Other people's Views

In order to get a better judgement of my magazine i decided to ask a few people there opinions consulting my magazine asking both hardcore dance music listeners and core listeners.

Hardcore fan: " if i walked into a shop and saw this magazine i would have definitely bought it because i like the front cover and how it cough my eye as a passed by. I don't really buy music magazines but as this one has got special interviews and winter and Christmas tips i would but it. The only concern i have with the magazine is that the contents page looks slightly kiddie only due to its lay out.

Core fan: Even though i don't really listen to this music on a great scale i like this magazine because of the double page spread. The music that i usually listen to in RnB and i thing that the use of pictures and colours used relates to my type of music by the dark pages and speakers on the page are some that i would like to own.

Core fan: even though i don't listen to this kind of music i would contemplate buying this magazine because of the contents page, the music that i like is pop songs and by looking at the contents page it relates top the music that i like to listen two.

Through the reactions and statements that i have got from the people that i asked i believe that even though they are very mixed comments that within my magazine i have written or done something that both core and hard core fans can enjoy

possible corrections

Through this task there could be a a few things that i would want to improve on if i was granted a longer period of time to create the magazine.
Firstly i would have wanted to make my contents page look much more professional and i would also have wanted to make it incorporate into the theme of dance and DJ music genre more effective.
I would also have wanted to make the picture on the front cover stand out a bit more by making some minor corrections on photo shop.
However thought all this i am happy by the way that it has come out.

Another correction that i have made is that on my front cover around my staring artist there was a faint whit line where i hadn't cropped the image propperly, however after looking at the page printed out i then whent back and re-croped the picture to get rid of the line.

Another correction that i have made during this phase was that in my double page spread i have re aranged the pictures so that the are in a more apropriate layout and no longer look as if they have been thrown onto the page.

Overall Evaluation

My media product represents a number of different social groups from the way that the magazine is laid out.

My magazine represents the social groups by many reasons firstly the name of my magazine lights and sound will intreage my target market because people in my target market who go out can relate to seeing the lights and hearing the sounds. Another reason could be due to the colours that i have sued. Many people enjoy seeing bright colours as in puts them into a party mood.

I have attracted and addressed my audience by using a number of different colours this is a good way of attracting the audience because people enjoy seeing these colours. Another way that i have attracted my audience is by putting a picture of a man on the front cover, this would attract the female audience because just as men like seeing women in magazines women like seeing men on the front of magazines.

Through out the making of this magazine i have learnt a great deal about the technology involved within making this project. This is because before involving in this project other that experimenting with the preliminary task i had never used either adobe indesign or photo shop.

Target Auidence.

The target audience for my magazine is within the age range of 16-25. The reason that i have given this age range is because this age range gives enough range for older or younger readers to not worry about simply Reading the magazine.
I have started the age range at 16 because at this age young people will be starting to go to college and also enjoy parties.

Double page spread

For this page i have decided to show two different sourses of information about the artist that i have interviewed DJ Base The reason for this is so that the readers can get to know this new star. firstly i have written a few paragraphs about the artist himself within this interview i had asked him a number of different questions about what he is currently doing and also where he is playing his next gig which is all incorporated within the interview.

The second points of information i have given is a short question and answer session, I have done this because by doing this it has allowed the readers to see how that artists reacts to questions and also the kind of person that the artist is and the types of language that he speaks.

At the top of the page i have once again incorporated the name of my magazine lights and sounds in the font that was on the front cover. Also at the top of the page i have given a brief over view of what is written on these pages by writing DJ Base and writing a little something about him.

For the picture on this page i have given 4 for 4 very different reason. Firstly i have placed a picture of the venue that the artist is going to be playing at in new York America i have done this because this way the readers can relate to the artist about the venue and feel that they know what he is going to go through.

I have written the interview and Q and A in a simple font of Arial Rounded MT Bold this font is also a sans serif font this is because it immediately gives the magazine a more laid back approach the reason that i have done it in the simple font is so that the readers can understand what is being said with out any confusion.

Contents page

For my contents page i have decided to got for a simple layout. this is because readers flicking through the magazine want to be able to see whats in it with no confusions and i believe that my contents page has done this because in the lower two thirds of the page i have laid out the information that is in my magazine. To make the information ever clearer i have decided to give a number of sub headings along with a short paragraph underneath. this is because this gives the reader a number of choices. the reader can either pick up the magazine and simply look at the subheadings for the contents of the magazine or read on into the paragraph to get more information and depth about the subject that has intrigued them into the magazine.

I have decided to place the title of the magazine along the top left hand side because in doing so the reader knows the name of the magazine by simply looking up at the page. I Have decided to write this in the same font as it is on the front cover as if the reader does not remember the name of the magazine then the distinct font of sylar in a sans serif layout.


