Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Monday, 27 February 2012
Layouts
Front Covers:
^I feel this is a basic magazine front cover layout, but it is an effective layout in the way it can display what is inside the magazine and inform the reader what will be inside if they do purchase the magazine. All the key information is shown clearly and also allowing room for pull quotes and pugs will help to make the reader interested in the magazine.
^I feel this is a basic magazine front cover layout, but it is an effective layout in the way it can display what is inside the magazine and inform the reader what will be inside if they do purchase the magazine. All the key information is shown clearly and also allowing room for pull quotes and pugs will help to make the reader interested in the magazine.
^This front page layout focuses more on the artist/band being featured inside. It is not to busy so the reader can focus on the most important things inside the magazine. Offering free posters is a way of getting the audeince interested in purchasing the magazine.
Contents Page:
^This contents page is effective in the way it clearly shows whats on what page. It also gives room for an image of the band/artist featured inside, which is something the reader is probably keen about reading as they have purchased the magazine. A note from the editior makes the magazine seem personal to the reader. And advertising a subscription to the reader will hopefully persuade them to continuously keep purchasing the magazine.
^This contents page is effective in the way it clearly shows whats on what page. It also gives room for an image of the band/artist featured inside, which is something the reader is probably keen about reading as they have purchased the magazine. A note from the editior makes the magazine seem personal to the reader. And advertising a subscription to the reader will hopefully persuade them to continuously keep purchasing the magazine.
^This contents page is a bit more busy and eye catching, which I think will appeal to my target audience more. It still very clearly shows the page numbers and their content and also still features a large image of the band/artist featured inside, both of which are important parts of a contents page. Featuring pull quotes from other stories will keep the reader interested in the other stories inside.
Double Page spread:
^I think this double page spread will be very effective as all the information is laid out neatly so the reader can look and understand what is being said on the double page spread. The large image of the band/artist, the large header and title will all clearly show who is being talked about on the double page spread. I must make sure I stick to the house theme throughout the page so it links with the rest of the magazine.
Thursday, 23 February 2012
How Research will Inform Planning
How Research will Inform Planning
My research on music magazines has helped me to understand what the target audience of my magazine enjoys to see on their favorite music magazines. My questionnaire has helped identify specific criteria that I can include within my magazine front cover, contents pages and the double page spread.
I carried out my questionnaire on 30 people, 17 of the people were female whilst 13 were males. The majority of people who answered my questionnaire were between 16-17 but the overall ages asked were 15-21, limiting the questionnaire answers to the older teen market will mean that the results will only be aimed at the target audience for my magazine, this will help me greatly.
My questionnaire helped me identify that the most popular genre of music for this age is Indie music, the second most popular was pop, this got me thinking as I could think of many Indie magazines for teenagers but not so many pop magazines for the older teen. For this reason I want to create a pop music magazine aimed at the older teen market 16+ as the pop music magazines are aimed more at the children's and younger teen market. Everyone I asked had read a music magazine at some point, although not all buy a music magazine regularly so I will try and create a pop music magazine that the audience will want to buy and read.
My questionnaire helped my find out that the main reason people read music magazines are because peoples favorite bands and artists are featuring in the magazine, it is for this reason that it'll be important for me to feature images and pull quotes from popular pop icons on my front cover and my contents page. The price most people are willing to pay for a music magazine is £1.10-£2 it is for this reason that I will advertise my music magazine to be within this price.
Answers from my questionnaire also showed that people are mostly drawn to a music magazine because of the image of a band/artist on the front cover, also the name of the magazine and pull quotes from a story inside. So to ensure that my magazine looks appealing these are all features I will include on my front cover. I found out most people buy music magazines in supermarkets so this is where I will aim for my music magazine to be sold, I would want my pop music magazine to be kept away from the children's pop magazines so the reader doesn't feel like this is just another pop magazine aimed at children.
I also found out from my questionnaire that people prefer images to text when reading a double page spread, I will bare this in mind when creating my own double page spread. There were a mixture of people preferring known to unknown artists in a magazine, so to easily please everyone I could include a mixture of known and unknown artists within the magazine. People also answered that they enjoy interviews with celebrities to be included in a music magazine, I can do this on my double page spread so I know the double page spread will be entertaining for the readers.
My questionnaire has helped me identify the type of music magazine I wish to create. I want to create a sophisticated,entertaining pop music magazine for the older teen. I feel there is a gap in the market for this type of magazine as at the moment in shops pop magazine are aimed at children to younger teenagers. I think I can achieve this aim effectively by choosing a sophisticated colour scheme, use of language, images, specific contents and the price. If these specifications are done hopefully I would have created an enjoyable pop music magazine for the audience of 16+ girls.
