Mood Board 1- Musical and design inspiration

Analysis of Magazine Titles

The Wire

The Wire, more commonly known as just 'Wire' is a british music magazine thats main focus is on avant garde and experimental music. I believe it's title is effective as it almost represents the style of music that it features. By this I mean 'the word Wire' sounds almost like something that will give you an electric shock, almost like a live 'wire'. This suits the style of avant garde music that the magazine features as it's supposed to be shocking, edgy and different. The title is also effective as it's short and to the point as consist of only two syllables.

Dummy  

'Dummy' is a new music magazine which features mainly alternative and innovative pop music. I believe the title is effective because a dummy is something that is essentially a replica or model of something else. And seeing as pop music is generally about emulating popular styles of music, the word 'Dummy' is an appropriate title. Like the 'Wire' the title is also phonetically effective as it only consists of two syllables and is catchy.

NME

'NME' is a magazine that is mostly associated with Rock and Indie music. 'NME' is an abbreviation for 'New Musical Express', which works effectively seeing as New Musical Express would be far too long a title to put on the front of a magazine. Furthermore, 'NME' is just three syllables which makes it sound both phonetically pleasing and easy to remember.

Loud and Quiet 

This title is effective as it's oxymoronic and is therefore intriguing to potential new readers. By oxymoronic I mean that 'Loud' is opposite to 'Quiet' and therefore the title seems contradictory. However the title is actually quite fitting to the magazines purpose as it features new indie and rock musicians that produce good music but aren't particularly famous, hence 'Loud' and 'Quiet'.

Clash 

Clash is an example of another effective magazine title as it too suits the purpose of itself. Clash Magazine is an amalgamation of both music and fashion so therefore the title 'Clash' is fairly fitting. The word 'Clash' is also an example of onomatopoeia which is effective seeings as the magazine writes articles about music.

Research - Genre of Magazine

Alternative Music

For my magazine the genre of music I have chosen is anything that's alternative. This can range from from anything to alternative rock to alternative hip- hop to avant-garde music. Magazines such as Dummy, Dazed & Confused and i-D inspired me to take on this type of music genre for my magazine as they combine style and fashion with the best music to create their magazines. Choosing alternative music as my genre also gives me a lot of creative freedom when it comes to the design of my magazine as there's a huge amount of diversity within the alt music scene. 

Here are a few artists that fall under the alternative music umbrella that would appear on my magazine: 

King Krule

Archy Marshall (better known as King Krule) is a British musician and songwriter from London. His music style is a unique blend of indie rock, jazz and hip hop. His music generally sounds dark and bleak as he sings in a gritty voice about the hardships of living with depression and disillusionment. He's popular among the young alt scene and has appeared on magazines Dazed and i-D.

Danny Brown

Danny Brown is an American alternative hip hop artist from Detroit. He known for his hip hop music as it sounds different to most mainstream versions and adopts an alternative style. He has been featured on magazines such as The Fader and is popular among the alt crowd but recently has become more mainstream.

FKA twigs

FKA twigs (formally known as twigs) is a British song writer/musician from London. Her musical style is generally alternative R&B but is known for integrating experimental features into her music. She's highly popular among the alt crowd and has been on the cover of several magazines such as i-D and Fader. She has also worked on video projects with Dazed and Confused.

Die Antwoord

Die Antwoord are a South African duo from Cape Town. Their musical style consist of alternative hip-hop/rave and are famous for their South African street fashion and avant grade music videos. They have worked on media projects with magazines like Vice and often feature on music magazines.

XXYYXX

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Marcel Everett, better known by his stage name 'XXYYXX' is an American electronic musician from Miami, Florida. He is best known for his debut album XXYYXX which received critical acclaim. His musical style is a mixture of several genres. ranging tom trip hop to experimental. 

Analysis of Magazines - Contents

Contents Analysis 

Analysis of Magazines - Covers

Cover Analysis

 

10x Analysis of Fonts

Font Analysis

In this first font it looks cartoony- with thick black outlines and a non linear/rounded style. It stands out well and is easy on the eye. 

 

In this don't it looks as if it bares a resemblance to the Indiana Jones' font. It's bold and striking.

 

In the third font it looks cleaner than the previous ones, with straighter lines and skinnier letters, it looks neat and minimal. 

 

This font looks almost like a combination of the prior two fonts. It looks bold and striking but also has straighter lines which makes it appear neat and clean.

 

Of all the fonts so far this font is by far the most minimalist looking. Its letters look very thin as opposed to thick and bold like the others, however it still stands out. 

 

This font looks more angular compared to its predecessors, this is especially noticeable when looking at the pointed tips on the M and the A. I'm not sure this really looks appropriate for my cover. 

This fond is unique in that it looks hand-drawn, with shading on the sides to give it a lighting effect. It's quite quirky but again I don't think it would suit my cover. 

 

Of all the ones so far this certainly looks the most messy. It almost looks like one of the fonts you'd see on a music magazine about rock. 

As with the last font, this too also looks like something that would be suitable to go on the cover of a rock magazine

I'm not really sure what this font it, so far all my fonts have looked pretty similar so I chose this to make my selection look more diverse. I can't really envisage this going anywhere near my magazine cover though.

10x Analysis of Colour Palettes

Colour Palettes

 This colour palette  consists of muddy reds and purples and the odd brown, which makes it appear almost vintage like. This would work well in a magazine that had an archaic/vintage theme as this colour palette would link with that style.

 This palette is rather simple as it consists of just three colours; blue, baby blue and a white with a blue tint. It looks effective as the dark blue contrasts with the light blues. This colour palette would most likely be used in a magazine aimed at males. However, apart from that the colours pretty neutral and could suit many different genres of magazine.

 This colour palette is quite complex as the colours fade into one another, almost creating a gradient. This wouldn't work particularly well in a magazine and ideally the colours used on a page need to contrast with one another in order to look effective.

 In this colour palette there is mainly orange and purples. Orange and purple are generally seen as two colours which don't go well with each other, and I have to agree. However they do contrast to some extent, so there's no rational reason why this colour palette couldn't be used effectively.

 This palette is fairly ambiguous in my opinion. It effectiveness as a magazine colour palette would be limited seeing as some of the colours don't contrast very well.

 Greys, blues and tainted brownish colours is what this colour palette consists of, which in my opinion makes it look industrial and urban like. I could see this being used in a magazine that's about urban lifestyles or cars/bikes due to the metallic resemblance that the colours bare.

 Again, this colour scheme has an element of ambiguity. I'm not really sure what type of magazine would implement this arrangement of colours. Despite this it's still effective due to its bright and contrasting colours.

This colour palette is almost identical to the French and Dutch flags, excluding the black of course. It works well due to the colours all contrasting fairly well with one another. Some of the colours are even direct opposites of each other (e.g B&W). This palette is utilised by numerous magazines due to the contrast between the colours.

 This colour palette is made up of all blue-ish colours which gives it an aqua theme. I can see this being used in magazines to do with the fishing/sea/boats. It also appears very male orientated due to its use of blues.

Consisting of mainly reddish colours, I can see this palette being used in a magazine thats feminine its nature; most likely a magazine to do with love/passion. However, many of the colours don't contrast well, so its effectiveness as a colour scheme would be hindered as a result.