Magazine front cover analysis conventions

1. Magazine Cover
I used Photoshop to create my magazine cover which
enabled me to use specific tools and conventions necessary.

2. Tools used…I used the ‘Magic
Wand’ tool to get rid
of the white
background of this
image I used.
I used the ‘Paint
Bucket’ tool to add
the background
colour to the
magazine cover.
I used the ‘Text Tool’ to
create text such as this
additional cover line to
add more information for
the audience to read to
persuade them to buy the
magazine.
By right-clicking
on the
‘Rectangle Tool’
I was able to
change the
shape to a
circle.
I used the ‘Elipse Tool’
to create the circular
shape I needed here to
make the additional
cover line different
from the others.

3. Tools used continued…
Outer Glow: to create an effect on
the text ‘The Man Next Door’ I
created an outer glow whereby I
changed the blend mode to
‘Darken’ and the technique to
‘Softer’. I made these changes so
the cover line would stand out
more.
Inner Glow: I modified the blend mode to
‘Screen’ to make the text stand out more
and changed the opacity to 100% to help
do this.
Drop Shadow: I decided to give a black drop shadow so
that the shadow would be as dark as possible. I also
made the opacity 75% and not 100% so it didn’t lose
focus from the main cover line.

4. Conventions used...
Masthead: I used ‘Empire’
magazines masthead as this
is a worldwide magazine
company. Moreover, I placed
it where it is found within
actual ‘Empire’ magazines
which is a convention. This
was done to help my
magazine look as realistic as
possible.
Additional cover line: using
additional cover lines helped as it
is a convention as a magazine
cover and was done to entice the
reader even more by providing
them with additional information
as to what else is featured in the
magazine.
Release Date: having
the magazines release
date on the cover is a
convention and can be
used for collectors of
magazine’s too.
Image: the main and only
image used on the front
cover is a medium shot of
one of the characters used
in the film and has been
done as there would be
other magazine covers
with similar shots but of
different characters so as a
collectors edition.
Cover line: I have used the
convention of having a cover line
which stands out and is in the
centre of the magazine cover.
Barcode: having a
barcode on the side of the
magazine front cover is a
typical convention.