Photoshop Progress

1. Photoshop Progress Tom McLaughlin Ahead & Beyond magazine development

2. Original Photo • This is the photograph before editing started.

3. Colour Adjustments • I changed the hue, vibrance and saturation of the image in conjunction with a cooling filter to create a more appropriate effect for the front cover, making it more suitable to display in a shop. The old blue is a harsher colour, less suitable for the cover. While this colour would suffice, I felt that a calmer shade of blue would be better. The new shade of blue gives a more relaxed connotation, appropriate for the magazine’s target audience and purpose.

4. Text - Title • While the title is fully capitalised for effect, the first letter of the words “ahead” and “beyond” is of a larger size to create a more stylistic, professional and unique presentation. • Beneath this is a caption summarising the magazine’s subject matter. This caption is brief so as not to detract from the cover itself, but also to inform new readers of the magazine’s content, thereby generating interest in it.

5. Use of colours • The number “31” is written in a large, bold white font contrasting with a purple background (a colour that also fits with the magazine’s Sheldon theme). • The advertisement for the offer inside is written black-on-yellow, a highly visible colour combination. Furthermore, the promise of free access to a popular trip would attract potential customers.

6. Official details • Official and required details are kept comparatively small in relation the other items on the cover. This is done to avoid drawing attention away from the cover itself and the stories on it, as without these, potential customers would become disinterested.

7. Finished cover • After many optimisations in several areas were made, and I felt that the formatting and layout was appropriate for a student magazine, I slightly altered existing aspects of the magazine for the best results. • This is the cover after all improvements were made.