Magazine Background Research

i-D is a British magazine dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. i-D was founded by designer and former Vogue art director Terry Jones in 1980. The first issue was published in the form of a hand-stapled fanzine with text produced on a typewriter. Over the years the magazine evolved into a mature glossy but it has kept street style and youth central to every issue.

I have taken this i-D cover from the website, as I believe that it portrays the abstract style that I want to show in my own magazine. Also the overall simplistic colour pallet and style of the cover is a feature that I am fond of as I believe that a simplistic cover reflects my intent more effectively. Also i-D focus's on all aspects of certain genre's which is something I am also very interested in doing. I want to produce a magazine that highlights not only 'indie' music, but also the fashion, art and youth culture that it represents.




'Dazed & Confused' is a British style magazine that was set up in 1992 and published monthly. Its founding editors were Jefferson Hack and fashion photographer Rankin. The topics that are covered include music, fashion, film, art, and literature.

I took this from the Dazed magazine website  because it feature an article about how it has been the "forefront of youth culture" for 20 years, which means it has created a big impact on a huge and still growing market, rather than a small specific target audience. This reflects my intent of not only wanting to reach my specific audience, but also growing to reach a wider market. I want my magazine to attract a variety of different audiences through it's uncommon approach to modern media and magazine design.

Quote: "For 20 years, Dazed & Confused Magazine has been at the forefront of youth culture. Defining the times, each issue showcases agenda-setting editorial and pioneering fashion photography. Based in London but created by an international collective of writers, image-makers and stylists, Dazed and its website dazeddigital.com is read in print and online by over 500,000 style leaders. It is quite simply the most influential and successful independent magazine title on the planet."




Clash is a popular music and fashion magazine and website based in the United Kingdom. It is published 12 times a year by Clash Music Ltd.
The brand's content alternates between modern bands such as The Horrors, Florence & The Machine and Jamie xx as well as hip-hop artists like DJ Shadow, Kanye West and Beastie Boys, who have all had cover spots in recent issues. It concentrates on music and fashion, and often their effect on surrounding culture, as
well as film and technology.

I have chosen to research clash magazine as I am inspired by it's 'Indie' influences, as well and influences by other genre's. I have chosen this specific cover because I really like the idea of an image being cover to create an abstruse image, but still being able to view the two images an individuals. This concept is something I will keep in mind when designing my own magazine cover.




Billboard is an American music magazine, head quartered in New York City, New York and owned by Prometheus Global Media. It was first published on November 1, 1894, and is distinguished as being among the oldest trade magazines in the world. The magazine originally focused on bill posting and outdoor amusements before specializing in the music industry in the 1960's. Billboard maintains several internationally-recognized record charts, which track the most popular songs and albums across several categories on a weekly basis.

I have chosen this cover from the website, as it immediately stood out to me as it feature the artist Florence Welch who is widely associated with the genre of 'Indie Rock'. Also I was very interested in the way that billboard expresses "unrivalled reporting on the latest news and trends across all genres of music" which relates to my original ideas regarding the style of my magazine. With the overall approach  of a non-mainstream magazine having an artist that compliments the genre of music, it reflects a symmetrical aim, and will suit my chosen market.

Quote: "The Billboard brand is built on its exclusive charts and unrivalled reporting on the latest news, issues and trends across all genres of music. Billboard receives hundreds of millions of brand impressions daily through many strategic relationships with major companies across various industries.  These relationships leverage Billboard's brand recognition, proprietary chart data and information resources to develop products, live events and print, television, radio, digital and mobile platforms.  In addition to North America, Billboard operates businesses in Brazil, Greece, Japan, Korea and Russia."