After experimenting with designs for the front cover and back cover using my initial idea of handwriting as the main text, I decided it would be sensible to experiment using other font types and layouts after reviewing my first attempt and coming to the conclusion that it did not look very eye-catching or bold due to a use of very fine handwriting that overlapped the image on the cover. All the features that I thought would come together to create an effective cover, instead clashed and created a muddled and jumbled cover full of a mix of graphic elements that did not really work and so for my other attempt I chose to adopt a more simplistic method of construction where I told myself ‘less is more’.
Using some of the same features as my previous attempts using handwriting, I managed to create the design below with input form my tutor in terms of font to use. I used the same background – a plain blue background with the grid patterned box as a backdrop for the same image that I also kept at the same proportion. Also, I kept the ‘issue one’ and price of the same design and in the same place. I only changed the font of the title of the magazine in this design to get an idea of what using a bolder font would look like and after creating this, I was at first quite skeptical about it because it was a big difference and didn’t think it was as creative as my first attempt where I was using handwriting and graphics related to males to create a fun title. For me, this title connoted a boring style – I was using quite fine and scribbly-looking font at the start to connote a playful, yet quite vulnerable tone for the magazine as a whole – the portraits I have taken and am including in the magazine show the models to be quite timid and vulnerable due to the facial expressions and a few body expression types and this was connoted in the primary title design. However, I soon become fond of the bold title after experimenting more with different fonts and layouts.
Because I have used quite a long title, I found it quite difficult to find a way to fit the whole title on the A4 page in a neat and tidy form so that it wasn’t too small or big or overlapping anything too much.
I still wanted to keep the use of a drop shadow or underline the title to make it stand out more and make it more noticeable as a main tittle. The use of a drop shadow made it stand it stand out more from the background but thus far I was using both a shadow and underline and decided it would be best if I chose one to include so the cover did not look too confused.
I was not happy with this design and so I moved on to creating another design that incorporated similar features but ti a different manner and the design below demonstrates this as I have removed all traces of handwritten text to simplify the look of the whole cover and I have changed the font of the main title as well as the colour to something more eye-catching against the new white background.
The design below shows the more simple version of the above one with different design elements.
I have changed the font to Arial and changed it to a pink colour to make it stand out more against the white background. I have still kept the shadow and underline but I have removed one of these feature in my other designs as seen below. As well, to make the other text match the main text more, I have changed the font of the issue number and price of the magazine to the same as the main title and edition title. This creates an overall more consistent look that has some sort of theme and it looks less muddled, although I still was not happy with it and couldn’t quite understand why at this point.
I soon realised that the whole piece looked very jumbled and not very consistent because of the use of the small image in the corner and the grid patterned box. I then moved on to experimenting with a cover that used a whole image as it background and this improved the overall look immensely as soon as I altered this little feature.
Other fashion/music magazines that focus heavily on the photography of their subjects also use full bleed images as their covers such as i-D and Dazed and use the same cover on the back as on the front but with a different image, however with the same layout. I decided to do this as well as I felt it would provide extra consistency that I was after. It also means that my magazine can be recognised whether the magazine is facing down or the right way up.
Furthermore, I have also altered the edition name from ‘The Male Gaze’ to ‘The Male’s Gaze’. I realised that my magazine didn’t rally address the male gaze even though I had entitled the magazines issue as this. At the time, I didn’t really think much of it because I didn’t know too much about the actual concept and theory that has been explored by many artists in the form of photography or art as well as literary’s. I still wanted to make this the name of my magazine’s issue though as it was still relevant in some way as I planned to include the images form my shoot with Lucy in it. As well, I was using the male gaze as a bit of a spin off of the actual meaning and instead of using at its actual meaning that focuses on the concept that women are objects of male pleasure, I was playing on the words and instead using it as a way to express the view of a males gaze on anything – males looking at other males in a non-homosexual manner. However, I changed the title to ‘The Male’s Gaze’ to make it less direct that I am addressing the male gaze and instead I am focusing on the actual gaze of male’s and it’s ability to captivate an audience as well females and Lucy, in the middle of the magazine could be seen as an object of this but it is up to the audience’s interpretation to decide. This also connotes a view of both freedom and limitation and through using the idea of a male’s gaze, I can show how this can limiting but also a means of freedom for a man or a boy to express his feeling through the power of a look but this can also be a limitation for the subject on the end of his ‘gaze’
The edits below show the edits that I am most pleased with and which I will be using for my final front and back covers but with slight alterations which I will show in another blog post.
I have simplified it completely by using a full bleed image as the background, removing any worry of overlapping titles on image corners and I have removed the grid patterned box as this was creating an uncomfortable viewing experience for the audience who would struggle to concentrate on anything but the box.
I have simplified the title through removing the underline and using only a shadow and placed it at the top of the page in center where it is visible and out of the way of the photograph’s focal point. I have included the issue number underneath in the same font but in black and the edition name in smaller font in an area on the photo that is free and not taken up by details of the model’s face so it is easily read.
It is much more minimalist and effective design that I very happy with.
The image below shows the back cover which is exactly the the same bit instead, I have used a different image that is also quite simple itself as it includes a pair of feet and around this, is completely negative space that makes it perfect for me to place titles upon.
I have adjusted the position of the edition name so that it doesn’t overlap the dark shadows of the model’s socks if I was to keep it in the same place as the front cover.