My research on music magazines has helped me to understand what the target audience of my magazine enjoys to see on their favorite music magazines. My questionnaire has helped identify specific criteria that I can include within my magazine front cover, contents pages and the double page spread.
I carried out my questionnaire on 30 people, 17 of the people were female whilst 13 were males. The majority of people who answered my questionnaire were between 16-17 but the overall ages asked were 15-21, limiting the questionnaire answers to the older teen market will mean that the results will only be aimed at the target audience for my magazine, this will help me greatly.
My questionnaire helped me identify that the most popular genre of music for this age is Indie music, the second most popular was pop, this got me thinking as I could think of many Indie magazines for teenagers but not so many pop magazines for the older teen. For this reason I want to create a pop music magazine aimed at the older teen market 16+ as the pop music magazines are aimed more at the children's and younger teen market. Everyone I asked had read a music magazine at some point, although not all buy a music magazine regularly so I will try and create a pop music magazine that the audience will want to buy and read.
My questionnaire helped my find out that the main reason people read music magazines are because peoples favorite bands and artists are featuring in the magazine, it is for this reason that it'll be important for me to feature images and pull quotes from popular pop icons on my front cover and my contents page. The price most people are willing to pay for a music magazine is £1.10-£2 it is for this reason that I will advertise my music magazine to be within this price.
Answers from my questionnaire also showed that people are mostly drawn to a music magazine because of the image of a band/artist on the front cover, also the name of the magazine and pull quotes from a story inside. So to ensure that my magazine looks appealing these are all features I will include on my front cover. I found out most people buy music magazines in supermarkets so this is where I will aim for my music magazine to be sold, I would want my pop music magazine to be kept away from the children's pop magazines so the reader doesn't feel like this is just another pop magazine aimed at children.
I also found out from my questionnaire that people prefer images to text when reading a double page spread, I will bare this in mind when creating my own double page spread. There were a mixture of people preferring known to unknown artists in a magazine, so to easily please everyone I could include a mixture of known and unknown artists within the magazine. People also answered that they enjoy interviews with celebrities to be included in a music magazine, I can do this on my double page spread so I know the double page spread will be entertaining for the readers.
My questionnaire has helped me identify the type of music magazine I wish to create. I want to create a sophisticated,entertaining pop music magazine for the older teen. I feel there is a gap in the market for this type of magazine as at the moment in shops pop magazine are aimed at children to younger teenagers. I think I can achieve this aim effectively by choosing a sophisticated colour scheme, use of language, images, specific contents and the price. If these specifications are done hopefully I would have created an enjoyable pop music magazine for the audience of 16+ girls.
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
From Mrs S
detailed analysis here, you've mentioned the audience a few times - but who is the audience? What age group? sex etc?
Front Cover Analysis- 2
Audience:
Similarly to the other pages of music magazines I have looked at the audience of this magazine is for younger teenagers, probably between the ages of 13-16. I would say that the magazine is more aimed at the female teenager, I think this because of the style of language used that probably won't be used by a male teenager, also the fact that 10 males posters are being given out which won't appeal to male teenagers, also advertising girls clothes on the front cover also will appeal to females rather than males. The audience of the magazine will be in the know about the current charts and the pop music out at the moment, this is what will appeal them to this magazine as that it what is featured inside, for example Jessie J is currently in the charts and is a very popular, current artist in the pop music industry.
Monday, 20 February 2012
Product Placement
I have decided on creating a pop magazine, designed for an older age range than the pop magazines available at the moment. When looking at 'Top of the pops', 'We heart pop' and 'Club NME' magazines, all mostly pop magazines, I noticed that they all seemed to appeal to the younger teen audience, about the ages of 15 years and younger. This was evident in the use of language, styling of the artists and the color schemes.
I think a pop music magazine aimed at the older teen market,16 years plus, will be a way for older teenagers to enjoy a pop music magazine without feeling 'childish' or it being unsuitable for them. As all most ages like the odd pop track I feel a pop music magazine aimed at the slightly older teenager will be successful in shops as their isn't one for this particular audience.
There are a number of ways in which I can effectively appeal to the older teen market with a pop music magazine;
The name of the magazine- 'Top of the pops' and 'We heart pop' all sound very young and appealing to the younger audience. If you look at other magazines aimed at the older audience they sound more technical and eye catching for example, 'NME' magazine, the name is catchy and is a play on the word 'enemy' which will be appealing for their target audience and the type of music they will be talking about.
