skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Analysis of existing magazines
I have chosen two magazines to analyze they are both from the music genre, I will be using two different front covers, however I will be analyzing the contents and two page spread from MixMag. I will be comparing and contrasting the two covers and looking for ideas to use in my magazine.
This is a front cover from the magazine mix-mag. When looking at the cover, instantly the image stands out to me. It is an important factor to consider when producing a magazine. A huge selling point of a magazine is what or who is on the front of it. For this issue mix-mag have chosen the artist Sam Sparro. This is a wise decision as Sam sparro is a worldwide reknown electro/dance musician, therefore the more popular a person on the front cover the more likely a regular consumer is to buy. And due to the artists popularity mix-mag have chosen to have a large image. The colour scheme is visually pleasing and is maintained throughout the cover, ensuring the colours are not clashing. The layout is intresting, contrasting with the classic design of a front cover. All of the headlines and sub-headlines are facing inwards in different directions and adds a slight informal feel to the cover which i think is what the publishers are trying to achieve. Also at the top of the pages there are two small captions about whats in the issue, "Free Armin Van Burren CD- Huge club guide 1,203 nights out". The language is focused on causing the reader to read on more, with words such as Huge and using the figure 1,203. The figure is also highlighted in yellow as it is the main part of the sentence this is the same with Almin Van Burren in the other caption. 
The next cover is from the magazine DJ MAG. DJ Magazine is,as of Janurary 1991 ,a monthly magazine dedicated to Electronic Dance Music and DJs. The magazine has styled itself as "the world's largest selling dance music magazine and currently claims sales of 27,500. The magazine cover differs to mix-mag's in the fact that it has a lot more going on in the cover. It follows a colour scheme just like mix-mag however it dosen't seem as suitable. When looking at the cover it is difficult to distinguish between articles and pick out words from the background. It also packs more articles onto its front cover, with the main article being smaller then mix-mag's. I can only imagine this is because the main article involves people who arn't too well known to the public. It has more packed onto the cover then mix-mag this could be because of the fact that it isn't as popular as mix-mag and needs to entise its audience further by adding more onto the cover that could lead to someone buying it. The language is basic and dosen't use persuasive language. It is different to lots of other magazines due to the fact it has packed a lot of colours and pictures onto its front cover, however this is good because it would stand out on a shelf in a shop.
This is the contents page from mix-mag, when looking at it firstly. It dosen't appear to take the usual format of a contents page, it has a large title at the top which has nothing to do with the genre of dance or signifys that it is a contents page. The picture is the main focus of the page. Without reading the magazine, it seems that the picture is irrelevant to the dance music genre. The stories and sections are clearly highlighted down the left hand side of the page but take a back seat in the layout of the page. At the bottom highlighted in a blue box it reads "All the hottest releases reviewed and rated". This is possibly because it is a key part of the magazine or the main article, therefore it gets a box of its own. This is likely to be down to the fact that consumers mostly read this magazine for the album and venue reviews. In addition the magazine comes with a key in the top right corner in relation to the magazines grading system for albums and tracks. This is a good place to base the key as it is one of the first things the consumers sees when opening the magazine. 
This is the two page from mix-mag. It is layed out suitably and despite having large images there is also the content with blocks of writing. The way the blocks of text have been layed out is intresting and despite having lots of it, it takes an informal style across the two pages. There is a colour scheme throughout the page which is suitable to the magazine. However if someone was looking at this without knowing what magazine genre it was from, it wouldn't be instantly recognisable as dance magazine. It looks as if the page has 3 different perspectives of the same story which is effective when keeping a reader intrested in the magazine. Overall it is an effective layout and looks modern and visually pleasing.
The next cover is from the magazine DJ MAG. DJ Magazine is,as of Janurary 1991 ,a monthly magazine dedicated to Electronic Dance Music and DJs. The magazine has styled itself as "the world's largest selling dance music magazine and currently claims sales of 27,500. The magazine cover differs to mix-mag's in the fact that it has a lot more going on in the cover. It follows a colour scheme just like mix-mag however it dosen't seem as suitable. When looking at the cover it is difficult to distinguish between articles and pick out words from the background. It also packs more articles onto its front cover, with the main article being smaller then mix-mag's. I can only imagine this is because the main article involves people who arn't too well known to the public. It has more packed onto the cover then mix-mag this could be because of the fact that it isn't as popular as mix-mag and needs to entise its audience further by adding more onto the cover that could lead to someone buying it. The language is basic and dosen't use persuasive language. It is different to lots of other magazines due to the fact it has packed a lot of colours and pictures onto its front cover, however this is good because it would stand out on a shelf in a shop. 
This is the contents page from mix-mag, when looking at it firstly. It dosen't appear to take the usual format of a contents page, it has a large title at the top which has nothing to do with the genre of dance or signifys that it is a contents page. The picture is the main focus of the page. Without reading the magazine, it seems that the picture is irrelevant to the dance music genre. The stories and sections are clearly highlighted down the left hand side of the page but take a back seat in the layout of the page. At the bottom highlighted in a blue box it reads "All the hottest releases reviewed and rated". This is possibly because it is a key part of the magazine or the main article, therefore it gets a box of its own. This is likely to be down to the fact that consumers mostly read this magazine for the album and venue reviews. In addition the magazine comes with a key in the top right corner in relation to the magazines grading system for albums and tracks. This is a good place to base the key as it is one of the first things the consumers sees when opening the magazine. 
This is the two page from mix-mag. It is layed out suitably and despite having large images there is also the content with blocks of writing. The way the blocks of text have been layed out is intresting and despite having lots of it, it takes an informal style across the two pages. There is a colour scheme throughout the page which is suitable to the magazine. However if someone was looking at this without knowing what magazine genre it was from, it wouldn't be instantly recognisable as dance magazine. It looks as if the page has 3 different perspectives of the same story which is effective when keeping a reader intrested in the magazine. Overall it is an effective layout and looks modern and visually pleasing.
No comments:
Post a Comment