1. Charlotte Page & Jamie Whitbread
Magazine Front Cover
Development Diary
To begin our front cover, we started with
the main image. Firstly, we placed the
image in the positioned that we wanted it
to be and then began to resize and add to
the background. Using the paintbrush
tool, we add a black background to the
image, and carefully brushed round the
actor using a soft brush tool so that the
colour blends and looks softer against the
image.
The image is one of the most important
features, as the choice of actor represents
the target audience, and the style and
expression of the model connotes that
this magazine is of the horror genre.
By choosing to use black for the background, this
connotes the idea of the unknown, danger and evil that
in turn will help to enforce the horror atmosphere.
A typical convention of horror is to have a female
character who is young and usually a victim who is
helpless and overpowered by a male. Our magazine
does follow this convention as our character is young
and female which from this image she does appear a
victim. Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze Theory could be
applied to our protagonist, as she is young and
attractive and so could be seen as a source of visual
pleasure.
We then began to work on the text. We
started with the magazines masthead in
particular the title. The front we chose for
this was Arial Black as this font is bold and
would easily attract the consumer’s eye as it
stands out as from our research we found
that the title is the most important for
portraying what the magazine is about.
To the title, we then added the “film” to the R
as reel can have different meanings and so by
adding this emphasises that our magazine is
for film. Using the free transform tool, we
turned the text vertical to fit within the letter.
This could also be seen as giving our
magazine its own unique identity.

2. Charlotte Page & Jamie Whitbread
We have added a 3D effect to the main title to add some depth and attract
audiences, as it will stand out more against other competing magazines when on
display.
Underneath the title, we have included a slogan, “The Horror Issue,” as this
coincides with the release of the issue being Halloween and also the release of
the film featured on the front cover, Ancestors. The decision to write this in red
text connotes danger and blood making it the magazine easy to identify this
genre of this particular issue of the film magazine.
We have put the picture over the magazine title slightly as we have found this to
be a convention of many magazine front covers.
For the main coverline, we have taken the film title from our poster so that the
style is consistent across both platforms. Also, by doing this our house style can
be recognised and the title with the red ‘O’ in the title almost becomes like a
brand identity for Ancestors. Using the shape tool, we added a black box to the
background so that the text becomes more readable.

3. Charlotte Page & Jamie Whitbread
Underneath the main headline, we have added a strapline with a description of
what the main article is about. By using words such as ‘exclusive,’ this will
hopefully entice consumers as this article is unique to our magazine and so will
be their only chance to read it as it cannot be found anywhere else. Words such
as ‘behind the scenes’ also gives
consumers and exclusive insight into
the production of a film and makes
them feel involved with this process.
Also, using words such as ‘chilling’
emphasises the horror theme.
Inserts are another convention of magazines, which usually show something that
will reward the reader for buying the magazine. In our secondary research, an
theory proposed by Tina Zennand suggests that to entice readers you should
always offer something extra. We have decided to add one of these and offer
consumers a free poster inside. We did this by selecting the shape tool and
drawing a red circle. We chose to use red because this stands out against the
black, white and grey colours. Also, the red could be symbolic of the ‘O’ in the
title and the doll’s eye that can be seen in the background.
We chose to make this more eye-catching
by turning this insert into a label that
appears to be peeling off in the corner of
the magazine. We did this by using the
select tool to take off the bottom part of
the sticker that we then layered over the
top. We changed this section to a darker
red so that it appeared 3D like and added
some depth to the magazine. We think
that this has help to make our magazine
look more appealing as it stands out and
look interesting.

4. Charlotte Page & Jamie Whitbread
Inspired by The Woman in Black products where the
supernatural figure is visible slightly in the background, we
have decided to add this to our own magazine by placing the
doll behind the character. This is an example of dramatic
irony as the consumers are aware that this figure is here and
could potentially be dangerous yet the character is unaware
of this, creating an enigma.
We have created an extra element of mystery by changing the
opacity of the paint brush that which used to colour over the
doll as this adds a see-through, shadow effect which made
the figure look darker and evil.
We have chose to only show the red eye of the
doll behind the character to highlight the sense
of evil and anger. These are both emotions
associated with horror and so remind
consumers that this is part of the horror genre.
From our secondary research, advice given by
Rebecca Loveridge was to spark curiosity in
the readers. We have taken this advice and
have tried to create an enigma in various ways
including with the image of the main protagonist, as consumers are likely to
want to know why she is in this state. Also, with the doll in the background, there
is an element of mystery as to how this is connected to the protagonist and what
the dolls history is.
There is also curiosity created with the coverlines as consumers interested in
horror may want to know what our top 10 horrors films are and which is in first
place. Readers are also invited to see behind the scenes of the film featured on
the front cover and so there is an element of mystery to find out how the film
was made.
We have also added a barcode to the bottom right hand
corner and positioned the date and price above it as this
is not something that people necessarily look for until
they pick up the magazine and therefore this is why we
have placed this in an area, which is not as eye-catching.
For the coverlines, we have includes ones which are horror related to enforce
that this issue is of the horror genre. For instance, as the magazine would be
released at Halloween, we have included the ‘Top 10 Horror Films” to help
consumers prepare for the latest horror films as this is the time when horror
films are most popular. Also, we have included the Woman in Black as another
strapline where our magazine will have exclusive interviews with cast from the
sequel. After the success of the first film, audiences are likely to be keen to find
out information about the sequel and so more inclined to pick our magazine up.

5. Charlotte Page & Jamie Whitbread
We have considered the layout of the text
and carefully positioned the ‘P’ to fit in the
curve of the of the number one as careful
details like these will help to make our
front cover more visually appealing and
professional.
With the ‘Horror,’ we have downloaded a
font style from the Internet to reflect a
horror style as shown below. This adds
something different that stands out on our
front cover so that all the text is not exactly
the same.
To help with the overall layout of the magazine
cover, we added a rule of thirds grid to help us
ensure that the consumer’s eye is directed towards
the most attractive features. With the rule of thirds
here, the consumer’s attention is drawn towards the
doll’s eye as this crosses across the intersection
points and the main character.