Front cover drafting inspiration

I have put together a range of inspirational magazines that I was looking at in the process of planning my magazine front cover. I was looking at these magazines to give me inspiration so I took some parts from the magazines I liked to interpret them onto my own magazine front cover. Below shows you how I came to get my inspiration for the planning of my magazine front cover.

Planning my magazine front cover: Drafting

Here I put together a first draft of all the cover lines, sell lines etc that will be appearing on the front cover of my magazine so I know what I'm doing when I come to design my front cover of my magazine.


                                                             Masthead                                                             

My masthead name which is the name of my magazine, website and billboard is 'A LA MODÊ'. It will be spread across the top of my magazine (as shown in my flatplan) either in a large bold text or curly writing. I haven't decided what font I want my masthead yet but it's between two. I have decided a curly font because since I'm doing a fashion magazine it'll go very well with the theme as it's feminine and stylish. I have decided on a large bold font because that's what's typically seen on a fashion magazine and it has proven to be a very successful font, so I want to follow the convention of a simple font. When I decide on a font I will show my font on a new post. 

                                                              Tagline                                                                

A la Autumn - the festival of colours: I want this to be spread across the bottom of my front cover with 'a la' and 'the festival of colours' in a smaller font than 'Autumn'. I want 'a la' and 'the festival of colours' to be in a cursive font and 'Autumn' to be in a more clearer and bolder font. 

                                                             Main Image                                                          

I want the main image to be either in front of a wall or out in nature. I want it to be either a medium shot or a close-up depending on how well I photograph the pictures on the day. I aim to do this because I want to show the model's emotions, make-up and jewellery as I'm trying to emphasise that it's a fashion and beauty magazine. I want my model to be either smiling or doing a very basic model pose (either half a pout or a straight face). 

                                                           Main cover line                                                      

                                                             Cover lines                                                          

Fall fashionably this autumn - oversized coats, killer boots, bold lipstick, woolly scarves - 50 affordable fall looks to inspire you:  Since my magazine is fashion based I am trying to keep it with the current season so I will be doing this cover line which basically shows the audience 50 affordable fashion looks that they can achieve this autumn. 

View and reviewed - the best shops around Sunderland: This shows the audience a variety of reviews on clothing and beauty shops around Sunderland and giving an insight to what they're like and the products in the shop. 

Bargain beauty - beauty products under £10: This shows the audience affordable beauty products under £10 and where to purchase them from. 

Weather report

I researched what the weather will be like the day I come to do my photo-shoot. The weather on Wednesday 29th October is mainly cloudy all day which is perfect weather to shoot my images. Since I want to be very current and up to date, this weather is really good because I want to portray a winter/autumn theme on my magazine, billboard and website. I plan to take my photos around 12pm and it's 10 degrees around about that time so I will ensure my models wear appropriate clothing. My product is going to be winter and autumn themed so appropriate clothing luckily is acceptable for my product. However, if the wear happens to be very bad on this date, I will postpone the photo-shoot for another day.

Shot list - Website

Shot Number	Type of Shot	Reason for shot	Characters in Shot
1	Close up	A will be using a close-up on my website for when I aim to portray my model’s make-up, hair or nails. I will also be using close-up’s for beauty and fashion products such as make-up and perfume.	All of my models.
2	Medium shot	A will be using a medium-shot to show my model’s clothing, jewelry and pose to show the audience how my website has styled the clothing.	All of my models.
3	Wide shot	I will be using a wide-shot to show my model and the background. This will just show the prettiness of the background and since I’m doing it outside with nature, a wide-shot will be good to show an autumn style.	All of my models.
4	Low angled shot	I like the idea of this shot for my website because it will show the clothing and style as powerful and superior therefore stating that my brand (magazine, billboard and website) is of good quality and worth reading. It’s also a good way of showing model’s clothing as it’s a fashion magazine.	Two of my models.
5	Two shot	I will be using a two-shot so I can show different models wearing different styles of clothing and make-up.	Two of my models.
6	Extreme close up	I will use this shot to further enhance and portray any make-up I put on my model.	All of my models.

Example of shots (taken from fashion websites): 

Medium shot (Cosmopolitan)

Wide shot (Vogue)

Two-shot (Boohoo)

Extreme close-up (Beauty Bay)

Close-up (Sleek)

Low angled shot (Marie Claire)

Shot list - Billboard

Shot Number	Type of Shot	Reason for shot	Characters in Shot
1	Close up	A close-up would look really good on my billboard because since it’s a fashion and beauty billboard, a close-up is a good way of showing the beauty products on the models face.	One of my models.
2	Extreme Close up	Again, an extreme close up would be good to show my mode’s make-up, or a beauty or fashion product for my billboard.	One of my models.
3	Medium shot	A medium shot would be good for my billboard because not only will it show models make-up but it will also show any jewelry.	One of my models.
4	Low-angled long shot	I like the idea of this shot for my billboard because it will show the clothing and style as powerful and superior therefore stating that my brand (magazine, billboard and website) is of good quality and worth reading. It’s also a good way of showing model’s clothing as it’s a fashion billboard.	One of my models.
5	Two-shot	I like the idea of a two shot for a billboard because it shows a variety of different styles instead of just one.	Two of my models.

