blog 3-magazine analysis

The mixmag magazine front cover has elements of it which always stay the same for example the title has always got the same font and is always big at the top of the page. This allows people to recognise this magazine straight away and familiarises people with the mixmag brand. There is a consistent structure with each front cover for the same reason. The first thing you notice when looking at the front cover is that there is alot going on: this relates to the genre of music which is featured in the magazine. Dance music is an intense style of music and when played live by dj's there are huge crowds and generally alot is going on when this style of music is played: this is represented by the front cover. There are stories and pictures covering the page so there is very little empty space on the front cover. This creates the effect of hysteria as it is overwhelming this is parralleled with the genre of music.

The picture taking up most of the page is of a woman in a bikini, jewelery and sunglasses this has a number of effects and representations. It is a young attractive woman so will attract men's attention. It will also attract women as they will want to be like her, they will think that buying this magazine can help them become more like her. The woman is holding her sunglasses and posing in a seductive way making her appear sexy and cool.

The bottom left hand corner of the front cover is taken up by a free CD which you receive with the purchase of the magazine. This attracts customers because it makes consumers feel they are getting more than they're moneys worth. The CD has a grey background with a white border. These are quite bland colours which is contrasting with the large writing which is yellow, white and orange. Party bombs creates imagery of chaos and destruction which is attractive to this demographic as they enjoy this chaotic style of music. There is a small picture of the Dj in the bottom right hand corner so you know who's music you are listening to. There is details of which artists are on the CD and tells you the music is new and exclusive. This is attractive to this demographic because they are always searching for new tunes.

The title of the magazine mixmag is in a large sans serif font at the top of the page. They have used a sans serif font because it is modern and trendy which appeals to the demographic because they are predominantly young and it is a modern genre of music. The title is white possibly because of how versatile the colour white is; this would allow a much wider variety of possible colour schemes for the front cover. It could also be because white gives the magazine a classy appearance.

The colour scheme is predominantly light blue, white and yellow. All areas of the front cover are selected to fit in with this colour scheme. For example the woman is wearing a blue and white striped bikini and golden-yellow jewelery this fits in with the colour scheme. Also she is wearing bright red sunglasses which contrast with the blue this makes them stand out. The whole front cover has a summer party feel and the colours were chosen to fit with this theme.

Just above the title of the magazine it tells you about the free CD you get with the magazine. they have put this just above the title so that you notice it almost immediately after looking at the title and it is one of the main selling points of the magazine so they wanted it to be noticed. It also has written next to this there advice on clubs and nights out. They claim that there are 1384 nights out in this issue alone. That is an impressive figure which will attract consumers which is why it was placed there.

Just below the title on the left hand side there is the use of alliteration. This goes on to talk about Ibiza which is renowned as a place for partying. On the right hand side of the magazine they have previews of the artists and the stories surrounding them in the magazine. In the bottom right hand corner they have the price and month of release.

The other front cover I am evaluating is ATM magazine although this is similar to mixmag it is more drum and bass orientated so is probably more applicable to my magazine. The front cover of this magazine is far less hectic than the one of mixmag. This could be because it is a higher end magazine because it is more specific to it's target audience (it doesn't cover as wider variety of music). It is a general trend of not only music magazines but music magazines in general when they are slightly higher end they do not tend to have as much stuff on the front cover.

The title of the magazine ATM is positioned in the top left corner of the magazine. This is consistent with each magazine although it may occasionally get changed but the front covers generally have the same layout. This is so the magazines are consistent and can be recognised. The style of the title is always the same to help improve brand awareness. The title is white with a black border and is again in a sans-serif font. I think this is again used to appeal to a modern demographic. There appears to be black drips running off the title of the magazine to make it look as if it was graffitied onto the page.

Above the title has a black bit at the top of the front cover with spots of black around this to also give this effect of spray paint. Graffiti is seen to be quite a cool thing to do which makes it appealing to people. There are many similarities that can be drawn from drum and bass and graffiti. Both are either hated or loved and viewed by those who like them to be misunderstood. They are both art forms but many people consider them to be messy and require no talent. This is obviously untrue in both cases and the magazine is demonstrating that they understand this. There is also a rebellious side to graffiti which their target audience may find attractive.

