Magazine Evaluation - DJ Mag

Magazine Evaluation DJ Magazine from ayseozer

Mixmag Double Page Spread

Magazine Evaluation - Mixmag: Double Page Spread.

The Double page spread is about a DJ Artist called 'Helena Hauff'. She was featured on one of the plugs on the front cover of the magazine so she is a well known artist to the demographic as they are interested in her type of music. The magazine double page spread is unconventional in the way it is layed out because it goes over three pages rather than two, this is mainly due to the picture taking up whole page in the article. 

The picture is a very large image which spreads across the left page and slightly onto the right page, this again is placed like this because although the picture isn't a bright and bold as others in the magazine the readers are still more into looking at visual images therefore by taking up most of the space with an image the reader is more likely to read the article as the text looks minimal.  

There is a stand first on the magazine displayed over the picture. This gives the reader an insight into the magazine and what the article is about. A short stand first like this in this type of magazine is important as the demographic can be quickly introduced to the article rather than skipping over the article due to a lot of writing. Also the title of the article 'all that she wants' doesn't suggest much about the article its self so the stand first really boosts the article and draws the reader in. 

The way the text of the article is layed out is seen to be conventional as it is in columns however there are only two columns and a lot of negative space around it so in that sense the magazine is unconventional. The negative space is used in this magazine because it makes the article look neat, easy too read because this is very much how the demographic prefer the magazines to be layed out. 

Mixmag Contents Page

Mixmag Contents Page 

Magazine Evaluation - Mixmag: Contents

Mixmag's contents page is layed out on a double page spread on the fourth and fifth page in the magazine. The magazine follows the same style of the front cover such as small typography with the use of bold titles but it also contains two large pictures in the center of the double page spread and two smaller pictures on the page to the right. By the overall look of the contents page it looks to be conventional with the layout, it is neat and very clear to read but it is on a double page spread not on a single page like a usual magazine.

The main focus when you first look at the contents page would be the large pictures, the denotative of this picture is a young  in a festival scene surrounded by and another picture featuring a huge party scene at a large festival with bright colours, fireworks and crowds of people. These pictures are both related to the party and the festival/clubbing vibe of the magazine which emphasizes the demographic and what they would enjoy in terms of reading the magazine. The two smaller pictures on the contents page are the feature articles about specific artists that have been featured in the magazine such as 'Helena Hauff'. The two feature article photos are smaller in size than the two festival pictures because the target audience are stimulated by looking at visual images that are related to the party side of the music magazine rather than the long artists features. The larger images are captioned 'Directory' and 'Tomorrowland'. The Directory Page is where the reader can find 'hundreds of the most up-front and exciting clubs in Britain and Ireland'. The other page is a festival scene of 'Tomorrowland'. Tomorrowland is one of the biggest festivals in the world taking place in many different countries across the globe so straight away from looking at visual images on the contents and small captions the reader immediately is drawn into wanting to look further into the magazine for more of the information.

The factual information written on the contents page is layed out in two columns, one which is flush left on the left page of the double page contents and the other column is flush right on the right side of the double page contents. As the writing is placed into columns the magazine does shown some form of convention however the layout as a whole is not a typical conventional way a contents page would be layed out. This reflects the magazines demographic as they are not conventional readers, they prefer the visual content rather than articles which feature long written pieces. 

The page numbers are very large on the magazine which make it extremely easy for the reader to navigate around the magazine with out having to flick through numerous pages which may not hold their interest as much as the pages that they are specifically looking for. The title 'contents' on the page is fairly large so its easy for the reader to know what the function of this page is but the physical typography of the word 'contents' does not follow the house style of the magazine regarding how the typography of the fonts on the front cover are. The Magazine also offers 'free tracks from Loco Dice' (the cover Star). By placing this on the contents page it makes more people interested in wanting to buy the magazine as its related to the cover star and its something extra that the reader will gain from buying this magazine. 

