preliminary cover page analysis

Last time, I showed you all the magazine that I made. However, I also wanted to analyze it to hopefully improve in the future. I also wanted to break down the steps I had to take to make it. Specifically, I'm going to focus on the magazine cover today.

When I first started,  I decided to use a template from Canva. This is because I'm still not very knowledgeable about what goes into making a magazine. I also spent a lot of time researching what the normal elements of magazine covers are, especially focusing on the overall aesthetic of magazines. I found that magazines typically include a central image, a stylized title, the type of magazine, the issue, the date, and the main articles. Additionally, I realized that magazines have barcodes, obviously used for purchases.

By this point, I decided to make my magazine about fashion. I was particularly drawn to the modern and minimalistic look of magazines like "Vogue", inspiring me to go for bold lettering and stylized font for the magazine title. Additionally, the name "Nu Era Look" was inspired by my love of modern fashion mixed with an informal writing style.

The image I used also parallels this minimalistic and modern style. The shallow focus removes background details from the image, preventing it from looking overcrowded. The almost disinterested look from the model was also inspired by the likes of "Vogue".

After making the title and the image, I needed a place to put the rest of the important information I believed should go on the cover. After spending time brainstorming, I chose to add a bar on the side that would facilitate this. However, adding this bar made the rest of the magazine, especially the title, looked uneven. It took some time to rework and shift the design elements around until I was happy with the result and could finally add the rest of the information. This included The issue, the main story titles, the date, and a barcode.