Digital Mockups
As I stated at the end of Magazine Cover Drafts, I decided to base my magazine cover on two of the drafts I created. One of these drafts was a picture of two controllers and the other was a picture of two figures of video game characters in a fighting position.
I based my two mockups on these two drafts. I used images I took myself, I used Canva to create these mockups and stuck to the drafts closely but there were some changes that I discuss below on my process.
Mockup #1
This was my first iteration of my mockup which is based on my first draft photo. I chose a very video game-esc, and futuristic font for the masthead and chose the name Beat-Up for my magazine's name. I felt the name represented the action-packed feelings of fighting games. I felt that the colors of the magazine should stick with blue and green because they matched the colors of the masthead and the main image as adding black from the main image would have made things hard to read. That was why I made the color of the coverlines and date white because it was the easiest to read on the black from the controllers. Additionally, the colors I used were blue, green, and red colors typically associated with technology because they are the colors used in the RGB color model used by computer graphics systems. I placed the main image as the background, so it was obvious as the focus of the magazine and I increased the saturation in the main image so that the controllers' buttons were less dull and popped more. I put the main coverline for the magazine towards the top, so it was clearly visible, and chose to keep it as the same font as the other coverlines, which is uncommon in video game magazines but as my article and cover photo were not related to a specific game there was no video game specific font for me to use as I have referenced in Conventions and Characteristics of Gaming Magazines as well as, Designing a Magazine. With the other coverlines I found an image of a gamer and made it my image for the puff and added a somewhat large coverline for it, then I went directly under that coverline and added two additional coverlines.
These are the changes I made to the cover. I felt that the coverlines were too bunched up so I spaced them out, with this new space I figured I should make the font larger to make them more visible. I added another coverline on the left side of the page and originally had it right under the barcode which is on the same level of the main coverline, but I thought that it brought less attention to the coverline, so I pushed it much lower on the page and increased the font size. For the date I originally had it much smaller and more centered in the page, but I felt like it was barely noticeable like this, so I increased the font size and I put it closer to the left edge of the page. When I was arranging my coverlines I decided that maybe I should add more coverlines to make the page seem less empty. I added three more coverlines and put them on each side of the page. To make the coverline under the puff stand out I changed it to the same green color of the masthead, and I changed the placeholder image for the puff because the red was clashing too much with the rest of the cover. I sized up the sell line so that it could be more visible under the large masthead. This is my final product for the cover.
Mockup #2
This is my first iteration of my second mockup, based on my second draft. I chose a white, pink, and cyan futuristic font for the masthead because I feel like it evoked a futuristic and a somewhat trendy feeling which went with the gaming theme and continued to use the title Beat-Up for the magazine itself. I set the main image as the background, so that it would take up a lot of the page and be clear that it is the main focus. The only editing I did to the image was using the Auto-Enhance feature in Canva to augment my image slightly. I wanted to go for a minimalistic approach to the layout, so I just added the main coverline and a list of review coverlines which I had seen used in professional magazines.
I first changed the reviews text and changed the color of the text and overbar from white to a cyan color which matched both the masthead and the hair of the two subjects in the main image, I did this because it is common in gaming magazines as I stated in Designing a Magazine, it also catches the audiences' attention to this section of the cover. The color blue is very prevalent in this mockup design, and I feel that this light blue/cyan used color speaks to both the more calm and intelligent part of blue-as stated in Color Theory- but also adds a little bit of fun and playfulness. I added a sell line right under the masthead and had the color set to black to add some variety to the colors in the cover, I put it right under the masthead for reasons covered previously in Magazine Cover Drafts. Then I changed the placement of the date as I felt it was off and should just be placed on the side right above the barcode to make it look more professional. I did not make as many changes to the second mockup because I did not have as many elements in the cover and felt like the elements I did have added exactly what I wanted to the cover. This is my final design for my second mockup cover.
Conclusion
I have mixed feelings about the outcome of these mockups but high hopes for my final design. In my first mockup I really liked the masthead, puff and coverline, and date, but the coverlines I still am not sure about. I feel that I will have to figure out some way to write the coverlines differently be it font size, text, or placement but right now it feels off to me. I will have to retake my main image as I feel that the uneven lighting of the photo got in the way of my layout and color choices. I also feel that the subjects in my main image have some issues as well as the white text on the controller makes some of the coverlines hard to read. The image also did not line up with my genre as much as I wanted it too and that I believe is because I did not have a background for the subjects which is common for gaming magazine covers featuring controllers, as shown in Magazine Cover Drafts. I know that for both of my mockups I will have to come up with a coverline that relates to my genre. The placement of the barcode is something that I originally felt pretty sound on but as I continue to change other things, I am not sure if I will keep it at the top of the cover.
For my second mockup I feel very good about the minimalist design. I like the main image and placement of the coverlines, and masthead. The only thing I feel unsure on is the main coverline, I feel that to make it stand out I will have to do more than just larger than the other text, but I also feel that it is noticeable enough as it is the largest text on the layout besides the masthead so I may end up changing something about the main coverline. I feel that the main image works well to convey a childlike and nostalgic feel but also is not able to reach a height of genre conventions due to it not being an illustrated representation of a video game character, but I feel that it connects enough to the genre conventions that it is not off-putting.
As I said before I still have high hopes for the final design and feel that my designs can only improve from here.
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