One thing that has always interested me is magazines. I love just looking at fancy, well-designed magazine covers and just thinking, "I wish I could do that." Well, I'm absolutely [cabbage] at photoshop so I'm not going to make it very far. BUT, I am alright at InDesign, which I am practicing with at the moment. I created a quick, 10-minute magazine cover based around Runescape. Go easy on me, it's the first one I've ever made. I know I took Runescape concept art, but I have nothing else to use (if I make another one everything will be my own work, promise :)).

 

 

 

The link is here

 

 

 

Please tell me if this is in the wrong section (I don't visit here too often :?). Basically, I need advice on different colours to use, how to change the layout, help with consistency, and maybe some nice font as well (which I can also keep consistent on the cover, but with a little allowance for different font in certain sections ;)). Thanks for any feedback.

Very nice but shouldn't it be, "We get the lowdown from the head developer himself" ?

First off all, the key to a magazine cover is balance. As a start, you have all your article names on the side, The other thing you need to do is move 'runescape' up to the top, and take out the horrible magazine word. Or put it under the RUNESCAPE not over it, and in one colour as well.

The first thing I notice is the poor color combination - like Shiny said, a magazine cover requires balance, and the color combo you chose completely throws it off.

 

 

 

The stretched image used as the background doesn't look great either, it's worth trying to find the largest resolution of your stock image available; in this case, use this image. Having high resolution images available makes your work look better, and is also easier to do.

The text on the left is way to far to the middle, id say dont go further than 1/4 or 2/5 of the page

Thanks for all the feedback. Already designing a second one with all your feedback in place. Could anyone give me any ideas on good colour combinations? I often find it hard to get any balance in things I create, like drawings for example. I'm not too good with colour combinations :P I'll submit the new one soon.

 

 

 

And sorry for the grammatical error, I was pretty tired :oops:

May I recommend kuler? Sign yourself up, then you can have some excellent colour schemes, which you can create, and view others as well. just screenshot 'em if you don't know what to do with the download file.

Kuler is a great tool, do make use of it.

May I recommend kuler? Sign yourself up, then you can have some excellent colour schemes, which you can create, and view others as well. just screenshot 'em if you don't know what to do with the download file.

 

 

 

Thank you very much, I'll get started now :D

Here we go, just finished. Please give feedback. I kept to the same colour scheme, tried to keep consistency with the text (except for the official magazine text, which was deliberate. Want it to stand out ;)). If you have any suggestions for better font or anything in general please do give it to me :P

 

 

 

Link is here

Wow, Kuler is great. I used another site for a long time (cant recall, its on my laptop), this one seems to be great too.

Much better than your old one. The layout is nicer, but still not that great. Try not to use masses of text for your cover. Simplicity, along with balance, is the key. The colour is working much better as well.

Much better than your old one. The layout is nicer, but still not that great. Try not to use masses of text for your cover. Simplicity, along with balance, is the key. The colour is working much better as well.

 

 

 

Thanks for the feedback :) If you could help me with the layout it'd be much appreciated.

 

 

 

Take that magazine cover for example. Everything is balanced, with the magazine cover effectively split into 3 bits. Also the use of different fonts, to differentiate between the title and articles is well done. Font sizing also plays a huge role. I suggest you start again, using a different image, integrating it in better. Take a look at different covers for inspiration and if you are lost on it try Abduzeedo. Some great stuff there. Balance the cover, between heading, image and article stuff. And don't be afraid to start over again. And again. And again. Good things take practice.

 

 

 

Take that magazine cover for example. Everything is balanced, with the magazine cover effectively split into 3 bits. Also the use of different fonts, to differentiate between the title and articles is well done. Font sizing also plays a huge role. I suggest you start again, using a different image, integrating it in better. Take a look at different covers for inspiration and if you are lost on it try Abduzeedo. Some great stuff there. Balance the cover, between heading, image and article stuff. And don't be afraid to start over again. And again. And again. Good things take practice.

 

 

 

Thank you for all your support, it really helps :) I'll update the first post with a new link once I've finished.