Photoshop: Magazine Cover

You will be using PhotoShop to create a realistic magazine cover. Your magazine can be an existing publication (People, Newsweek, etc.) or a made-up magazine (Kelseyville, Knights, Lake Sports, etc.) -- but keep them school appropriate.

I recommend beginning with a Google search for "magazine cover" and then clicking "Images" and then specifying "Large". (Here's an example.)  You can use a large image as a layout guide to try and match your title font, see where to place page components (UPC symbol, pricing, date, etc.), or to help you place images.  You can search for specialized fonts or look through a listing of fonts (here are some and some more and even more) to match from.  You can also use the image to help you select the proper colors (simply use the "eye dropper" tool).

Keep notes as you locate images, fonts, etc. that you plan to use in your projects.  When you post your final project to your blog, list where you got your sources.

Project Specifics:

• Width: 8.375 Inches
• Height: 10.875 Inches
• Resolution: 300 DPI

Here's the example I made in class:

Notice the UPC symbol and the address label.  Sometimes
the small details help the most.

Some examples of student magazine covers have included:

I recommend saving the actual PSD file for this project so you can easily create another magazine cover in the future as a gift, a joke, a report cover, etc. and then saving it as a JPEG so you can put it on your portfolio blog.

Here are some professional examples of starter photographs and the Cosmo magazine covers they produced.  Once again, notice the photo editing:

There are also some easy-to-use magazine cover creators available on the net if you would like to play with them, but do understand that you will not be able to use them as your Photoshop project:

• MagMyPic.com
• OnCoverPage.com
• FakeMagazineCover

Photoshop: Dieline Package Design / Re-Design

Today we will taking a dieline (a shape that is flat and ready to be folded into a package) and designing [or redesigning] the package.

The example on the left demonstrates how a flat dieline looks.

Note: Some packages may have panels that appear upside-down when flattened [depending on how the folds are made].

Remember to add important elements to your package.  Include nutritional information if you are doing a food package, for example.  The example on the right shows several key pieces for a package.

Once completed, you may want to create the actual package.  Since we are doing a "box" package, you may want to get some card stock [something that will work in your printer] and print your dieline in color.

You will receive extra credit for a completed package design.

Cereal Box Template

 

Remember when you are looking for photographic components (i.e. cereal, bowls, spoon, cartoon animals, or whatever) that you look for large images.  It's much easier to reduce the size of an image without distortion than it is to increase it.  As you have found, expanding an image makes it blurry or grainy.

If you're considering doing a cereal box, think about cereal names:

• ______ Loops
• ______ O's
• ______ Nuggets
• ______ Smacks
• ______ Puffs
• ______ Crunch

Also, consider types of cereal flavors:

• Honey ________
• Sugar _________
• Crunchy ________
• Apple ________
• Spam _______
  

Is your new cereal based on your favorite movie?  Rock band?  TV show?

If you are interested in going the extra mile and trying a fancy cereal box font, check out this tutorial:  http://www.dzyneo.com/sugarpuffs.php

---

Also, this image was in the iStock.com "Free Image of the Week" gallery:

---

Recently Adobe (the makers of PhotoShop) did a contest asking graphic design students to create an "Adobe Cereal".  Here are some examples of what was created (I don't expect your boxes to be anywhere near this professional!):

You may find additional resources, dieline patterns, etc. on the Internet.  You can do a Google Search for dieline, do an Image Search for dieline pattern, or check out some of the industry websites such as The Dieline (http://www.thedieline.com/).

Photoshop: Public Service Poster

Click to View Full Size

Tomorrow we are going to begin putting together a "Public Service Poster".  These should be attention-getting, make a strong impression, and be school appropriate.  Take this project seriously -- because I do.  It's okay to use humor to get your point across, but the purpose of a public service poster is to inform.

Take this period to research an issue, get some facts, locate some good images, and decide on a layout.  You have today to research and tomorrow and Friday to work on this project.

I will be giving extra credit to projects that I believe are good enough to print and hang up and I WILL be grading these seriously. 

Project Specifics:

• 8.5 Inches x 11 Inches (you choose orientation)
• 150 DPI Resolution

You can choose from these options:

1. Anti-Smoking / Tobacco Campaign

Create a poster to discourage someone from using/selling tobacco products.  Include a fact (or facts) -- Here are some to get you started:  http://www.tobaccofreeca.com/resources/ 

2. Above the Influence / Anti Drug Campaign

Create a poster to discourage someone from using drugs.  Include facts about which drug(s) you are dissuading people from using.  For example, did you know that more teens are in treatment facilities for "marijuana dependency" than all other illicit drugs combined?  Or that young people who smoke marijuana are more than twice as likely to have depression later in life?  Here are some more facts to get you started: http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/facts/drugfacts 

3. Domestic Violence Prevention

Create a poster to let people know how/where to get help if they are the victims of domestic violence, dating violence, etc.  Try to find local resources (i.e. phone numbers).  Use some facts about the issue as well: http://domesticviolencestatistics.org/domestic-violence-statistics/

4. Texting While Driving

Create a poster letting people know about the dangers of driving while texting.  While it's a relatively new problem, a lot is being said about it.  Remember to include facts.  For example, you are 4 times as likely to cause an accident while driving after drinking... but 8 times as likely to drive while texting.  Here is a place to start: http://www.infographicsshowcase.com/driving-while-texting-infographic/ 

Here are some examples of posters: