Designing a Magazine Cover

1. Designing a Magazine Cover

2. Introduction When you pass by the magazine rack at Wal-Mart, what makes you want to pick up a magazine and read it? • The cover

3. Objectives By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to: • Describe at least 3 design elements that should be considered when designing for a specific audience. • Choose proper photos/clipart for the intended audience. • Choose an appropriate color scheme for a stated audience. • Design a magazine cover for a specific audience.

4. Design Elements • Font • Color • Layout

5. Fonts • Don’t overuse fonts • Never use more than 4 fonts. • Readable • Size • Typeface • Use Bold and italics instead of different fonts

6. Common Fonts Times New Roman – best for large blocks of text Arial – Good for titles: very clean Comic Sans MS – whimsical and informal Script – Small and Elegant Georgia – classy Trebuchet – Very clean

7. Colors • As always: Use a Color Scheme • Stereotypical colors work! • Gender (pink, blue, pastels, gray) • Industry standards (Cat yellow, John Deere Green) • Age groups • Country/Ethnic colors

8. Pictures/Graphics • Catch the readers eye • Simplicity usually works best • Simple clipart – Nothing Complex • Limited subjects in pictures • Don’t over-enlarge small pictures

11. Mimicry • When in doubt, borrow! • Don’t steal designs, but borrow from design elements you like