'Flow' Magazine Front Cover Step 13

The final step was to add a barcode in the bottom corner of the cover. All magazines must have a barcode somewhere in order for them to be purchased. The cover is virtually always chosen as it makes it easier for shopkeepers. Above the barcode, there is also a release date (the day that the magazine went on sale) and the price of this issue.

'Flow' Magazine Front Cover Step 12

I included logos of four different social media companies (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat) to represent that the magazine produces extra content on these platforms. Social media is always a great place for promoting and exposing a brand so the magazine uses this opportunity to its max potential.

'Flow' Magazine Front Cover Step 11

I looked at the cover and felt like the colour palette was too bland. I tried to convey the cover artist's dark and shady past using only black and white for the text and background, with only the cover artist having extra colours. However, I decided to choose a more vibrant design instead by adding red to the colour palette. This gives the cover a more interesting and professional look.

'Flow' Magazine Front Cover Step 10

The next addition to the cover was to add a banner at the top. This forced me to move the title down a little bit, but it is still clearly visible behind the artist's head. The banner shows a special offer within the magazine; a code within the magazine gives you a free track from 'Starboy', the new album by The Weeknd. This is a good way to entice readers as there are a lot of fans of this singer and also free stuff is often appreciated well.

'Flow' Magazine Front Cover Step 9

On the right-hand side of the cover, I have added a couple of brief summaries relating to articles within the magazine. These summaries are very short but snappy and they get the point across efficiently using the small amount of space left on the cover.

'Flow' Magazine Front Cover Step 8

Some magazines, like NME, sometimes display the names of artists within the magazine on the front cover in the form of a list. I did the same here, on the left hand side of the cover, as it is a good way to attract more fans of these artists and therefore more readers.

'Flow' Magazine Front Cover Step 7

My next step was to create written sections for the cover and set them up in the correct spots. Traditionally, in hip-hop magazines and music magazines in general, the headline is the artist's name and is placed on the bottom half, and I have decided to follow that trend. I've also included a little information underneath summarising some sections of the interview.