Example of shots: 

Two-shot

Long-shot

Close-up shot

Extreme Close-up

Medium-shot

Shot list - Magazine

Shot Number	Type of Shot	Reason for shot	Characters in Shot
1	Long shot	To show my model’s full outfit. This is imperative since I have chosen to do a fashion genre. I may use a long shot for my front cover to portray fashion and personality, however, I may want to use another shot like a close-up for my front cover to portray emotions and make-up.	One of my models.
2	Medium shot	To show any jewelry and make-up my model is wearing. It will also show their hair style. I may use a medium shot for my front cover depending on how well the medium shot goes.	One of my models.
3	Close up shot	To show my models make-up looks and facial expressions and emotions clearly. I may use a close-up on my front cover, again depending how well I capture the shot.	One of my models.
4	Extreme close up shot	This shot will portray personality and focus purely on the make-up of my model which is why it’s good for a front cover, as my magazine is fashion and beauty based so I want to emphasise that in pictures.	One of my models.
5	Eye level shot	To show the audience my model has the same power as the audience. I could use this on my front cover to show equality between the model and the reader.	One of my models.

Examples of shots:

                                           

Close-up & Eye Level

Extreme close-up

                                         

                                   

Medium shot 

Long shot

               

Photoshoot make-up products: Mood Board

I have completed a moodboard on Polyvore of the make-up I will be using on my models. I searched for make-up that I currently have so it's easily accessible or make-up that my friends have I can borrow off them. I did this to plan out the make-up I will need when I come to photograph my models.

Website builders

I researched into WIX website creator to find out what it was all about and how easy it would be to use. Here I have portrayed my findings on PhotoSnack. 

Self assessment & Time management 7

Here I am going to self assess my blog and its contents so far. 

Level 1 - I personally think I've achieved level 1 as I have over 6 management posts including this one, I've put more than minimal care in the presentation of research and planning, I have used a range of different digital technology and ICT and I have shown clearly my actors, locations and props. 

Level 2 - I think I have achieved level 2 as I have done above basic research and planning in the 50 blog posts I have done. 

I personally think I've achieved level 2, 8-11 marks as there are quite a few things I need to do on my blog to push it into a level 3 such as drafting, scripting, more communication (videos). Overall I have done quite a lot on my blog and it's compact with other level 2 things such as research into target audience, locations, costumes, props and digital technology. 

In the next week I aim to have completed and uploaded to my blog: 

- Article planning: a first draft of my main article

- Website builders

- Weather reports

- Inspirational texts

- Upload video feedback

- Fashion sub-genres

- Masthead font 

Website deconstructions

Photo-shoot planning

Time management 6

I have finished and uploaded the tasks I aimed to finish for today and you should find them in previous posts on my blog. By Friday 24th October I will have aimed to finish:

• 3 website deconstructions
• Photo-shoot planning
• Questionnaires 
• Graphs
• Sub Genre's of fashion
• Possible fonts for masthead 

Billboard deconstructions

Billboard Deconstructions

Time management 5

Today I have completed these tasks I aimed to finish:

• Possible masthead names
• Online Poll - Make-up planning
• Shot list
• Hair preparation
• Poll results - Make-up planning
• Make-up preparation
• Billboard flatplan
• Call sheet 

By Monday 20th October I aim to have done:

• Double-page spread flatplan with rationale
• Website flatplan with rationale
• 3 Billboard deconstructions

Call Sheet

Make-up preparation

I put together my favourite images of the celebrity poll winners to refer to when I do my make-up on my models. I picked these ones because I like the styles of make-up on these and would particularly like to do these make-up looks on my models. 

Poll Results - Make-up planning

10 people aged from 15-20 answered my poll and made 17 different votes. As you can see, Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian, Kendal Jenner and Beyonce are all in the lead. This means that I will base some of my make-up ideas around these celebrities and I will show tutorials on how to do make-up just like them for my magazine. 

Hair Preparation

To help me achieve these hairstyles I will use YouTube tutorials to help me. Below are some tutorials which I will use throughout the production of my magazine if I need any help. 

Online poll - Make-up planning

I made a poll on easypolls asking which celebrities make-up inspires people the most to find out more about what my target audience are interested in. I used the social networking site Twitter where a lot of my chosen target audience will be to get better results. The results will be posted when I get enough votes.

Possible masthead names

I researched and found four possible masthead names for my magazine. I reached a final decision and decided I want to name my magazine 'a la mode' because I think it's a definition that really matches the genre of my magazine and it's really sophisticated and appealing. 

Time management 4

Flatplan - Website

Website Rationale:

Colour use: I will be continuing the house-style I used for my magazine for my website and the basic colours of pink, black and white will be used. My masthead/logo colour will be the same colour as the masthead in my magazine to ensure it maintains a professional appeal. The links will either be in pink or black depending on what colour I put the background as (though I will probably make it white). The little sell lines under the links will hopefully have a background of pink and a text colour of white as I think these colours contrast and complement each other very well.

