[Music Magazine] Front Page Design Mock Up

This is the design i created and deicded to follow when creating my music magazine front page. (Note this was created and posted a while ago but re-posted later)

All creative decisions made when creating this mock-up were influenced by my research into other hip-hop magazine covers. After finding out the majority of magazines use dark colours contrasted with bright-ish main images i decided to have a dark background with the colours red, yellow and white for the text colour scheme. I've also found that bright colours contrasted to a dark background are more likely to catch the readers attention as it is more attractive to the readers eyes and is also easier to read. The idea of the strapline above the masthead also came from looking at 'Scratch' magazine which does the same thing. 'Scratch' is a magazine that would be using the same target audience as my magazine meaning it would be trying to appeal to the same people making it useful to analyse this magazine front covers designs when creating mine; especially considering 'Scratch' is a fairly successful magazine.

I plan to follow this design and enhance it with the use of effects that the program i will use, Photoshop CS3, will allow me to put onto my magazine; (for example: drop shadow or inner bevel). As i create the magazine I'm sure there will be things i want to change such as where certain colours are used and the positions of text so i plan to develop this design to the most effective way of presenting it with the use of Photoshop CS3 and my research.

I've planned to use the techniques of fading an image/text in to the background on my front cover as a way to make sure no spaces on the magazine look empty. These will keep to the colour scheme. The colours red, yellow and white were used as red and yellow are bright colours that will catch the readers attention and are often associated with hip-hop music which can be shown through music videos and other magazine covers. The neutral colour white will allow it to be easy on the readers eyes as it won't look too busy and allows it to be easy to read/look at without causing eye strain. 

I believe the main image being positioned slightly to the right of the magazine with the cover-lines to the left and the main cover line over the main image is a layout convention that is specific to the hip-hop music genre as i have only seen hip-hop magazines use such a layout. None of the colours used are specific to my genre, however they are usually associated with the hip-hop music genre.   

Having the masthead at the top of the magazine across the width of the page is another conventional element included in my mock-up which is commonly found in hip-hop music magazines. I will also be making sure the main image shows many representions of hip-hop artists such as wealth and arrogance which will appeal to the target audience as this is what iis expected from hip-hop artists. The main image will take up the majority of the front page and will feature the biggest feature/main attraction of the magazine (the main story) which is something the majority of hip-hop music magazines tend to do. This is to draw the audience in with the use of an artist that most likely has a 'buzz' around them at the moment the magazine is released.