Below are my two final front and back covers for my magazine ‘Boys Will Be Boys’. I created both covers on Adobe Photoshop and they came from several experiments and drafts where I used a range of fonts and text design types as well as different layouts and graphic features. These drafts and experiments informed the production of these two final products as I crated my primary drafts and after reviewing these, I cam to the decision to create other experiments that use different fonts and layouts and from this process, I have managed to create the two covers below that, in hindsight, possess much better design features that my others as I learnt about the common conventions cover design from looking at the covers of magazines such as PUSH, i-D and Dazed.

Here are some examples of front and back covers from i-D and Dazed that show a similar layout and similar features to what I was going for in my front covers:

          

I realised from looking at the covers of professional fashion/music magazines that they use very simplistic design features and include, most of the it, a full bleed image as their background tin which they pl;ace the bold text design of the title of the magazine over accompanies by other minimal text which would often include on the cover only the issue number, issue name and company slogan/motto as well as the name of the cover star and potential mentions of the photographer/hair or makeup artist. However, because I have worked very independently and with models that decide what they wear and how they present themselves for the shoots we arranged, I didn’t need to include all of this. However, I have included, in the bottom left corner as a very last minute decision, small text which reads ‘all photography and words by Jude Luce’. I have put this in white an din font size 2 so that it is very small and requires the reader to get close to the cover in order to read it as it is not the most important piece of information but still felt as if it was necessary to include somewhere and did not know where to put it inside the magazine. Usually, magazine editors would name the photographer at the beginning of each segment which looks at a different artist or subject because they are many photographers that contribute to a large mass produced magazine but because this is an independent project, I have produced all visuals and so stated the my name as the photographer at the beginning.

I have used a pink font to connote a stereotype of females and then I have used a blue drop shadows to contrast this as it connotes a stereotype of boys and this assignment of colours has been the basis of gender for many years but it used to be other way around and girls were thought to wear blue and like blue things and boys – pink. I thought this was a suitable colour theme to have as the title because of the content of the magazine and the edition name.

Furthermore, I believe that the way I have set out my magazine covers i terms of texts and how it moves down the page in a chronological order aids the reading process for the audience. The main title – Boys Will Be Boys is at the top and it is the biggest sized font because of its importance to the whole product. Audience’s would read this first and then, naturally, their eyes would move down the page and they would read ‘issue one’ next as this is directly below the title but is in a different font colour to allude to the fact that it is not related in any way to the main title.

Next, the audience would read the text ‘the male’s gaze’ as this is next largest piece of text that is near the bottom of the page and would be read after the issue name. Finally, the audience would see the small text in the left corner and read it last most likely after naturally being drawn to the other larger texts which are read first. However, it does not matter when the text that states the photographers name is read.

Overall, I am very happy with these two covers as final ones ot use in the magazine as they get across a well constructed message of what the the magazine is and the images shown give the audience an insight into what is inside the magazine.

As well, when printed don the high quality photo paper that Bookwright offers, the colours will be enhanced and will look better than what they do on a digital screen. The texture of the paper as well will give the overall feel of the magazine when held that extra depth and aesthetic.

I have chosen to use the images that I have done on the magazine covers because they are two my best and favourite edits out of all my shoots because of their clarity and style. I really wanted to use a face-on portrait on the cover and the one I have used of Max in black and white is one of my best images all together and I think it works really well on the cover because of the tones that range from mid greys to mid blacks and it is too contrasted or harshly shadowed. His actual gaze into the the camera as well makes for a good cover photograph as he looks very emotive and expressive. Furthermore, the text on his jumper that is very bold and boxy matches and complements the text at the top even though it can’t really be seen.

The image on the back cover is also from the same shoot I did with Max and is an image of his shows he was wearing. He was wearing some classic Converse Chuck Taylor hit-tops in black but a pair that are from the Converse Comme De Garcon collection. I was et on getting some effective shots of these trainers as soon as I saw he was wearing them because they look really effective as the contrast between the black canvas and white sole works really well against the red heart. As well, the outfit that Max was wearing was very vintage and was very 80’s and looked a little like a classic biker look which worked really well in presenting a mischievous teen whose confidence is evident. He was wearing his Converse Comme De Garcon with a pair of rolled up blue straight fit vintage Levi’s and a tucked in long sleeve white t-shirt.

The page on the back cover that shows Max’s feet hanging out of something. The audience may notice that it is a trolley. The image complements the title and they coincide with each other because the image shows a male that is playing around and misbehaving a little bit as he sits in a trolley with his feet hanging out the end and this is often where the term ‘boys will be boys’ – when boys are being mischievous and doing risky and unruly things they shouldn’t be but can’t resit.