Magazine Evaluation: Summary

Mixmag Magazine:

The magazine Mixmag as a whole is a very simplistic magazine with a lot of negative space to enhance the simplistic tone. Mixmag is presented this way because the demographic find it easier to relate to a magazine with limited text as they are of a younger age who do not convey an interest in long written articles but are stimulated more by visual images. Mixmag aims it at the target audience by containing lots of fun bright and bold visual images of festivals, music scene and parting scenes. These are the type of images that engage the reader and get them to want to buy the magazine because they can then relate to the context in the magazine whether it be visual or written.

This is a strong aspect that helps the young demographic relate to the magazine. This would be a good point for my magazine as strong images are eye catching and allow the reader to find a lot of interest in the magazine. However i would not want my magazine to be simplistic like mixmag as the exaggeration of the negative space does not grab the readers attention which would negatively impact the mise en scene of the front cover of the magazine.

Mixmag's front cover, contents and double page spread do not all follow the same house style. In my final magazine i would like the magazine to follow the same house style as then it gives there a sense of structure and a more sophisticated feel to the magazine.

The contents is very unconventional without the use of the more than two columns and the use of a very large picture spread across two pages. I would not like my contents page to follow the same style as mixmag due to the use of these very unconventional features.

The double page spread is also very unconventional as there is minimum text on the page and the picture is the main focus of the article. However there are some features that I would use on my magazine such as the stand first and the bold headline which make it easier for the reader the gage what the article is about and these are seen to be conventional features used on magazines.

DJ Magazine:
DJ mag has a busy layout unlike mixmag which could be due to the demographic being slightly more sophisticated in their reading style and would read longer articles. However the double page spread was layed out closer to the style of mixmag with a large feature article and less text yet it is very approachable in terms of gender. This is how i would like my magazine to be layed out and be able for both genders to be able to enjoy the magazine. This magazine is more conventional as it uses plugs, pull quotes and a lede to enhance the readers understanding of the magazine and the context that is layed out in the magazine.
DJ's contents page is very conventional in the way it layed out and this is how I would like my contents to be portrayed in my magazine. DJ uses columns to separate page titles which have been ordered further by categorising them into subtitles. This makes it a lot easier for the audience to navigate around the magazine and can enjoy the magazine more by finding the specific pages that interest them.
I want the contents page to be as informative as possible and i think DJ mag contains a good picture to text ratio that convey the right tone of the magazine.

Q Magazine:
Q magazine is a much more sophisticated magazine with the use of plugs, large headlines, stand first and pull quotes used through out the magazine which enhances the idea of really grabbing the readers attention, This is something that I would like to be able to capture in my own magazine as i feel it shows structure and can be aimed at a more sophisticated audience. I also think that the double page spread would be good influence on my magazine as it was set out in a more conventional way with the use of 5 to 6 columns with a large picture in the middle. I like this spread because it shows that the reader is interested in reading it but their is also a good ratio of visual images as well as written. The images compliments the text when there is a lot of text as it gives the reader something else to focus on as well as the written text.