Masthead Design

This is the final version of the masthead which I have designed for the main cover of my magazine, Soundcheck. To create this design, I merely created a text box in Photoshop, and inserted 'Sound' on one line and the word 'Check' on the other. I decided to use the font 'Oriya MN', as it appears very simplistic but equally professional and unique. I had originally planned to incorporate a microphone into the design, and using the traditional cover of the microphone as the letter 'O', with the wire trailing through the other letters. I finally decided that this would not look effective, and decided on incorporating a green 'check' mark into the letter 'K'. This has connotations with the successful hopes of the subjects of the articles. I edited the check mark by removing the white background with the magic wand tool, and 'warped' the image too so it looks more curved and slightly more like the kick on the letter 'K'. I placed a rectangle shape behind the text and check mark, and modified the colour to red. This white on red contrast is common with many other music magazines (such as Q and Spin). The green check mark may not work well against the red background, but since the check mark is a brighter green, it does not appear particularly off-putting and can still be easily seen.

I decided to modify the original design to create a logo that fits on one line. This can be used inside the magazine (such as the contents page). This would be useful as it may be quite off-putting to see the large, rectangular version of the logo throughout the magazine, so a smaller, more compressed version could be used as an alternative.

Alternative Design

As mentioned in my Colour Palette, I discussed using a darker, more maroon-like colour as the masthead background, however decided against it based on the fact that it was not vibrant enough. I decided to merely test out the colour on the masthead background. I can see that while the masthead is easier on the eyes, it is not vibrant enough (as predicted). While the darker colour may work well on the corresponding dark main cover, I would not want the whole main cover to 'blend together', and would want the masthead especially to stand out when compared to the rest of the main cover.

Colour Palette

This is a colour pallette which I will use to help create my magazine. I decided to sample the three main colours which I will feature in my magazine, as well as any additional colours that I think would work well in my magazine based on the other colours chosen.

Red

Colour 1 is the darkest of the four, and almost appears slightly maroon rather than red. This may have a darker but still effective impact on the magazine. Since I am using this colour predominantly as the masthead background and as any emphasised text, I would like the colour to be fairly vibrant. This colour may work well as a masthead design, however I do not think it would pull off the desired effect of highlighting the masthead, and would simply 'blend in' with the rest of the dark main cover.

Colour 2 is a tad lighter than Colour 1, and is also a stronger, more rich shade of red. This would achieve the desired effect of emphasising the masthead because of it's brighter shade, but would also stand out because of it's rich, strong colour against the comparatively dark main cover design.

Colour 3 is even lighter than Colour 2, and does not contain the richness that was present in the first two shades of red. Because of this, I do not think that this would be a sensible choice of colour to use for the masthead design, however I may incorporate this colour in other parts of my magazine where I do not desire the item I use it on to be the main focus (such as the main article, contents page etc.) and use aforementioned colours when I do.

Finally, Colour 4 is the lightest of all four shades of red. In my opinion, this would be the least sensible option to choose for the masthead design due to it's the low impact it would have on the reader. It is so light that it would have minimum/no impact on the reader at all if it were used on the masthead. Because the main cover design is going to be very dark, having a predominantly bright colour on the masthead would draw the overall focus to that, rather than the cover as a whole.

While all shades of red are optimum to be used in the masthead design, I believe that number 2 is the best because of the fact that even though it is bright, it is rich and deep, balancing out the colours on the rest of the page. Should colour 4 be used, I believe that it would look more 'out-of-place' rather than achieving a desired effect through a contrast of colours.

Black

For Black, which was one of the other colours I wanted to use in my magazine for the black/red/white colour scheme, I sampled four different shades. One of these (colour 5) was pure black, with the rest (6, 7 and 8) moving further towards grey. After reviewing the colours, it seems like colour 5, the pure black, would be the shade that I would use the most often, considering it is the richest colour out of colours 5-8. I may use colour 6 as an alternative background if I do not want to use a pure black background for one reason or another. Other than that, I cannot think of any instances where I would use any other colour than pure black.

Yellow

I decided to test out the colour yellow, as this is not a part of my main colour scheme of red/black/white, but I decided that I may need to use it at some point to highlight an out-of-place feature (such as an advertisement). Since this would not be a part of the 'theme' of the magazine overall, I may need to include a certain colour to emphasise that fact, yet still maintain key colours to ensure it is not an eyesore on the magazine.

Were I to use colour 9, a darker shade of yellow, I believe that this would not stand out as much as I would like it to; however, using colour 10 (which is also pure yellow) appears to be the best opinion. Pure yellow would stand out well within the magazine, especially on a black background, which I plan to have a lot of, especially on the contents page. Since this is where the advertisement is traditionally located, using pure yellow on this page would not seem out-of-place considering there would likely only be one instance on the page, and multiple instances of a dark background, which would mean the two colours would balance each other.

