Nicole Pieper

BTEC Media Studies

December 2013

Mixx Logo Evaluation

What genre did you think the name represented? Why? I think Mixx represents teen pop and top 40 chart music genre. The channel would broadcast popular music listened to by youths and young adults, as well as the songs in the Top 40! music chart; this would include old number one hits and other songs that are maybe less popular. I think the name Mixx represents this genre well as a lot of popular, Top 40! hits are played in clubs and at parties and discos, where DJs mix popular songs, creating re-mixes. Not only this, the second x in Mixx presents a youthful, mischievous and lively feel which I think suits the radio station and the genre I have chosen well. The Mixx radio station would play music aimed at teenagers and young adults as they are, stereotypically, people who enjoy going to parties, going to clubs or discos and listen to the most popular music and music in the Top 40! charts. Who did you think the audience is? Why? The target audience is young 13-21 year olds, particularly people who enjoy listening to popular, chart music and old number one hits. This age range of people enjoy listening to music with friends, dancing to it and enjoying themselves; they do this as a way to relax and distract themselves from their busy school, college or university schedules. How did you aim to appeal to that audience? I wanted my target audience to be reminded of parties and nights out when they saw the Mixx logo. I used the bright orange colour to attract the young persons attention ; however I did not pick a stereotypical pink or blue to appeal to just females or males. I designed the logo in order for it to look exciting, dynamic and up for a fun time. I think this would appeal to my target audience as they would desire a fun and exciting night out after a busy week at school. Who did you think would be the stations' competitors? Why? I think the main competitors for Mixx would be Capital and Kiss in the mornings and on Friday and Saturday nights. The competitors play very similar music, club classics and anthems and the hot hits; occasionally these hits and anthems are re-mixed by famous and popular DJs. Capital and Kiss have similar target audiences however my radio stations target audience lower boundary is less than the competing stations; this will encourage younger listeners to tune into Mixx instead of Capital or Kiss, also making it more likely that they will continue to listen to the Mixx as they grow up.

Nicole Pieper

BTEC Media Studies

December 2013

What 'look' did you want to create? Why? I wanted to create a young, youthful look for my logo, showing my target audience that the radio station plays the hottest, most popular and latest releases. I think this would appeal to my target audience as 13-21 year olds want to have a fun, relaxed night with their close friends, enjoying music and dancing to it. I avoided making the radio station appeal to either gender specifically as I could imagine a group of young girls preparing for a party or night out in a club, listening to Mixx, trying on different dresses and doing their hair and make-up; however I could also imagine young men having Mixx blaring out of their car speakers as they travel to a frien ds house for a boys night in watching the football. How did you create that look? Use technical terminology I started by drawing an orange circle with the oval shape tool on Photoshop, then drawing a second, smaller circle with the oval shape tool on Photoshop, however this time colouring the shape white. I held down the shift button in order to keep the proportions the same whilst drawing the two circles, this resulted in two perfect circles. I drew the orange circle larger in the background in order for the logo to have an orange boarder.

After this, I began to use the shape tool on Photoshop to create proportional squares and rectangles to form the start of the M I and X characters. I used the pen tool to draw a triangle which I used to create the indents in the M and X characters. I duplicated the triangle to ensure they were all the same size and avoid having to resize each indent on each character; I also rotated the indents for the X characters. I duplicated the first X character to create the second to ensure they were the same size and identical to each other.

Nicole Pieper

BTEC Media Studies

December 2013

To create the I character, it was a considerable amount simpler than the other characters. I used the rectangle shape tool to draw a rectangle. I then used the custom shape tool to draw a triangle to sit on the top edge of the rectangle. This character was easy to create and I thought it looked really effective alongside the other, finished characters. Once I had finished creating all the different shapes, indents, kept the proportions the same, aligned all the characters, altered the sizes if needed and linked all the layers together. I linked all the layers together so that I could rotate the whole design at a slight angle. I did this to create the illusion that the logo was a print on a CD that had just stopped spinning.

What did you think was the most successful part of your logo? I am very pleased with the font I created for my Mixx logo. I think it gives solidarity to the logo as well as a strong, powerful feeling. This is how I wanted my audience to feel when they saw the Mixx logo; people of the target audiences age tend to fee l empowered by music and lyrics, I wanted my logo to make the listeners feel empowered. I had to be very patient and precise to create the font for my logo; I created the whole logo out of shapes and therefore had to find correct sizes and proportions for each shape in order for the logo to look professionally made. I
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Nicole Pieper

BTEC Media Studies

December 2013

experimented slightly with the different characters for example the M in the logo was altered slightly as I had been given feedback that the character was not clear; as a result of this I added a small triangular indent to the bottom of the character in an attempt to make it a clearer M. While creating my Mixx logo I also considered the colour scheme in depth; I had to decide, due to my target audience consisting of both genders, which colour to use without creating implications that the radio station is aimed at or favours either gender. I decided orange as it was bright, eye catching and fun. The orange and white colour scheme added to the powerful feel I wanted to portray through the logo; this is because I have chosen a deep orange, it is not too dark, although it is not too light either, I feel it is a strong, solid colour that catches your eye but is not overwhelming to look at. I was pleased with my colour choice and the creation of the logo font as I feel it added to the strength and powerful feeling I aimed to achieve. Did your audience think it suited the genre? I thought my logo suited my target audience as the logo looks like a CD that has stopped spinning as the tracks have finished playing; this is because people aged between 13 and 21 and the CD generation and will have grown up listening and dancing to music on CDs. When I asked my target audience for feedback on my logo they found it difficult to recognise which genre of music the radio station would play. However, they noticed it was aimed at both males and females. The feedback stated that they really liked the font as it was something they had not seen before. They also said they liked the colour scheme as it was noticeable but not intense. Overall, they said it was a very well designed logo but I needed to make the genre of music clearer to the audience. What skills have you developed most when creating this logo? The skills I have developed most whilst creating this logo is my Photoshop skills. I chose to create my entire logo out of shapes and therefore had to become accustomed to the custom shape tool, to the pen tool which I used to create the outline of new shapes and save as a custom shape. Also, I have learned to be patient with things that are not going quite to plan; for example if one shape does not fit exactly with another and I have to alter sizes and proportions for more than one character. I have also developed the skill of developing my own ideas with feedback given to me by others; this has allowed me to improve my logo and design it to its full potential. How does your work compare to other, similar logos? My logo compares only to the other logos in the family of logos I designed for Ow Music! The other logos I have designed, Buzz and VIP, have also been created using only shapes and colours, unlike any other logo. Capital and Kiss, Mixx radio stations competitors, have soft, rounded logos; however, the only similarity between Mixx and its competitors logos is the bright colours used. Moreover, the colours used in Capital and Kisss logos do not consist of colour schemes used in the Mixx logo.
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Nicole Pieper

BTEC Media Studies

December 2013

What could you still do to make your work even better? Why? I think I could add to the background of my design. I think it could be made a bit more interesting; however I do not want to add anything that would overpower the design and take attention away from the font or colours. I thought of adding a shadow or outer glow to the background circle to make the logo look as if it had just stopped spinning and enhance the idea that the logo is a printed design on a CD. I would have to be careful in adding a shadow or outer glow as I would have to decide on the intensity of the colour around the outside, whether it be an orange or a grey colour, and how far spread it should be.