Masthead Design

In InDesign, I created some alterations of my masthead by changing the kerning (the space between each glyph), making changes to the baseline, as well as the increasing/decreasing horizontal scale of the letters.

I have chosen to use the second alteration, in which I have applied a wider kerning to the text. The letters being further away from eachother gives the impression of boldness, which emphasises the masthead. This aspect will also ensure that my masthead covers at least over 50% of the width of my magazine.

This is my final masthead design. When designing this in relation to a plain background (grey here) I decided that the use of white for the design fits well with my colour scheme, also connoting ideas relating to fresh, new music much better than black would have.

I have also added the magazine name and website address below, as this is a common convention used in magazine design to help in promoting the magazine. 

I have added the masthead to the front cover image. I think it is more effective when it overlaps the central image, without a plain background colour such as those used in NME and Q magazine. I have increased the weight of each letter slightly, as to create a more bold impact. I have also added the date (December 2013) to make it clear to the reader which issue they are purchasing.