The other two shades of yellow would not have the same impact than if they were to be used within the magazine against a dark background. Because of this, I believe that using the brightest shade of yellow (colour 10) against a dark background would have the maximum potential and effect for the text used.

White

Finally, I decided that only pure white would work well in my magazine and changing the shade to a grey would not have the desired effect. There aren't too many different ways in which I can implement the colour white into my magazine other than the colour white itself.

Font Choices

 I decided to sample multiple different fonts to see which one(s) appear(s) more effective than others. I picked the word 'Soundcheck' to be the sample word to test the fonts with. Even if one font does not work well for one specific feature of the magazine, it may work well elsewhere. For example, one font may not be effective enough for the masthead or article title, but may work well for the sell lines or strapline.

This first choice is written in the font Cambria. This font appears very basic and similar to traditional fonts such as Times New Roman. Due to this, it would not stand out amongst other publications if this font was used for the masthead/sell lines/article titles etc. Because I still believe that this font is simplistic and easy to read, this font is a possible candidate for the font I could use for the main body of the article.

 This font is Times New Roman. The font is well known for being basic and simplistic, yet being formal and professional. This font would be a good one to use for my magazine because of these two factors, however I believe this font is too formal, and brings no/little life to any publication. This may be used in the 'Advertisement' on the contents page, but not for any masthead/sell line/article body etc.

This font is 'Avenir Black'. This font appears very basic and is written in sans-serif. The font is very bold and stands out on the page, yet it still appears too basic and I do not think it would work very effectively as a font for a masthead, article title or main body text. This font, however, is a possibility for the strapline underneath the title. It would not be the main focus for the readers of the article but would still stand out enough to let the reader know that this piece of additional information is worth reading.

This font is 'Avenir Next Condensed Medium'. This font is very basic, and very similar to fonts such as 'Arial Narrow'. It is also sans-serif, but (unlike the previous font) is not bold, and is instead narrow. This makes it a strong possibility for the font I use for the main body of the article too. Because it is sans-serif, it will be easier to read. Since the font itself is quite a nice-looking font, yet equally professional-looking, this may be a good font to use whenever I am undecided on a definite font to use. I am fairly sure I will be using this font for the main body text at least.

This font is 'Copperplate Gothic Bold'. In my opinion, I believe that this font is good for titles etc. however looks rather unprofessional due to the fact that it is completely in block capitals and also features a serif-style design that, as discussed previously, detracts from the otherwise professional look of a magazine. Furthermore, the typeface appears slightly stretched, and too wide to achieve the overall look of the magazine, with the publication aiming for a design which features lots of information in a relatively confined space.

This font is 'Chalkduster'. This font is very rough, but casual at the same time. It does not aim to be 100% formal, which causes it to stand out from other fonts such as the one above. This may be a good option to pick should I wish to feature a rougher artist, perhaps on the contents page. The font is light-hearted but generates a rough, darker texture than aforementioned fonts, making it a sensible option for the magazine, as the artists featured in the magazine are supposed to be intimidating to the competition.

This font is 'Franklin Gothic Medium'. This font, in my opinion, is a very nice font. It is very formal, making it a strong candidate for the font which I use in the main body of text. The only downside to the font is the fact that it may be too formal, and the text will not be enjoyable to read. Many of the fonts which are used for the main body of text include serifs on them. While it is true that sans-serif fonts are easier to read, it would boost the overall professional look of the magazine if the convention of the serif article text was included.

This font is 'Didot'. This font is very similar to Times New Roman and Cambria, yet the larger, more obvious serifs cause this one to stand out more compared to them. The serifs are more apparent, yet do not detract from the simplicity of this font. While I do not think that it causes the font to stand out enough that it would be a good font to use for sell lines/article titles etc. it may be an option for the main article body text. This way, the article text would not stand out too much, but would stand out just enough to give the article some interest.

This font is 'Marker Felt'. This font is a very powerful font, and is very bold. This would be a good font to use for the advertisement. It is not as powerful as 'Avenir Black', mentioned above, which means not entirely all of the focus will be drawn to the advertisement, but enough so that it is acknowledged. The font is very casual and should not be taken seriously, which is the reason why it would be used for a more informal part of the magazine such as the advertisement, rather than more serious parts such as the contents page or the articles themselves.

This font is 'Trajan Pro'. This font may be a good font to use for the masthead. It is powerful and effective, however comparatively simplistic. The font is entirely in capitals, which may work for the masthead and article title, however is not likely to work if placed anywhere else within the magazine. Overall, I feel that this font may be a suitable font to use, however if I were to use it, I would use it in very few instances, such as the masthead and possibly article titles.