The image taking up most of the front cover is of two dj's called hazard and hype. They are both famous and successful drum and bass artists. They are two very popular drum and bass artists which is why they are on the front cover because you are more likely to buy a magazine if you see your favourite artist on the front.

There is large white writing in the middle of the page saying "hype and hazard" the names of the two djs on the front. This is again in a sans-serif font and in a block style of writing. There is wearing away of the writing to help give it the effect of the spray paint again. The style of writing could be representative of the djs because the writing has slightly worn away in areas to give it the impression of being old. this could be to represent the djs as they are both fairly old compared to alot of drum and bass artists. Like the writing however they are both a huge part of the drum and bass scene. It shows that age doesn't matter that they are still standing clearly and strong. Just below this on the right hand side is artists featured in the magazine. This is in a white sans-serif font again but does not look like graffiti. A reason they might have chosen to keep all the writing the same colour is to keep consistency and so it is a style you associate with that brand. It also says at the bottom of this list "100+ reviews" which is again an impressive figure used to draw in the target consumers.

The background colour of the front cover is dark yellow with shades of black blended in. This is quite a grimy colour to appeal to the target market. It creates feelings of grimy underground which is how this target market would see the type of music they listen to. It is not just the background colour it is the whole colour scheme which is used to give this affect. The top of the cover with the black paint looking design is immensely important in creating this effect. This style of design can again be linked to graffiti because it is a seedy underground art form itself so it helps create this mood well.

The first thing i notice about the contents page of mixmag is the massive picture taking up most of the page. This is a recurring theme throughout the magazine that every page has alot going on and tries to be visually pleasing. This links with the live performances of these genres of music as they tend to have effects to be visually pleasing. The picture is a cartoon this is so they can put whatever they want in the picture it also gives an old school look. This appeals to this demographic because alot of the music used to be far more popular than it is now so it is cool to be retro with this market. The picture has beer bottles and women on the front cover this creates a party atmosphere which appeals to this target market as they like to think of themselves as party animals. There is also bad language on the background this makes it controversial which is popular to this audience. This is also hand written to give a casual effect.

At the top of the page in large sans-serif writing is the word tunes. This is again casual language to appeal to this demographic. To the right of this is a key to their ratings of music. They have a 1 to 5 system all the descriptions are slang to appeal to help readers identify with the magazine more. Down the left hand side are the articles featured in the magazine. The one at the top is the special story you can tell this because the title of the article is bigger and the description is written in blue these are both used to establish a difference between this and the other articles and to make it stand out to the reader. All the other articles are labelled by the genre of music this instantly gives readers an effective guide to stories they will be interested in. The main similarity of all the different genres is that they are all non-commercial genres of music which can be important to the people who read this magazine. At the bottom of the page below the picture it says "all the hottest releases reviewed and rated" this statement implies that all the releases that are not reviewed by this magazine are not important and not worth listening to. It also infers that they cover all the songs you will want to listen to in the magazine trying to show versatility and variety.

On the left of the double page spread is a picture of the techno DJ: Magda. In this picture she is facing the ground with her eyes shut; she is looking very tranquil and almost enlightened to try to demonstrate her artistic side. The colours in the shot are mostly quite drab and the lack of vibrant colours gives a chilled mood. This reinforces the way she looks in the picture to indicate that she is a calm and easy going individual. Behind her there also appears to be peeling wallpaper on the wall this gives connotations of the underground music style she is part of. It could also be used to represent her turbulent life and beginnings. Near the bottom of the page is a quote from her interview this is used to interest the reader in her interview. The quote they used helps reinforce her attitudes and experiences of music making.

The other side of the double page spread is the interview and two pictures. The font they used for the interview is sans-serif to appear modern. They kept the font black to make it easy to read and to keep readers focused on the content of the interview. The first picture is similar to the large picture as the lighting is fairly dark. This is to create a relaxed mood and it again has connotations of an obscure music scene. There are rays of light to symbolise the positive things that music have brought to her life. It could also be related to her brightness compared to other music acts. The colours are plain in this photo to show class. The other photo is shot with her and a stained glass window to show her colourful side. This is slightly lighter than the other photos but still has the same tranquil appearance.