MagazineCoverDesign

= **Magazine Cover Design** = =="Magazine publishers, editors, and circulation directors know the importance of the cover image as both a newsstand impulse buy and as a brand. Nearly eighty percent of consumer magazines’ newsstand sales are determined by what is shown on the cover, a fact that can mean the difference between a magazine’s success or failure over time. The cover image and design reinforce the brand, an important identification factor because the average reader spends only three to five seconds scanning a magazine cover before deciding whether to buy that issue. Magazine covers not only offer information about what’s inside a particular issue, they also provide significant cultural cues about social, political, economic, and medical trends. As both historical artifacts and marketing tools, magazine covers deserve closer study." ~ incredible art department ==

[|Visit the Ning and respond to the questions.]
**Criteria for Creating your Magazine Cover:**
 * Use 8"x10" size document, resolution 72.
 * Choose a real magazine from which to base your cover design.
 * Illustrate a likely cover story that supports the theme of the magazine chosen.
 * Scan the actual magazine cover to use as a template.
 * Take digital photographs to use on the cover. Do NOT use web images or images of known people.
 * Include a background, a cover photo ( you may have smaller photos to show other features included in the magazine).
 * Use a title, several story line titles (at least 5), issue date and price.
 * Scan mailing labels and/or bar codes to give the cover a realistic look.
 * The illustration should be able to stand alone as a well designed composition without including the banner, mailing label, and type.
 * As you are working, consider the following:**
 * Do all parts work together? Unity is achieved by carrying out a common theme in the type styles, photos, story titles and descriptions.
 * Is the type readable against the background? It the type style readable? Are the sentences too long? Are the titles descriptive enough to make you know what the article is about? Does the type size signify the importance?
 * Do the photo(s) support the theme? Do the photo(s) catch your eye? Are they too busy or too simple?
 * Does your cover look professionally designed? Are selecting, cutting, pasting, erasing tools used well?
 * How well designed is your cover? Is the type all lined up flush left, right, centered? Did you a dd a banner with the issue date, web site, cost? Is the layout easy to read?