Mixmag Front Cover

Mixmag Front Cover 

Magazine Evaluation - Mixmag: Front Cover

Title: “mixmag”

The title of the magazine is “mixmag”, the word “mix” has connotations of music with reference to mix-tapes and club or DJ music. The reader, by looking at the title, would have some knowledge that the magazine is music related, more so aimed at young people. The word “mag” is short and quick to read. Also with the alliteration of “M” of “mixmag” shows a fast past, sharp and snappy read which reflects the lives and attitudes of the demographic, showing that they’re fast pace in the way they live as they are highly involved in the partying and clubbing scene.

Masthead:

The masthead evokes a sense of a young more playful tone to the magazine with its bright bold lettering and the purple font. The colours are not typical colours that would be associated with journalism such as red, black and white and this supports the idea of the magazine being for a less sophisticated audience who are not particularly interested in long article pieces but more visual content. The font is very simplistic, playful and easy to read and also has a relaxed feel to the lettering. This relates to the demographic who would approach life in a more carefree and fun way, who are very much involved in the clubbing scene.

Feature Article Photograph:

The denotative features of the feature article photograph show a young male with his hands covering a small part of his face showing only his eyes, he has messy brown hair and is wearing a white long sleeved t-shirt with a zip down the middle. From this information we can understand the connotations of this photograph and why/how it was taken. This photo is a posed photo but is made to look quite causal suggesting the relaxed pose. Even though there is a male on the front of the cover we know that this magazine is not based only to a male target audience but both genders because of the background being quite a neutral tone of a light blue but has a bright purple masthead, showing that just because of a male figure of the front doesn't suggest the magazine cannot apply to both genders. His hair looks very messy but has been styled to give of the illusion of a carefree fun and playful vibe to the magazine. The cover star is “loco Dice” the cover line suggest it’s “the return” of Loco Dice implying that he is a well know music Artist or DJ due to the magazine being a “dance music and club culture” magazine. The cover star would usually represent the demographic who read this magazine so the way he looks very relaxed and carefree is relatable to the audience of the magazines demographic who would read this magazine and can relate to the cover star. The photograph is taken at a mid-shot so his face and hands are visible. The idea of the cover star holding his hands up over his face suggests a more mysterious feel to the magazine, however there is direct eye contact which engages the audience with the cover star and allows them to feel a sense of being invited into the magazine to take a look at all the content inside. His clothing is very plain and not extravagant nor flamboyant in anyway which again evokes a sense of a relaxed carefree attitude to the magazine. Although he takes care of his appearance its nothing that would suggest anything more than that the audience is looking for a fun time and is more interested in the music than actually the appearance of the artists.

Puff:

The puff states that mixmag is “the world’s biggest dance music and club culture magazine”.The puff is used to boost the magazines status. Therefore mixmag saying that it’s the “world’s biggest” dance magazine entices the reader in with the use of hyperbole as younger people want to feel more involved in social events and the latest trends so the target audience believes that this magazine is a must have buy so they can be up to date with the “biggest” music trends and events. It doesn’t only say that it’s the biggest “music” magazine but also the biggest “club culture” magazine which expands the demographic due to more people in the target audience being interested in the clubbing vibe of the magazine and less about articles from the artists feature in the magazine.

Cover Lines and plugs:

The cover lines and the plug are very bold with the use of the striking purple and black font against the pale background of the magazine. The cover lines and plug both look professional with the use of the main points being underlined which draws the readers eye straight to key information which tells them what is contained within this particular magazine. Although the typography is a small in size it is still underlined and in bold to show significance and importance on the magazine. This is quite unconventional in the way it is set out on the magazine which suggests that the reader is unconventional and doesn’t care for much of a written style of magazine because they engage more thorough visual images on the magazine. However even though the cover lines/plugs may be unconventional they still convey the main points and features that are in the magazine so the reader would immediately know the type of content inside the magazine. The language used in the magazine is very simplistic “Ibiza Dancers: Lots of them”. This shows that the language is straight to the point and an easy read and it’s very unsophisticated. The language of the magazine reflects the demographic who are more interested in the visual images and not long articles. 

