An analysis of the layout, type, content, style, genre and market of a contemporary magazine

This week I have to research a magazines from a list of four names which are given to us... From the four, I have chosen of  the Design Indaba magazine, I have done a brief on Design indaba, this is the most inspiring design magazine I've ever read. Now am to comment on their layout, type, content, style, genre and their market...

Poster: Campaign promotion
Concept: "Every great idea begins with a sketch"

This is what I've done...

I don't have a favorite, to be quit honest I think I all magazines are so ridiculously expensive but  I do read some of them. I only bought one magazine 'a fitness magazine' from the time I was able to read till now... I don't really like to read most of the articles in magazines unless it really catches my eyes...

What is your magazine about?

"Design Indaba magazine takes an inclusive view of design, showcasing all of the creative industries from product, interior, industrial and jewellery design to fashion, architecture, graphics and animation. Although functioning as a custom publication for the flagship Design Indaba Expo and Conference, the magazine is not limited to coverage of these events, rather looking to extend the ethos of Design Indaba beyond these annual events. It has a 50:50 split between South African and international design".

http://www.designindabamag.com   
                                                                                

4th Quarter issue of Design Indaba

The magazine I've looked at is the Design Indaba 2010 fourth quarter. Done by South African Illustrator and designer Daniel Ting Chong. Design Indaba cover surrounding the idea of DIY (Do It Yourself). The DIY idea is  incorporated  into the cover, The designer has made it interactive to the reader rather than just creating an illustrated cover. This gives the cover something more tangible than just its aesthetic appearance. The choice of  typography on this cover is made into template that can be cut out and  glued together to form a 3D typography letter that spells the out DIY. These are the outline illustrations which are seen on the cover. The Highlighted Areas Show Which Objects To Cut To Make The 3D Paper Type.

The first thing you see on the magazine cover of Design Indaba, is the logo which is bold right at the top of the front cover, the issue number and the year of issue, the barcode.

Design Indaba has a unique style which interacts with many designers out there. It defines design aesthetic and i very informative.

The content of the magazine focus on post- consumerism ( Post-Consumerism is the idea that something can have value without having a price tag attached to it),  craft, interior,  architecture and fashion design. It mentions about the velosynth project in the 4th quarter 2010 print edition of design indaba magazine. The article in which it’s mentioned is entitled “the bespoke comeback.” the blurb reads —
“Velosynth is an open-source, hackable interaction bicycle synthesizer. It attaches to the bicycle to interpret speed, acceleration and other data into useful audio feedback for other road users. Created by EFFALO, a company specializing in creating interactive environments, the device works using a magnet and sensor attached to the wheel”.
http://effalo.tumblr.com/
The layout of each page is based on four column grid, the type is densed and symmetrical, this shows a unity of design. The magazine  has a feel for creativity, It focused on what designers has contributed, on how they used their creative energy to design something with a social conscience. The page layout is different within each page.
The genre is for creative and for those looking for inspiration. I think Design Indaba is more enticing for young designers in particular, it gets you to read something that you would never want to read, it also provides a platform from which designers can interconnect with one another and learn about what other designers are doing . This magazine combine's social and artistic objective's.

Other Examples: