Mixmag Contents 3

Here is a third variant of a standard Mixmag contents page. This one appears to be a particularly simple version, as immediately I notice there is more space consumed by images than text.
What is unique about this version is the thumbnail of the cover with the photographer and featured band noted alongside it. I'm not sure I will use this myself, however it has made me curious enough to look into it.
Also, I've noticed that the photos don't necessarily need to look flattering as the large image here appears to be more of a 'caught off-guard' paparazzi shot. I think I might interpret this into my own contents images.

Mixmag Contents 2

This alternate contents page layout for Mixmag has some very inspiring techniques. I like how its used all the space on the page and yet kept it looking neat and simplistic.

I also like the interesting photos used which make the reader intrigued as to their meanings, and if they wanted to find out more the page number is clearly and stylistically placed.

One interesting feature about this contents page is that its bottom half is filled with information about the CD which is something I am now inspired to look into a little more as it looks like interesting information and makes my magazine appear like a more successful and mainstream one (as including a good quality CD in a magazine is expensive and smaller magazines wouldn't go to the trouble if they can't afford it)

Mixmag Contents Page

I really like how the images in this contents page have annotations as well as page numbers, as it makes it more obvious as to what the images represent.

However, what this contents page oddly lacks is the full listing of pages, as only the features are shown. This may have been easier to fit into the page, however it makes navigating the magazine alot more awkward; it seems that perhaps the creator of this page rated the large image as a higher priority than the full page listings.

Another odd feature is that there are no credits or editorial as instead the CD content takes a higher priority on the page.

iDJ Contents Page

This contents page is based around the wall of images, however I don't think I find this a successful technique as they all seem very vague about what they represent.

Although the pages are listed in categories like DJ mag, these catergories aren't as bold, and do require more time to look at.

Again, the 'Features' idea was used, and these articles have small sentences underneath summarizing the corresponding articles.

The staff credits are very dominant, and perhaps a bit too much so, as the box it is in has a lot of room, whereas the table of contents is very compressed. This is also a bit of a negative as the reader isn't usually going to take much notice of the staff credits, however it is prioritised over the contents itself.

DJ Magazine Contents Page

I like the layout of this contents page as its easily accessable to both new and old readers.
Its arranged into sensible categories which are colour coded nicely, and each page within these categories is listed in chronological order.
Something I really like about this is the Features column, which tells you straight away where all the cover articles are. This is important as these are the articles the reader probably bought the magazine for, so this makes it very easy to navigate.
I also like the pictures for each of the categories, as they almost summarise what you will expect to see in each of these.

Mixmag Double Page Spread

My only real grievance with this DPS is the lack of title. Instead, it attempts to compensate with a large stand first, but it just doesn't look as visually pleasing and doesn't make it completely obvious who this is about the second I glance at the page. This can be awkward as the image is not a close-up either, so if the reader was flicking through the magazine they would be more likely to overlook who was featured, as you probably couldn't tell from a glance who it was without reading.

The black on white colour scheme is bold and clean, and with no background, the article and image don't have attention taken away from them.

Again, this article is informal, but unlike the previous articles, this one is much more focused around Ferry as a person than his music and asks questions as irrelevant as "Have you ever been hypnotised?". Also unlike the other articles, the interviewr doesnt appear to have a set list of questions, and appears to ask questions dependent on his responses. The interviewer also makes sure to flaunt their knowledge of Ferry's music in the opening bold text when they quote his responses to things and state possibly little known facts like "L.E.F" being a song made in protest to the genre he was described as.

His image is satisfactory - i like how he looks bold and how he takes up as much space as he can, however his pose is somewhat unusual and abstract and the background light is so bright that his face seems undefined and unclear.

m8 Double Page Spread

I think I like the composition on this DPS the most, as its straight forward and gets the reader to look at all the things they should by using the rule of thirds.
I like the pose the artist is pulling, as it boldens her personality and looks a lot more realistic and relatable than a pose in which she tries to look her best, which could make her seem arrogant and superior to the reader.
The headphone prop is also a good idea, as its an instantly recognisable accessory that makes her easily identifyable as a DJ.
The article itself is informal but asks constructive questions that a reader aspiring to be a DJ would actually want to know. There isn't really any swearing but there are some mature themes and talks about specific clubs that target the student clubbers.
I think its there is anything that I don't really like about this layout its the colours (I think they should be bolder and more suggestive of the genre) and the title font (I think it should be bolder and again perhaps a bit more suggestive of a theme).

ATM Double Page Spread

On first glance, I already see a lot I dislike about this spread, the most striking being the intimidating, vast wall of text on the right page; I want to turn over already.

However, even if this large amount of content was necessary, it's not as though it couldn't have been broken down. There are no quotations or thumbnail images separating the text which give the reader a break between reading as well as intriguing them into reading in the first place. Also, the article is lain out in an almost storytelling way as apposed to a Q&A style interview, making the spread perhaps more laborious to read.

