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