Hey again, for this post I want to now break down the conventions of a front cover design and, since it is the front cover, conventions for food photography.
Front Cover Conventions:
When creating a front cover for a magazine, there are a lot of elements to have. The most important thing is the cover image. This image will take up the entire magazine and should be related to the concept of the magazine. Things like a shot of a person, or items that will be talked about in the magazine are good ideas for a cover image. The cover image should be, as stated from a source called “Mastering Media”, “a striking, high-resolution image that resonates with your target audience”. This means that the image should be high-quality and eye-catching so that potential readers will grow interested in the magazine.
The next element is the masthead. This is the magazine title; typically, the magazine's brand name (e.g. Vogue, Seventeen, Cosmopolitan) is the masthead. This should be easy to read and large enough to stand out. It should stay consistent with the style guide such as typography and colors to recognize the brand.
The next element is coverlines. Coverlines help in giving hints to the content inside. Usually there is more than one coverline to highlight multiple articles that will be talked about in the magazine. These coverlines should be clear to see and have a sense of persuasion. By giving it a sense of persuasion, it helps draw attention to the magazine and leads to the interest of potential readers of the magazine.
The next element of the magazine is the use of color. When using colors, it helps in creating a mood or aesthetic for the magazine. These colors should also reflect the tone of the magazine in general. For example, for an energetic magazine, bright and bold colors would be better than light pastels. The use of bright and bold colors reflects the energetic tone from the magazine. Though you should be careful that the colors don’t blend too much with the cover image because it could make it hard to read. So, make sure that there is enough contrast between the text and cover image to make sure that it is readable.
The next element is making sure that the text and cover image are balanced. What this means is that the text should not be over crowding the cover image. To manage that, the empty space from the cover image is where the text (e.g. Masthead, Coverlines, Puffs) should be placed so that it is not in the way of the cover image. If the design is overcrowded, it can be distracting and look out of place, which is why balancing everything helps.
The next element is the focus. When making the cover design, you should focus on the target audience and how the design shows the themes or interests of the audience. This is where your genre affects this since the design should focus on the genre and what themes or interests you want to display. For example, a fashion magazine cover design will focus on a different target audience than a health and wellness magazine cover design.
The last element is the bar-code and date. The bar-code is placed on the magazine to make sure it can be distributed and purchased. Also, some magazines do issues which is why it is important to state the issue (if it has one) or the date of when it was released or needs to stop displaying in places. These elements all help in successfully making a cover design.
Food Cover Conventions:
These conventions discussed are also used, but some things differ when discussing a food magazine. For example, the focus for the target audience is relating to food such as recipes and healthy food tips. Also, all the elements will relate to food such as food magazine brands (e.g. Food Network, Better Homes & Gardens, Cook’s Illustrated), cover image, and color choices. The cover design should still create a sense of persuasion but focus on the specific audience.
Food Photography Conventions:
To know what the cover image of a food magazine should be, we must learn about food photography tips. When figuring out the position of the camera, it is important to shoot vertically. This means to shoot it in portrait mode. Also, adding height helps to make the image have more space and not look cramped.
The next step is to focus on working with less space. Make sure that the props being chosen for the shot are thought out or have a reason to be there. Things like colors, textures, shapes, utensils, and more are props that should be thought about before putting them in the shot. The reason for this is that sometimes adding too many things can make the image look cramped. Also, keeping ingredients that are used in the dish in the shot can create interest for the reader by hinting it inside the dish as well as scattering ingredients around the area of the food. Another way to focus on less space is by using narrow lenses. These lenses help in focusing on the items in the image that work. The next step is to use a wide range of apertures. An aperture is the opening of a camera lens that is adjustable and oversees controlling the amount of light. Typically, a wide aperture is used (e.g. 1.8) to help focus on the main item and make the rest out of focus. An example of this is this photo of a Parmesan, Ham & Swiss Crescent Rolls. You can see that the plate with three rolls on it is in more focus than the rest on the pan in the back.
As well as having a range of apertures, make sure to use a macro lens. This close-up lens helps to notice small details or textures on the food. The next tip is to make sure to enhance shadows to add depth and dimension. Using foam boards can help in bouncing light and fill shadows. This can help to improve the light quality of the shot. The other tip is to use side lighting, which means light coming from the left or right. This helps show texture and depth.
The last tip is to consider textured backgrounds. Backgrounds like wood and marble can a variety of color and add to the shot without distracting from the food. To learn about these tips, click this link to watch the YouTube video about steps for beginners. Now let’s look at some examples of magazine cover designs.
Example #1:
Front Cover Conventions:
The first example is a magazine from “Better Homes & Gardens” about different soup and stew recipes. The masthead in this magazine is the brand name, “Better Homes & Gardens”. The coverlines in this magazine are all related to the main point of the magazine, which is “Soups & Stews”.
