Target Audience: Rock Music Mood Board

This collage is my interpretation of what represents my target audience in reference to their preferred genre of music (rock), and what key aspects this entails.

Target Audience: Questionnaire Results

Music Magazine: Target Audience Questionnaire

This is my composition of a rock music magazine questionnaire which will be specifically given to my specialised target audience of males from sixteen to twenty-five years of age (16-25). This focused group will help me define what my target audience really likes, and prevent myself being to general in construction; helping me to construct the best music magazine I can produce in my ability.

Rock Music Magazine Audience Research

1.       Which of these professional rock magazines do you like the most?

·         Q

·         NME

·         Total Guitar

·         Kerrang!

·         Other, please state: …………………………………………….

2.     Number which of the mastheads given, you would prefer for a rock magazine? (1-Best)

·         Identity.

·         Revolution.

·         Youth Revolt.

·         Jack.

·         Bass.

·         Rocks.

·         Rock On.

·         Melody.

·         Riff.

·         Full Volume.

·         Tunes.

·        AMP ( Airstream Music Program)

·         Amplified.

·      Other, please state: ……………………………………………………

3.       Which of these rock bands do you consider the best to cover for a rock magazine?

·         Arctic Monkeys

·         The Strokes

·         The Killers

·         Oasis

·         The Kooks

·         Kasabian

·         Kaiser chiefs

·         Other, please state: ………………………………………………….

4.       Which of these following main images would you consider best for the cover page of a rock magazine?

·         Male Artist

·         Female Artist

·         Male Group

·         Female Group

·         Mixed Group

5.       Do you think is important to have websites or other media platforms that connect to your magazine?

·         Yes

·         No

·         I don’t know

6.       How often would you buy a rock magazine?

·         Weekly

·         Monthly

7.       How many pages do you think is appropriate for a weekly issue (W) and monthly (M)?

·         31-40

·         41-50

·         51-60

8.       What price you consider appropriate for a weekly issue (W) and monthly (M)?

·         £1 - £1.50

·         £1.60 - £2.50

·         £3 - £4

9.       Please number the sort of article would you like in a rock magazine? (1- the best)

·         An Interview with a band/artist

·         A Review on a CD

·         A Review of a group/artist

·         A review on an upcoming group/artist

·         Information of a gig

·         A comments page to connect with other members of the audience

10.   What colour scheme would you consider appropriate?

·         Black/red/yellow/white

·         Pink/yellow/green/blue

·         White/blue/yellow/orange

·         Purple/red/white/blue

The reason I choose to use diffent music magazine examples is it would suggest the style of magazine presentation that my target audience may prefer best within reason of genre; cluttered, clearly layed out, etc.

It could be considered that the masthead is one of the biggest influences in the succession of a music magazine, or even a magazine in general. It's unique presentatino and catchy short phrase, but also memorability, immediately creates the audience's first impression of the magazine, and if it is worth buying. Also, it is featured accross the pages's content (articles, etc.) and possibley multi-media platforms (of which I have asked importance), this helps clearly isolate all of these products as an individual brand; which then helps the audience to know exactly where this contents has dervived from; gaining profit and publicity. For this reason, I thought it neccessary to involve to reader in what masthead to pick, which is why I gave them option to inform me of their opionion, as I will targeting their demographic.

For the main focus of the magazine, I will use an article of some sort. From this, I consider a great deal of importance in using regarding the music artists and groups my specified demographic prefer, as this is a music magazine aimed at them; also applying to the images and references made or modelled off. I used 'Other, please state:.................' within my questions to demostrate how highly I value their opinion and it is of great use to me what they think. I believe the indepth investigation into my target audience's preferences conveys a level of trust I aim to portray to target audience from my music magazine.

Taking this into account, I can model my main image on which the majority of my demographic prefer, such as an individual artist of a collective group, also what genders.

As previously stated, multi-media platforms use the brands of a magazine to deperate themselves from others of possible similarity and distuish to their audience where their entertainment and/or information was brought to them why. This signifance of these platform, such as websites, is the progression into a more technological age, where many people use the internet to find their information and entertainment, rather than a magazine. As many music magazine target demographic that lives are highly intertwined with technology, it is important to keep up with this demand and remain with their target audience to maintain profit. This I had planned on providing this  promotion within my own music magazine, after taking taking the audience's consideration into account.

I also feel it is important for the magazine to have a sense of authenticity about it. This is why I took into consideration the space of time in which I would issue a magazine, and the corresponding price and page number to accomodate this.

Finally, I felt the colour scheme was deeply relevent to succession. This is why I specified a range of colours that I felt had difference to each other. I expect my target audience to go for the black/white/red/yellow as it is steryotypically their prefered colours; helping to feel as though the magazine relates to them. The colours also stand out from one another but also compliment eachother's contrast; inviting them in to the magazine's contents.

