The document describes the progression of designing a magazine front cover. It details how the student created a logo for "air magazine" using Photoshop. It then discusses justifying the logo name based on research about how music can transport listeners. The student took photos of a classmate styled as an R&B artist for the cover. After editing the chosen photo in Photoshop, it was incorporated into the magazine layout using Quark. The colors and fonts were also justified. Finally, the student refined the design based on additional research.

1. 
Progression Of the Front Cover.
Iram Dogar

2. Progression of the ‘air magazine’ logo.
 Using Microsoft office and Photoshop I
was able to create this logo. The
created the ‘air’ part of the logo using
Photoshop, I drew out the outline using
the Paintbrush tool I then layered it
onto a pink background. Then by using
Microsoft Office I wrote the
‘magazine’ in ‘Andale Mono’ font
with a size of 24.
The different layers.

3. Justification of logo
 I chose this magazine logo as my research showed that a lot of
people said I should call my magazine 'airmagazine' as
it implies that music can take you into a world of your own; where you
begin to get lost in your own thoughts and understanding.
 I chose to do it as a typographic name/logo for instance I acknowledged
this through my research of looking into magazines and the way in
which they present their names and logos. I wanted something which
visually appealed to my audience something that also meant
something. For example, vibe is a recognisable name however it also
fits into the hip-hop genre. The genre of my magazine is RnB/hip-hop
and I feel that ‘air’ fits in perfectly with the genre; RnB/hip-hop music is
urban (in the city) and allows the listener to drift off in a world of their
own, whilst acknowledging their urban roots.

4. Taken images to choose from
I then took a picture of a class member
dressing her up in a similar style to an RnB
artist. This enabled me to take a couple of
pictures of her which I then chose from to
create a realistic magazine effect.
I set up a room in order to have a photo
shoot which looked more realistic to a real
RnB artist's photo shoot. I took over 45-50
pictures so that I could choose which one to
use.
Here are the pictures that I felt could be used
on my front cover. I finally decided I would
use the picture on the right.

5. Progression of chosen image
 After deciding my Front Cover image I went on
to editing it on on ‘Adobe Photoshop’ in order
to achieve the outcome I was able to achieve
by using different effects and tools. Here, are
some screenshots to show how I achieved this
outcome:
 By using the ‘Quick Selection Tool‘ and the
‘Colour Picker Background Tool’, I was able to
get one colour all across the background of the
image.
 After overviewing these 5 photos I decided I
want to use the one where she has her arms
spread over the sofa. I chose this photo as it
reflected back to my logo which is 'air'
others and myself believe it perhaps portrays
a sense of flying.

6. Continuing the progression
 Here I used the ‘Properties’
tool to sort out the ‘Exposure’,
‘Offset’ and ‘Gamma
correction’. However, I didn’t
like the end result it created so
I played around until I was able
to achieve the most appealing
image.

7. Continuing the progression
 By choosing the vibrance and
saturation of the image I was able to
make the colours of the image stand
out more to give it a more rich look. I
went into more depth with the
saturation of the image.
 Here I was able to chose the ‘Cyan’,
‘Magenta’ and ‘Yellowness'’ suitable
to this picture.

8. Chosen picture
 By the end of experimenting on Photoshop I concluded I wanted the image to look like
this.
 By using the tools previously mentioned I was able to achieve a realistic photo for my
magazine front cover.
 I’m happy with the end result of this image.
Before After

9. Justification of colours and fonts
 I chose to use a limited amount of colours; this is why I only chose
three specific colours I would stick by. I noticed that common
magazines such as VIBE magazine only uses on average three colours
 These three colours I chose stood out most against the colours in the
image them stemmed. I didn’t like the other combination of colours as
they didn’t have that impact on the magazine. The dominate colour
within this magazine is red, the two colours I’ve added are black and
white these colours stand out in the magazine also they fit in with the
style also they work greatly with the image in the magazine.
 ‘Helvetica’ is the font I used as it’s a font which is easy to read, with
regards to its classy and classical appearance; classical in the ways in
which its not a modern. I used a variety of sizes in order to make some
things stand out more these being the more important things such as
Names, Information, and Dates. I also made the writing bold at various
occasions to really make some points appeal to my audience; this
would attract their attention making them want to buy my magazine
my audience would want to know what’s inside my music magazine.

10. Use of Quark
 I then used QUARK having completed the work on my
photograph and the logo. I used QUARK to design my music
magazine front cover.
 First of all I placed the picture so that It would fill/cover (bleeds
at all four edges) the entire page.
 I then added the logo in the top left hand corner which is where
you would normally find the logo name of a magazine.
 I then added the articles around the image trying to ensure that I
left enough space in the middle to allow my audience to view the
artist, also so the magazine cover didn’t appear cluttered.
 I used different type sizes and colours to really give the music
magazine impact. I then added a price, a date, a barcode, also QR
code as my research showed that these are conventions of a
magazine cover.
 QUARK was really useful as I could put text where ever I
thought it was best for the magazine also I could move it
around also I could adjust sizes and produce an authentic piece
of work.

11. Editing it the typefaces and position of
text.
 I changed the colour of the
typefaces because it had no
relation to the content page.
Also I noticed that the black
circle appeared odd on the
front cover so I got rid of it
and it now looks a lot better
as it fits in with the position of
her body.
New version Old version

12. Ideas for magazine logo
 To begin with I created a questionnaire asking a wide selection of questions. I
found the responses helpful however the responses for ‘what name would like the
magazine to have?’ were poor. I didn’t like any of the suggestions therefore, I
began to do more research and found names which related better to my music
genre of RnB and Hip-hop.
 I wanted to use a name which is more appealing to my target audience; this being
an audience ranging between 18-24. and I came to realise that the names
suggested weren’t the best for my target audience. I came up with the names
Corner Culture, KERB or Wire.
 The reason behind ‘Corner Culture’ and ‘KERB’ is because by researching into genre
the artists who produce RnB/Hip-hop music a lot of times talk about drugs, sex,
alcohol, women “Bitches (or) Hoes”, majority of the times the action of selling
drugs (for instance) is done on the corners/curbs of the hood.
 The reasoning behind ‘WIRE’ is for many reasons; it signifies the RnB culture since
whenever there is a performance wires are involved in many ways. For instance,
the cords which connect the amplifiers to the instruments. Its also the name of a
very popular American drama which featured black American culture called ‘Wire’.

13. REDO – Final view.
 Having the opportunity to represent
my AS coursework, I have managed
to do further research into my
chosen genre and made changes
based on my research.

14. Changes to front cover
 As you can see I’ve made the picture more
dominant and impactful; this was picked
up from research where I noticed that a
lot of magazines used a dominant picture
rather than one which was heavily edited.
The colours match my Contents page and
Double-spread page making my work
more consistent and unique.
 In addition, I made changes to the name,
layout and colours used; as noticed, I
changed the magazines name to ‘LIVE
WIRE’ in relation to the genre I felt this
name suited the magazine best. I flipped
the picture because I felt it looked most
powerful, but also the content fitted well
around the posture of her body.