Front Cover - Step By Step

I started my front cover by editing my original photo into black and white using Photoshop and cut around my model using the magnetic lasso tool.

 

 I then found a font I liked that fit with the genre of my magazine and imported it into my photo of my model.

I found a simple picture of a piano and
made it the background of my cover.
I then put all three components
together. 
I decided to put my cover star over the top of my masthead so the audience will be able to see that they are the main focus, also I made the figure smaller so you can still understand what the title says.

After doing research on other music magazines and their cover lines, I added some onto my front cover.
The cover lines I went with were a 'Top 20..' and adverts for new musicals which will be further explained in my contents page and possibly my double page spread.

I added a drop shadow to the font to make the words stand out more against the black background, this makes it look more professional.

When thinking of a cover star to put in my magazine, I thought of an actress who is making her debut in a Broadway show in New York, and then I went for the musical 'Chicago.'
I got the logo for Chicago and cut it out to put it on my cover.
I played around with the size of the logo, and decided on making it larger as it took up more room and looked like it fit more.









I then added the cover line 'Sam Appleton In..'
this shows the reader who the cover star is and why they are on the cover of my magazine.

I then added the final touches to my magazine, such as a bar code, the issue number and the price that my magazine would be sold at.