Mock: Cover Comparisons.

I really like both cover designs as they both emit different vibes. When comparing the two to my original brief of what I wanted my magazine to be about and who I wanted my target audience to be, I feel that the How To Train Your Dragon issue may be more appropriate as it has more features that tick off the goals I had set.

However, I do feel that in terms of layout, the first issue (Alien) was more successful, as it was eye catching without being overly busy. It had a sophisticated feel to it and really set the mood for the magazine.

In conclusion, though both were good in terms of layout and illustration, I feel that the How To Train Your Dragon issue may be more appropriate to my brief.

If I was to do this task again, I would combine the two elements of each cover to get a successful middle ground.

Mock: Cover Progression. HTTYD.

To the complete cover art work, I added the same mast head which I used for my other cover design. The only changes I made were to the colours. I changed orange to green so that it complimented the lush background of the illustration.
I repeated the same elements in a different colour so that it's evident that the two are a different issues from a series.

The only issue with the illustration was the white backdrop made it difficult to read the mast head.
To improve this, I expanded the green foliage to use as a backdrop.

I wanted to make reference to costume builders in my magazine if they were relevant to the theme, as the community of costumers is huge and global, and would serve for a good target audience.
Prior to creating this magazine, I had attended a MCM Comic Convention as Astrid from How To Train Your Dragon 2. My costume was entirely hand made from recycled materials.
Because the costume was entered into the masquerade along side other costumers, and won, I thought it would be suitable to include an interview.
The fact that there's an interview with a "winner" figure adds attraction to the cover and draws people in.

I felt like the three pictures disrupted the flow of the cover, so I replaced it with the How To Train Your Dragon logo. It's also instantly recognisable and the red contrasts nicely with the green due to them being contrasting colours on the colour wheel.
There is also red in the costumes in the photos, making it seem as though they are a matching set.
Having a matching set 'contained' in a box gives the cover a sense of order.

After adding the text, I found it was difficult to read due to the sketch lines behind it. To improve this, I used a set brush with a low hardness to work in white. This muted the lines and allowed for reading the text with ease.

This is the final design for the Dragons issue of Concept FX. I am really happy with how this came out as I feel it has a very friendly, happy vibe to it when comparing it to the previous Alien cover with Xenomorph, which had an almost sinister theme.
I really like the sketch to paint transition on the cover as it demonstrates the process of creation and allows the reader to get an idea of what the contents of the magazine would be.

Mock: Cover Progression. Xenomorph.

At first, I wanted to have a kind of sketchy mast head, but after experimenting with type, I realised that it made the magazine look really informal and low end. To change this, I altered the type into a classy Serif type.

This is the mast head after I had altered it.
I really like how classy it looks, as it's contrasts from the sketchy feel of the cover art.

To hook in the readers, above the mast head I advertised what 'free' content would be in the magazine, and exclusive content to make the readers feel drawn and special to my magazine.

I also proceeded to add text to the cover to break up the picture and display what contents was in my magazine. To avoid having large chunks of text, I alternated between bold and standard text.
To keep up with the high end theme of the magazine cover, I used another concording serif type.

After seeing all the text together, my magazine looked incredibly monotonous, and through which made it look boring. To detract from that, I added colour to key titles and places where I want the reader's eyes to be drawn.
Having the text in several places and alignments however caused confusion to where to look first, and rendered the white space to poor use. To change this, I altered where the text aligned, and transformed the cover art to be larger so the focus was on the mouth.
I had also noticed that the picture looked dull and boring, so to alter this I edited it in Photoshop with the burn tool to make the highlights really stand out.

This is my final design and I am very happy with the outcome.
Having all of the information on a right alignment created a balance with the head of the alien on the left. It looks almost as though it is looking round the text to the reader which is a really cool effect.
I also really like the use of orange as it adds life to the cover, and makes repetition on the cover, tying everything together.

Mock: Cover Art Progression - Elsa (Frozen)

This is the initial sketch which I used for Elsa. I Wanted to create a sense of movement and elegance, so I used a pose from the animation sequence of her solo "Let it go", possibly one of the most iconic movie songs in film history.

Using an oil brush preset, I painted in the basic shape of her face and hand. I wanted this cover to contrast from the others in the sense that it looked less refined and more like the storyboard designs.
To achieve this, I kept every other detail to a minimum by creating basic shadows on another layer and lowering the transparency. 

On another layer, I added basic highlights to Elsa, and on another layer set to an Overlay setting, I added her makeup. 

I refined the details on her face and hand using an oil brush preset.
I like the contrast the painted features have against the sketchy design.

This is the finished piece. I quite like the contrast of the paint and sketch, but as a whole I'm not sure if I find it particularly aesthetically pleasing.

To make the piece look more interesting, I added in sketches of other main characters in the background. This makes the piece look like it was torn from the sketchbook of the original designers. 

I'm not sure if I will use this in my product, but I like the contrast is has from the other two cover art designs.

Mock: Cover Art Progression- Hiccup and Toothless (HTTYD)

This is the initial sketch of my How to Train Your Dragon cover piece. I wanted to recreate one of the most iconic scenes in the movie, to give it sense that the readers are already familiar with the magazine, and promote a sense of comfort.
I used several layers with distinguishing colours so that I could notice details while painting.

