Production of Magazine: Cover mock ups and feedback from peers

These are my cover mock-ups, I have created three slightly different layouts.




On the latest cover the issue number had been added and the date has also been added.
This is the cover I will be using for my final product, however it has changed slightly, I edited the name of the magazine from Alternate Rock to Alternative Rock, as it explains what genre the magazine represents better than it did previously.


I asked my peers on their opinions of these mock up covers and my first peer said that the good aspects of the first cover was that the colours chosen were a good selection as they stand out against the picture and  the text. Also the first peer said that the layout was good as it is clear and non-clashing. However the peer also commented on how on the cover there is a lot of dead space and how the kicker need to stand out more compared to it now.

The second peer commented on how the way the text is, the peer said that the text looks ordered and all in aligned, this is good as it makes it look more professional and makes it follow the main conventions that are included in music magazines: logo, main story, sub stories, bar code etc. However the peer also commented on the negative aspects. They commented on how there is a lot of dead space, and that it makes it look more amateur rather than professional.

 

The third peer commented on how the main story stands out and they commented on how the red box that surrounds the text makes the text stand out more and also the colour of the box makes it stand out more. Also the colour of the background makes the main story stand out due to the light colours. The peer also commented on the negative aspects. The peer said how the gap between the two pieces of text is too big, it makes the cover look unprofessional compared to existing covers: this is due to the amount of dead space.

I asked my peers closed questions about my cover:
What's your opinions on the colour scheme on my cover?
The red background makes the white text standout; this makes the text easier to read and it's better for me to understand what is written. Also the background colour is a good colour as it makes the other content on the cover standout out more as the grey is a neutral colour and it doesn't mix wit the contents. However the background colour has a negative feel as it is just a block colour and it makes it look boring compared to maybe having a gradient colour on the page.
Do you like the way that the main picture has been positioned?
The picture looks neat and well placed; this makes the magazine look more conventional it makes it look like it's of a good quality. Also the picture has been placed away from the sidebar; this is a good aspect as it doesn't mix in with it and it doesn't make the cover look a mess and unorganised.
What's your opinion on my layout overall?
The layout is a simplistic layout, this makes everything on the cover seem clear and ordered; this makes the magazine seem like its got a high quality feeling. Also having the clear and ordered content makes it easier for the audience to read the content that the cover provides.
Due to the layout, it makes the cover look more professional and more conventional as it includes the common conventional features but they're placed in certain areas on the cover, these areas in which are placed are similar to existing conventional magazines.
However due to the layout there is a lot of dead space, this can cause the problem of making the cover look less professional as professional magazines don't generally have dead space. But the plus side of having dead space is that it allows the magazine to look less crowded due to the amount of space there is left on the page.




Despite the feedback on the colour, it has been changed to a gradient colour. Black and grey has been applied, this changes it from a block colour and gives it a more of an interesting look.

Also I changed one of the band names that were placed on the bottom of the page, It was The Vaccines and now it's The Fratellis. 

This is the final edited cover, the changes of dead space have been changed. I've pushed the image up slightly and made the text slightly bigger.