wP10-Magazine Cover

Project Brief:

• You will produce a cover photo for a major real magazine, such as Time, Sports Illustrated, Glamour, Fortune, etc.  

• You will have to "mock-up" the cover as best you can, matching the colors and typefaces.  The cover itself will be you as "_________ of the Year", i.e. "Man of the Year", "Golfer of the Year", Graphic Artist of the Year", etc. "Sorority Sister of the Year", etc. or whatever else you can come up with.  

• You will need to use a digital camera (preferably, or your phone in a pinch) for your images and take an image specifically for this project.   

• You will then put them into Photoshop for correction, manipulation, and/or compositing.  

• You will  need to mock up the magazine's name and logo, and any vector shapes (in Illustrator if you wish), using the correct typefaces and borders, and subheadings.  You can then import the photo from Photoshop into Illustrator to add the type and other graphics (or vice versa).  

• Use your skills as a photo correction expert to retouch the portrait and photo.  If the style of the magazine calls for it, then use your photo illustration skills to produce an image. You will be discussing the approach and retouching you did. Search for additional technique tutorials for the approach you decide upon.

• Let the cover say something about your subject, i.e., interests, trips, hobbies, etc. Interview them and make notes! 

• DO NOT use an image of a cover then drop in your picture as the ENTIRE cover must be created by you and should look just like the real magazine.  Take the time to be creative with the cover art, let your imagination run wild!   I WANT TO SEE SOME VISUAL IMPACT!! 

Good luck and have fun!

Once again, do not find a copy of the magazine and use that image for the type.  The type and general template of the magazine needs to be made by you not just dropped into an existing image of the magazine. Be observant and mimic all the little things that make up a magazine cover to make it look real.

You may find that you have to tweak a typeface to get it to match that of the magazine.

SPECS:

Regardless of whether you use a photograph or illustration, you will need a solid reference photo to begin with. I will need to see this and a quick sketch of how you plan to layout the cover. I will be looking for at least 3 photos and ideas. Produce  8 1/2 * 11 inches @ 150 ppi.  Do a good job matching the type with the image and be careful with the composition.

KEYS:

It is imperative that you stay aware of image resolution and sizes so that your image is sharp.  Be sure to take a good image to begin with...VERY IMPORTANT!