Front Cover Overview

All of the front covers above have been previous front covers of Mixmag magazine and therefore they have all had the same aim; to attract fans of electronic dance music such as house, drum and bass, dubstep, etc. I have carried out a study of them, and from this I have discovered repeated patterns between and commonly repeated features within them.

All eight front covers follow classic layout and general conventions of magazine and music magazine front covers, All of the front covers include an image which dominates the frame, a bright colour scheme is used to reflect and celebrate the musical taste of the audience, sell-lines are surrounding the main image, there is an effective use of mode of address and, in the majority of them, males tend to dominate the front cover.

On top of this, we also see other various repeated patterns; the majority of the magazines feature individual artists – with the exception of two front covers. The usual appearance of an individual artist on Mixmag’s front cover indicates its genre; usually, there is never more than one person at a time as the DJ in a club/rave (where electronic dance music is prominently played/heard). This is due to the equipment used – there aren’t many different instruments needed to produce the music, unlike many other genres – just turntables, which only need one person to operate them. In all of the front covers, we also see similarities across the main images; all of the featured artists make eye contact with the audience. This is a common convention of music magazines and the use of direct address is especially key here; the readers may be aspiring DJ’s/artists themselves and so, by the artists giving them direct address, they are able to relate more to and feel an even greater likeness/link or bond with them. This links in with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs; Maslow states that humans have five needs which must be satisfied in order for them to be happy. This would satisfy the need of self-esteem and self-actualization; the reader may think, if they can do it, so can I! Other members of the audience may also feel as if the magazine has been catered for them – the artist is appealing to them specifically, as an individual; both these factors will make the audience attracted to the magazine, and they will want to buy it.

As stated earlier, the majority of the artists featured on the front cover are male, the only exception being Annie Mac, Goldielocks and Little Boots. However, Goldielocks and Little Boots share a front cover with 7 other males and Annie Mac is depicted as quite masculine; with a black and white colour scheme, she looks less feminine than

she might appear normally. The only other cover with a female featured represents the woman as a sex object; the audience can see a female model, wearing a skimpy pink swimsuit and red lipstick. The model is posing ever so slightly provocatively on a lilo in a swimming pool, with her arm up in the air; she looks free and liberated, as if she’s having fun and doesn’t seem to have any cares, ready to let herself loose in world where drink is ‘cheap’ and dance is ‘free’. The way in which females are represented on these front covers not only reflects the way in which women in the music press are underrepresented, but it also indicates that Mixmag’s target audience consists of males, as does the world of electronic dance music. Here we see that women are either represented as masculine, surrounded by dominating males, or are presented as a sex object.

There are many other similarities across the front covers of Mixmag. A symbiotic link is created between all of the front covers through colour schemes used and layout. All front covers feature a vibrant colour scheme, which grabs attention and that – as stated earlier – reflects the audience’s musical tastes. When plainer colours such as grey or white are featured in the background of the main image, the masthead tends to be an eye-popping colour, for example, bright orange or lime green, whereas if the background of the main image is a bright colour/setting such as aqua blue or palm trees, the masthead tends to be white. This helps maintain brand identity; the masthead will always stand out no matter what the background is, helping reinforce Mixmag’s name (it catches the eye and sticks in the reader’s mind). If a member of Mixmag’s target audience were to go into a newsagent, they would instantly be able to locate the magazine on the shelves, as they would know to look for the bright, eye-catching masthead. The sell lines also tend to be written in quirky, display fonts, with colours that stand out, and the main sell line is always placed either in the middle of the page or at the top left; this is because the first place the eye will go to is the top left and then down to the bottom of the page. The magazine is hoping to initially hook the reader in with a juicy, well placed sell line and keep them attracted/wanting to buy the magazine through the use of additional sell lines, puffs and the strapline. Although there are always other sell lines featured, they tend to be in the same small fonts.

