Creating my Front cover

After taking a selections of possibility's for images for my front cover I finally decided to choose this image. I like how the model was positioned off centre and the alleyway still visible in the background. also her importance is highlighted with all focus on her and the background fuzzy to demonstrate this. even thought there is not much contrast in light and shadow on her I like her glow at the front of the photo that in itself contrasts with the dark alleyway. moreover her position is relaxed but professional, with her face expression serious and yet interesting and eye catching.

To start the edit on my photo, I decided to use the burn tool. Due to my image being taken in dull lighting conditions I wanted to add light and shadow into my picture to create a contrast. Therefore I started concentrating on darkening the left side of her face,as the background gave clear indication as to the light path coming from the right. I wanted to make it shaded but not overly edited so I used the burn tool on a low opacity to create an even shadow. I also used t the blur tool to control the thickness of the shadow too that also gave an even glow.

I continued doing this along the left side of her body defining the shadow beneath her cardigan and along her shirt. 

I also decided to use the blemish tool that removed any red spots or areas from her skin, that made the image and skin complexion more professional. 

I then decided to edit the hair too. I wanted to create a shine to the top of the head to show the light direction and to emphasise the contrast in hair colour. Using the dodge tool gave a highlight to the top of  her head and made the shadow work in the eight places.

Not only did I use the dodge tool on the hair, but on the shoulder of the model. I wanted to define the shadow even more so by making it lighter on the opposite side,  it gave more definition to the photo.

Finally I went over again with the burn tool, darkening shadowed skin and her cardigan so she had an overall shadow that was even, looked professional and worked with the photo. 

Using the variation tool I was able to colour the whole image a magenta colour that I thought really defined the image. Not only did it bring out the contrast that really gave the photo depth but it worked well with the intended band name of the model. Therefore the artist  was now not only being portrayed through the image  but the colour scheme as well,so ' florescent violet' would stand out even more.

Once I edited the photo, it lead me to the adding of the normal magazine conventions. Following my flat plan, I arranged the different cover lines in the basic area they would be so I got an idea as to how they would work round each other. At this stage I was happy with the main cover line, masthead, bar code and strap line positioning, yet I thought I could improve the structuring of the other cover lines and features.

Instead of writing the buzz word advertising tickets i thought i would include that in a puff. when i put in a circle to start with it looked very unprofessional and stuck out awkwardly. after briefly researching some other music magazine covers i observed that they used a outline of a circle which looked as if it had been stamped. therefore from this i used the custom shape tool to get an outline and put the text within it. when grouping them together in layers, i could then create a drop shadow for the whole thing that made it looked like it had actually just been stamped on. also using the rubber tool on a brush setting, i could create the speckled rough look that made it more creative. i also changed the cover line tag to the main cover line. instead of just a summary of the article i used a pull quote, it standing out with a drop shadow that made it jump out of the page. overall i am happy with the draft appearance of my front cover. it relates to my target audience and keeps a house design, therefore making it look professional and acceptable as an actual magazine.