The colours- The colours used on 'Top of the pops' and 'We heart pop' magazines are very colourful, bright colours. Whilst these colous may be eye catching on the shelf they may not appeal to the older teen market as they seem quite childish colours. Instead I will use bold colours but not them as bright and in your face.
The language- On the front covers of pop magazines available at the moment, slang language is frequently being used, this will appeal to the younger teen. Although this type of language is used in the older teen language I will use it less frequently and mix it up with more sophisticated language.
The price- The readers of the pop magazines out at the moment are probably purchased by someone else, like a parent, rather than themselves so the average price is around £2.20 which won't be seen as a particularly expensive for parents who likely have the money to spend this on a magazine for their child.But because of the age of the audience I will designing a music magazine for will probably be purchasing the magazine themselves I will want to keep the cost low and also a competitive price for other pop magazines, so a price around £1.80-£2.00 will likely be a price that my audience will feel happy about paying.
Looking at my questionnaire analysis I think the best place to sell my magazine would be in supermarkets and newsagents as this was where most people purchased their music magazines. And making it this accessible will mean that my audience will firstly see the magazine and give them access to buy the magazine on a regular basis.
I think a pop music magazine aimed at the older teen market,16 years plus, will be a way for older teenagers to enjoy a pop music magazine without feeling 'childish' or it being unsuitable for them. As all most ages like the odd pop track I feel a pop music magazine aimed at the slightly older teenager will be successful in shops as their isn't one for this particular audience.
There are a number of ways in which I can effectively appeal to the older teen market with a pop music magazine;
The name of the magazine- 'Top of the pops' and 'We heart pop' all sound very young and appealing to the younger audience. If you look at other magazines aimed at the older audience they sound more technical and eye catching for example, 'NME' magazine, the name is catchy and is a play on the word 'enemy' which will be appealing for their target audience and the type of music they will be talking about.
The colours- The colours used on 'Top of the pops' and 'We heart pop' magazines are very colourful, bright colours. Whilst these colous may be eye catching on the shelf they may not appeal to the older teen market as they seem quite childish colours. Instead I will use bold colours but not them as bright and in your face.
The language- On the front covers of pop magazines available at the moment, slang language is frequently being used, this will appeal to the younger teen. Although this type of language is used in the older teen language I will use it less frequently and mix it up with more sophisticated language.
The price- The readers of the pop magazines out at the moment are probably purchased by someone else, like a parent, rather than themselves so the average price is around £2.20 which won't be seen as a particularly expensive for parents who likely have the money to spend this on a magazine for their child.But because of the age of the audience I will designing a music magazine for will probably be purchasing the magazine themselves I will want to keep the cost low and also a competitive price for other pop magazines, so a price around £1.80-£2.00 will likely be a price that my audience will feel happy about paying.
Looking at my questionnaire analysis I think the best place to sell my magazine would be in supermarkets and newsagents as this was where most people purchased their music magazines. And making it this accessible will mean that my audience will firstly see the magazine and give them access to buy the magazine on a regular basis.
Music Magazine Questionnaire- Analysis
1. I asked an almost equal amount of female and males my questionnaire, this will mean that my results aren't too biased.
2.As you can see the age group mostly asked were the 16-17 year olds although most of the questionnaire was answered by teenagers so the results will be biased towards that age group.
3.The most popular genres of music to be answered were Indie and Pop music. Looking at these results you can see why most music magazines availible today are Indie and Pop music magazines. It is for this reason that I may decide to pick the next most popular music genre, Hip Hop, to base the music in my magazine for as there aren't many Hip Hop music magazines availible today.
7. This result shows that the best price to charge for a music magazine is betweek £1.10 and £2. Taking this information on board I will charge my magazine at this price and will mark on the front cover as a price between them.
8. Finding out that an image of a band/artist is the most eye catching thing to be on a front cover will help me to design my own front cover. Also knowing that making the name of the magazine bold and eyecatching helps to draw in the readers eye will also be a technique I will use on my front cover.
9. Knowing that most people buy their music magazines from supermarkets will help me to design a magazine that will be easily accessible for the target audience. Knowing that music magazines are popular in supermarkets will informs me that I may be able to include offers and deals for different supermarkets and shops as I know the reader will go there.
10. Knowing that people prefer images to text when reading a magazine will help me to design a double page spread that will be enjoyable to read and look at by the reader. I also know that the images used will have to be powerful and still inform the reader about them in a certain way, I can do this by the styling of the band and how they are posed.
11. Knowing that people are more likely to read a music magazine at home will help me to make a magazine that is going to be read in a relaxed environment and should contain enough pages inside to keep the reader keen and interested in reading on.
