After deciding on an NME magazine cover to recreate, I then started to build it on ‘Indesign’. I chose the NME cover which included LCD Soundtrack as their main cover star. Below shows the original magazine cover and then the one I recreated underneath. (please click on my version to see it clearer as a pdf)

Although I was mainly able to recreate the magazine cover, there are still components that I could improve to make it identical.

I think I was quite successful:

• In making the colours in the magazine match. (especially the oranges on the masthead and main cover line).
• The cover line fonts compare quite well and I was able to make the spaces between each of the lines match the original. (For example “Florence” and the line below had a smaller gap between them than the others.)
• I was able to make the plug have the same layout including the lines above and below the text.

However there are also parts that could be improved:

• I had the same main cover star image however it was slightly more zoomed in on my recreation. This made some of the titles and text seem slightly out of position and proportion.
• The background is slightly off in that the original had a grey gradient from the top corners whereas mine does not.
• The Masthead font is a little different to the original. The font is not exactly a perfect match and the “E” in mine does not layer behind his head. In the future, this could be corrected by using Photoshop to cut out my cover star to be able to layer him on top of the background (with the E behind his head).

From this task of recreating a music magazine cover, I have learnt how difficult it is to chose the correct fonts, colours and images, and how they must all be picked out perfectly to fit the intended style. This links back to Mise en Scene; being able to narrate a story through the different components. It has also taught me how layout is very important so that the audience is able to see all the key information without it being too busy and cramped. This piece of media included most of the conventions of a music magazine and so should mine when I create my own. I will also need to think back to Mise en Scene and the colours and language used so that it fits in with the genre and attracts my intended target audience.

Below are 3 Youtube tutorials on Indesign features that will help me when creating my own magazine cover.