Making a Magazine Cover!

Learning Magazine Conventions

        To learn the magazine conventions, my teacher taught a lecture where the class wrote the vocabulary for the conventions. My teacher, Ms. Acosta, explained what each convention was, how they are used and provided other useful information. Then, the class labelled the different conventions on a magazine diagram handout. 

        After that we started with making a magazine cover with Adobe InDesign. I did not hesitate and started exploring some of the software's features right away. Then, I brainstormed ideas for my magazine cover.

Magazine Cover - Genre

         I decided to create a travel and pop culture magazine mix. For the cover image, I used a picture of one of my vacations to California to convey the travel genre. I also used the feature article in conjunction with the cover image to convey this genre. The focus of my cover image is on the background to signal that it is a travel magazine.

         Additionally, the banner at the bottom and the three coverlines to the left to convey the pop culture genre. I also used this to convey important things that people might want to know before traveling to these areas. 

        Additionally, my puff and masthead provide general information to allow audiences to understand that the magazine generally deals with things happening in the northern hemisphere.

Making the Cover

        First, I started on the masthead for my cover. I had a specific font idea for this but could not find any fonts like it in the text options; so, I created my own using the pen tool. Using the pen tool was simple to learn, but it took me a long time to complete. 

        Though it took me awhile to find the features that made the strokes thicker and changed the color, this was still a fairly simple process for me.

        The masthead adds to the effectiveness of the magazine because it provides the audience with a sense of familiarity since it is unique to my magazine. For this same reason, it adds to the recognizability of my magazine. 

        Finally, in my masthead, I made the "o" in "North" a semi-circle to represent the northern hemisphere. This helps connect my magazine to my intended genre and brand.

 

        My next step was to include the cover image because I wanted to align the coverlines and puff based on the positioning of the picture. I knew I wanted to use a picture from when I went to California, but I didn't know which one to use. Figuring this out took me about twenty minutes. 

        Then came the real challenge: inserting the picture into the project. I struggled with this a lot and had to request assistance to complete this task. I was able to do this by going to the file menu, selecting the image I wanted, and selecting Place. 

        My cover image is related to my feature article and serves to grab attention. Thus, it allows readers to get a visual glimpse of what the feature article will be about.

        Creating the coverlines, banner and puff were all simple and quick processes because I simply had to use the textbox feature, which was familiar to me. For the puff and banner, I used the circle tool and rectangle tool, respectively; these features were not difficult to find or use.

        I used the rectangle tool and text tool to create the barcode and date line. While the barcode was not difficult to do, it felt slightly tedious because I had to create many rectangles. Next, I used the Fill tool to make the barcode lines black and the "sticker" the barcode would be on, white. I then added the dateline underneath the barcode.

        My dateline tells the audience when the magazine was published, and a barcode is conventionally used for the purchase of the magazine. While my puff is meant to draw attention to the slogan of my magazine, - "All Throughout the Northern Hemisphere!" - my banner is meant to highlight a few minor features of my magazine. 

        The coverlines, especially the feature article, are meant to interest the reader and emphasize the stories being covered. They also visually appeal to the reader in order to draw them in. 

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        The last thing I had to do was remove the guidelines from the magazine cover to see the finished result. This took me a long time to find, but I was able to do it by altering the settings in the Grids and Guides section of the View feature.

What I Learned!

        To recap, I learned how to draw with the pen feature, insert a picture, create shapes, write text, and remove guidelines from my view of a project. I hope to expand my field of knowledge on InDesign and plan to use what I already know to create a menu cover - and maybe the entire menu! - for a family project. I might also use these skills to create personalized cards for my Christmas.

        These skills will help me with my portfolio project by allowing me to get more comfortable using official software. While I plan on doing a film opening, using an official software will allow me to grow more comfortable with how Adobe structures their apps.

        Additionally, I could use the software to create a visual plan of the film opening. I may even choose to create a magazine for my film if time permits!

        Have a great day and thank you for reading!