Front Cover Development

 This section of my blog will detail my magazine's development

Name Development

Initially, I wanted a two worded name so I started noting down everything I could come up with. I started shifting into trying to names that started with the same initials so it sounded better

However, I ended up not liking any of these and feeling like they're too long so I started thinking about single worded names. I looked up synonyms for the word 'paranormal' on the Merriam-Webster dictionary online to see if there's any that I liked.

I felt like I really like the word 'mystic' so I decided to use Mystic as the name for my magazine.

Coverline Ideas

• MAN EATING COFFIN: Real or Myth?
• Family's Dead Cat Returns 'Wrong' Reports Neighbors
• Zombies: Are They Possible?
• Exorcism All Over the World
• Monthly Monster: Jiangshi
• The History of Ghost Hunting
• Allegedly 'Haunted' Vase Destroys Marriage 

Cover Development

For my cover, I immediately knew I wanted the main image to look like it was being seen through night vision goggles as ghost hunters mostly go ghost hunting at night so needed to wear night vision goggles so I started with creating some quick small sketches of potential front covers to explore what I wanted and practice creating front covers. 

I realized I liked the bottom left cover most since it involved a person holding a camera as if in attempt to capture supernatural phenomena which I felt best suited my magazine and since it also looked a bit retro which is one of the paranormal magazine conventions I intend to keep (because retro-styled images are often associated with spookiness due to it appearing older). So I went on Ibis Paint X to sketch my idea in greater detail. I felt I wasn't satisfied with how the colours turned out so I watched this video about colour theory to better understand how I can utilize it. 

So far, I like the lower right magazine draft most as I really like how the green stands out against the monochrome grayscales. I think that will be the one I end up going for but I intend to do some further experimentation to confirm this choice.

Typography research

I have very limited typography knowledge so to combat this and ensure that my magazine effectively resonates with my audience, I did some basic typography research.

Definitions:

• Typography is a component of design that refers to the art of arranging letters based on composition and style to create a cohesive and appealing display.
• A typeface is a stylized collection of letters. Each typeface can communicate different connotations (for example, serif fonts are often used in paperwork as they are associated with formality)
• A baseline refers to the invisible line that a text is placed on
• A cap height refers to the height of a typeface's capital letters measured from the baseline
• Weight refers to the line thickness of a font. Typefaces usually come in 4 to 6 different weights, from light, regular, medium and bold.

Typefaces mainly come in these types:

• Serif fonts are fonts with little shapes that appear at the beginning or end of each stroke on a letter. Well known examples include, Times New Roman and EB Garamond. Up until the 19th century, books and pamphlets were only ever written in serif fonts thus creating the psychological association with formality.  It communicates stability, intellect and authority.
• 'Sans' is the French word for 'without' so, sans serif fonts are fonts without the little shapes on serif fonts. Examples of sans serif fonts include, Arial and Helvetica. Sans serif fonts were invented in the 19th century but only become popular in the 20th century as a part of the modernist movement. Culturally, sans serif fonts represent a break from tradition and have created the psychological association with progress and modernity. These make them excellent for creating bold and innovative typography.
• Handwriting or script fonts are unconventional fonts that mimic natural handwriting. Examples include, Indie Flower and Dancing Script. Fonts mimicking calligraphy usually invoke a sense of sophistication and luxury while fonts that mimic regular handwriting are more informal and invoke a sense of creativity and youth
• Display fonts are fonts that are typically only suitable for large point sizes and mostly used for its stylization to make a design look more eye-catching. Examples include Lobster and Silkscreen. Different display fonts could mean different connotations but generally, as they are used to catch an audience's attention, they are created to stand out meaning they can make a design appear more exciting and interesting while creating a sense of individuality.

Conducting research into typography also reminded me that I wanted to strengthen my usage of colours so I did research into colour theory

 Colour Research:

Cover Drafts

I wanted to do some drafts of the cover before the final to ensure that this idea is effective for my magazine

I have 3 cameras I could use as potential props in my magazine. I wanted to see which of them best fit the composition of the cover so I created a draft for each of them

After my experimentation, I concluded that the first camera would act as a prop the best. Its size makes for better composition and as a vintage camera it suited the retro look I wanted to apply to my magazine.

Next, I decided to see how the image would look with the colours I wanted to use for the cover so I edited the images on Ibis Paint X