1st drafts of Contents and DP spread

Here is a more in detailed mockup for the Front Cover of my music magazine. It almost looks finished but there's still several adjustments to be done as this is my '1st draft' with a few constant tweaks and adjustments that must be done. I did this to illustrate or give viewers an idea of how my Final Front Cover is going to look like. I will be posting screenshots of the different stages of developement as I move along.

 

I chose this image because I feel as if it gives viewers a feeling of sensing an awareness of 'power' and 'authority' This is the way in which I wanted to represent my artist; Hip-hop music stars love authority and attention and want to be respected. The artist looks 'authoritive' and the reason for that is not just because of the way he's dressed but his pose has a lot to do with it. He wears aviator sun glasses which gives a reflection of everything he sees on both lens. We can't see his eyes but he can see ours; so its almost as if he's hiding his image from the public and that's what a lot Rappers tend to do. I set his arms that way intentionally because I wanted to expose his jewelry, emphasizing wealth and authority. Most Hiphop Magazines are known to use a plain grey or white backdrop on their covers as it makes the font stand out more and allow the model to take center stage.  

Here are two examples of what my double page spread is going to look like. Below I have 2 different versions of it and to be honest, both versions look good. It's just that the first one looks a tad better because of the pattern created using a 50 pound bill.

Why so simple?

Simplicity, on most occasions can be a good thing to consider when designing any product. Some designers don't even take the conventions into consideration and ignore them. As a result they end up creating a product of medeocre quality; overcomplicating things by using flashy colours, different type styles for almost everything and excessive amounts of images. Although it is not an obligation to have one colour and plain B&W imaging but it is conventional and you find it in a lot of Hip-Hop magazines.

There are several things that are still missing on the double page spread as this was just the 1st draft and mockup of it. I did this to give viewers an idea of how the final outcome will look; the first one will never be the final because there are constant adjustments to made made.