Use a photo of your band that looks like a magazine photo. Refer to Rolling Stone or Spin for the style of photography used for magazine covers. For example, you can have your band stand in front of a pure white background looking in opposite directions. The photograph should take up the entire front cover. The text will be layered on top of the photograph.
Place the selling line and the dateline in the top left hand corner. The selling line is a short statement that describes the edition of the issue. A great selling line is, "Free Edition." The dateline is the month and year of the issue, such as "November 2010." The dateline should be placed underneath the selling line in a smaller font.
Create a stylized masthead. The masthead is another word for the title of the magazine, such as Rolling Stone. Notice that with most magazines the masthead also serves as the logo. The masthead should be a unique way of presenting your magazine title, either with a unique font or fonts with an image. The masthead can be placed anywhere on the cover and should be the largest font size.
Create the main cover lines and the sub headings. The main cover lines should be engaging and describe the main feature of the issue. In this case, you want the main cover lines to refer to your band. For example, you can write, "Behind the scenes of Glasko's newest record." The sub headings are one-line descriptors that refer to other important content in the issue. Usually you want to write "Featuring," followed by several artists' names.
Include a barcode. Type "barcode" in Google images and search for a picture of a barcode. Copy the picture and paste it onto your magazine cover in the lower left hand corner. This barcode will not scan but is simply for visual purposes.