My first try on a fake magazine cover

[Astro]

Hello,

After seeing some members posting magazine designs, I decided to try too. Here's my 1st cut. Feel free to comment.



Thanks.

[Astro]

By the way, the background photo was taken from my korea album, http://charleswong.fotopic.net/c226063.html.

[Rev]

honestly... looks like a cheap magazine...
nice graphic work with the text & all but I think the picture speaks more than the fancy graphics; U got a good picture. My personal preference is like Popular Photography where they just use bold or striking text, rainbow colors doesnt work for me. Hope U find this usefull =)

[eikin]

composition is too loose. the main subject do not stand out. plonking words all over the cover picture defeats the purpose of putting that picture there. choice of font(s) is too monoptonous and use of multiple colour highlights don't go well together.

[Big Kahuna]

I find it nice leh...how did you do it?

[Astro]

Originally Posted by Rev honestly... looks like a cheap magazine... nice graphic work with the text & all but I think the picture speaks more than the fancy graphics; U got a good picture. My personal preference is like Popular Photography where they just use bold or striking text, rainbow colors doesnt work for me. Hope U find this usefull =)

Hmm.... I believe you meant this.



Colours and text are indeed clean. There is only 1 main color (white). Ok. point noted.

Anyway, here is the reference design I used.


I think I seemed to have used the wrong reference. Different target audience and nature of content.

[snowspeeder]

Try to play around with the texts and emulate the ones used in a variety of other magazines to get that feel. Here're some 'fake covers' from my previous initial attempts:

"fake covers"

[Astro]

Originally Posted by Big Kahuna I find it nice leh...how did you do it?

Thanks. Nothing fanciful. Just use photoshop to create text with different layer styles like embossing, gradient fill, strokes, etc.

[Astro]

Here are some travel magazines i have found.

http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/magazine/back.html
http://www.businesstraveller.com/def...?page=6&pub=65
http://www.getawaytoafrica.com/conte...zine/index.asp

Seems like indeed true. colours are less. Main subject in their photos are usually not blocked.

See if I can touch up mine to make them look more professional and less cheapo...

[hazmee]

Hi there,

IMHO, not bad for a first attempt. Try removing all the other text and leave the main headline. Let the picture speaks for itself. BTW, good travel magazines tend to lean towards having less text on the cover and showing off the main cover picture (if that is what you're going for). Cheapo or not, most people dont really read the text(judging from my experience in the publishing industry). Its usually the 'nice' and 'compelling' pictures that catches the readers eye. So if you want the attention, I guess you should spend more time thinking of a great picture to stick on the cover. The rest like text, font type, color, masthead can be improved later on. Hope that helps.

Cheers
Hazmee

[Astro]

Ok, here's a 2nd cut. How does it compare to the first one?

[hazmee]

Much better! I prefer this one better than the first one. Keep trying and you'll get the idea. Cheers!

[Slivester]

The use of the font "Impact" is almost a taboo among graphic / layout designers. Perhaps you may wish to go more a rather user-friendly font such as Lucida Sans.

"Arial" may do as well, however, reduce the spacing between each alphabets, or stretch the fontface, or both. That should work. (These are basic fonts preinstalled in most XP system, I presume that you do not do any fontshopping.)

Do not use emboss or border unnecessary, it makes your typography look unprofessional. (Although that may not always be the case.) It always good to be bold in positioning your titles, as long as its pleasing to the eye.

An example of Arial and Lucida Sans used http://www.slivester.tk.

[Astro]

Don't quite understand why is impact considered as user unfriendly? Can you explain abit more?

[Astro]

Originally Posted by snowspeeder Try to play around with the texts and emulate the ones used in a variety of other magazines to get that feel. Here're some 'fake covers' from my previous initial attempts: "fake covers"

Nice tries too.

[Drudkh]

Originally Posted by Astro Ok, here's a 2nd cut. How does it compare to the first one?

You have my 5 stars for this.

[Astro]

Originally Posted by Drudkh You have my 5 stars for this.

Thank you very much.... :

[Astro]

Originally Posted by Slivester The use of the font "Impact" is almost a taboo among graphic / layout designers. Perhaps you may wish to go more a rather user-friendly font such as Lucida Sans. "Arial" may do as well, however, reduce the spacing between each alphabets, or stretch the fontface, or both. That should work. (These are basic fonts preinstalled in most XP system, I presume that you do not do any fontshopping.) Do not use emboss or border unnecessary, it makes your typography look unprofessional. (Although that may not always be the case.) It always good to be bold in positioning your titles, as long as its pleasing to the eye. An example of Arial and Lucida Sans used http://www.slivester.tk.

Oic. thanks. Anyway, I was using photoshop and it came with the impact font. So, just used it without much thought.

Yes. I reduced the emboss and border level almost to the point of no more. They looked better now.

[eikin]

'impact' may not be that good a font as some alphabets may not be clear enough to be deciphered very quickly (actually i heard from my friend in the graphics line that the most readable font is Times New Roman, that's why the newspaper use it)

i think the 2nd cut shows lots of improvement. but you can consider spicing up the cover page a little with more 'contents'. the idea is to catch the reader's attention first with the headline and cover photo, after which give out enough information to let the reader linger around the cover a little while more. have fun trying.

[Astro]

Ok. Let me try again for the 3rd cut taking note of the feedback.... will post again when ready....