On the right side it states different coverlines such as “Plant-Based Stews”, “Beyond Basic Chicken Noddle”, “Ramen Bowls”, and “Make & Freeze Broths”. These coverlines tell the content that will be in the magazine. In this case, these are different recipes of soups or stews that will be in the magazine. There is also a coverline near the center that says, “Winter Warm-Ups". This can hint that this magazine is being released during winter and that it will attract an audience of people who want to have something warm in the winter to eat.
There are no puffs in this design, but there is a small caption that says, “Cheddar Baked Potato Chowder”. This caption shows the name of the dish displayed on the cover. This magazine does seem to be a part of an issue with the white circle in the lower left corner saying, “Back by Popular Demand: Fourth Printing of Soups & Stews 2021”. There is also a bar-code below that also states the price of the magazine and how long it is to display it in places, which is until “3/6/26”.
Overall, the target audience would focus on people who like soups and stews or want to learn more about them and some recipes. Also, this might attract people based on dishes such as “Plant-Based”. Since the dish is plant-based, it might attract people who are vegetarians because it does not contain any meat.
Photography Conventions:
When looking at this example, there are also photography conventions that are used to make the cover image look good. The first thing is that they shot vertically to seem less crowded and give more empty space to use for the magazine. The next thing is the use of “mess”. In the image, there are cheddar crackers placed in the background next to the dishes. This was used to hint at the soup in the image since it is a “Cheddar Baked Potato Chowder”. The soup dishes also help create a look for this cover since the color of the dish is similar to the background, making it look cohesive. The next thing is the lens. It seems that they used a macro lens as you can see the details and texture of the garnish on top of the dish. This helps in improving the quality as well by capturing the details and different textures in this image. For lighting, it seems that the light is coming from the right side. This again helps in highlighting the details and textures in this image. The last thing is the use of textured backgrounds. In this image, it displays a wood background which helps in adding more to the shot while not distracting from the food. Overall, photography for this example makes the image simple to give off a sort of calm energy.
Example #2:
The second example is also a magazine from “Better Homes & Gardens”, but it talks about diabetes and healthy recipes that people should have to help treat Type 2 diabetes. The masthead in this magazine is the brand name, “Better Homes & Gardens”. The coverlines in this magazine are all related to the main point of the magazine, which is “Eat to Beat Diabetes”.
The next biggest coverline is the one in yellow text that says, “How to Treat Type 2 Diabetes”. On the right side, it states other coverlines such as “Portions made Easy”, “What’s the deal with Weight Loss Drugs?”, “All-Day Healthy: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Desserts, Snacks”. These coverlines tell that the content in this magazine will focus on diabetes and some questions about it as well as healthy recipes that are good for people with Type 2 diabetes.
There is one puff in this design at the top right corner that says, “85 Carb-Smart Recipes”. This puff helps draw interest by persuading readers to want to learn about the recipes. There is also a small caption that says, “Crispy Cajun-Spiced Chicken Thighs”. This caption shows the name of the dish displayed on the cover.
This magazine is a part of an issue with the black circle in the lower left corner saying, “Back by Popular Demand: Second Printing of Eat to Beat Diabetes 2024”. There is also a barcode below that also states the price of the magazine and how long it is to display it in places, which is until “1/30/26”. Overall, the target audience would focus on people who have type 2 diabetes and want to know healthy recipes for diabetics.
When looking at photography for this example, they also shot vertically to make it seem less crowded and give more empty space to use for the text. This example doesn’t rely on the use of “mess”. However, it used a lot of garnishes around the plate. In the image, the plate with the meal is garnished with corn, sliced baby tomato's, and lemons. This use of garnishes shows what the chicken thighs can be paired with. The dish also helps create a look for this cover since the colors of red, yellow, and green create a sense of variety for the background and the overall image.
As for the lens, they also use a macro lens to see the details and textures of the garnishes on and around the dish. This improves the quality and captures details and different textures in this image. For lighting, the light is coming from the left side. There is also shadowing of the plates.
Lastly, for backgrounds, it is a teal background which helps in adding more variety to the shot while not distracting but enhancing the food. There is also the choice of utensils and plates. The plate of the dish is a simple black pan which does not distract from the overall image. Also, the spoons with gold help work with the overall bright color palette in this shot. Overall, photography for this example helps to make the image brighter and more colorful.
Between these two examples, the second example follows both front cover and photography conventions a little bit more than the first example. The second example displays all the information needed for a front cover to a magazine (masthead, coverlines, bar-code, and the issue). The reason that this example differs from the first is because of the puff displayed in the second example. The puff added to the design by persuading the audience to want to learn more since it said, “85 Carb-Smart recipes”.
As for photography, the second example uses more variety to make it stand out. The choices of background color help in contrasting from the dish but also making it stand out. This helps attract the attention of the audience visually. These examples help show me differences that still follow conventions. In the first example, the design still follows the conventions but is simpler than the second example, which is more eye-catching based on the use of variety in the image and the text in the magazine. Overall, these two examples are distinct in their own ways but, relating to the conventions, example #2 creates a better overall cover design and food photography.
Sources:
https://www.nyip.edu/photo-articles/photography-tutorials/five-tips-for-better-food-photography (Photography)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noNErm5irFU (Photography)
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