Designing the Masthead

Outlaw Rhapsody is my chosen masthead. In order to stand out on the front cover the graphology is essential for establishing ownership and purpose. Therefore the digital presentation of 'Outlaw Rhapsody' needs to have an authoritative impact. Below are some of the fonts that I experimented with. 

A masthead needs to be imposing and bold. For this reason I decided against using the Lithos Pro typography because the thickness of the letters were not prominent enough. To shortlist my selection even further I decided to get rid of Bernard MT Condensed and Gill Sans Ultra Bold Condensed because in comparison to the remaining fonts, those two least resembled a style that could be associated with the wild west. 

Next to be eliminated was Hobo Std because the letters lacked a solid design and opted for a more flimsy style, so I decided this was too childish for my magazine. This left me with a choice of 3 remaining fonts, all of which captured the themes of the west. However Rosewood Std provided too much resemblance to the cowboy era, the 3-D shadow offering similarities to the writing conventionally apparent in saloons. On the other hand I wanted a more subtle approach.

Being left with Matura MT Script Capitals and Mesquite Std, I started looking at the practicalities of each font to narrow down the choice to my final design. Matura MT was bold, unique and definitive. The sharp ending to each letter gave a sense of a handwritten style. However as you can see below the problem regarded the spacing. I couldn't fit both words on the same line, whereas going onto an extra line took up too much room for the rest of the cover. Although it looks effective, I felt that this read more like a book cover than a magazine.  

This then brought me to my final choice. Mesquite Std is the font I will be using for my masthead. It fits perfectly onto the top of the magazine, the letters are both bold and easy to read, and visually it hints towards a similar font used on the stereotypical outlaw 'Wanted' posters. It should be noted that at this point, colour is not decided. That decision will be dependent on the photo I select from my shortlist.