Artist Profile

Josh Buxton

Josh made a name for himself producing beats and backing tracks out of his bedroom in Leicester. After posting his tracks on YouTube, a few went viral and he found himself producing for several famous artists. He was signed by Domino Records at the age of 15, he has since been working on his debut album as a solo electronic musician.

Page Harmony - Cover Analysis

The rectangle in the upper left corner of the page represents whereabouts the magazine's logo, or beginning of their logo should be, as you can see in the case of i-D, the logo fits almost perfectly inside this box. The rectangle in the centre of the page marks the ideal "centre of visual interest", however on this particular cover, the centre of the viewers interest is probably slightly further up the page, focusing on the model's makeup and winking eye. The two red circles mark the stereotypical points where text is found, but i-D has gone against convention by placing the text elsewhere.

The rectangle in the upper left corner of the page represents whereabouts the magazine's logo, or beginning of their logo should be, as you can see in the case of The Fly, the logo begins in the box. The rectangle in the centre of the page marks the ideal "centre of visual interest", and in this case it mostly does, with the models face fitting almost completely inside the rectangle. The two red circles mark the stereotypical points where text is found, but similar to i-D, The Fly has gone against convention by placing the text elsewhere.

The rectangle in the upper left corner of the page represents whereabouts the magazine's logo, or beginning of their logo should be, as you can see in the case of Rolling Stone the logo does begins in the box. The rectangle in the centre of the page marks the ideal "centre of visual interest", however that isn't so with the issue of Rolling Stone. The two red circles mark the stereotypical points where text/other important information is found, text is found at the bottom point but not at the top.

Double Page Spread - Flat Plan Drafts

Above are 8 potential ideas for double page spread layouts.

1 Hour Cover

Pitch

Magazine Genre

From my research, I've seen that I don't especially like magazines that are narrowed down to a single genre, as I personally don't listen to a single genre but a range of different ones. When I reviewed my own music taste I realised that most of it is what would be considered as alternative, so I came to the conclusion that the best magazine for me to make would be one that covers alternative music as a whole. So that is what I aim to do.

Contents Page Analysis

This contents page is from "Q" magazine, and at the top of the page it shows the magazines logo, and states that it is the content page, also saying the issue of the magazine. There is then several subtitled sections naming different parts of the magazine, such as "features", "Every Month" and "Q Review". There is also a large picture, relevant to a large feature, with information about the article over the top of the image. Under the name of each article there is a brief description, detailing what the article contains. The colour scheme is mainly white/gray/black/red.

In my opinion, it is a fairly good contents page as it informs the reader well, whilst also looking okay visually, if a little cluttered.

This contents page is from VIBE mag, and is a lot more stylised, if a bit less informative, with more focus on the picture instead of the text. There is still a title, declaring that it's the contents page, however it is staggered over three lines, and slightly rotated. Like the other magazine the page is divided in to subtitled areas, in this case "Features" and "Fashion". The colour scheme is mainly grey/black/white.

 I much prefer the aesthetic of this page to the last one, however it is less functional as a contents page so in my own magazine I'd like to strike a balance between the two.

My final contents page is from Mojo magazine, which lies somewhere between the first two, in terms of functionality and visuality. Mojo has a much cleaner look, with everything being straight on the horizontal axis, with clear lines dividing each section. Throughout all three contents pages there are sub-sections, one of which is always features. This contents page is my favourite out of three, it just has a stylish look, without being oversimplified or too cluttered.

From my research I have learnt that you can't cram too much into a contents page, or it doesn't look as good, but at the same time you can't have too little. On a similar note, it also helps to have a colour scheme of no more than about 4 main colours and no less then 3. I aim to include this in my contents page when it come to making it. 

Double Page Spread Analysis

The double page spread above is from "Q" magazine, and is about Lana Del ray, the centre of visual interest across these two pages is the full page picture on the left hand side. The picture is a close-up slightly out of focus, partially obscured by some blue lights on the left of her face. In the picture she is being slightly sexualised, with eyes closed, mouth slightly parted and with her hand at her chest, more than likely it is implicative of sexual pleasure. 

In terms of actual content in the article, for the majority, it is praise for the artist and some biographical information. Which is what would be expected of a magazine doing an article on a musician. The majority of the right hand side is occupied by a large "S", however it is not a drop cap as the first letter in the writing is still present. However there is a drop cap further in to the article, nearer the bottom right hand corner. 

