drafting and planning of magazine layout - Practice covers

I have done this task to get used to the layout, features and style of music magazine covers and to start experimenting with the types of things I can do when I design my own magazine cover. It has really helped me realise how difficult it is to come up with effective cover lines and create an interesting and eye catching cover.

The first magazine I designed was 'M' magazine with a picture of Drake on the front. I tried to come up with imaginative cover-lines that linked to the same style of music as Drake. I think 'Has Kendrick Lamar lost control?' is the best one as it links to one of his songs and sounds like a dramatic story that people interested in rap artists would understand and most likely like to read. I have fitted the cover-lines around the main image of Drake but put the main cover line across him so it stands out. I did the main cover line in red so it is bold and matches the colour of the 'M'. I have then kept the other cover-lines simple with black as I thought too much red would be over-bearing. 

I found creating an identity for the band on the next 'M' magazine cover very difficult but then decided on the name 'Sound Angel' as I thought it sounded edgy and original and fitted with the bands style and look. Again, I have matched the main cover line with the colour of the 'M' style as I thought it looked effective. I added a star above it to make it seem important and urgent. I used black for the other cover lines and tried to link them to R&B artists as that is the kind of music 'M' magazine usually features. 

For 'Music_X' magazine, I decided to maintain the style of the image by using big, white, bold writing with a shadow on top of a black background. I liked the way this looked as it gives the magazine a scary effect which would grab the target audiences attention. I also placed the main cover-line towards the right so it didn't effect the left third of the magazine and block the model but so it was very noticeable. I then put another cover-line in red as it maintained the colour scheme as Bjork has a red coloured outline and so it could stand out on the page and break up the two colours white and black. 

I found the last cover the hardest as I couldn't think of many cover-lines or stories to do with that kind of boy band and there's not many magazines out there that feature this kind of music. However, I decided on mentioning their return to music with their new album which would please fans and a chance to win a copy is likely to sell more copies.