Editing the Front Cover

Magazine Front Cover Process

Introduction

In class, I had Ms. Acosta assist me with understanding on how to access InDesign at home with my own personal laptop (a MacBook). 

As I am typing this [introduction], I am currently on a school computer accessing InDesign to begin editing the first page of my magazine: the front cover.

The front cover will consist of my model in the middle, the masthead 'INNOVATION' at the top, and the rest of the typical magazine graphics such as a barcode, etc. 

Process

This is how I set up the way I would edit on InDesign. It has been quite a while for me since editing on InDesign, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it again.

After struggling for ~5-10 minutes on how to insert the picture and fit it into the frame, I finally have the first step completed. 

I also just renamed the file to '(Trad) Goth Women's Fashion INNOVATION Magazine Portfolio Media Studies.' 

I accidentally messed up by clicking the 'Match Pasteboard to Theme Color,' which made the paste board all white. As well as the masthead design looks tacky at the moment, all due to the fact that I am still figuring out how to use InDesign on the school computer.

I removed the white pasteboard by doing a right click and a click on the 'Match Pasteboard to Theme Color' again. I keep fixing the quality of the photo in the background by clicking 'Display Performance' and then clicking 'High Quality.' (as shown in the picture above)

The masthead has been corrected, but it is yet not what I want. This is just how it will look for now until I continue working on the front cover at home with my personal laptop.

This is the current view of how InDesign appears on my personal laptop, being a MacBook. The Old English font didn't load as my laptop apparently didn't support it (as seen of the first screenshot above).

I ended up fixing the masthead by using another font: PCMyungjo. I also used the fx (Effects) button to create a drop shadow with the settings as pictured above. 

I also added a black border around the frame of the front cover. I used the Bevel edge to make it more gothic appearing.

This is the finishing editing of the front cover's photo and frame. I added two spider webs (taken from Pinterest), one at the top left corner and another larger one at the bottom right corner.

It adds onto the forest and goth aesthetic I went for in these pictures. Combined with the front, it all fits into the all gothic theme.

Using the website above in the first screen shot, I created my magazine's own personal barcode instead of taking one from Google. I then applied it on my magazine at the bottom left corner, as seen as on the second image above.

I added the issue number/random number below the headline which reads: "Come into the world of what it means to be goth in a 'regular' society." 

I am very content with how the magazine is beginning to appear. I am still a little bit rusty, however I have done very good process so far.

I changed the background of the headline from dark blue to black, as to make it fit with the cover easily. I am still planning on implementing more dark blue puffs.

I changed the background of the headline to have the 'Bevel and Emboss' fx (effect). I changed some settings to make it look more 'natural' to the magazine in a way (as seen in the first screenshot above).

It allows for the background to have a more 3-D look to it, as well as it fits the gothic aesthetic as shown on the second screenshot above.

I added the dateline on the top right, below the masthead. It reads 'March 2026' in all capital letters. The dateline is when the magazine issue has been released, and since my portfolio is due in this year's March I've decided to make it as the date.

I used the font 'Athelas' in 16 pt. in the cover-line located at the top right, next to the model's head. I also added a light black background to make the text be seen more.

The text reads: "Traditional goth culture discussion, downsides, and community..." in all capital letters.

Using the same font as the other cover-line, I created the second cover-line which says: "Your questions have been answered!" in all capital letters, with a smaller text underneath stating in all lowercase letters: "the truth of being goth". 

Changed the first cover-line's text to: "Traditional goth culture discussed, downsides, and community" for better text placement.

I changed the font of the issue number/random number to the PCMyungjo font.

By figuring out how to find the 'Link Panel' on InDesign (press Shift + Command + D), I relinked the front cover's main image and now the image is fitting normally with the 'High Quality Performance' setting.

Reflection

After much looking it over, I have finally concluded working on the editing of my magazine's front cover. 

I have gone through ups and downs during this process. However I am now very much well used to InDesign's text, effects, and graphics features. 

Editing the front cover of my magazine has paved the path for me to work on my next pages. Now I know how I began with the final aesthetic of this portfolio.

I still wish I could've had time to take the photos in the park when the sky was dark (as I believe I could've had more to work with), however I am very content with how it went.