A few seconds is all it takes for the consumer to form an opinion of your magazine even from a distance. The cover is a symbol of style and it's got to be eye-catching for the contents to ever be read. Designing a cover may sound like a simple thing, but you better believe that there's a lot of creative thinking that goes into making an arresting cover.
The photo and masthead are the two things that must stand out from the rest. Pick a high-resolution photo shot by an expert photographer. If it's a model take a nice close-up with preferably no headroom because you want her face to show as much as possible. Female models need not necessarily be famous faces as long as they are pretty, but if it's a male model you want to pick an instantly recognizable one. The photo should be centered on the eyes; wide-open pupils attract attention. Use only one photo on the cover; any more will detract attention.
Next is the masthead or the magazine name. Position it at the top, running over the model's head or forehead. Use a grunge background to improve visibility. Drop shadows look great too. If your publication is an established one, always use the same font, size and kerning values every time. If you are still in the tweaking phase make sure it is bold, big and kerned at larger sizes. This is your logo; keep it unique so that people will recognize your magazine with a mere look at the font. And remember to start it out from the extreme left because magazines will be stacked up at the newsstands and only the left third will be visible.
If the magazine has a selling line, keep it just below or above the masthead.
Now it's time to add cover lines - the titles of a few stories inside. Be careful about how you distribute them around the photo. The main cover line (title of the main story) should be large but not as prominent as the masthead. Use thin fonts. The main cover line should be over a clear background while the others can be scattered anywhere except over the model's face. Use smaller fonts, softer colors and don't let them steal the photo's shine. You can use different colors within a line so that they don't mix with the image and become invisible.
If every issue of the magazine has a flash like "New" or the like, position it in one of the corners and keep it there every time.
When you see someone on a magazine cover you would want to know why he or she is on the cover. So don't forget to add a line to make people buy the magazine.
Finally add all the essentials like date line, barcode and price. Keep them small and preferably in the corners.
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