Masthead Deliberation

The studio is booked for the whole of Mondays lesson. Thanks to the impending deadline, I have decided to photograph two of my models as the main artists. Anyway, this leaves me some time until then so I am using this time to make some early decisions.

I have already considered many fonts but the best way to pick one is to see them in full colour with the tagline; as the masthead would appear on the magazine cover. Below, I have listed each option and what I like/dislike about each one.

The red background looks good - my analysis of other magazines shows that red, black & white are a good combination. I can see straight away from this that sans-serif is the way to go with my magazine.

This is an interesting font. It fills the box superbly and the lettering looks malleable. It is readable from a distance and is uncomplicated yet distinguishable. I rate this one highly.

Now this is what I'm after - even though I didn't initially put it in my top 3, I think that seeing it here looks great and the eroded detail looks original. The drop shadow adds a layer of depth to the image and tops off what I think is an impressive masthead.

Despite this being the frontrunner in the font race, I no longer find it as appealing. Its overly curly and looks quite childlike. The dot on the 'n' which I found interesting just seems unnecessary now. It could work, but it's far behind it's other three competitors.

Out of curiosity, I have tried what I think is thesuperior font, on some alternative colours. Surprisingly, I think both colours look really good. The green looks fresh and fits in with the contemporary eco-friendly feeling of the moment. Its vibrant and relaxed which is a fine balance to be struck. The blue will stand out against most background colours. The connotations of this colour are soothing but this exuberant shade of blue really leaps off the page.

I'm likely to stick with the red background as that has been proven successful in many music magazines. As the saying goes: 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'. However, I will definitely consider one of these alternative colours when the cover is complete. Why? Because the photographs I take might suit one of these colours more.