MAGAZINE

CONSTRUCTI

ON

STUDENT

COPY

CONVENTIONS

WHAT

YOU G

ET ON F

RONT COVERS

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

8.

9.

10.

12.13.

14.

15.

16.

Masthead

Kicker

Cover Line

Secondary Lead

Plug

Graphic Feature or Puff

Selling Line or Banner

Tagline

Feature Article Photo

Anchorage

Flash

Menu Strip

Bar Code

Date Line

11.

Headline

Caption7.

Web-links?

Ears?

CONVENTIONS NOTES

The masthead of mixmag implies and portrays an exciting and fun vibe. The curvy style font is similar to the sorts of ‘Comic Sans’ which is widely used as an informal font, this is as ‘comic sans’ was originally used for the text in comic books and is why the font is portrayed as fun. The masthead also includes a circular icon above the i, the dot is made to look like a vinyl, something that DJ’s use on their decks whilst producing music. This is used so the reader again knows what the magazine is about and it adds relevance to the magazine logo and its content.

The interaction between these two components ties the two together. For example, the mixmag copy I used before to show the different magazine components hosted the interaction. The feature article photo was a picture of David Guetta and the anchorage said ‘Guetta load of this’. This showed the reader the comical and fun side to the magazine with a play on words and also helped get across that the main feature would be about David Guetta.

The kicker in the David Guetta copy exclaimed ‘Miming DJs exposed’. This kicker showing that mixmag would feature a section on DJs that pretended to DJ but just played tracks, highlighted that the lifestyle and the love of the music for the readers was very passionate and they would want to know what DJs are doing as they say. Taglines highlighting the best clubs to go to also suggested that the readers were also very active seekers of nightlife fun, again showing aspects of their lifestyle.

The most important aspect of almost every magazine is the Headline. After all the headline highlights to possible readers what that issue is going to be about, and can help people that haven’t heard or read the magazine before understand what the magazine is all about and what they can expect to see in it upon purchasing.

The tone of the language on the front of mixmag seems very laidback and easy for anybody to read and understand. There isn’t really any advanced vocabulary on the front showing that the magazine is one for the average person that just likes Electronic Dance Music.

DESIGN

HOW F

RONT COVERS A

RE CONCEIV

ED AND L

AID O

UT

HOUSE STYLE & DESIGN NOTESCOLOUR – The colour scheme tends to differentiate, but usually if there is a dark

background most the issues feature mainly white text, and if the background colour is lighter(like in the Deadmau5 issue) then the main text generally is more vibrant in order for it to stand out more.

FONTS – The masthead has remains the same font throughout all the issues I could find. There are different fonts found on the cover of each issue. The headline was the same font up until the 2012 issues where the font became more like curved bubble text similar to the masthead. The anchorage however seems to change with each issue, changing in colour, font size, positioning etc

STYLE – The look and style of the magazine makes it feel like one aimed towards the younger audience as there's lots going on, different vibrant colours and it all gives off that ‘in-your-face party atmosphere’. The cover images support the theory massively, there is however different spectrums of the idea, the ‘Festivals are go’ copy looks like a more chilled-out festival vibe whilst the ‘Above And Beyond’ copy supports greatly the ‘in-your-face party atmosphere’ as described before. The magazine tends to use medium close-ups, mid shots or group mid shots for their cover image, this allows the reader to focus on the artist the magazine will probably prolifically discuss.

USE OF SPACE – Typically the rule of three magazine sees that the menu strip and covers and kickers are on the left side. In Mixmag it differentiates a little bit but it tends to mostly be on the right third of the page. The use of the space is pretty typical but the masthead goes right across the top third instead of the generic top-left position. The headline also is slightly different from most as it sits in the middle of the middle third instead of at the bottom of the middle third, this however Is not a very noticeable change. The covers tend to look structured but slightly chaotic so it still gives the sense of a fun party atmospheric magazine.

CONCLUDE – The magazine is styled and put forward in the way it is to make the magazine look exciting and packed full of life, much like fans of EDM which are primarily the readers. The magazine covers in my opinion are well done and suit the style of the magazine and its target audience.