Front Cover Research & Development

Here are some Motorcycle Front Cover Page Research

Based on my research, the contents page for motorcycle magazine has conventions of using: white colour masthead, banner at the bottom, using buzzwords (new, top-end), puff (circle with information inside), barcode, main cover image of a motorcycle, putting coverlines at the top, and not using skyline, dates, and strapline.

 Here are a few sketches and pictures of possible front cover ideas that I'm going to use for my magazine

 5 Thumbnail Sketches

Sketch #1

Pictures #1

Reflection: The photo looks better than I imaged it to be. I believe the use of the low angle was a great way to help increase the intimidation look which I love. I feel as though there could be something under the main cover line such as more coverlines or more pictures perhaps.

Sketch #2

Note: I wanted to make the subject look like it's leaning over with the motorcycle but this is what I did without overcomplecating the sketch

Picture #2

Reflection: Eventhough in my sketch, I put my main coverline on the bottom half of the page, I change my mind and positioned it on the top half because I felt it looked better. Looking at this again, I believe the use of borders and more coverlines to fill up the empty sapces ,on the bottom half, would make the cover more alive looking.

Refining

Reflection: I tried adding a banner to the bottom half of the magazine to fill up the space and I think it doesn't look that empty now. I feel like the picture on the bottom is slighty off since I wanted to use a photo where the audience can see the wheels of the motorcycle but that's the best picture for now. I also changed the typeface of the headline which I like since it suits the theme of the magazine. Futhermore, my teacher told me to move the main cover line to the right side since he said that it is too close to the headline which I understand (so that the viewers attention doesn't focus entirely to the top left but to the whole magazine). The main takeaway is that, I love the addition of the banner since it doesn't make the cover look monotone but I dislike the picture ,on the bottom, so I'll find a better one in the future.

Reflection: I like how it turned out, just needs a few more adjustments and feedbacks from my teacher and friends. I would like to change my colour choice since I believe it's abit too bland (black and white), and I might add more colours such as red because the side claw like marks are red. Then, since my main cover image is low quality in the beginning, I used an image enhancer website to increase the quality. Also, I'm not sure where to put my main coverline because it covers the claw marks on the side (I'll have to discuss it with my teacher) - but so far so good.

Reflection: Based on the feedback that Ireceived from my teacher and friends, they said that my main coverlin was covering the motorcycle too much so I decided to move it to the bottom left. I like this design even more. Then, I change the picture on the bottom right to show some variety and different story. Also I remove the big banner and replace it with a small one so that it looks more professional. Additionally, the buzzword (new) inside the puff (cicrcle) adds some colour so that the front cover doesn't look boring. Lastly, I'm still not sure what to put for the 'features' in the banner so I use 'touring with homies' for now - I'll probably change it when I find a better phrase.