Audience Research Results

Audience Research Results

In order to understand what our target audience want from a new college magazine, I made a survey and posted it on my Facebook account so people could answer it. My results are as follows: 

This shows that both males and females read, or at least look at, the current college magazine and therefore my front page and contents should be aimed at both genders and should therefore attract them with pictures and information relevant to both genders. 

This shows that a variety of age groups read the current college magazine, although no teachers could fill out the survey due to the fact that I posted the survey on my Facebook page and so I will assume that they read the magazine also. This means I will need to  make my information and images relevant to all age groups of both genders, but mainly for the students as opposed to focusing on the 20+ audience.

This feedback reflects where we live, showing the income of people living in Cornwall isn't huge, therefore the magazine will be free to everyone instead of them being for sale. 

This information is really helpful because it tells that the name of the current college magazine being the Bodmin College logo and then the word "magazine" isn't very interesting and doesn't not appeal to the primary target audience of the magazine, therefore I will need to change the name of my magazine to something more appropriate. Also, the whole cover seems to have negative feedback, so I should try and use more of a standard magazine cover layout with the masthead, a main image and taglines instead of doing it the way the current magazine does. 

This feedback reiterates the information given in the last question and tells me that a most interesting contents page is wanted.

The information displayed here shows that the most popular colours to use would be red, yellow, green and blue, so I will include these in my print material at some point. 

This tells me that if I were to create the entire school magazine, a sudoku would be a good addition for the reader's entertainment, however this is not really relevant to my current work. 

This feedback is helpful because it highlights that, although students do read the current college magazine for entertainment and distraction, it is also used as a medium for keeping up-to-date with the achievements, events and advancements within the college. Therefore, a mixture of entertainment and fact will be good.

From this feedback I have decided to call my magazine "free" as it had the most positive feedback. 

Analysing Existing Magazine Contents Pages

Analysing Existing Magazine Contents Pages

Total Film - April 2012, Issue 191:

 

This contents page is for Total Film magazine with a target audience of men and women, who are interested in films, between ages 15 and 25, who will fall mostly into the social status demographic in bands C1-E.

The layout of the pages makes information easy to find with clearly titled sections which is appealing to the target audience because it doesn't take too much effort to find the pages that interest you. The columns makes the pages look full but not too busy which gives an excited feeling to the reader, keeping them interested. The columns makes the pages look clean and simple to browse, giving the reader a predetermined order of reading, and by putting the most exciting information at the start and and the end, keeps the reader interested. 

The images used reflect the most exciting articles, making it even easier to find the pages of the features, for example the pages about Nicholas Hoult, which it states on the image, displayed in the top left of the second page, that the article about this actor starts on page thirteen. This appeals to the target audience because the information on the cover, which may be the reason they purchased the magazine, is easily  located from the contents page. The amount of images used is good as it adds colour and keeps the pages from looking boring, without making them busy and messy. The main features are: the Blipp Interactive application advertisement and the "The Hunger Games" film article. The Blipp ad stands out from the double page because it uses inverting to make it look completely different from the magazine article information, which works because it gives a distinct indication that it isn't information about the articles themselves. In fact it is about digital viewing within the magazine and therefore the colours used are very relevant to this information. The "The Hunger Games" image seems 3D-like with the bow seemingly coming out of the photograph, which represents modern cinema and the new forms of film viewing developed eg IMAX 3D and thus the fact that "The Hunger Games" film is available for viewing in 3D. Furthermore, the colours in the image stand out from the pages, with green filling most of the image and not being used anywhere else within the double page spread, immediately drawing the reader's eyes to it.

In addition, the colour palette of the spread in black, white, red and yellow, which reflects the colours on the cover of the magazine (seen top left) and furthering the visibility of the "The Hunger Games" feature as there are no colours in the palette that are similar to or complement the colour green. The repetition of colour through the text and headings makes it look smart and easy to read with the different colours relating to different aspects of the page, for instance red showing sub-headings and secondary sub-headings, shown in the 'Screen Reviews' section, and the yellow indicating the Blipp technology on the relevant pages. I think this colour palette is good for a magazine of this genre because of the connotations of each colour. For example, red connotes love, fire and blood, black connotes death and danger, and yellow connotes fire as well, which are popular traits for action movies. Also, all of the fore-mentioned traits are seen in The Hunger Games, so the colour choices correspond with the main feature of the magazine. 

The typography used is quite simple, easy to read and is in three distinct types. The first is the word 'Contents' which is large, bold and in a font unique to itself.  This makes it easy to find which page you're on and fills space to avoid blankness on the page. The second is what fills most of the spread, with the same font coming in red and black and in different thicknesses for clarity. The third is a more computerised font in white, blue and yellow for the Blipp advertisement, denoting the modernised technology that keeps the magazine up to date and appealing to the young target audience. All of the typography used appeals to the target audience because the type looks clean and generally nice to look at, as opposed to being vulgar and repelling the looks of the reader. 

