Zine Cover Development

I am having some issues with the front cover of my zine, at first I wanted it to be really simple with just in image of a cat from the front on the front cover and then a view of the back of a cat on the back. However, this was when I didn't have a name for my zine and now that I do, this needs to be incorporated in a considered way. 

These were my original roughs...

I have played around with these elements on Photoshop but they don't have the impact I imagined they would in my roughs. I need to revisit this. 

Inside Cover

When I first completed these simple cat drawings over summer, the first thing I did with them was make them into a pattern square which could easily be repeated on photoshop. This is what I am going to use for my inside cover because it fits the theme and isn't too distracting from the actual content of the book. I just need to decide on scale and opacity of the black. 

I have chosen to go with the pattern in the middle. I payed around bait with scale and opacity but I think he top one looks too heavy and bulky but the bottom one is too pale to stand out against all of my other dark images. I have not used many mid-tones of grey in my zine image unless it is part of the brush texture so I don't think this one would tie in well. 

I will need to print my covers onto A3 now because this pattern makes the image full bleed.  I will go to the digital print resource so I can get it printed on thicker stock. This will make a stronger cover for my zine and the initial look of it will be of higher quality. 

Final ideas for front cover

I wasn't happy with how my roughs were appearing on photoshop, the page just didn't seemed balanced or interesting enough. I played around with a few variations on screen. 

I like having one cat upside down, it makes the cover look more visually interesting and from a distance is creates a good central shape on a blank page. I decided against having the word 'the' included because it sets the design off balance. I think the border is too restricting and there are borders all the way through my book so I thought I would leave this free. 

These were some potential options for what could feature on the back of my zine. 

 This is the image I have chosen for the back of the zine which will be placed towards the bottom of the page. I have kept it simple and easy to read, most of the back cover will be blank. 

This is a quick mockup of what will be printed. I think the cover design sits comfortably at this size, it doesn't suffocate the space but it also isn't drowned out by the blank page. I like the simplicity of this cover and the fact it doesn't give away too much information about the fashion element of the book, it will be a process of realisation as the viewer looks through the book and then understands its name.