12. Knowing people prefer a music magazine to talk about known artists will help me to decide who to write about on the front cover and also inside. Although still a lot of people enjoy to find out about unknown artists so I could contain a mixture of known and unknown artists within my music magazine.
13. Knowing people prefer un glossy paper in their magazine wil help me decide which paper to print my magazine on.
14. Knowing people enjoy reading interviews with celebrities and seeing unseen pictures of a band/artist will help me design my double page spread. I will be able to use unseen pictures and an interview when creating my double page spread and therefore should create an enjoyable double page spread to read.
4.Although not all the 30 participants read music magazines often, everyone had read a music magazine before taking part in my quiz and therefore answered yes to this question.
6. From this answer you can see the reason most people read music magazines are because their favourite band features within the magazine. This answer shows me that it will be important to feature popular bands and artists on the front cover and also within the magazine itself, It will also be important that the bands and artists featured will be known and popular for the genre of music in the magazine and also the target audience.
7. This result shows that the best price to charge for a music magazine is betweek £1.10 and £2. Taking this information on board I will charge my magazine at this price and will mark on the front cover as a price between them.
8. Finding out that an image of a band/artist is the most eye catching thing to be on a front cover will help me to design my own front cover. Also knowing that making the name of the magazine bold and eyecatching helps to draw in the readers eye will also be a technique I will use on my front cover.
9. Knowing that most people buy their music magazines from supermarkets will help me to design a magazine that will be easily accessible for the target audience. Knowing that music magazines are popular in supermarkets will informs me that I may be able to include offers and deals for different supermarkets and shops as I know the reader will go there.
10. Knowing that people prefer images to text when reading a magazine will help me to design a double page spread that will be enjoyable to read and look at by the reader. I also know that the images used will have to be powerful and still inform the reader about them in a certain way, I can do this by the styling of the band and how they are posed.
11. Knowing that people are more likely to read a music magazine at home will help me to make a magazine that is going to be read in a relaxed environment and should contain enough pages inside to keep the reader keen and interested in reading on.
12. Knowing people prefer a music magazine to talk about known artists will help me to decide who to write about on the front cover and also inside. Although still a lot of people enjoy to find out about unknown artists so I could contain a mixture of known and unknown artists within my music magazine.
13. Knowing people prefer un glossy paper in their magazine wil help me decide which paper to print my magazine on.
14. Knowing people enjoy reading interviews with celebrities and seeing unseen pictures of a band/artist will help me design my double page spread. I will be able to use unseen pictures and an interview when creating my double page spread and therefore should create an enjoyable double page spread to read.
Friday, 10 February 2012
Miss D
Please finish the research over half term. Do some more analysis of some real media artefacts and do product placement(where you think where you would sell/distribute your mag and who its rivals would be). Then say how this research informs your planning.
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
From Mrs S
Analysis is pretty good in the main, you need to say more about the lay out of the pages and whether or not the layouts are effective or appropriate etc.
Music Magazine Questionnaire
Magazine Questionnaire.
1. Are you Male or Female?
Male Female
2. What is your age?
Under 16 16-17 17-18 18-21 21+
3. What is your favourite genre of music?
Pop Rock Indie Classical Hip Hop
Rap Drum & Base Other:
4. Do you read any music magazines?
Yes No
Name of magazine/s:
5. If yes, how often and which one/s?
How often: Weekly Monthly Yearly
6. Why do you read music magazines?
To find out about new bands/artists Your favourite band features in the magazine
To find out about upcoming gigs Other, Please specify:
7. How much do you think is an acceptable price to pay for a music magazine?
50p-£1
£1.10-£2
£2.10-£3
£3.10-£4
£4.10-£5
£5.10+
8. What technique captures your eye most on a front cover of a music magazine?
The name of the magazine Bright colours
An image of a band/artist Darker Colours
Quotes from a story featured inside The price shown clearly
Other, please state:
9. Where do you go to purchase your music magazine?
A subscription (Please state if weekly, monthly…)
Online
HMV
WHSmiths
Newsagents
Supermarkets
Other, please state:
10. Do you prefer more images or text within a music magazine?
Images
Text
11. Where do you tend to read your music magazine?
At home
Travelling
At work
Other, please specify:
12. Would you rather a music magazine had an artist you knew or an artist you were unfamiliar with?
Known artist
Unknown artist
13. Would you rather the pages be glossy or UN glossy?
Glossy
UN glossy
14. What would you like to be included within a music magazine?
Competitions
Interviews with celebrities
Access to buy gig tickets
Unseen pictures of a band
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