The title font is poorly chosen too as the writing isn't simple enough to read; I can't tell if it says "Lynx B Kemo" or "Lynx & Kemo". Also, without assuming "The New Truth" was more likely the title of the interview, the fonts are pretty much identical to each other so its unclear as to which is the band name and which is the title.

The left page is arguably just as bad as the left; I immediately feel frustrated at the lack of text and feel there should really be a title at least below the image. There's not even a caption, which is really irritating as a pun could perhaps add some more personality to the artists or a simple indication of who is who would make the article more understandable; I have no hint whatsoever at which is Lynx and which is Kemo, which is ridiculous because I don't know who did what in the article.

The image is poor quality too. The man in front isn't even looking at the camera and has a pretty heavy shadow down one half of his body. In some situations the artist doesn't need to look at the camera to create a good image, however this one looks careless instead of purposeful and artistic. The background seems irrelevant too - how is a country manor related to two drum & bass artists?

iDJ Double Page Spread

What first strikes me is that the artist, Skream, is opaque and placed beneath the article text, which is odd as he is supposed to be a big feature within the magazine yet he does not dominate his part of the page - something that I now know should be taken note of when I create my own DPS.

Another flaw is that his name is incredibly small considering; the quote about him is written in larger, bolder font, which is even bolder than the standfirst which is a bit awkward to read.

Visually, they have gone for a grungey, urban theme, making the pages look like worn scrapbook or dirty cardboard, suggesting an imperfect, rough-around-the-edges suburban DJ. The text in the upper right which reads "Players of the Year" is written in an urban, graffiti font which also emphasizes the general theme.

It's a very informal article and has a bit of unnessacary swearing to confirm that, with silly sentences like "any old muppet can work their cock off" really making sure that no formality is suggested. However, this is somewhat effective as it makes the DJ and interviewer more relatable to the reader, as they are not holding themselves back or creating a false impression of their personalities.

OHM Double Page Spread

I really like this double page spread. It's really clean and has a really crisp resolution to it that just makes the whole thing really visually pleasing.
The artist's name in the left hand corner fits the house typography style of a computer-esque type that links to the synthesized music genre itself, however it's a less obvious approach to the computer font look as a more predictable style would be to write in a font like courier. This makes it look alot more contemporary, artsy and possibly looks a bit more intellectual.
The title, Resident Heroes, again gives off a unique modern look using two different fonts of different sizes in lower case, the house style. It is also easy to see that some decisions were made purely based on what looked good. For example, in smaller font, a line of text trails upwards in a diagonal line from the start of the title which says Resident Heroes backwards. Clearly this was done for no practical reason other than to look good on the page.
The word 'heroes' is presented like a stamp which suggests an urban tone to this article, which works nicely with the artist dressing in a casual, urban way and in an outdoor environment.

The article itself is perhaps more serious than most magazines, but it still has a few informal phrases such as "Sure as hell". The questions are also focused directly on music, not Raymundo's private life, and asks about when he "caught the House bug" and where he's "at now musically".
The reader must also be aware of the varying House music genres that he mentions in order to understand some of his responses, as he mentions less known genres such as "Soulful House", "Deep House" and "Techno House".
The article is actually quite big too and is presented in a wall of paragraphs rather than columns. I'm not sure if i like this idea myself, and I think i will probably try to avoid doing this as walls of text seem dauntingly long to the reader.

Mixmag

Immediately, the music genre featured in this magazine is apparent. The most notable giveaway is the large smiley face which is an iconic rave/clubbing symbol. The loud, clashing colours also give connotations of this genre of music as it is commonly represented with a similar vibrant colour scheme in the same way heavy metal music is linked to the colour black.

Mixmag's cover has no photography on it at all - this suggests the lack of celebrity interest and perhaps more of a focus on the actual music (which is also suggested by the free CD).

The cover is unique in the way that it is both visually pleasing and full of content. The font is in sans-serif and has a very smooth, artsy look which suggests informality - the title is even in lower case which emphasizes this further.

Survey Questions

How do you usually find out about music?
This is to determine whether our surveyed person is used to learning about their music interests through magazines or not - a regular music magazine subscriber may know what to expect, whereas someone who hears about music elsewhere or perhaps purchases music magazines very occasionally may require a more user friendly magazine layout.

What would make you want to purchase a particular music magazine?
The response to this question will tell me exactly what I need to include, emphasize or alter. For example, the surveyed person may specify that a large image of a music icon on the cover makes them more likely to purchase the magazine.

What would make you reluctant to buy a particular music magazine?
This opinion is just as crucial as the previous; this will help tell me what attributes i need to avoid or reduce. This could be anything from too much clutter to too simplistic.

What articles are most entertaining and which are least?
This will help in the creation of my contents page and cover stories. Obviously this effects what the actual stories are, but also it helps me decide which should be the main articles and which should be less boldy mentioned.

Do you prefer a simplistic or complex look?

Does your opinion on the previous question apply to the entire magazine? Eg. Do you like a simple cover but busy, high content pages?