There is also another common feature amongst all the covers; on all of them, there are no feature article photographs. Feature article photographs are a common convention of music magazines, and so it’s a noticeable difference; this suggests that Mixmag wants to

create a more sophisticated and mature feel, as it makes the covers look less tacky and childish – they look polished, smooth and slick with the simplistic design. It also suggests that Mixmag feels its audience is too cool/trendy for feature article photographs. This, in turn, reflects the target audience of hip males in their late twenties who are seen as on trend. The layout of the sell-lines is also similar in each issue in the sense that they keep appearing in the same places; they almost (with the exception of a few covers) always have three sell lines in the bottom left hand corner, along with many more going down the right hand side of the page in a column, making Mixmag appear organized and structured, and complimenting the presentation of text inside (text tends to be set out in columns and rows) creating a brand identity for the magazine and also giving the cover a more sophisticated appearance. The sell-lines always relate to clubs and dance music too, signalling clearly the genre of the magazine to potential readers whilst again reflecting and attracting the target audience. Certain sell-lines are also placed in the same position, i.e. the featured artist will always have a sell-line related to them on the top left and therefore it reinforces Mixmag’s strong brand identity; the audience know where to look for certain types of sell-lines.

The costumes are also very similar when we are looking at the mise-en-scene elements within the covers; the artists (apart from the woman in the swimsuit on the “cut price Ibiza!” cover) all fall under one of two categories – they’re either dressy and smart looking sophisticated and mature (ready for a night out/to perform their set) or, extremely casual in a t-shirt and jeans/trousers (giving them a cool and laid back image). For example, on the “the new school” cover, we see Friendly Fires and Little Boots looking as if they’re dressed for a party as they are wearing shirts and suit trousers (Friendly Fires) and a dress and heels (Little Boots), whereas next to them, we see the rest of the artists in tshirts, hoodies and trainers. This suggests that, the magazine caters to all fields within the music genre – some artists may be more underground whilst others are more commercial, signalled by the way they dress (i.e. Artists such as Skream, or David Guetta, who’s cover was released in 2009 which may have been before he became commercialised, are seen wearing a tshirt/jumper) This casual dress allows the reader to relate more to the artists, which is more plausible as they are not huge celebrities yet. Whereas more established artists like Annie Mac or Swedish House Mafia are seen looking suave and sophisticated in a classy black dress/light coloured suit, showing their status within the field of

dance music and they way in which they command more respect and are taken much more seriously when it comes to dance music.

Another key mise-en-scene element repeated upon the front covers is that all the artists are facing forward towards the camera, making direct address with the audience. This makes the audience feel as if they’re connecting with the featured artist and they may feel as if the magazine was made especially for them and will therefore feel the need to buy it. It also creates a symbiotic link between all the covers; if you were to remove the sell-lines, puffs, strapline, dateline and masthead, etc, from the cover, you would be able to tell the images were related through the place where the artists are positioned (middle centre of the page) and the way in which they all stare at the camera face on. You might even be able to recognise the magazine simply through the pose and the other uses of mise-en-scene. All images are taken at either a medium shot or a long shot range, thus establishing a symbiotic link and maintaining Mixmag’s brand identity. All of the artists also share similar body language in the cover images; open body language is presented on every single cover, meaning that their chests are displayed openly and there is no barrier between the reader and the artists. This, combined with the use of direct address, allows the readership to feel drawn to and able to relate to the is the one cover featuring P Diddy; this may be because P Diddy isn’t a dance artist, but a hip hop artist. The pose that P Diddy adopts with body leaning back and arms across his chest is used by hip hop artists all over to create a ‘cool’, masculine look that mimics the kind of shapes adopted during a street dance routine. However, all of these mise-en-scene elements combined help to reinforce the symbiotic link shared between all of Mixmag’s covers, and also help sustain and develop Mixmag’s brand identity as a sophisticated and mature music magazine that can relate to its audience and fans of any given genre of dance music.

From carrying out this overview, I have learnt much more about Mixmag’s brand identity and how it is effectively presented through things such as a continuous use of layout, similar mise-en-scene elements and use of genre specific iconography. It has also inspired me with ideas for when I make my own magazine front cover and I will bear in mind Mixmag’s own conventions when creating mine.