still not understand the codes and conventions, and the process of creating a magazine cover as well as I have by creating a mock up of a music magazine.

I found that layering is a very important part of the process, and detailed planning must be prepared before undergoing the task of producing the cover. I found that when making my mock up cover, I hadn't thought everything through, and found myself having to move pieces onto different layers, and understood the effect of layering.

I am now also happier using Adobe Photoshop, as, although it isn't the best job, I learned how to remove a background from an image, and super impose the selected part of the photo onto another background. This has been extremely helpful, because it has given me more opportunity and options for when I create my own music magazine, as I now have the ability to edit photos to create images that would not be possible to take in real life.

From producing the mock up cover, I also learned that mastheads and coverlines do not always fit, and that structure is very important, although editing must be done after inserting the main image, to ensure that the coverlines stand out to their full potential. Therefore, I have decided that when I create my magazine cover, I will plan out the fonts and colours, but make sure that there is room for adjustment and editing, as design and structure can be hard to manage, especially colour.

I also found that a slightly different font can have a huge impact on the way a magazine is represented, and that the layout can also represent the magazine in different ways. For example, to contrasting magazine layouts and designs are Kerrang! and Q Magazine. Q is very classic, ordered, organised and tidy, where as Kerrang! is very chaotic. Both these characteristics make the magazine attractive and eye-catching, however I do believe that it depends on the genre of the magazine.

I also found that there is a range on different codes and conventions, from subtle coverlines, to flashes, however there were no subsidiary images on the mock up I produced. This had made me think about the various codes and conventions I need to include on my magazine cover to make it look professional, as just coverlines and a main image will not suffice.

Overall, I found that creating a mock up magazine cover had provided me with a great deal more knowledge about the process of creating a magazine cover than just analysing covers, and the techniques I have learned will be very useful for when I come to the stage of creating my own music magazine cover.