How much would you be willing to pay for your ideal music magazine?

Diary Entry 3

I've been busy carrying out audience research this week, which will soon be uploaded onto the blog. I'll probably display the data as a series of reviewer profiles to prove its legitimacy, as i carried out surveys rather than video interviews.

Interview Video

Tilllate magazine cover

iDJ Magazine

iDJ isn't too cluttered, yet it isn't simplistic. Unlike DJ, iDJ does not focus on famous artists, and instead makes the cover DJ look subtle and average - everything overlaps him to show his lack of importance and the dominance of the content.
The font reflects the style of music, as it looks digital and electronic. The font also changes depending on how obvious it wants to be; sometimes its sans, sometimes sans-serif, but the sans font manages to stay informal.

DJ Magazine

DJ magazine is completely different to OHM. The most striking difference is the business of the cover; it's full of different colours shapes and texts which give it a really busy appearence. The text is all relatively plain, and the title isn't a big exception. However, unlike OHM, the title is slightly covered by the artists on the front, suggesting its confidence and fame as a magazine. The colour scheme is red, yellow, white and black, the photo also suggesting grey as the fifth colour.
Uniquely, to avoid text being lost to the photo, it is highlighted by square borders.

Our House Magazine

I really like OHM's style- it has a very clean, futuristic look that resembles the music they feature. OHM hasn't got a fixed colour scheme as it changes every issue to fit the image. What's notable and very visually pleasing about this magazine is the typography. The font size varies alot for a contemporary look that makes the magazine seem less formal and gives a fashionable theme. The font is generally quite bold and is usually in a sans-serif style.

Diary Entry 2

This week I carried out alot of research into popular music magazines such as Kerrang!, Q and NME. I learnt alot about their codes and conventions and also alot about their house styles. Doing this research gave me plenty of new ideas about what I want my music magazine to look like; I'm going to produce an electro/dance magazine with a student demographic.

Diary Entry

I created a front cover and a contents page in the style of a school magazine in order to prepare myself for the main task.
Beforehand, I researched several school magazines in order to get a good idea of what the codes and conventions are. This meant that I had to take note of all the choices the designers/writers made.
What/who is on the front page?
What are their colour choices?
How have they laid out the contents page?
Does it all follow a simalar theme?
These are some of the things I had to consider during the analysis.

School Magazine Result

I learnt from several style models that having a photo of a student as the cover image gives a more academic look as well as being easier to work with; some magazines such as "Fusion" seemed a bit too unconventional and looked less professional because of this. However, the most successful cover in my opinion was the more traditional looking magazine as it looked clean, straightforward and organized. I also liked how their font was simplistic and minimalist; since the background image was quite detailed and complex, an exciting, lively font would look too overwhelming on top of it, and would perhaps not look as bold.

Other features were inspired by my style models, such as the main headline; it isn't as large as my title font but still draws the audience to read it, exclamation marks were used to add to the attention grabbing effect, and it contains a rhetorical question which directly communicates with the reader.

The magazine represents intelligent, hardworking students in a very positive manner. The front cover image is of a student role model who is immediately revealed to be intelligent as the main headline claims she has idealistic revision techniques. She is also "sharing" her skills, which is a subtle hint that she is a kind and modest person, this being an admirable personality trait. Also, she is smiling whilst holding onto her school books, which shows she enjoys working and perhaps suggests she has no academic concerns (This also implies the legitimacy of the title). Despite showing her intellectual prowess, she does not follow the steriotypical 'nerd'-look, instead she is attractive and casually dressed, making her more relatable, more appealing, and more of a role model. On the contents page, she is also seen to be walking outside on the school grounds, making her seem like an average student, again making her seem relatable to the student demographic.

A respectable and highly rated public school would distribute this magazine. As a public school, it doesn't want to appear too formal and upper-class, as this seems too parent orientated and gives a strong serious tone to it. However, it does not try too hard to be on the same level as the student by making the majority of its features steriotypically 'young' and 'hip'. Instead, it is suggested to be released by a school which doesn't target it's student audience by reducing themselves to their status using 'cool' words and lowering the formality; it would be distributed by a school which communicates with its student audience in a mature way, still maintaining a neutral amount of informal language.

The audience for the media product would be the Sixth Form, as its more simplistic style seems more mature and informative - ideal for this demographic.

I have also targetted them with the content of the magazine, fixating on lesson updates, exam help and extracurricular activities as they are all exactly what they want to hear about as higher education looms. However, I have chosen slightly informal lexis in order to keep the magazine interesting rather than dull and textbook-like - something that these students will want to escape from when leisurely reading this product. Also, the featured student is within this demographic, making her relatable and recognisable to readers.

I have learnt the importance of soft, even light when taking photos as it creates a proffessional, appealing look. I also learnt that the background is just as important as the foreground; colours, props and the rule of thirds can all dramatically change how the final image looks on the page. I also furthered my knowledge of using photoshop in order to create appealing layouts and titles.