Cover Photo

 Cover Photo Editing

To create the cover photo for my magazine I will be using Canva to edit pictures I have taken myself. For my cover I have chosen to use the main image of two toy video game characters fighting each other. I had taken other photos for a separate idea which was comparing and contrasting controllers, but I have decided against this idea due to it not being dynamic enough as well as it not fitting in the conventions of the gaming magazine genre.

Cover Photo One

For this first photo I wanted to demonstrate why I did not want to use any of my pictures relating to my article idea of comparing regular controllers and the arcade-esc fight stick. 

To begin I went ahead and removed the background because in my attempt with these photos in my mockups (see Digital Mockups), I felt like the black controllers blended in with the background too much. So, I decided to take a new photo in which I could easily remove the background with Canva's background remover tool.

This worked well and even got rid of the cord on the side of the fight stick which I was worried would still show up after the background was removed. After this I tried adding some solid color backgrounds and was struggling to find one that fit with the image.

In the end I settled on this lavender color because I felt like it went with the intellectual feel I was trying to go for.

After some trial and error, I managed to center the image and began deciding what tools I would use to enhance my image. I first decided I wanted to use a filter to make the image look nicer. I found the Afterglow filter which really appealed to me.

After I applied the filter, I realized that the single-color background was not working for the image. Instead, I started working on creating a new background that went with the image and conveyed a sense of technology and trendiness. 

The first one I tried was having a grey and cyan background with alternating colors which I felt seemed too lifeless behind the image. So, I tried adding some more neon colors.

When I added the neon colors with the black stripe in the middle, I felt that it was energetic but lacked a connection to the actual image.

I added a shadow to the image so that it would look like it was more connected to the background as well as make it seem larger than life, something that is common in gaming magazines. I felt like the colors of the background once again are not working well for the image. So, I changed the background again.

I found this gradient background that went from a dark grey to black, I felt that it went well with the image and did not make the image blend into it which perhaps was because of the editing I did to the main image. But nonetheless, it was a background that captured the intellectual nature of video game magazines.

This was as far as I felt this image could be taken in terms of improving it as well as in aligning it with video game magazine conventions. In the end I still felt that the image was not even close to being good enough for my final cover. 

Cover Photo Two

For my second image I am going with my chosen idea and composition of two figures of video game characters fighting each other. The goal of this cover is to capture the childlike essence of playing with toys, so I want to edit this photo and try to capture some of the nostalgia for the cover without making it look too outdated with the vintage filters. 

This is the image that I started out with. The first thing I did was put on the Auto-Enhance feature of Canva which helps the image look better in general which is important because whenever actual photos are used in video game magazine covers, they are always professional and high-quality. 

For the placement of the image, I want it to be the background of the image because, although most gaming magazines have the subject of the image be overlayed over the masthead, I think that if the two subjects covered the masthead at multiple points it might make it displeasing to the eye. I also felt that separating the subjects from the background could risk losing the nostalgic feelings I am trying to invoke.

The next thing I did was use the blur tool. When I took the photo, I had to use a paperclip to hold up the background image for the subjects. While I was taking photos the paperclip showed up in some of them, so I removed it by blurring it out. This edit, similar to the first, was just to make the image look more professional. 

Next, I started thinking about how I could convey the feeling of reminiscence. I began weighing in my mind the value of creating this feeling as opposed to creating a sense of professionalism more associated with a conventional video game magazine. I can only have them in portions, I do not want one to overpower the other but because the nature of memories of childhood are faded and full of raw emotion, it cannot coexist with the modern and professional gaming magazines in full force. So, I first start out by adding the Photogenic: Retro effect from Canva because the way it makes the image look like an old memory. 

I felt like the image's color scheme was working well because it was relatively simple with blue and orange/brown which I feel connects to the calming and youthful memories with both of these colors (as described in my post, Color Theory). As well as being colors that are complementary to each other.

Then, after trying on what felt like every filter and effect in Canva I found the Photogenic: Luna effect and felt that it really made the colors of the image pop. This is important because, as I've said before in both Codes and Conventions of Gaming Magazines and Color Theory, gaming magazines tend to use bright colors to attract their younger audience.

This is the final edit I made to this image because my goal was to create a modern looking cover that also evoked some feeling of nostalgia which I feel has been achieved by this final image.

Cover Photo Three

For my third image, I wanted to go for a slightly more modern feeling while still having some nostalgia but less than the previous cover photo. The difference between this photo and the previous photo is in the placement of the subjects as the previous photo had the subject on the left only have part of the leg visible and in this photo both subjects' legs are partially cut off at the knee.

The first thing I did was remove the bit of my background-holding apparatus that got in the photo. I did this by using the crop tool because this time the part of ruler that was holding the image got in and was very difficult to blur out. After I did this, I considered cropping part of my desk on which I had taken the photo but decided that it made the picture feel more connected to the childhood memories aspect I wanted to capture.

I used the Auto Enhance tool once again, but this time I felt that the preset 50% intensity was too much for the feel I was going for. To counter this, I turned the intensity down to 40% which I felt was more appealing. 

I then used the Photogenic: Polar filter which I felt made the colors pop. The filter also increased the contrast between the blue and orange which I felt made the image more dynamic, an important feature of gaming magazine covers. 

For the placement of the image, I went with the same as the previous image. No background and having the image take up the entire page. I did this for the same reasons listed above, which are that it could be disorienting to have the masthead covered at two places, it could make the subjects feel much more important than the picture as a whole, and that if the subjects were separated it could risk losing the nostalgic feeling I am trying to create.

This is the final edit I will be making to this image because I feel like it aligns with the conventions of gaming magazines significantly more than the prior image and still has some of the memory-like quality to it.

Conclusion

In the end I have a few thoughts about how my designs can improve, but there are many things I already like about them. For my first photo my feelings on it have not changed throughout this process. I still feel like it is not a dynamic enough photo and will not ever reach a point where it is professional looking and dynamic enough to be considered as the cover. I think that my removing the background and adding a grey-to-black gradient was the best improvement that I could make to the photo. For my second and third photo I feel good about where they are, but I hope that in the future I will be able to merge aspects of both of them to finally have a cover that has both the professionalism and nostalgia that I want in the final cover. For the second image I feel like the filter I put on the image makes it look a little bit too faded which could be detrimental. For the third image I think that the colors are very close to being too bright and displeasing to the eye but for now I feel like it still looks good. I will definitely still make the image take up the entire page and I want to keep the background for the image as I feel it completes the scene that I am trying to create.