Awareness 2.0?

So I’m doing the same unit in my new course. Designing a cover for a magazine all about the environment with the title “Awareness”. Here’s what I have so far..

 

My new version of the Awareness cover.

Melon Head VERSION 2.0!

So another year, another melon head.

This time I decided to use more layers to get a more advanced melon head.

Made in exactly the same way as last time.

Awareness Magazine – Rough Cover 1

I've chosen a fairly cartoony style for the background image.

Awareness Magazine – Type test

We tested our typography skills by using one of our abstract backgrounds as the base for a typography image. We had to use different sizes, shapes and opacities to make the text into an image.

This is my finished piece. I used my edited tire track for the background. I changed the opacity of the smaller Oils to emphasize one of them.

Awareness Magazine – Research

When designing my magazine cover I need to make sure that the layout is good. I will be finding and analysing various magazine covers to help me arrange my cover properly.

 

This is the first magazine cover I will be analysing.

At the top of the cover we can see the Selling line which is usually a phrase advertising the magazine as the best, or the most unique. This is an unusual arrangement for a cover, as the masthead is normally at the top. Underneath the selling line, you can see the industry standard Masthead, in this case saying “DETAILS”. The Masthead is the typography that the magazine uses saying it’s name. Even though the selling line is large, and fairly bold, the Masthead is still larger and bolder. Underneath the Masthead you can see the Main Image, which is in this case Tom Cruise’ face. This space is clear of text, this is where the reader first looks on the cover. Underneath the main Image is the main cover info. This is the main feature of the magazine, in this case it is the 40 most influential men under 47. On the side of the cover, you can see the Cover lines, which are the other features in the magazine. Whoever designed the cover made certain parts of the cover info brighter than other pieces, drawing attention to them. This magazines target audience is Men between the ages of 25 and 47.

 

This is the second magazine cover I will be analysing.

This cover is the total opposite of the first. It is minimalist, with no cover lines or selling lines. All focus is drawn to the Main Image, which is bold and simple, along with the Masthead and Main Cover line which is inside the Masthead rather than at the bottom of the page. The Main image is simple at a glance, but when you examine it closely you can see lots of different things in the background, making it more complicated. TIME magazine is iconic and read all across the globe which could be the reason why the cover doesn’t have a selling line. The target audience for this magazine is adults.

 

This is the third magazine cover I will be analysing.

Unlike the other two covers, this magazine is aimed at the younger readers. Above the Masthead they have the Cover lines, along with the FREE POSTER advert, which younger people are interested in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awareness Magazine – Photography 1

I’ve been out around the college campus taking eco-themed photographs for the background of a fictional Environmental Magazine called “Awareness”.

Photograph 1

This is the first photograph I took. It's a close-up of grass outside the College. I like the vibrant colour of the grass.

This is the edited version. I used the cutout filter and then the colour replacement tool to add a medium shade of green in the middle of the image.

Photograph 2

This is my second photograph. I took it from underneath a tree outside the college. I like the brightness of the sky through the branches of the tree.

I used a pixelated filter to give this an american comic book style. I then decided to use the "watercolour" filter in Photoshop to give the tree feathered edges, I also increased the contrast and brightness slightly. This is meant to represent the excessive cutting down of trees for paper.

 

I cut a section from the original photo using the rectuangular Marqueee

 

 

Photograph 3

I took this photograph in the college carpark. It's a close-up of the exhaust of the car. Mosy people assosciate the exhaust of the car with pollution and smog.

I selected the tire using the Rectangular Marquee tool. I pasted it into a blank image, and increased the contrast. I used the cutout filter, and then used the colour replacement tool to give it a slightly green tone.

This is the second edit from the car rear photograph. This image is symbolising the pollution caused by cars burning fossil fuels. I used an outer glow on the earth to draw attention to it, I also used some grunge brush effects to make it look like the earth is coated in thick smog.

 

Photoshop – Layers.

We worked on a simple exercise today. Creating a face out of assorted fruit and vegetables. This was supposed to teach us how to use layers on photoshop, helping to prepare us for creating a magazine cover.

This is the assorted fruit and vegetables we were given to create a face from.

Guide

 

1. I opened Adobe Photoshop CS3.
2. I then went to File > Open and found “Start.jpg”
3. I then copied the Melon for the base head using the rectangular marquee tool, and pasted it in a new PSD file.
4. I selected the facial fruit I wanted my Melon man to have, and then copied them from the original picture using the same technique as the head, and pasted them onto the head.
5. I arranged the various fruit and vegetables using the move tool. I changed the layer arrangement so the the facial features were overlapping correctly.

 

 

The finished Melon head.

 

 

Completed Redesign

I’ve finished my redesigned book cover and designed a promotional poster to accompany it. 

First of all is my book cover. I went for a simple design, and using a stock photograph from SXC.HU I ended up with this. 

Second is my promotional poster, I focused more on the typography for this to make it eye catching.

Book Cover Redesign

Our latest assignment is to redesign the cover of a book that is over 100 years old. I decicded to try “The Stange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.”

 

An advert for a theatre production of Jekyll and Hyde.

It’s hard to decide on what exactly to do. There are lots of possible ways to redesign the cover.

Jay Z redesigned.

I finished my Jay Z redesign, I eventually made it on photoshop CS2.

Jay Z redesign.

I used the Dada style of typography, with randomly arranged words in different colours.