Music Magazine: Research (View Full Screen)

What I have learnt from my research, is that to have a successful magazine, you need a clear grid structure on you cover page and a strict colour scheme through out your entire magazine. The layout and representation is almost as important as the content; therefore, it is important that all aspects of your magazine are meeting your standards.
I have also learnt that it is a key technique to involve the audience individually as much as possible, and have picked up on a few unique way on achieving this subtly in my research. The contents page has to be inviting, otherwise the audience could neglect it, failing to observe some contents they may intrigue them further on in the magazine. This is vital if the audience is uninterested in the beginning few pages.
I have established a layout of a contents page I feel confident I can reproduce to the best of my ability, as one lay out in particular was reoccurring and I found the most effective.
I discovered that the content of an article is greatly important and there are some techniques I can use to intrigue the audience. For example, pull quotes, controversy statement or direct quotes from the music icon.
 I have chosen the genre of Rock music, as I found it the easiest to research and it had a very clear colour scheme, and presented itself as extremely professional. I feel it's best to replicate this genre's target audience as it is obviously well experienced on who would best like to read their magazines, as they tend to aim more specifically to this demographic; males from approximately sixteen to twenty-five (16-25).

School Magazine Front Cover: Analysis and Evaluation

When reflecting over the masthead in general, I felt that it appealed to my target audience perfectly; the colours were bright yet grasping that certain formality of a magazine, however, still colours primary school children would find inviting to be interested in the product. Also, I felt that actual name used for the magazine was inspiring to my target audience and really captured what the aim of the magazine  was (in relation to what the target audience find most pressing at this age) and it's originality in comparison to other magazine of a similar target audience.
In greater detail, I felt that the connotations of the magazine were simplistic but effective. The actual text was purposely placed to exceed the box, suggesting that of the cleshe to "think outside the box", inferring the primary school children to be creative in what they hope to achieve with their life (text's embodiment of a shooting star); a positive message, and, in essence, what the magazine is centred around. The text's size, I felt, was adequate for drawing attention to itself, without overwhelming the page. The text's font was chosen on the withholding of a certain formality of text any even slightly renowned magazine is structured by and the relation to a child's handwriting at this stage of their life. This helps the audience to relate to their own lives, as well as appealing to a large demographic of my target audience as the font of a primary school child's handwriting is so generic at this stage of their learning.

I chose the image to relate to my target audience; ensuring that they did not feel the magazine was aimed for a higher authority such as parental figures, but to them themselves; building a sense of trust with the brand. I felt that the main image was an appropriate size as it fitted well when collaged with other aspects of the front cover. It entails a child looking befuddled; portraying confusion at the life ahead and what she hopes to achieve. Conveying a thought process many children experience at this stage, when they are becoming more of an individual and creatively seeking out any talents they may obtain. This is why I chose this image as my main; it portrays what my magazine aims to aid children with; helping them to develop their creativity and feel important in this very significant part of their lives. I composed this image with the clothing as uniform purposely, this helps to keep the magazine focused on the idea of school also, and not lose its initial target audience, and helps the children to relate and connect this creativity into talents with education; hopefully increasing their interest in such.

When considering the use of subsidiary images, I thought them vital in relation to who I was aiming this magazine at. Primary school children would not, in general, be interested in a cover page weighed down with a mountain of text and unimaginative colours like black and white. This is why I used four subsidiary images to convey many of the messages on the cover page. Using some to display advertising, to help generate a cycle of income for the company and the advertiser's. The subsidiary images have been purposely placed smaller that the main image to render them as less important than the main image. On reflection however, the size of the three bottom subsidiary images I still feel are slightly too large for the page, even though they do symmetrically fit and are key to present the grid structure, a long with the sell lines, pugs and masthead. The contents of the subsidiary images are a clear indication of what the target audience finds appealing and also, appeal to a wider demographic of parental figures who might be interested into purchasing these products; further generating a cycle of profit.

On the subject of language, I used three sell lines with an addition visual representation of one, a splash and banner/footer lines. The strap lines are purposely extremely inviting into the magazine which is what I aimed them to do "MORE INSIDE" as this is the aim of the cover page. One question the reader as if in a conversation "Do You", this makes the audience feel individualised and important; further creating a sense of trust in the relationship between the brand and target audience. The sell lines also used red font colour and the banner/footer lines; white and yellow (singling out key words to attract the audiences attention; a contrasting coloured (yellow against the white) "YOU") to distance the magazine from the viewed as 'boring' with black text, and create originality without jeopardising the magazine's reputation on formality; as it is a colour which maintains within the group of five colours in the colour scheme I have chosen to represent the formal approach of a magazine (red, yellow, white, black), yet still aiming for a young target audience (blue).

The splash uses font of a bubble like presentation as it would appeal to the target audience far greater than a uncreative black and white phrase. To further interest the audience I used a pun, as I felt this age group would appreciate a play on words as it would their brains would be flowing through a creative thought, something children seem to thrive off at this stage of their lives. The pun used was "BACK TO S'COOL"; playing on the word 'school' to create the word 'cool'; connecting the two and fuelling the relationship between the two that the magazine is portraying; that you can aspire into greatness with a good education and developing your talents. This idea of a pun was not initially thought of in my planning or earlier drafts, but I felt it was needed as I was developing the cover page as it embodies creativity, to the best of my ability. During my drafts, I spent time re-reading any texts as an essential key task in the progression, therefore, in my understanding there is no spelling or punctuation flaws on the cover page; any that have been found have been removed or changed to render them non-existent. As previously stated, three fonts have been used appropriately to their purpose, one on the splash to create a creative visual effect; a curvy, almost bubble text, one within the masthead, as previously fore mentioned to create the relation to the target audience, and one when using the sell lines and the banner and footer lines to create a more formal representation of the magazine, aided with the appeal of colour.

