Empire Front Cover - Editing

Before I start working on my front cover, I decided to look over the edited 

image again. I decided to make some tiny, minor adjustments, for example, I got rid of the 'chin shadow' because it just didn't look right blended into the skull.  I did this by using the 'healing brush' tool, selected the colour around the shadow, and painted over it. 

I also edited out a couple of blemishes and the dark circles around my actor's eyes. 

It may seem a bit picky, but I do this with all of my photography - it ensures a much more professional look and is much less distracting to the eye. Sometimes tiny details like this can really improve the overall image. 

The next step for me was to create the Empire masthead. I did not simply want to copy and paste the masthead, I wanted to do something more special with it. 

From my research into front covers, I've noticed that for special interviews, Empire will adopt a 'theme' and the theme will leak into the logo. 

These two covers show how elements of the characters' design influences the masthead editing, which really makes the front cover very strong. 

This front cover, for the Kick Ass film, really inspired me. I loved how the masthead still retained the conventional red Empire colour, but the bloody typography added to the theme of the cover, and blends in well with the image. 

To create my own bloody Empire masthead, I first found a good sized image of the logo. 

Using the line tool, in size 1 and in black, I created a layer above the masthead and traced the outline of the typography. 

After I was done, I was left with this: a very solid and clear looking masthead, free to edit as I please. 

Creating the bloody effect was a little more tricky and required a little more effort. 

I first chose a very dark red colour: a bright red would not look very realistic and a dark red would look much more subtle. 

I then used a number of Photoshop brushes that I already had downloaded: 

These are some of the brushes I used to create the bloody Empire masthead. 

Using the outline I'd traced earlier as my guide, I created a layer over the top of it and started 'filling in' the letters with the brushes. To create a very splatter-y, realistic look, I applied different brushes in different sizes, and at different opacities, so the blood would look thicker in some places than others. On this screenshot, you can see the background showing through the blood, which I did on purpose to create the realistic look I was after. 

This is the finished result of my bloody Empire masthead. The original typography of Empire is still visible though the effects, but this gives it a more interesting look, and is really eye catching. Although it took a very long time to create this, I'm really pleased with it overall: I think it's successful and looks somewhat realistic. It would fit in very well with the overall theme of my cover. 

The next step was to import both the masthead and the image into a document together. I selected a plain black background, to keep things simple. I think that the main elements of the cover look much better on black as well. 

In terms of placement, I spent a long time debating over whether I should put the masthead behind or in front of the actor. Most Empire covers feature a masthead behind the actors, but I did find some examples where they had done the exact opposite. 

In the end, I chose to put my masthead slightly over the actor, as if the blood was dripping onto the actor. Also, because the top of the actor's head just fades into black, there is no defined line that would stand out over the masthead. 

The next thing I did was to place the barcode on the cover. 

From my scan of the Batman cover, I copied the barcode into a new Photoshop document. 

Tracing over the barcode, I used the line tool in different thicknesses to achieve the straight lines.

For the numbers, I used a sans-serif font like the barcode. I chose Arial because it's fairly similar to the numbers here. I used the text tool in Photoshop to type the numbers in, and I placed them roughly over the numbers on the original barcode. 

This is the finished barcode. I saved it as a png, because png files can be resized without limit and the image doesn't go pixellated or blurry, which was really important for what I'm working on, in case I need to resize my cover.

This is where I placed the barcode, as I've seen many Empire covers have it placed there. The size is pretty accurate - not too big to distract from the rest of the cover, but not too small so as you can't see it properly. 

The next element I needed to place into the cover was the issue date and price. 

Typically, the date appears between the M, in a small, sans serif font. Since my background is quite dark, I'll be using the colour white for my date too. 

I chose Arial, as is it sans serif and very similar to the font Empire uses. I also chose white. 

I also noticed that the font gradually reaches a smaller size in a 'v' kind of shape to fit the shape between the M. 

With my own date, I started off with 'August 2011' in size 5, '£3.99' in size 4, and the rest in size 3. 

Compared to a real Empire cover, the placement, size and overall look of my date is pretty similar to the real thing. 

The next main thing I next input was the heading of the cover. Like most Empire covers, my header is the title of the film itself. 

I used the font TW Cen MT, as I earlier found that it's pretty similar to the Empire font. 

I selected the colour red as it's the main colour of the FD franchise, and it already fits the theme colours of my cover. 

Inspired by the Kick Ass cover, I decided to get a little creative with my placement of the text. 

With my own header, I set the text over the actor, to make the cover a little more dynamic. I think if I had set the header in its own space, it might not have felt quite as integrated. The sloping typography is much more interesting to read, and visually looks so much more appealing than just horizontal text. 

At the corners of the text, I added little splatters in red that is part of the text, similar to the Kick Ass header. This keeps the header tied in with the theme of the cover, and again, looks much more dynamic and interesting that standard typography. 

Also inspired by the Kick Ass typography, I joined some of my letters together. 

I did this by manually selecting the letters and placing them carefully how I wanted them. Some words couldn't be joined together, for example, the 'I' and the 'N' but some words could. By only joining some of the letters, I think this makes the typography look quite strange but it works very well. 

This is what part of my typography looks like after I've shuffled the letters around. 

However, there was something missing from my header that I wanted to pay more attention to. 

Empire's typography is a little strange, as I've found out before from research. 

The top letter is from Empire, and the bottom letter is TW Cen MT. Empire's font has 'slants' whereas most other fonts just have straight lines. 

To change this, I only had to make some simple tweaks to my typography. 

Using the line tool, I drew a slanted edge on the edges of the letters. 

Using the eraser tool, I simply rubbed out the edge left over, using the line as my guide. 

After all the tweaking, this is now what my front cover looks like. 

I added in a '5' in white, to stand out against the red and to create something interesting. I placed the 5 behind the rest of the heading again to play around with a more dynamic look to my cover. I also added some splattering around the 5, only this time a little more, because it's a much larger size than the rest of the header so needed more effects so as to keep it from looking plain. 

I did try to create a 'scythe' shaped '5' like FD's own artwork, but I felt that it looked wrong, compared to the rounded shapes presented on the cover. I also felt that the random pointed edge didn't fit in with the rest of the typography, so therefore didn't look 'integrated'.

So far, all the main elements have now been added to my cover. I now need to work around these elements to fill up the rest of the magazine. 

I collected a series of images of the different titles that Empire have had on their front covers, to give me a few more ideas of how to fill up space. 

Inspired again by the Kick Ass cover, I chose to further the theme of 'blood splatters'. I created a white blood splatter just under the 'Destination'. 

Inside, I inserted text, "NEW BLOOD!". The term means "new talent" which definitely applies to Steven Quale, as he's the newest director of the Final Destination series. The use of the word 'blood' also reinforces the gore theme. I think this phrase works well, and it's quite witty. Empire's covers are quite informal and exciting, which is the kind of tone I'm trying to get across in my production piece. 

I used the font TW Cen MT for the text, and manually moved some letters closer, to match the heading. I also chose to put the 'New' in the same red colour I've used throughout, to give it emphasis. Words like 'New' catches the attention of the audience, because they love to know all about the latest trends/films/etc.

This is the final placement of the 'NEW BLOOD' splatter, underneath the 'Destination' like the '5'. I felt that this matched well and I felt that it was very integrated within the layout which was very important to get right. So far the header section is very well balanced, and very eye pleasing, as the eye travels down and along the typography. 

So far, this is how my cover is looking. I'm really liking the striking colours of the red,white and black together. The next step is to input the rest of the typography/information, and I will need to determine whether I want to integrate another colour (perhaps a dark BLUE to match the colours of the Final Destination posters.)