Front Cover Development

 This part of my blog will detail my front cover development

I started creating the front cover on Ibis Paint X as it allowed for easier manipulation of the elements. Here is a video detailing my process and experimentation on the front cover starting from the sketch and pictures of different fonts I did to compare and experiment

However, the app had no helpful gridlines which made it difficult for me to be sure that the elements had the right spacing and positions. So, I switched to Canva to make this process easier

After duplicating my file on Canva, I realised that I had an issue with my masthead font. The problem was that on Ibis Paint, I wanted the font to take up more space and feel more dramatic so I rasterised it to be able to stretch the font to my desired heigh. However, this was not possible on Canva. I tried to keep it by making it a part of the image but that made it harder to center. On the image above, both of the fonts on the masthead are the same but the one on the left is the one I rasterised on Ibis Paint X

To get around this issue, my teacher advised that I try using a different font

In the end, I decided to use the serif font as my research has told be that serif fonts are associated with being more traditional so more vintage which matched paranormal magazine conventions

Reflection:

• Due to the issues of differences in the different software used, I ended up taking a lot more time than intended for the front cover. I am disappointed that I was unable to keep the original font as audience feedback has suggested that the font is one of the key features that the audience enjoyed. However, I also realised that this may be for the better as the font was pretty thin which made it hard to read the masthead unless the reader was closer to the magazine therefore not being effective to capture audience's attention. I instead comprimised by using the font on the double page spread instead
• Through these issues I've learned the strengths and weaknesses of my programs which would help me better utilise them in the future
• I also learned what makes a good font for a masthead. I recognise that it needs to be readable and bold to effectively engage audiences