The cover is the advertisement of a newspaper, the invitation to read. Therefore, you should take your time and create space for creativity. Ideally, the cover should be related to the school or to the topics of the newspaper. Let yourself be inspired by other magazines and journals – and ask yourself: What impression do we want to achieve? Would I like to buy the school newspaper myself? Maybe you can also orient yourself to general design rules such as the golden ratio. Accordingly, the main motif should not be centered, but one third away from the edge of the page. In addition, the coloring could be high-contrast, i.e. not tone on tone, but with strong, different colors.
They succeeded: The cover of the magazine “Eigenleben”.
(Photo: Florian Peljak/Florian Peljak)
Special colors are also great for the cover. Tutorials show how to create them in Photoshop, for example. For Eigenleben we used silver lettering and also a transparent foil so that the mask, which our school’s namesake wears, shines and stands out from the photo. Depending on the edition and scope, an additional color or foil costs about ten percent more, the printers are happy to help.
Finally, the most important tip: Above all, you must like the cover yourself – and you must be able to identify with it. Have fun!
Teacher Christian Kral oversees the independent life of the Klara-Oppenheimer vocational school in Würzburg.