Final Cover Revisions

Final Cover:

The final cover of this magazine will be Cover Photo 3, as referenced in the previous blog. This choice is a result of the positing of the model and color schemes of the photo. Eye bags and acne have not been edited away, but stay highlighted on the models face to express natural human state. The eyes make direct contact with the camera, showing direct portrayal of emotions. Much of the core of the body is covered, like a mask, leaving the camera to highlight the skin of the model. The shadow of the model was not removed to create the effect that the model "stands out", against the background. The warm orange skirt and pale skin contrast with the black text throughout the page to highlight the bold parts of text and facial features. Canva and Picsart were the only editing software platforms used. Picsart was used to apply editing to the background, smoothing the texture of the wall. Canva was applied to the overall photo to add all text and graphics. The goal of this cover is to highlight natural facial features often seen as "imperfections" in the fashion community, like acne and uneven skin tones. This boldly contrasts traditional conventions of the fashion industry, as often the community aims to prove perfection though perfect features. 

Masthead:

The title of this magazine is "Eudaimonia" meaning "the condition of human flourishing or of living well." This name was chosen due to the definition, as this is a fashion magazine trying to promote the well being of consumers. The font used for the masthead is "Yeseva One", a serif font designed to evoke a sense of sophistication and elegance. The text is bold and stretches across the entire top of the page, drawing viewers' eyes to it. The text color is black, deeply contrasting against the white background. Overall, the dark serif font should be the main identifying feature of the magazine cover, separating it from other magazines and increasing consumer interaction.

Main Image: 

This image has been a constant option through many previous blogs, as it represents the feature article consistently. In this photograph, a model sits facing the camera with her face tilted downwards. Most of her body is covered aside from her upper arms and her face. She rests her face on her palm, which is covered by the orange garment she is wearing. The colors of the garment and position of the face highlights uneven redness and eyebags. Traditionally, makeup would be applied or special effects would be used to edit away facial impurities, but this magazine challenges those conventions. The feature article of this magazine is about how much editing is done inside of the fashion community, and embraces the imperfections and flaws on natural skin. 

Cover Lines: 

Three cover lines are featured on this magazine cover, ranging in font and size. The biggest cover line reads "The Secrets Behind Natural Beauty". This cover line is for the feature article of the magazine and therefore "Secrets" is in a size 91.3 font. Following this, the font "BodiniFLF" is used for the entire cover line, contrasting the font used for the masthead. There are two more cover lines on the  cover, both much smaller. The font size 18.7 and 23.1 is used for these cover lines because they are not as significant to drawing consumer interest. These bodies of text are also in the font "Agrandir Narrow", a sans-serif font. Sans serif fonts are more casual that the serif fonts used in the masthead and main cover line, tying to their previously stated lesser status. The text is to the left of the model's head and the right of the model's arm. This placement is mainly for aesthetic effect, as the page is more clean and organized when the text does not crowd a specific part of the page. 

Selling Line:

This magazine cover does not feature a selling line. Fashion magazines vary, some have selling lines, some don't. High quality fashion magazines like "Vogue" and "Elle" do not have selling lines due to their established reputation. I chose not to have a selling line for the aesthetic effect. When designing this magazine cover, I did not find a place where I felt as if as selling line would look pleasing. Even when the text was small and seemingly out of the way, I did not enjoy the look of a selling line beneath the masthead, and certainly not over it. Instead, a date beneath the masthead to identify the magazine and quality of the information inside of it. The date is set to February 2022 in a size 18.5 font and uses the font "BodiniFLF", tying to the main cover line. 

Conclusion:

Overall, this cover ties into some conventions commonly used in the fashion magazine industry and challenges others. The layout of the magazine is similar to others, where a model is featured in the middle of the page along with a large masthead and one large cover line with smaller ones surrounding it. The content of the magazine clearly challenges traditional conventions. As previously stated, the model is not touched up at all, with no exposure or contrast edits to hide flaws on the skin. Instead, flaws are free to be discovered in an attempt to remove the stereotype that smooth skin is the only way to be beautiful commonly portrayed through massive photograph edits in other magazines. 

Revisions:

Cover Lines:

After feedback from my peers and teachers, I have revised the minor cover lines. The minor cover lines are weak and do nothing to interest readers, so they will be substituted for more meaningful text. The new cover lines read:

"Fashionable Facts

How Singer-Songwriter Taylor Swift Is Using Her Own Wardrobe To Promote Covid-19 Safety"

"Glimmering Galas

From The Renowned Met Gala To Events Closer To Home, Dive Into The Details Behind Hosting These Massive Parties"

These cover lines add deeper details than the previous ones, curating interest more specific to the fashion genre. Capitalization was also improved, as the capitalization of the previous minor cover lines was inconsistent.