In this stage specifically you can realise that with my second template for my cover officially completed, the main sections I now had to focus upon revolved around correctly aligned the text on the document so they were in direct relation and proportion to one another to create the impression of a continous, flowing nature within the publication as it looks neater if the words correspond directly as a unit rather then several separate bodies.
From what you can remember from my last construction task post, I had created a mock 'template' of how I intended my front cover to display - this included all of my major conventions (such as masthead, headline and essential information e.g the bar code) so I understandbly was content with their location which would furthermore make it a more simple process to simply drag in my edited photograph of my male model directly onto the document where he could be positioned delicately around these elements. In the screenshot above you can decipher just that, as now my image has been situated back to its original position from the past post, regardless this is the layout I will be using for my cover, the only main improvements that may need to be conducted is the alignment of my text and manipulating my masthead further as I was enthusiastic on having a unique and startling perception upon it, one that the readers would ultimately recognise and associate with my magazine 'Void'.
As explained in my rationale, I desired my masthead to be essentially unique from any competing products of my corresponding genre in the retail environment, ultimately this allows your publication to be identified above all the ones surrounding its vicinity on the shelf because of its significant difference and credibility from the accompanying magazines. This makes its name more recognisable to the audience as they learn to associate that masthead as a sigma or sign that references to the publication itself. This in itself is the nature of the 'Semiotics' theory which describes how audiences are susceptible to producing a required response when they can directly relate a symbol to a particular feeling/mood/emotion or image. I successfully hope to incorporate this idea into my magazine 'Void' under the assumption my reading public will effectively respond in similarly in respects of what I have stated. In order to achieve my ideal, I manipulated the 'V' of 'Void' in such a manner that it appeared to be crashing into the remainder of the text, this was extremely unusual as when I conducted my preliminary background research into institutional logos I discovered that many music products (such as Q, NME, Kerrang!) all have straight, bold, forward facing mastheads so they can instantly immerse and gain the attention of their desired audiences. Whilst my masthead in itself is following those standards with it being displayed in a dramatic yet alluring white palette, the uncoventionalism orientates from the notion that the 'V' is rebelling against that 'straight' design I just spoke of. I'm hoping this element with effectively capture the visual perspective of my readers, with the way it is positioned on the page its difficult to overlook as it is a editing technique that wouldn't normally be witnessed. This there forth is the 'enigma' I have detailed continously to - if there is a mysterious and alluring vibe surrounding an object that isn't fully explained (in this instance the slanted 'V') then this can provoke an immediate reaction from the audience in the sense they will be more attracted as they intend to uncover the meaning behind why it is presented in such a manner and in conclusion uncover the 'mystery' itself.
With me being a perfectionist in every manner, I could not help but notice that the vast majority of my additional sell lines on the right hand location of the cover were slightly misplaced from one another. In a conventional product the text will be lined so that they are perfectly symmetrical to one another in terms of positioning, if you drew a ruler down the page you would see that they all begin in exactly the same area so therefore corresponded with each other for continuity reasons. This was a variable I needed to correct as if left unedited, it can cause disjointness and therefore interrupt the rhythm the publication is attempting to display. In an effort to amend the inconvenience I began by drawing rulers across the document from the view finder tool bar so that I had a faint green line orientated around the beginning of the 'Fleet Foxes' headline, from there it would be easy to relate the remaining texts in correspondance to where this one ultimately started. As I was happy with where the 'Fleet Foxes' feature was situated, I grouped together my accompanying articles by selecting the 'cmd' button to highlight them all on their layers located at the tool bar panel. Finally I used the directional arrow keys to individually move and align them with the ruler placed on the page. I started this manouver with the 'Albums Review' title, from here on I would ensure that the remaining bodies of text where also in the location I desired them to be.
This screenshot is more of a continuation from before where I was documenting the process I had to diverge in to effectively align all of the sell lines for my cover. With the 'Fleet Foxes' and 'Albums Review' now correctly positioned, I began to work on alternating the location of the 'Plus' section, which was similar to what you have witnessed above. As the ruler tool was still present on the page, I could still accurately identify where my text needed to be situated. By highlighting all of that specific layer using the 'cmd' button, I nudged the wording over with the arrow keys so the green line and letter were in perfect harmony with one another. Yet after I had completed this, I notced the wording inside the 'Festival' circle so disjointed so much so that it was incoherant and made no sense. This had been caused by me changing the position of the 'Fleet Foxes' headline as I had to move the circle up slightly to squeeze it into its new space. With all of the text now aligned symmetrically, it would be most beneficial for me to focus on re-locating the words of my 'Festival' circle.
I quickly set to work adjusting the text correctly back into the circles allowing the lettering to be even with one another and essentially so it could be correctly deciphered as the sentence had made no sense previously. As my lecturer was conducting class rounds, she came over to me to check my progress to which I showed her how my cover was developing. Whilst she was content with all the changes that had been implemented she was still concerned the name of the main feature artist 'Cypher' was lacking in size again and for that it to be recognised as the centre fold of my entire piece I would have to dramatically enhance the size again to allow this to be effectively noted by my target audience. With this in mind I increased the proportion of 'Cypher' yet again from 160pt to 180pt, it wasn't altered significantly in that the change was highly noticeable as apparent, yet when me and my lecturer both viewed the cover after this alteration had been implemented we could distinguish a difference between how it had presented before and after. Unfortunately it had also caused an error, the byline that was directly related to the artists name on the right hand placement of it had been pushed so it overlapped the barcode as a consequence of the text enhancment. This could potentially be a setback my publication appeared quite clustered if conventions were conflicting with one another, this is a notion I'm worried that the audience will pick up upon as it is fairly obvious to identify which may make them consider that I haven't designed my layout correctly or that the product appears rushed which disregards its professional nature. For this reason I now had another dilemma on my hands to prevent becoming catastrophic so I instantly set away in removing it from my piece.
Before I began making the essential alterations to my cover to ensure the mistake the text had created was effectively removed, my student lecturer suggested it may benefit me more if I staggered the positioning of the words, so instead of having three lined with the last sentence a long one, I should cut it at 'keeps', therefore adjusting it by making a for the line to place 'on going'. Through this method alone I would be able to draw profound emphasis upon those last two words as they importantly were illustrating how much hard work the artist has put into getting to where he is in the music charts today whilst also reflecting the amazing dominance he has over other singers of the indie genre currently in the industry. I was won over by the idea he had shared with me, so much so that I revamped my layout so the text of the headline could be situated in such a mannerism. I pressed the 'enter' key on the computer pad so I could individually select where I wanted the words to be cut for a new sentence, this procedure continued until I had effectively edited them so I now had four lines as opposed to three. As compared to before, the cover had a more rigid, structured appeal since the byline had been amended, I believed the rhythm was more consistent then previous which my student lecturer totally agreed with, commenting that the sentences read in continuation to one another as opposed to when they were varied in lengths which caused some visual disturbance and dissaproval in the underlying appearance.
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