Image use: I aim to use quite a lot of images for my website, including pictures such as beauty products (make-up and perfume), images of my models, and clothing. This will give my website range, and since it's a fashion website it needs to have range to entice my audience. On my two hyper-linked pages I aim to use a lot of images on there two with text aligned next to it in order to portray new fashion and beauty trends. I will also be using my own images in the advertisements.

Text use and font: I will be using the same and perhaps more fonts on my website so that I maintain a house-style and so that it's still exciting to view. I will be using slightly more fonts though since there are a lot of features on my website and advertisements. This is just to give my website some excitement and so it doesn't look all the same and too plain. I will be using a lot of text on my website, especially for the small stories and main text, however, I will also be using a lot of images to balance it out. 

Layout: I have followed two layouts for the production of this flatplan. I really liked the look of Lamoda and Cosmopolitan so I took inspiration from them whilst making my flatplan. I tried to make it as conventional as possible so that it's easy to follow and easily accessible. 

Flatplan - Front cover

Magazine front cover Rationale:

Colour use: Since I want my magazine front cover to be professional, I will follow a house-style and keep with those same colours throughout. For my front cover I am going to pick the colours pink, white and black. I have chosen these colours because I think they contrast each other very well and those colours are best suited to my target audience. I have also researched into different existing magazines such as Vogue and Cosmopolitan which have the same genre and they follow very feminine colours to entice their chosen audience which is similar to mine. First of all I will use pink to actually attract my chosen audience, then I will use black as a neutral colour to ensure my magazine doesn't look over the top, and then I will include white to also attract an older audience but to ensure my magazine look professional and sophisticated. Pink will be my main bright colour as I don't want to include too many bright colours as it may be off-putting and make my magazine look unprofessional. I am hoping to vary the colours of my cover lines e.g. I the title of the cover line will be a dark pink and another cover line will be light pink or white. I will also want my masthead in either pink or black, I haven't chosen for definite yet but I think either of these two colours will work because they are both main colours of my magazine which again will make it look like it follows a house-style and look professional. 

Image use: I am following the conventions of a typical magazine for my front cover and only using one picture. I'm hoping that following this convention will ensure my magazine turns out very professional looking and simplistic. The image will be took in either a medium shot showing my model's upper end clothing or a close up showing my model's make-up and facial expression. I'm hoping that the mise-en-scene of the image will either include outside nature such as decorative flowers and green scenery or in front of a white background. I'm also hoping that there is enough natural light to capture the image in the way I intend it to be. 

Text use and font: I will keep the text easy and simple to read and will use a range of fonts yet not too many so that I can maintain a professional appearance for my front cover. I will use fonts more than once on my front cover so it doesn't look untidy. I won't use too much text on my front cover so it doesn't complicate my magazine, I want it to be easy to read so that it can attract a younger audience as well as an older audience. I don't want any text on the front cover to take too much focus away from the main image and main cover line so I will keep it very minimalistic yet informative and enticing. I will ensure my masthead is a clear yet exciting font so that it's easy to notice and still entices the audience to my magazine. 

Layout: The layout of my front cover will follow a convential layout because I want my magazine to be professional and since it's also for an older audience I want it to be familiar and easy to follow so it also appeals to them. A convential layout is a main image, cover lines around the image, masthead at the top and main cover line at the bottom. Since I created a magazine last year with these conventions I can again mimic something similar to that as I already have the knowledge and skills to create a magazine of these conventions. However, I will ensure it's different to last years as I need to enhance my skills.

Flatplan - Billboard

Billboard Rationale: 

Colour use: I want very little colour to be used for my billboard as I don't want it to look over the top. Since it's small, I want to use small detail yet beautiful detail so it still remains effective. I will still use the house-style I used for my magazine to ensure it looks professional and sophisticated. The background colour of the main image will be spread across the whole billboard and the picture will include something pink on it. Then the text colour will be either black or white, depending on the background of my main image. 

Image use: I will be using only one image for my billboard as when I done my research into existing fashion billboards, they only use one image which I find to be most effective. I aim to photograph either a medium or close up shot of my main image so that the audience can see the model on my billboard clearly. I not only want them to be able to see the model clearly but I want them to be able to see their make-up and clothing clearly so I really need to emphasise that it's a fashion magazine. 

Text use and font: I aim to use text that's short, snappy and to the point so that any passing viewers don't have to look at the billboard too much so the use of short and snappy will only take a couple of seconds to read yet will hopefully leave them thinking about the magazine and will entice them to buy it. I will use the font I used on my magazine and website so that it keeps a certain house-style and ensures it looks professional. 

Layout: I have followed a simple layout for my billboard as it's something that's going to be quick to look at. Also I have noticed other billboards follow this layout and I really like the look of it. These kinds of billboards have proven to be successful in the past so I'm playing it safe and going for a simple layout.