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Analysis of Contents Page

The contents page of Mixmag Magazine's contents page is quite simple and straight forward this adds to the Brand Identity of the Magazine. The Magazine is aimed at people over the age of 20 until maybe 30, I can see this because it has large pictures which do not overlap this is very uncommon in a magazine which is aimed at the slightly younger generation. The fact that the Magazines main image is of a man Drinking Beer also suggests that the Magazine is Unsuitable for anyone under the age of 18. The Layout of the Magazine is well structured and organised which is why this Magazines Contents Page is so successful. The use of a White Background is effective as it help the text stand out even more. The text on the left hand side of the Magazine is very small which forces the audience towards the main image because it takes up a large portion of space on the page. On the left hand side there is 4 sections that the audience might have an interest in, underneath each Sub-Heading there is 3/4 Teasers to hook the reader in, these teasers help to persuade the audience towards buying the Magazine in order to read the rest of the article. There is a Tie in Subscription of the left under the “regulars” section asking readers to Subscribe to the Magazine even giving away Freebies such as a T-Shirt's as a Gift to Persuade them into a subscription.

At the bottom of the page there is a Website Address, this indicates that the readers are users of the internet. Mixmag have an Online Magazine service which uses the Internet this suggests that the company would have to become a Convergence Industry in order to cope with the rapidly changing needs of the audience                         

Experimentation of the Masthead

The Images on the Left are Printscreens of my ideas of a Masthead for my Music Magazines Front Cover I have used many different programmes such as "Microsoft Word 2007" and "Photoshop Elements 7.0" to create different mastheads so I can identify which one will be most suitable for my target audience. under each print screen I have written why I dislike the idea and why I like the idea.



Initial Planning for my Magazine

The genre of my Music magazine I will produce is HIP HOP. I have chosen this genre because it covers a larger audience and does not specify in any one type. I feel that I will be able to work on my own as well as in a group bearing in mind that my group members share the work load equally. My target audience for my music magazine is going to be UK residents. The age range will be from 12-25, the audience will be both male and female because of the fact that by doing so i am not limiting my audience potential and the popularity of the Music magazine to a certain gender.  I feel that the main focal point on my magazine front cover should be a variety of different images of people to show all the types of artist that are out there. I feel that the main influence I have had for my Magazine is from the two very popular music Magazines “NME” and “MOJO”. The reason these magazines influenced me was that they provide a range of different artists to suit a variety of different audiences and this is what I felt I wanted to do in my music magazine. To make my Magazine stand out and appeal to my audience I will have a lot of images surrounded by vibrant coloured texts and shapes to attract the audience’s attention. I will also use bold text as it is a Hip Hop Magazine Which is quite loud and expressive.

VIBe Magazine Front page Analysis

The magazines masthead is "VIBe" this is written in Baby Blue. Baby Blue is a common colour used amongst both Males and Females as a Unisex colour. Vibe is a common word associated with music and rhythm. This word usually is used when referring to music that is associated with the younger generation because it is a colloquial (slang) word. The use of Colloquialism helps me to confirm that the age range will be between 12 and 25. the Magazine will also be including both genders so there is no gap in the market.

In the magazine the text is quite bold and informal which indicates that the magazine is aimed at slightly younger audiences who have different or less traditional thoughts and views of society compared to the slightly older group of audiences who have more traditional views of society.

The word swagger is written across the bottom left of the front cover like graffiti was sprayed over the cover to symbolise arrogant and rebellious behaviour.

The main image on the front cover is of Usher. mise-en-scene is used to represent the Hip hop culture through the use of items worn by Usher to create a brand identity. Usher is wearing dark sunglasses to hide his facial expressions so he can be seen as mysterious.

He is also is wearing an oversized wrist watch on his hand which connotes that he is wealthy

The Magazine front cover uses words and phrases like the Truth about boy bands to hook the reader in to make them feel as if the content of the magazine would be worth reading and therfore purchasing.

The Magazine uses 4 main colours  Baby Blue, Yellow, Black and Red in its front cover, the reason that Red, Yellow and Baby Blue is used is because the colours are vibrant and generally appeal to the younger target audience. The Baby Blue is also used to catch both genders attention as it is represented as a unisex colour. The main use of the black is to contrast against the text to make it stand out even further.

There are a few more conventions that are present on the front cover of the Music Magazine such as a barcode, issue name and the website address.

Questionnaire

This is the Questionnaire that i have created in order to find out who my target Audience is and what aspects of a Music Magazine they Like and how i will ensure that i try and meet most if not all of there requirements.
This questionnaire is designed to identify key aspects we need to consider when creating a Music Magzine such as what gender will it be aimed at, The age the Target audience is, What interests them in a Music Magazine. By proccesing the answer of the Questionnaire i can get a better understanding of what the audience wants.