The picture that i have chosen to put in this part of the magazine is a picture that i took simulating a party which would be able to relate to the readers in my target market. The other picture that i have put in tyis page is a picture i took of a stroble light the reason i have got this in my magazine is due to two reasons, firstly it incorporates within the title of my magazine "lights" and sounds and secondly because the aspects of lights flashing very brightly is one of the dance and DJ characteristics.
Within this page i have incorporated a number of different coulours the reason for this is due to the characteristics of dance music also because it will catch the eye of my target market as they would go to clubs were there are lazer lights shining a variety of different colours simutaniously.

With in this page i have told my readers what they can expect within the magazine through the contents. In the magazine there would be many articles, interviews, fashion and many other information that would entreage my readers.

Evaluation of my front cover

For my magazine i have decided to call it "lights and sounds" this is because upon reading the title the reader can gain a sense of what the magazine is about this is due to the nature of the genre that i have chosen. Dance music is renowned for having a fast, loud, lively beat that gets people up and dancing, this combined with the lights setting of the clubs makes dance and DJ music a lively and exciting genre. For the layout of the title i have decided to place it in the middle and at the top of the page. Also the reason that the title of my magazine is all in lower case is to shine a message to the readers whilst working within the characteristics of dance music that this genre has a very laid back approach to the way it is formed.

I have chosen to make my title in the font of sylar stencil downloaded from the website dafont.com, the reason i decided to use this font was due to the results i have found from my research, from looking at a number of different magazines that a large number of them uses a serif font that looks laid back but could also look lively if needs be this is much like the music itself. I decided to use this font as it fits the requirements of a serif font and i also believe that it has linked in nicely with the rest of my magazine.

Closely underneath the title of my magazine i have incorporated a subheading of "winter 08" this is because of the time of year that my magazine would be published (winter 08). The reason this is necessary is so that i can try and relate to the target market range. Also to try and catch the eye of my target market i have started to write about the fashion of winter 08 and that there would be special in site into the fashion winter world inside that magazine.

Also on the left hand side of the page i have gone into a certain depth talking about the clubs changing there themes as the seasons have changed and to be more incorporated in the winter feel of life.

Along the left hand side i have given qualitive data about the magazine by giving detailed information but with a small supply. However on the opposite side of the page i have given the opposite type of data. On the right hand side i have given quantitative data by giving large amounts of data but only in small detail.

on the right hand side of the page i have given much broader information about what is in the magazine has inside. I have done this because people passing by the shops/ stalls that my magazine has been sold to might pick up the magazine and spot a favourite artist or theme of the magazine and by putting a bigger range of information on the front then the people passing by are more likely to see something that they like and buy the magazine.

Evaluation of double page spread flat plan

For my flat plan i have decided to interview one of the fast rising influential dance artist DJ base.

For the layout of my double page spread i have decided to form it with pictures covering a proportion of the pages to show the artist as his music is widely known however his image is greatly unseen as his name is still only small.

I have left along the left and bottom hand side a large amount of space so i can type up the interview of DJ base to give the public a closer in site to his life, his old and new albums also what he thinks about the competition he has surrounding him

Evaluation of contecte page flat plan

For this page i decided to choose an unusual layout, this is due to the nature of dance music, this style of music doesn't always have a steady beat and throws unusual instinctive beats in to make the music more personalised to the individual listeners.

At the bottom half of the page is where i have placed the information for the magazine. I have given the page number for where the magazine sections would start, i have also given a brief phrase that will give the readers an idea what in written on those pages however i have also given more information about the pages numbered by writing a sentence about the pages which is labeled by arrows to the necessary sentences

Evaluation of flat plan front cover

For my magazine i decided to call it "lights and sounds" because both lights and sounds are what makes the dance music as a genre known. The heavy flashing lights and bright colours mixed with the quick but heavy beat of the music inspired me to give the magazine this name.

Down the left hand side of the page i have given an in site to what is going to be included into the magazine, headed with winter '08 i have caught the readers attention as when my magazine would be published it would be that time of year.

Along the right hand side of the page i have only give a brief in site to the content of the magazine but give a much bigger range of information.

The picture that i will be using will incorporate the specifications of the genre i have chosen , dance but also incorporating a Christmas/winter feel by having done this the reader will upon looking at the magazine's picture be able to tell the time of the year and also what time of genre the magazine is for.

However in my flat plan i have not incorporated a space for the bar code or date this is a matter that i will sort out when I'm creating my magazine.

Evaluation of DJ magazine

This magazine is my second choice of magazine as it does not follow as many typical trates as the mixmag magazine does, however it does still use a number of the same techniques in order to get its genre of dance and DJ across to its target audience.

