The inspiration for my artists design came from various metal artists. In particular I was heavily influenced by Slipknot’s masks, but I opted for a gas mask as obtaining my own mask of a similar threatening design was too expensive.

Above, is also a picture of Lordi, the Metal band that won Eurovision, and the only band that ever has, in 2006. Again, I found there costumes, specifically the masks as a big influence for my design. Metal is all about extremes, these bands represent this perfectly.

In terms of actual clothing, I found many images of Marilyn Manson (above) in a suit, which is a rather unconventional style for a metal artist. I decided to apply his style to my own artist, and combine that with the chaos exhibited by Slipknot and Lordi. As you can see, there is a big contrast between the smart, sophisticated look of the suit with the mentality of the gas mask.

Originally, my artist was going to wear a jumpsuit, but as I also had the other idea, I decided to proceed with both and simply decide on what I think works best.

The jumpsuit, is yet again, associated with Slipknot. The band is typically seen wearing their signature red jumpsuits. They represent conventional prison garments, which given the fact Metal promotes rebellion against the order of society and other strange things like devil worship, it’s rather appropriate.

The poses for my artist mean to make the artist appear strong and powerful, hence the use of the knifes as props.

Photographs were taken in my home, since this was the easiest place to take them without our schedules colliding.

As I had taken the pictures in my home, I needed to remove the background image for obvious reasons. However, without the image behind the double page spread looked too empty, so I needed to replace it.

I research some of the main artists from Metal Hammer to see what they placed behind their artists. Corey Taylor as the “Man of Steel” is very bizarre, but based on a deal he made with Dark Horse Comics, so is largely irrelevant to my magazine. Amon Amarth is more along the right lines, with a medieval design added using a green screen.

Eventually, I used the image of Opeth to choose my location. The desolate, horror-esque backdrop looks intimidating and fitting for the metal genre. I visited a local graveyard, as this was the most similar location I could think of with a similar atmosphere, and took my images there. The quality wasn’t the best, but this was edited during the construction in Photoshop.

The design remains the same throughout all three products to maintain continuity.

The black and white design is used throughout Metal Hammer, so I used it to my own advantage. Removing the colour makes the image appear more intimidating and dark.

I also removed the eyes from the artist so they are hidden in the gas mask, adding an element of mystery and terror to the artist.

Choosing a female artist for the contents page was unconventional in the Metal genre, but I managed to find many Metal bands with female artists including:• Evanescence• Nightwish• Blackthorn• Kobra and the Lotus

Women still have a strong image in metal, despite the change in gender, and I have tried to put this across in my images.

They still appear sexy though, and so choosing the right model and certain posing was needed. Look at the image of her sat down on the left for example.

Make up is typically heavily applied and my model is no different, as you can see from the red and purple haired artist to the left, below.

To the far left is the original unedited image. These were taken outside (the same applies to the previous shots) in front of a white background, for ease of editing a new background.

The pose here was inspired by the Metal Hammer cover to the left, making the artist appear intimidating.

With the other two artists giving a large part of the more crazy side of the Metal genre, I wanted this artist to appear a little more grounded.

The costume is based on general metal fans and the typical items worn by bands like Metallica (left). Some light make up was applied, but nothing that ran into the Punk Rock genre.