The layout of the front page has, I feel, a clear and well organised grid structure bad around the main image, yet highlighting the masthead, as intended. It uses the specific colour scheme previously said in my analysis and evaluation. This helps the magazine to connect its aspects (eg. banner line, sell line, splash, etc) to one another to present a certain uniformity and representation of a trustworthy product from its professionalism.
I feel that I have though out each detail of my cover, and referred it back to my aim and my target audience which is key to generate interest and make a magazine a success, a part of this is to ensure the focus is school based; this I have made clear through the connection between your life's achievements and education, boosted by using the model for the main page as a relation to the target audience as a school child in specific. This, I consider to be a successful aspect of my magazine.

Another positive would be that it shows diversity in comparison to other brands and signifying the importance in allowing children to find individuality, as society wouldn't progress if humanity were identical and generic in every aspect of their lives.
Thirdly, I would suggest that if made a reality, this brand could progress and cover a different target audience. Perhaps the fifteen to nineteen who are face with the life altering decision of a career path and qualifications, rather than seven to eleven range.

If I were to suggest three targets to improve, the first would be the aforementioned slightly smaller subsidiary images. Perhaps to display a slightly more filled grid structure, which would have been more available to do with a larger time schedule. Finally, for my target audience of my music magazine, I would pick a genre which allows me to keep a closer defined colour scheme, so as to present a profession presentation further; for example, rock or indie.

InDesign Final Draft

This is my final draft of my school magazine for my preliminary task.
At this point in the progression, I was at the stage of final tweaks to perfect my design. One of these tweaks was grammatical errors "PriZes". Another, that I found that the right-hand side looked slightly bare and yet, in contrast, the left-hand side looked almost over-filled. From this, I decided to relocate my sell line to the opposite side of my cover page. By happy coincidence, I additionally found that the red colour of my text stood out far better upon a white background and the movement had rectified the problem of a clustered to desolate ratio.

To compliment this, I spaced out my sell lines to give them individuality, yet still keeping them close enough to each other to be both identified as sell lines that are part of a grid structure (now mirrored from the initial planning). Also, I displayed one of the sell lines around a visual aid; "?" used to immediately convey the audience that their is some level of creativity involved in this magazine, or shall be in the near future issues; creativity being a keen interest in the majority of young children (target audience) and, therefore, will help to draw them in.

This is my mock contents page for my school magazine. It is only a basic design as I only wanted a digital draft, and did not need to carry it further in my coursework. I also attempted to incorporate aspects of the front cover, to keep the theme. However, I don't consider this design as a favourite, and I will be attempting to use a different approach in my music magazine, for example, a higher aged target audience and a diferent colour scheme.

InDesign Draft: 4

When further constructing my magazine cover, I considered to introduce a subsidiary image to accompany my advertising pug. I thought this as a more believable form of advertising for this target audience, as children are far more attracted to colours and images, than text.

I also introduced an extra pug onto the cover. This was not displayed in my planning, however, I did specify a quarter of a pug edging in from the top right-hand corner. Unfortunately, I was unable to present this, due to time restriction and the technical difficulty; wouldn't of been able to have been created using this software, or not to my understanding. Therefore, I used another circle-shaped pug to convey the price. The reason I choose this shape again, was not through ignorance or a lack of creativity. I felt it compliment the curved look of the splash and the other pug, whilst drawing attention to the contrasting sharp edges of the masthead; which is one of the features the issues wants to be the most memorable.

In reference to the masthead, I noticed that in previous drafts, the actual text wasn't displaying the effect I had intended. I had thought to portray the text overlapping out on the blue background box (as presented in my planning) to convey how the irregularity of this shooting star effect represented reaching out of your comfort zone and breaking free of boring formality. This, in itself, is the essence of which my magazine is attempting to portray.

Moving on to the splash, I decided to remain with the concept of blue curved text. Although, the content of the splash is what I decided it would of been far more effective to change.  Initially, I thought to use "Back to Cool"; as previously conveyed in my planning. However, I felt the connection between the play on the word 'school', to 'cool', was a little to weary, distant and not very memorable. That is why I decided to amend my splash to "BACK TO S'COOL"; I felt it was a play on words far easier to connect and would draw the target audience in far better.

After I had completed all of these features, I then attended to the construction of the sell lines. I needed the content to be basic, as, if it too complicated, it won't interest the audience to read into the entire magazine. This is why I used direct language addressing the audience "You", so that the audience already feels involved and possibly make a trusted bond with the brand and its contents; illusion of a relationship; friendship in which they might feel inclined read more issues in the future.

Finally, I felt that the features needed more definition to separate them from each other. This is why I thickened the outlines; this helped to create a more dramatic and professional perception of the cover page and subconsciously create a professional impression of the content in which it holds and the brand itself.