Lighting and Portrait Photography Workshop

These are photographs of myself to show me practicing my skills whilst working with the soft box lighting the photography equipment (cameras, backgrounds and props). All the photos shots on these previous few posts have been taken by me working with the models as seen below.

Lighting and Portrait Photography Workshop

This picture is a mid shot but is taken 

slightly below the waist was lit 

from the front, slightly below

the models waist also from the right

side of her face and the background is 

also slightly lit. When evaluating this 

photograph it is clear there is too much

light on the model and this is what i would

need to adapt for future photographs. Also 

using the black screen allowed for more 

attention to be dawn to the model than 

the background. 

This photo is also a mid shot taken slightly

closer than the photo to the left. This is also

lit form the right, the back and the front. 

Again I can see that a lot of improvement

on lighting is need to allow there to be more

focus on the models facial features and 

to show more contrast on her skin. With the

model's hair being blonde this also reflects 

the light which adds to the brightness.

                                             

This photo is a mid shot. Lit from the right

and also light on the background with soft

box lighting I wanted to capture the 

essence of movement in

the photograph to show a more 

dynamic look to the photo. By getting 

the model to flick and swish her hair

about it captured her in movement.

Experimenting with the movements of my

model it allows me to focus on keeping the 

model in shot and being able to work on 

framing the shot perfectly while capturing

all parts of the model in the shot. 

This photo is a mid shot, lit from the right 

side of her face and the bottom of the model 

with soft box lighting. I took this shot whilst 

the model was jumping in the air, as you can 

see from the photo it again allowed me to 

capture a more dynamic shot. I was happy 

with the framing of the shot as the model is

central to the frame however i would have 

like to have got all of her hair in the photo

but it was cut short as my camera angle 

was not quite right. However when doing this

photography in the future i can learn from 

what i found out during this workshop. 

Lighting and Portrait Photography Workshop

This photo was taken at a mid shot, lit with soft box lighting from the right side of the models face and I used a fan to create the movement of the hair. This gave the model a more glamorous, effortless and elegant look. However even though I was        

happy with shot of the photograph I did crop out the elbows slightly which is a framing issue and the lighting is too bright.

The brightness was too high on the photo to the left which was the original photograph that i took. I wanted to improve the photo because a lot of my previous photos had been over exposed such  this one due to the soft box lighting not being positioned correctly or having to many lights in general. To fix this and improve the quality of my photographs I uploaded them onto  Photoshop and turned down the brightness and turned up the contrast slightly. I can see that by just adjusting the lighting on Photoshop it had really improved the quality of my photograph.

A mid shot; the softbox lighting has been placed to the right of the model and slightly below to model. The shot was successful in terms of framing as the model is central to the photo graph and all of her hair is in shot. This allowed for the full effect of the dynamic movement of her head to been displayed in the photo. However, again

like previous photos I have over lit the shot and the

excess light makes the models facial features retreat back into the photo rather than stand out. The photo on the right was over lit on the right side of the model face, to solve this problem I uploaded the photo onto Photoshop and turned down the brightness and slightly altered the contrast. This improved the quality and clarity of the photo a significant amount.

Lighting and Portrait Photography Workshop

This shot was done by looking at a 
professional photograph, seen on the right 
which was featured in a 'vogue Japan' 
magazine. I tired to focus on the position 
of the models, the facial expressions 
and the lighting of the photograph.

The lighting was not over exposed on this photo

which meant i didn't need to make any correctional

improvement on photo shop. 

This Photo is very well lit using professional

equipment such as soft box lighting. It is lit from the front, central to their faces allowing for a softer look to the photo. There are no harsh shadows produced in this photo convey a softer tone and their facial expressions are neutral. 

School Magazine Evaluation

AS Media Foundation Production: School Magazine Evalution from ayseozer