Photoshop: Phase 4

When I examined my former work, the first thing I decided was to adapt the font of my third cover line to provide a bolder outlook. As shown above, the words have a thicker density and appear more solid so that they are recognisable from a distance. 

Additionally I wanted to contrast the bold and structured font of the cover lines to show differentiation, and I chose to alter the second cover line (as shown above) to appear as a handwriting format. This was the right sentence to adapt because it is the middle cover line and so divides the other blocky fonts, establishing variation. 

This was the first overall impression of my cover. In my opinion this can be seen as a completed final product, but there was a sense of fragmentation with the gap between the second and third cover line.  I concluded that the empty space needed to be utilised in a more effective way because at the moment the gap is more distinguihsable than the cover lines themselves.

However I felt that including more text on the content would be too overpowering for the front cover, which meant that I needed something relevant but not specifically academia based. I did some further research on magazine covers and found the common trend of competition advertisements. Many magazines offer a competition to win a free Ipad or tickets to an academic festival, so I thought this was a way to evoke engagement with the audience. 

 I chose to advertise a Macbook over an Ipad because an Ipad is too common nowadays and I wanted a formal product to cause interest. The striking pink colour of the advertisement as well as the circular shape allows for distinction between the cover lines and this separately focused competition. The only negative implication this carried was the simplicity of a circle; the shape needed to be chaotic in order to demonstrate luck and the 'out of the blue' chance to win a prize. 

The spiky outline adds a protrusive appearance as if the ad is bursting out of the cover. For me this enhances the appeal because it expresses the rarity of a free Macbook and distinguishes it from the ordered layout of the other cover lines. 

My design is shown above. Before I am settled with it I intend to review the layout and add some finishing touches to finalise the cover.