Construction of Front Cover

1) I cropped the front cover image, as I did not like the floor pattern and on R&B front covers there is rarely a full body shot. 

2) I then brightened the image by 42%, as I thought it looked quite dull and it also improves the lighting 















3) Using the Clone Stamp tool, I cloned a section of Marzi's hair and stamped it in the areas where gaps could be seen in her hair. This made her hair look fuller, which enhanced the image. 

4) I then added the title "PULSE",  but at this stage, I realized the magazine cover wasn't actually A4 size so I had to re size it (see step 5 below)

5) After re sizing the canvas, I then enlarged the main image itself, as when I looked back on the R&B covers that I had analysed, I saw the majority of the front cover shots were either mid shots or close ups. 

I then began adding text to my cover and on the parts of the image that were black I used white and vice versa on the lighter areas. I chose the colour gold as my accent colour as I feel it complimented the models skin tone and jewelry and also the warm tones of the magazine. On the masthead, I used the block eraser tool, to rub away sections of the title, I feel it added some edginess to the magazine that was missing.