To start the process of painting, I first sketched out block flat colours so that I could see what would go where, and so I could get a basic sense of colour composition.

Using an oil bush preset, I worked in basic highlights and shadows. I really like using the oil brush as it allows me to digitally paint and blend evenly with pressure sensitivity which allows the alteration of how much 'paint' is on the brush.

After painting Toothless, I added a basic background using a pencil brush and alterations of transparency. I wanted the background to have less refinement than the foreground to not only create a contrast, but almost demonstrate the process of creation.




This is the finished piece and I am extremely happy with the outcome.
I adore the contrast between the sketch and the paint which really gives it that feeling of development, and creates curiosity as to why it's incomplete, which would also hook in readers.
I also love the colour scheme used, as the rich earthy colours promote a sense of strength. 

Mock: Cover Art Progression - Xenomorph

This is the initial sketch of Xenomorph from which I worked from.
I already really like the effect of having it as a plain line sketch on a blank canvas, however I feel as though it's not particularly eye drawing despite the harsh contrast of the white and black.
To make it more appealing, I decided to work into it using sketchy lines and an oil brush preset to give it a sense of incomplete design, and that it was taken directly from the original designer's sketch book.

The first thing I did was work into it with basic highlights and shadows so that I could get a sense of shape and what would catch light where. I worked roughly with an oil brush preset so that I could get blended yet sketchy effect.

Repeating the same process as above, I worked more into the sketch. I altered the transparency of the sketch so that I could get a more accurate definition with the painting.

This is the finished piece. To work into it more, I used more sketch lines on a low transparency to make it look more sketchy than painted. I also altered the paint more by working over it with an air brush set to a low opacity. This meant I could work on top of it evenly without it being over powering and masking the blending of the oil brush. 

I am very happy with the outcome as it keeps it's sketch look but with the refinement of smooth blending transitions to give it that three dimensional appeal. 

Mock : Magazine Cover Scamps

 These are the scamps for my magazine cover designs. My magazine will be called "Concept FX". I want it to show the progression and development of popular films, through from the concept art to story boards, and to costume design and building. I may even make reference to cosplays that other people have made of the characters. 

I wanted each of my covers to have a dynamic flow to them as this is what onlookers find to be more aesthetically pleasing, as their eyes are drawn to the movement. 

It is because of this, I will most likely to work with designs number 2,3, and 4. 

Here I am giving the cover designs a very brief analysis so that I can chose which designs would be the most suitable for my magazine. 

My main focus/priorities are what audience my product is aimed at, and who it would attract, and themes. It could be that my product is a monthly release and each issue is based on recent/relevant seasonal films.
In my magazine, I also want to make reference to costume builders as the costume community is so large, it would bring relevance into their society and potentially add more to the numbers of individuals that would be interested in my magazine. 

Magazine Cover: Experimenting with type 2

After experimenting with a classy Sans Serif typeface ("Baskerville"), I wanted to try another type but one which was more bold in appearance. To do this, I chose the type "Cooper Black".

I chose this because I felt that it contrasted nicely with the script type I used for "Lang Lang".

The only issue I could see was the fact that I felt it was too refined when compared to the grunge tone of the rest of the cover.

To improve this, I altered it the same way I had altered the previous masthead.

This is the before and after editing.

I really like how the type looks after alteration.

This is how it looks with the rest of the cover. 

I am very happy with the outcome as I feel the new type on the masthead contrasts nicely with the script type, and they both share the trait of looking rough and sprayed. 

Cadenza Title Alteraton

This is the process I went through to alter the type.

Magazine cover : Experimenting with type 1

After looking up classical music terms online to help name my magazine, I found Cadenza which means ' a virtuoso solo passage inserted into a movement in concerto or other musical work'.

I then moved on to research already existing classical music magazines to try and find any patterns of production within the genre of publication. 

One of the most repeated elements was the use of Sans Serif typeface. Usually Sans Serif type is associated with higher end products.

To replicate this impact, I experimented with the Sans Serif type  "Baskerville".

To create contrast within the master head, I altered the first letter of the title. I changed it to a script font called Brush Script Std. I really liked the impact this had as even though the type was different, it flowed nicely with the rest of the title.

The swirl nature of the 'C' in the title actually reminded me that of a Treble Clef, so I altered it on a new layer to make it look like one. This works well with the magazine because it's genre is classical music.

When comparing the master head to the rest of the cover, it didn't bring much attention to itself. I thought this may have been due to the lack of body on the text. To change this, I duplicated the later and moved it slightly.

After erasing the excess, this is what I was left with.

I really like this as it looks like it was written with a calligraphy pen- almost like it was written while a composer was writing sheet music, but still kept the Sans Serif typeface.

However, when looking at the cover as a whole it was brought to my attention that the neatness and classyness of this masthead conflicted with the rough script I had done earlier.

To alter this, I will either try to make it look more grunge using the same technique as I did for "Lang Lang", or I will experiment with another typeface.

I think the next type I will try will be a Block Serif as it keeps the classy look, yet has more body and looks less high end.

Magazine Analysis