I decided strate away to base the age of my target audience and the genre of music choosen for my magazine around myself, so I could easily relate, and have a better input. Therefore my target audience for my music magazine is teenagers aged between 14 to 18. It is aimed at readers who share a passion for rock and alternative music. To make my magazine exceed its goal I used the results from my questionnaire to change certain aspects of my magazine to make it better, e.g. i changed the colour from a dark purple to blue a more alternative colour.
My Audience Feedback Results:
After gaining feedback from my target audience, I made a few improvements to my magazine, taking into account the comments they had made.
My target audience thought that my front cover and contents page looked professional and said that they would buy it, ” yes i would because of the quality of the design” < qoute They liked the layout of my front cover and contents page because it is simple and also conveyed a real magazine. Taking into account i looked at Kerrang maqazine for ideas to inspire my design.
The parts of my magazine that my target audience liked most was the use of colour, and pictures taken. My target audience said that they felt my magazines genre fell under the indie/alternative catagory which ticks one of my goals. They said my double page spread was effective because it containd intersting infomation and a good picture, “Yep, its very interesting and makes me drawn to the magazine” <qoute “yes and also the pictures give more to look at aswell” <another qoute on double page spread. This Suggests that my picture and layout went well together.
I also asked my target audience if they believed my magazine fitted with the age group i choose (14-18) they agreed that it does, “Yep, cos the text isn’t too complex and the colours used, and the bands would appeal to its target audience” <qoute I asked them if the font was effective and results say it was “eyecatching and stood out” <qoute and they agreed my pictures were appropiate and well taken. All my responders said that they would spend up to £3 on my magazine. “up to £3 cos most music mags cost that much or more or less depending if weekly or not” <qoute “I would spend up to £3 as other music magazines are genreally in this price criteria” <qoute which i both agree with.
Improvments suggested by my target audience were:
“use photoshop CSS2 to cut out the background of the images to make it look more professional”
“USE PHOTOSHOP for the pic BUT top marks for your paint work on them”
This is because i didnt have photoshop at home and had to use paint to cut out the background of my pictures. This was hardwork and very time consuming.
Unfortunatly i ran out of time to adjust there ideas of improvements. For my front page, I used an indirect mode of address with my artist because they were playinng guitar, and not looking at the audience showing his passion for music. Although direct mode draws the audience in, i believe this effect adds curiosity about the artist and abliges the viewer to read more and see a full picture of the band. The mise-en-scene for my product is a simple Royal blue background with pink writing, because I want the main focus to be on my artist rather then its surroundings. I used a medium shot to show my artists full bodylanguage to see his guitar and clothing because i wanted my target audience to see what he is wearing, as clothes have an imapact on style/genre of music and thus would show my them what im trying to appeal to.
I decided not to put a price on my magazine, but to instead let my results from my questionaire decide an appropreiate price for me. so I could realistically price my product so it is affordable for my target audience. As my target audience said they would pay no more then £3 I priced my magazine at £2.50 and is only a monthly magazine. This i believe will keep my target audience interested and happy.
I used a simple Dark blue background mixed with pink writing as my colour scheme because the background isnt to busy, to distract the reader from the picture, nevertheless the pink writing draws attention to the inside contents. My double page spread however has a different background to my front cover and contents, because i wanted to make it appear more interesting, as because if it was on a plain background, the writing may appear as a lot to read. I did each of my titles in different, but bold, eye catching fonts to make each page slighty different and to also make my magazine look different from others.
The use of buzz words such as “exclusive”, and “free”, drawns my intended audience to something in my product that may be of interest to them for example free posters and vouchers.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I didn’t challenge the conventions of my music magazine because I took inspiration from other magazines to help me make my magazine appear professonal and sofphisticated, and create a product that conveyed a real music magazine.
I analysed an issue of Kerrang magazine, to see how the front cover, contents and double page spread were formed. This was a really useful exercise because Kerrang magazine’s target audience is similar to my own.To make my front cover represent a real magazine, like Kerrang, I had a large, eyecatching main picture; a bold title, a barcode at the bottom of the page; a strapline, and buzz words. I also kept my colour scheme basic so my page did not look too busy and draw attenttion away from key points.
Like a conventional magazine, My image on my double page spread takes up the majority of the page, making it stand out and eyecatching. For my contents page, I looked at other magazines with similar target audiences for inspiration. I found that most offered free gifts or posters to attract their readers, so like they did I also included them. I informed my audience of upcoming concerts, of a similur style to my band and added amusement such as competitions and insights of top bands.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
As my magazine is a rock and alternative genre, the clothing worn by the band member (casual) represents its chilled and fun, setting the mood of the magazine.
I believe teenage boys and girls from the age 14-18 will be interested in my magazine, as the colour scheme and contents appeal to both genders.
Conclusion:
Because I had already used Photoshop for my preliminary task, I did not find it as difficult to use second time round and I knew how to upload my pictures and add in my text, making my magazine quicker and easier to produce. However I found some of the tools on Photoshop difficult to use because occasionally, the layer would lock and I was unable to perform the task I wanted to. I also found some of the icons confused me and when i clicked on them thinking they were something else, it set my work back and slowed the finishing process down. Nevertheless photoshop helped to make my product look professional and like a real magazine and play around with colours and effecs
My main image was of a band member i saw at a gig i went to, the image could be seen as slightly out of focus, as the lighting from the stage affected the picture and is of different colours, however from my questionaire it appeard to my audience as an intended effect.
Since my preliminary task, i have found that to create a realistic looking magazine, I should keep my front cover and contents page in a similur style, to show that they are linkd and part of the same magazine. Whereas my school magazines contents does’nt link with the style of its front cover.The research i carried out for my music magazine and the fact that the age group and genre fits in with myself, it made it easier for me to focus on particular aspects, and the genre of my product and adapt them to my target audience.
From this project I have learnt how to use Photoshop to make my work neat and professional, I have also learnt how to work my blog, and link j-peg files to it, which before I had to get help with.
In order to complete my coursework, I must collect audience feedback from my music magazines target audience. can you please answer the questions below in a blog comment to help me gain knowlage of what is good with my magazine, and also how to improve my product. Thank you
1) Does it look like a real magazine?
2) Would you buy it?
3) How much would you spend on it?
4) What genre do you think the magazine is? e.g. Indie, Rock, Metal etc
5) Does the colours fit the genre of the magazine?
6) Is the font/writing affective?
7) Does the double page spread give good infomation on the band?
Are the pictures good quality?
9) In your opinion does the magazine fit its target audience of boys and girls aged between 14-18 who like rock music?
10) Suggest any improvements i could make?
Specific brief
I am going to design and make a music magazine’s front cover, contents page and double page spread by following the layout of an existing magazine to get the appropriate conventions to make my own magazine look professional.
In order to create an appealing magazine to my choice of a teenage target audience, I have to have a variety of interesting topics covered inside the magazine and possibly offer them a free gift to encourage them to buy the magazine. I will also have to have an image of a band on the front cover taken by myself to create my idealistic cover; and making it stand out and enhance the theme of the magazine e.g. Rock, Pop, Metal, R&B etc
