Name/Logo Decision

I have chosen this name as the most appropriate because of the words incorporated into it. The genre of drum and/electronic music is largely viewed as an 'underground' scene so i have reflected this by changing the word to 'undersound', giving it a clever, yet simple and effective name.

Font Ideas For Magazine

1. This font is called Capture It

2. This font is called Side Walk

3. This font is called All Star

4. This font is called [ank]*

Possible Names for Music Magazine

I decided to have 'Drum and Bass' as the genre for my music magazine due to my personal love of this particular genre.

My Ideas for A Magazine Name:

Base
I think this would be a good name for my music magazine because it sounds quite urban/industrial, and seeing as the theme of my magazine is drum and bass, it is quite appropriate.

Under/Sound
This name I like because most drum and bass acts are considered ‘underground’ and this name is just a simple piece of wordplay that I think is quite effective.

Rhythm
I came up with this name as it refers to the technical nature of drum and bass, which is predominantly determined by its rhythm and beat.

Maxxxed
This name came to me quite quickly, the word max, refers to the level of volume drum and bass MUST be played at. And the xxx, I put in there simply to make it more appealing to a younger audience.

DJ Mag Front Cover Analysis

DJ Mag is a magazine dedicated to dance/drum and bass and electronic music. The magazine is predominantly read by people who are interested in becoming DJs or are already DJs and want to catch up with the latest trends or releases.

DJ Mag has a logo which flows from one letter to another, perhaps a subtle nod to the flow of DJ sets in a club. The designer has also chosen to add a circular, almost turn-tabled shape to the logo above the J. This is representative of the target audience of DJs, referring to turntables and EPs.

The text is written in a particular font which is sans serif, making it appeal to a younger generation, and also makes to text look alot more fluid, which fits alongside general underground music styling. This font is used throughout the magazine for all mastheads, sub text, and headings giving the magazine a sense of continuity.

The bright colours used for the masthead and main heading are quite contrasted against the image, which is set in a forest and depicts a man setting a dove wild. The subtext has a slightly grey background applied to it, i think this is to make it stand out from the picture as the picture is quite dark. The styling of the text has been layered with one colour placed on top of another, i.e. Black onto yellow text.

In my opinion the photo works well as it makes you wonder who the person is, and why is he setting a dove loose? Then you turn your attention to the masthead and it explains that the man is DJ Josh Gabriel and he's just released a new album.

The way the text has been written on the cover suggests an almost religious/angelic feel as there are lots of phrases like 'Touched by the hand of god' and 'Second coming'. This is quite strange for a magazine about underground music to use religious undertones on the cover, however this simply makes it more intriguing and inspires you to read on.

There is a bar code and an issue date/number (October 08) as well as a price, Photo-credits have been included, aswell as a U.K/Overseas price. This type of 'light' magazine typically has between 120/150 pages, and DJ mag is no exception at 142 pages.

Double Page Spread Analysis

I think the double page spread i have chosen is very interesting and has a simple yet effective layout. The majority of the page is dominated by images, and the way the page has been constructed works well.

The image has been placed so it only goes about 75% of the way down the page. Then the text has simply been placed in white text boxes so there is a definite break between the image and text, however it still looks good.

The first letter of the main text has been enhanced and stands out from the text. The font is very interesting and is modern, sans serif and very different. The continuous use of the font throughout the magazine suggests that it could be a copyrighted font, which Mix Mag uses as a trademark style.

The fact that the magazine is for rough and ready dance lovers is reflected in the language, for example the words considered 'bad/dirty' by another, more upmarket magazine like classic fm's magazine has not been left out.

The interviewer makes lots of comments on the appearence of the band in the first 2 columns of writing, over-using words like 'tousled' and 'ultra'.

The similarities between the cover, contents page and double page spread are very evident and are what mae the magazine look like a whole unit, rather than individual pages thrown together.

Contents Page Analysis For Mix Mag

The styling of the contents page is very different to the front cover, with a much more text orientated layout. The text is formatted with a very modern font, which is very curvacious and stylish.

The colours on the contents page are also quite contrasting to the cover, with a white and grey background, giving it a slitghtly industrial feel, however the main text has been given bright colouring, i.e. the word 'Contents' is yellow, and 'Features' is pink.

The page seems to be separated into two halves, with a picture of two D.Js taking up the majority of the left hand side. There is also a small strapline underneath the main text which seems to be present on the majority of pages within the magazine:

WWW.MIXMAG.NET SEPTEMBER 2008

The page also looks as if it has been blocked out more, with the white background acting as a border around the different sections.

Cover Analysis for Mix Mag

Chosen Genre: Dance/House Music
Other Titles Within The Genre: Pacha, Wax Poetics, DJ Magazine

Mixmag is a British dance music and clubbing magazine. With a circulation of 37,139 and a readership of 276,000 as of August 2008, it claims to be the biggest selling dance/clubbing magazine in the world. Because of this it is focused on and audience of around 18-30 year olds who enjoy clubbing.

The title mixmag refers to the DJ-ing term 'Mix' which is the seemless blending of two songs into one by the dj so that the music never stops in the club. The use of the word mag as opposed to magazine gives it a younger feel as well. The icon of a turntable has been incorporated into the font and now replaces the 'dot' from the letter i.

The font is very modern and edgy, sans serif, very vibrantly coloured, most likely to match the styling of the model in the photo. The main points of the front cover are coloured yellow for example the words 'PLUS' and 'IBIZA' or '1384', the number of clubs reviewed in the issue This also makes the cover look more attractive and gives variation to blocks of text. The sub text headings on the front cover are emboldened so they stand out against the rest of the text.

Another interesting point is that the designers have chosen to underline a large proportion of the text, in my opinion this doesn't really help to read the text, it almost gets in the way, the only reason i can think of that the lines were incorporated were so that people could see more of a difference between the yellow and white writing (where it is predominantly used)

The main text and the photo together give you the perfect first impression as you look at it, they tell you what the main features of the magazine are, give off a feel-good vibe as you read it and draw you in with eye catching sentences like MUSIC! MADNESS! MONEY!

The written text itself even refers to the idea of partying and clubbing i.e. 'Paul Van Dyk- Political Party Animal!'. The fact that Ibiza is renowned as the spiritual home of dance music and is honoured by an annual pilgrimage to the island by clubbers' is probably why the designers chose to use the abbreviation "'08" rather than "2008".

There are 3 main types of story mentioned on the cover:
1.The main theme of the issue, in this case Ibiza
2.Artists/Albums featured in the issue
3.General Information about the features i.e. Club Guide, Strangest lost property found in clubs

There is a bar code and an issue date (September 08) as well as a price, Photo-credit(who took the photo) and a U.K/Overseas price. This type of 'light' magazine typically has between 120/150 pages, with mixmag fitting in at 138 pages.