Firstly the heading is big and bounce much like the heading for the outer magazine. The reason that the writes of both magazines have done this is to immediately Drew the attention of people browsing through magazines deciding what one to buy. Another piece of evidence that the writers are doing this to attract the readers attention as all of the outer subheadings are also in a bright colour. Also they are using bright colours because this incorporates in with the genre of dance and DJ, this is because within clubs etc bright colours are used to increase the mood and therefore get more people dancing and buying more drinks to make a bigger profit.

The next the readers would be drawn to the strange picture covering the first page of the magazine of a man letting go a dove from his hands. This may be trying to illustrate many things however as also in the background he is in a dead and old Forrest with tall dark trees in the back ground i think that he is trying to show individualism within the music industry. As all the trees are the following the same trates all growing strait and without being different. However with him letting a dove go into the air its shows that even though this music is different don't just follow the groups.

However this is a strange picture to put on the front cover as it has a dark and unlively scene, where dance and DJ genres were born. Traditional dance colours would be bright new rave colours.

Audience of the magazine

In order for me to fine the target audience of this magazine I had to go onto the DJ magazines' website and do some research on the website in order to fine the necessary information.

Amongst my research i managed to find the information that i was looking for.

The target audience for this magazine is roughly 18-22. However after evaluating the cover i would have guessed that there target audience would be much higher than the projected age as the cover doesn't show some of the critical trates that a young reader would be looking for. This is because the cover's picture is too darks and hasd a sad feeling to it, where as the first magazine that I evaluated mixmag has much more of a warm feel to it. Even though this magazine was grought out a month after mixmag. DJ magazine is now concontarting on looking at the winter where as mixmag was looking to show the summer of '08 to try and relate to the readers about there summer.

Evaluating Mixmag Double page spread

I have chosen this double page spread because it illustrates in good detail the theme and genre of dance / DJ music. This spread does this in a number of different ways.

Firstly the layout of the two pages has incorporated a number of different text icons and pictures. On turning to these pages you immediately gain the feeling of dance music through the pictures as they give the feeling of fast and lively music. The reason for that to be the readers first impressions are because incorporated within the picture are the band playing there, guitars, drums, keyboards. A good indication that this spread is of my chosen genre and of the speed of the song that is appeared to be being played, are the laser lights in the background, these are relevant as laser lights are a big feature within the dance industry. Proof of this being that these laser lights could be found in a large number of night clubs around the country who specialize in playing dance music to get their customers up and dancing. As this picture is of the band that is being interviewed throughout the spread, upon opening the page you could get a rough idea about what is written on these pages. As the pictures suggest the band is the main target for this page the reader can immediately tell whether s/he feels that they want to read on about this band.

The next thing that the readers eye would be drawn to after the first picture would be the next on page two of the spread. This picture is a much more relaxed picture as all the band members are sitting on a sofa. However to incorporate back into the genre of dance and DJ one of the band members has his hands by his mouth, within his hands a beam of light is shooting out of it. This is relevant because as i said earlier in this blog laser lights are used in a large number of clubs around the world. This may also be a message to illustrate who the singer is.

Another technique that has been used to describe the genre are the clothes that the band members are wearing. As you can see all the band members are wearing unusual clothes, being brightly coloured like the two members who are lying down, or unusual materials like the leather jacket the member of the band that is sitting on the far left. This relates to the genre of dance and DJ because bright colours and interesting items are worn by many people who enjoy this music.

Another technique that mixmag have used to attract the readers attention is the font, choice of words and the language. At the top of the first page it says " PIER PRESSURE" this is a pun to draw the attention of the reader as the article is about the band called Late Of The Pier. The reason this would attract the reader is because with this use of words the reader would be compelled to read on and see if there are any other puns of other forms of language techniques, which if they were to read on they would find that the writers have also used quotes from the and member and also some similes that illustrate the interview with the band.

Evaluating the contence page of Mixmag

This contence page is a has a very simple layout as it has applied some simple methods of getting the necessary information down without leaving lots of space filled with nothing.

This is because it has applied a picture of some well known dance artists in the top left hand corner of the page, this is a good way to fill up excess space and also to attract the readers eyes as they are very well known faces and provide a good level of dance music.

another technique that they have used to attract the readers eyes is the layout of the page. This is because is has the contence of the magazine on the right hand side of the page. This wouldattract the readers attention to the page as it is an unusual place to put the contence of the magazine as we read from left to right. This is the second form of irregularity within the magazine as on the front cover there is an unexpected colour for a summer magazine. By using these irregular colours layouts the reader is compelled to look and read on to see where and what the next irregular object / colour is. this is a good and unexpected technique to catch the eye of the reader. Another technique that the magazine has used to compel the reader to read on is the layout and font combination. As you can see the layout of the page is very sharp edged with pictures and blocks of writing contain the page this gives the page a boring and uninteresting look however combining this layout with the fonts that they have chosen gives the page an interesting look that would once again draw the attention of the readers. The fonts that they have used are the complete opposite of the layout. The fonts are round and bouncy with minimum corners. By using this combination of different techniques draws the attention of the reader.
Another affective technique that the writers have used are the language techniques, within the magazine the writers talk to you in an informal manner. Without using long unrecognised words to impress the reader.

