first draft

 

front cover and contents page and website 15/10/24

 

https://topickmagazine.wixsite.com/catalogue

Final masthead design

 

This is the final design for the Topick masthead. It was created in photoshop using the transform tools. The 'o' is meant to resemble a vinyl record. The legs of the 'T' and 'k' are lightning bolts, and are meant to evoke thought of the sound an electric guitar makes when struck, similar to the Kerrang! masthead. The legs of the 'T' and 'k' also double as a frame for the star on the front cover, who will be between the two. I ended up spelling it 'Topick' as a play-on-words involving 'topic' and a guitar 'pick'.

The Kerrang! and Metallica logos, which I used for inspiration, are pictured again below.

Current Kerrang! logo. Originally used from 1983 through 1996, again since 2021

Iconic Metallica logo, featuring a prominent downward swoosh on either side. 

Rose photoshoot

Overall I took almost 400 photos for the photoshoot. Below are the ones I have shortlisted for features in the magazine and website. Rose is wearing a leather jacket to convey a sort of rebellious, punky attitude. She also wears a t-shirt featuring the English rock band Blur. Fans of the genre would recognise the intertextuality here and appreciate the reference to the older band.

Mood board for cover 1

Cover 1 mood board

 

Masthead Planning

 Masthead

The name of the magazine will be Topick (a play on the words 'topic' and 'pick' as in the pick of a guitar). A guitar pick will be incorporated into the logo somehow, for instance by putting one in place for the dot for an 'I'. The 'K' will by stylised such that the right leg will look like a lightning bolt. The 'T' will also my stylised, such that it's leg will resemble a lightning bolt striking in the opposite direction to the 'K'. The 'O' will resemble a vinyl record.

The lightning motif in the stylisation of the magazine masthead was chosen in reference to how a chord is 'struck' on a guitar. It is a similar idea to that of the KERRANG! logo utilised from 1983 to 1996, then re-adopted by the publication in 2021 - the typography (and indeed the word itself) is representative of the 'sound of a power chord struck by an electric guitar'.

The overall shape and form of the title also takes inspiration from the American heavy metal band Metallica, who's logo is designed such that it features prominent downward spikes protruding from the first and last letters. The downward angle of the lightning bolt-esque leftmost and rightmost letters in the title of Topick are designed to bring the consumer's attention between the bolts - they are designed to frame the talent chosen for the front pages.

Current Kerrang! logo. Originally used from 1983 through 1996, again since 2021

Iconic Metallica logo, featuring a prominent downward swoosh on either side. 

Talent Pictures

 

Rose Ward

Edmund Gray