This font is 'Chalkboard'. This is one of the most informal fonts I have tested so far. This font is not very suitable for a main article body text, due to the fact it is very child-like, which also limits it's likelihood of appearing in other places of the magazine. The font may be a good font to use in the advertisement on the contents page and possibly for the page numbers within the contents page images, however not a lot of other places.

This font is 'Imprint MT Shadow'. At first glance, I do not think that this font goes particularly well with the term 'Soundcheck', and therefore would not do well if it were to be placed as the font used for the masthead. It uses a lot of serifs in its typeface, which also reduces it's chances of being used too frequently within the magazine. It's too bold and too heavily serifed to be used as a main body article text, and would cause the overall look of the magazine to be unprofessional.

This font is 'Monaco'. Out of all the fonts which I have sampled so far, this one is possibly my least favourite of them all. It is sans-serif, which instantly reduces its chances of appearing in many key locations of the magazine. The only location which may be suitable for such a simplistic and uninteresting font may be the page references within the contents page images. The font is also very stretched and feature fairly large gaps between each letter.

This font is 'Apple Gothic'. This font is also very simplistic and is sans-serif. Unlike the last font, the letters are spaced closer together, which produces a more concise, compressed feel to the magazine which I hoped to achieve. The font is also quite large, with each letter being particularly curved/straight. A letter is either very curvy or very straight, emphasising the font as a whole. The font is also less bold than the previous font, increasing it's simplicity. Combined with the shape of each letter, the simplicity cause this font to be one of my favourites which I could use for various different texts such as the strapline, sell lines, article title and possibly even main body text.

This font is 'American Typewriter'. As the name suggests, this font is modelled on a typewriter-style typeface. This font is not very bold. The simplicity of this font, the serifs and the lack of emphasis would mean that this font would not be a good choice to pick for the texts that require more emphasis, such as sell lines, main sell lines, article titles etc. The only text style which this font may be suitable for would be the main article body text, however even then the typewriter similarities may be off-putting to some readers. Perhaps this font would be a good font to use for a pull quote or strapline.

This font is 'Oriya MN'. In my opinion, this is my favourite font which I have chosen so far. It is simplistic yet effective at the same time, due to the fact that its thickness differs at different places within  the font. This means that the font is not too emphatic, but still powerful enough to cause some effect. In all capitals, I believe that this font would be the perfect font to use for the masthead of the magazine. I could modify the text slightly using Adobe Photoshop so that it stand out even further or has a certain outstanding feature to it rather than merely plain text.

This font is 'Futura'. Like previous fonts I have sampled, this one also appears very basic and uninteresting. It is sans-serif, which makes it easier to read, however has no appealing features to it other than its simplicity and strong font style. This may be a possible option for the sell lines, but this font is not as powerful as other fonts which I have considered to use for the sell lines, and I will most likely use others instead, saving this font as a last resort.

This font is 'Rockwell'. This is fairly similar to the 'American Typewriter' style font in the sense that the letters are spaced apart more than I would like, and I would like my magazine's font style to be compressed, effective and not too plain. This font achieves none of these characteristics and would, in my opinion, look out-of-place and unprofessional when compared to the rest of my magazine.

This font is 'Engravers MT'. This font is a strong contender for the font that I will use for my masthead due to the fact that it is entirely in capitals, which would cause it to stand out. It is heavily serifed, which is excusable for the masthead design. This font would work well as a larger font, and not as a smaller one placed as main body font or strapline font. In my opinion, this font does not look powerful enough to be used as a main sell line, or any sell line in general, and would work better as a large, one-off font such as the masthead or the title of the articles.

This font is 'Kino MT'. This is a font which stood out to me because of its unique design and its simplistic design. It is a typeface which is able to remain fairly minimalistic and simple whilst still being able to be 'unique' and provide a certain original edge to my magazine. Because the typeface is relatively condensed, I believe that it would not work well as a masthead or article title; and, because of it's unique typeface it would also not work very well as a main body article text. Because of this, I believe this font would be optimal to be used for an article strapline.

This font is 'Avenir Next Condensed' with a 'Heavy Italic' style added to it. This font is perfect for sell lines/main sell lines due to the perfect mixture of both simplicity and effectiveness. The bold and italics cause the font to stand out on a page, yet the sans-serif and basic design keep it simplistic. This would ensure that the font is not too overpowering but powerful enough to leave a lasting impression on the reader. If the background is dark, a white typeface with a black stroke effect would show the emphasis of the font, yet still enable it to stand out compared to the background.