The general look is of elegant simplicity, with the picture being fairly sparse in terms of mise en scene and the actual article lacking any extra "features" such as cutlines. I like the style of picture, but think the article side of the page could be improved visually, either through a less generic layout, or by using some cutlines or a larger more artistic title.

This double page spread is also from "Q" mag, and is about Jay-Z, the picture is a close-up of Jay-Z, split down the middle by the lighting, the left side red, the right side blue. He is wearing sunglasses and a chain, which is stereotypical dress for a rap artist, and his facial expression is pretty serious. The two different colours create a dichotomy between the two half's of the picture, which could be saying something about Jay-Z as a person, or his style of music. The picture has some text overlayed which is a significant quote from his interview, it also has a little tagline and information about the photograph in the bottom left.

The actual article contains, as in the case of the first DPS, mostly praise and biographical information about the artist and extracts from an interview. The whole text is overlayed by a huge transparent "J", emphasising the fact you are reading an interview about Jay-Z. After the first paragraph they all begin with a drop cap, other than that, the font remains small throughout.

Overall, much like the last DPS, the article is clearly split down the page divider, one page showing a picture, the other text. I prefer the visual style of this article over the last, as it has more colour to it, and has a more eye-pleasing header and graphics.

This DPS is about Katy Perry, and is from Rolling Stone. Since it is from a different magazine to the firs two, the layout and style of the magazine is very different. Instead of having the picture on the left and article on the right, it has been inverted to be the other way round. In the picture, instead of it just been a close up, it shows her from the knees up. She is dressed, and has the facial expression, of someone trying to be provocative, with her top off and bra strap partially off and shorts partially undone. Her face is fairly heavily made up, and she is staring directly at the camera. She is juicing a lemon in the picture, which to be honest is a bit random.

The article's layout is in three columns, split down the middle horizontally by a cross-head. The font is small throughout with the exception of the drop cap, and the tone of the article starts almost satirical with the way it does the occasional poke of fun at her or her ex-boyfriend Russell Brand. However it basically goes on to generally big her up, and offer basic biographical information, as most music magazines do.

In summary, all three double page spreads were fairly similar in the fact one page was a large picture, and the other page was the bulk of the article, with maybe a few drop caps and/or a crosshead. Since all of the DPS's were taken from popular magazines, I can learn that by setting my DPS in a similar way it has a good chance of looking good.

Magazine Cover Analysis

Magazine Cover Analysis

Magazine Title

"Cassette"

Magazine Title Devlopment

My music magazine is going to cover alternative music in general, instead of focusing on one specific genre. So to come up with a name I looked up synonyms for the word "alternative", I considered a few such as unorthodox, offbeat and irregular; but was not really liking any of them. I then looked at the origins of the word alternative, and saw that it came from the Latin word "alternare" which meant interchange.

Interchange was the best word, in my opinion, up until that point, but when I thought about it I imagined a travel magazine rather than a music one. So it didn't really work as a title.

Deciding I needed a word that more specifically referenced music, I looked for synonyms for the word music, and found that they were all to technical, e.g. notes, chords, strains. So once again I looked at the origin of the word and found it came from the Greek "muse", bit since that is already the name of a fairly mainstream band, so it wasn't really valid.

In the end I just brainstormed words related to music, and thought of "Cassette" as in cassette tapes, it was a word directly linked to music, whilst also sounding pretty good and not pinning it down to a single genre of music.

Colour Palette Analysis

Preliminary Magazine

Font Mood Board

Magazine Cover Inspiration

I like the style of the magazine above, mainly due to the simplicity, as it still manages to be eye catching and aesthetically pleasing. The juxtaposition of the rusted can against the clean background and fonts creates a striking design. The fonts used are all clean and simple, which I personally prefer to messier fonts. I also like the coloured stripe down the left hand side of the page, which helps brighten the page and provide a boundary.

I liked the magazine above because of the wide range of colours, the contrast between the straight lines of paint and the mix, the simple title in the form of a label. Once again the use of simple fonts appealed to me.

i-D captured my attention because of their bold logo, with different placement to the stereotypical central title. The model also stands out, due to the 'striking' makeup. There is a contrast between the simplicity of the fonts used and the attention to detail in terms of the models costume, hair and makeup, which I think serves to direct the viewers attention away from the more 'mundane' things like the title, and more on the focus of the cover, being the model.

This cover caught my eye, due to the bold, cartoon-y illustrations used on the cover. I just found the art-style attractive and also liked the lack of a bold headline, however this does make it a bit unclear at a glance to see what the magazine is actually covering.

I like the Critic cover, mainly because of the multi-coloured filter that has been applied and the simplistic, rounded font.