Cover image

 As I continue the process of creating my magazine, I have considered possible cover images over the past week. Before I touch on that, I wanted to discuss the basic/main components of a magazine that help attract the audience.

·         Mast head- Located typically at the top of the magazine, it is the name of your magazine brand. It should be distinct/unique from all the other brands so that it is easily recognizable. I know I want my Masthead, Inside Out, to be located at the top and I want it to make a statement. I want people to see that font and immediately relate it back to my brand. An example is the Sports Illustrated font, a very popular sports magazine that is easy to distinguish from any other font.

·         Cover image- Main image on the front of magazines. The cover image is also what attracts the audience. It should use just the right color combos. For example, if your image is full of bold colors, you don’t want the background to be that same color, you would go for white. In the cover of the Sports Illustrated magazine above, the background is a red-ish-orange which is the color on clay tennis courts. In order to compensate for this, they used a lot of white for the texts on the cover.

·         Cover Stories- Usually the cover image pertains to the cover story. The cover stories are what helps to pull the audience in to opening up the magazine and reading it. They may use techniques such as Word play or making lists, which makes it seem like magazine offers more information. The list technique is definitely one that I will use for my magazine. Maybe something like “10 Healthy recipes using ingredients you probably already own”. Seventeen magazine always uses this specific technique and it has worked out really well for them especially when they are trying to draw their target audience (which is the same as mine) in.

 

      I was thinking of a few different ideas for my cover image. Maybe having a picture of someone working out in their own home using homemade equipment, or maybe if I chose to do my cover story on food to have the cover image be of a really appetizing meal I made. The only thing that held me back from the food cover image idea was that this is not a food magazine and I wanted the Cover image to relate to the message I am trying to send out through my magazine. So I thought for my cover image to maybe be of two girls with their backs facing the camera. They are each standing next to each other, one girl is thinner than the other but they are both healthy people. One girl could be flexing her left arm while the other girl could flex her right arm. It is almost as if they are one. I really like this idea because I think it represents the overall theme of Inside Out.

Works Cited:

"Nnamdi Asomugha Sports Illustrated Magazine." Nnamdi Asomugha Sports Illustrated Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

"Rihanna Magazine Covers 2010." Cover Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

Knorr, Rosanne. "Components of Magazine Layouts." EHow. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016