Final Draft of Front Cover

In comparison to my first and second draft I think that this cover looks alot more proffesional. I made alot of changes to my 2nd draft in order to create my final one. Firstly, I moved the title so it sat across the page, rather than in 2 lines in the left hand top corner. I also added a logo and a sell line, which was 'all the gossip!'. I thought this was appropriate because it is short and easy for the audience to remember and recognise, and because it convinces the reader the magazine has alot to offer inside. Another change I made was the banner at the top of the cover. I mentioned in my evaluation of my second draft that I wanted to change this, therefore I did. I made it thicker and added more text to tell the reader what is inside. I used a mixture of fonts (handwritten and sans serif) to fit with convensions of music magazines like these. I put stars in between each artists name, I thought these connoted fame and exclusivity. I made the publishers name slightly bigger and moved it to the top of the page as it is a well known company and again, fits with convensions. I put a splash on the cover aswell which advertised a competition. According to research, people are alot more convinced to buy a magazine when a competition or free gift is advertised, so I decided to add one. I chose this particular competition because JLS are a popular band amoungst my target audience, and I also chose a large number so there is more chance of winning. I chose a white font that would stand out on the purple splash, the font is sans serif and looks very modern and will appeal to my target audience.
All the pictures of people on my cover are photos that I have taken myself and I have used them as current pop stars on my cover. I made up names for each and a logo for 'lucie' at the bottom. I did this because people are likely to recognise both names and logos, also, music magazines of all different genres do this to attract the attention of a comsumer. I changed the banner at the bottom of the page aswell. I made it thicker and used it to show more sell lines and pictures. I have seen this done on a top of the pops magazine and thought this was a very effective way of showing whats inside a magazine, as the reader can be attracted by the bright and contrasting colours. I added a barcode to my cover on its side to the right hand side of the page. This has been done on quite a few style models I have looked at and I thought that it looked descrete and didn't cover any important sell lines, splashes or images. I added the price, release date and issue number alongside the barcode aswell.
I still used the same main image as I like the fact it is smily and friendly, also that there is a direct made of address. As this magazine would be a spring issue, the clothes my model is wearing fit well because they are flowery and bright, and go nicely with my chosen season.