Mixmag front cover Evaluation

I will now evaluate the front cover of Mixmag my first choice of music magazine and genre.
I have chosen this genre because of my wide taste in the music and i enjoy all aspects of it.
Firstly i believe that they have decided to call their magazine Mix mag because in dance and DJ music there is alot of "mixing" this is where the DJ would flicker with the record on the player to create either a pause or a repeat flicker of the same sound. as this is done very often in dance and DJ music i believe they tryed to Incorporated it into there magazine.

Next to try and incorporate the party side of the music and life style i think that, that's why in the title they have chosen this bold and bouncy font. Also to show their rebel side they have put the whole title mixmag in lower case the boldness to the text. However they change the font style in a big heading that stands out as much as the title does which is located just underneath. The change in fort drows the readers attention as the font is much more of a DJ styled font rather that a dance one, Also as the subtitle is Ibiza '08 a large number of their target audience could relate themselves to that place as over the summer it has a renowned reputation for huge summer parites and a large number of clubs. As Ibiza has that reputation large numbers of British people travel there to party over the summer in clubs and on the beach listening to dance music.

As this magazine was published in the summer the colour of the cover is very bright and summery to incorporate the time of year. Using bright blues to represent clear skies and warm sea, another colour that they have used is a light yellow to try and make the reader feel warm and that there some where were the sun is shining brightly. These two colours have been used to create the magazine look more appealing to the readers. However they have also used an unexpected colour. They have used white this normally being identified as a winter colour to represent the cold and the chance of snow falling. However i believe that they have used this colour to make the text that they have used with that colour to stand out against the blue background and further draw the readers eye.

Another technique that they have used to target their target audience is the language that they use while creating their subheading that are on the front cover. Firstly under the title of mixmag the next thing that you would see is their first subheading "MUSIC! MADNESS! MONEY!" They have used this heading to entice the readers eye because these three things are the main ingredients for all teenagers summer. This heading is also a type of alliteration that has been used as an eye catcher and also to keep the reader interested in the magazine as they don't yet know what about music madness and money there is in the magazine.

The rest of the subheadings that they have are short and sweet to keep the reader guessing. They give a brief insite to what else is going to be in the magazine e.g. Summer stylin' - Best T-shirts and sunnies.

Another affective technique that the magazine has used to attract the attention of the reader is the picture on the front. The picture of the woman has been used to entice one side of their target audience that aren't have a much lower sales rate that the other. The type of audience that the magazine is trying to entice is the male audience. Women are the people who normally buy magazines for many reasons as they want to know the gossip side of most magazines. By putting this picture in the cover of mixmag it entices men to pick up the magazine and to start reading it as well.

Audience of the Magazine

After going to the the official mixmag website and researching through their sight I couldn't find the necessary information that was needed. I then continued to researching the contacts and came along to find an email address that i could send a message and hope that they would send and email back, however after 2 weeks of waiting i have had no reply. However i then continued to search the web and managed to find a large piece of information that i needed in order to find the magazine mixmags target audience.

from this research i have discovered that the target audience is an age range of from roughly 16 - 25 and by reading through the magazine there is a larger number of evidence that can back up the information that i found.

Evidence : From evaluating the front page immediately there is a high level of evidence to back up my research. Immediately from looking at the front cover with the woman in a bikini raises the age range to a time where young people don't mind seeing half naked women on the front of their magazine. Also the age range would stop at around 25 - 26 as the male and female readers would be likely to have now finished university and no longer see the initial thrill of women in bikini's as they would have seen a large number of people in them before.

Another good piece of evidence that this age range is correct is the over all look and style of the magazine. This is because the mag has a very mature look about it where the reader would go to Ibiza as illustrated as a big subheading under the title. This subheading has been used for exactly this reason as the readers are very likely to have been to Ibiza for a summer Holiday over their summer break, by putting this there many reader would want to go thought the magazine to refresh some memories.

AS Media Main Task

For my AS media coursework we have been asked to firstly evaluate two magazines that are in the same genre as the one we will be constructuring. The genre that i have chosen to construct a magazine about is the dance genre, this is because I am a fan of a large proportion of dance music and listen to it on a daily basis. The magazines that i have chosen to evaluate before starting my own magazine are:

DJ this is a dance and DJ magazine this is the cover

Mixmag this is a dance magazine this is its cover