Front Cover Analysis - Mixmag

After analyzing 'Mixmag' magazine I would like to incorporate a bright color scheme as it immediately catches the target audiences attention as it is eye-catching. The magazine has also included a free giveaway which I would also like to incorporate into my magazine as this will promote our magazine as well as the genre of music associated with it. This could help gain the magazine popularity and increase a fan base. To make money you've got to spend money. You can see that there is a consistent font on the magazine which makes it look professional which I would also need to do to acquire that professional effect. I have noticed that the magazine has decided to use effects to make the font stand out such as the drop shadow behind headers and features increasing their importance. I would use layer effects on Adobe Photoshop to add these effects to fonts throughout the magazine. I have taken note that many magazines use a competition to draw attention from the audience which could increase sales as it offers a prize to some of the fans, so I am most likely to use this.  

For the Main feature which will be an interview of one of the artists that perform in this genre of music I have decided to include an image of that artist dominating the front cover of the magazine instead. 

This is the front cover of a Mixmag magazine. The audience demographic it is attempting to identify with is 'rebellious' or 'anti authority' as it is represented by school kids who usually are cheeky and rebellious. It is also aimed at people who are creative or experimental as the costumes code for this as well as the artists being unknown shows that it is for people who like to experiment when listening to new artists/music. It is different in tone and style to other music magazines in that it is not trying to identify with an audience that enjoys manufactured 'pop' like the X Factor variety. The kicker on the front page says meet the new artists on the scene, 'Meet the young things that run tings'. Using slang such as 'tings' suggesting that the magazine is suitable for the younger generation. This suggests that the fan base/audience of Mixmag are a younger generation, and Mixmag are keeping them up to date with the latest news and gossip such as new artists etc. This is something the magazine prides itself on - they are on the side of the fan. The font used is quirky which codes for the type of music the magazine comments on. The colors of the font, blue and white codes for freedom and hope just like the style of music, let yourself go kind. The disco ball represents the genre of music which is electro/house and would find a disco ball in a nightclub which is where you would expect to hear this genre of music. The costumes used for the artists are all quirky adding to the nature of their music codes for experimental, non-materialist, creative and non-conformist as they aren't conforming to mainstream society.