Overall, I think this magazine contents page is very effective in that it appeals to the target audience very well, it includes everything that a contents page should have and, as a person that would be included in the target audience, I would  want to buy, if not already purchased, the magazine and/or continue reading it after seeing these pages. 



Elle - July 1991:



Elle magazine is all about fashion and it targeted at a female audience between 18 and 49 years old, who are likely to fall in the social status demographic bands C2-E. 

The layout of this contents page is simple to the point where people may find it boring. Some may say that minimalism was a current trend at the time of publishing and this demotes that, although it might just be down to the lack of technology at the time. The page is in four columns, the first giving information about the front cover, which may be helpful to the target audience if they are particularly interested in what the cover represents or its background, and the next three giving information and page numbers for the rest of the magazine, which makes the page successful in giving clear information about the contents, as it should. This may appeal to the target audience because the simple appearance stops the reader from getting "bogged down" in reading the contents and therefore they can get straight onto reading through the main articles in the magazine. 

The images used on the page aren't particularly inviting  as they do not evoke any excitement in the reader to make them want to read more. The portrait shot of a female in the first column an the medium shot of a different female that are featured clash with the simple colour palette and have little impact on the reader, as before mentioned. The smaller, medium shot may be relevant to the information in its column, however, the main image seems to be of little relevance to the rest of the page, though there could be a link to the 'Travel' pages, however the choice of image could be improved. That said, these models or the clothing/location could appeal to the target audience who may enjoy these pictures and/or styles.

The main colours used are red, white and black, of which you may not usually associate with fashion magazines due to their connotations, however the creators may have been going for clarity as opposed to deeper meaning through colour. 

The typography used features the 'Elle' logo in red, representing the well-known brand, however whether it is necessary here after already being on the cover I do not know. Next is the red subheadings, which are useful for guiding the reader to the topics they will enjoy with the magazine, There subheadings are larger and bolder that the text beneath them, which makes them stand out and add much needed colour to the page. The plain text comes in different sizes and cases, however I believe it all uses the same font, which carries on the simple theme of the page and makes reading easier for the reader. This all appeals to the target audience because they can then navigate through the medium easily and without much distraction from this page. 

To me, this contents page is not very effective in that there is too much blank, white space and the space that it filled doesn't particularly interest me. However, I am not part of the target audience and the minimalism may appeal to them due to the straight-forwardness of the page, meaning it's not busy and it is easy to read.

Analysing Existing Magazine Front Covers

Analysing Existing Magazine Front Covers

I will first be analysing a Bodmin College magazine that is aimed at the primary audience of student’s aged 11-18, and the secondary audience of teachers and parents, who are likely to fall into band C1-E in social status demographic, all of both genders. The medium is a print item that is given to inform and entertain the audience with updates of progress of the college and its students.

The masthead of this particular magazine is very unclear and doesn’t fill the requirement for a conventional masthead. It is not enticing to the target audience in any way so it does not attract their attention, especially the primary target audience of students who would prefer bright and large headings to make the magazine feel less formal and more aimed at them. The typography used for the word “magazine” shows an attempt to attract the attention of students by using a less formal style. However, it does not achieve this because the use of the Bodmin College logo makes the cover feel formal and very education-based, therefore not appealing to the primary audience. An example of a masthead that is successful and more relevant to the primary target audience here is displayed on the cover of “Kerrang!” magazine, which has a style that is more attractive to the young, less mature audience.

A common convention in magazine front covers is to have one main image with smaller images, however, this cover goes against this convention and uses three larger images filling the remaining space under the banner. Not only does this not give the cover a single focus in terms of looking at the cover, but also the images used are of poor quality due to the lack of focus and poor lighting within the photographs and could represent a dance theme throughout the magazine, which may not appeal to the majority of the target audience.

Unlike the common convention of a three or four colour palette for magazine covers, with the exception of soap magazine covers, this particular cover has far too many colours. The images used do not conform to the main colour palette of red, white and black and instead uses a range of colours that do not work together and it gives a “messy” feel to the whole cover. Furthermore, the use of green on a cover should only be used for a specific reason, otherwise it should not be used, and this cover ignores this and uses green for an attempt at a seasonal banner image, which goes against the colour palette and makes the entire the cover very unprofessional looking, therefore not appealing to the older students in the primary target audience and teachers in the secondary target audience.

The left third and the top sixth of a magazine cover is generally where the most significant information and teasers are situated in the magazine’s layout because these places would usually be the first parts of the cover that are seen and therefore need to impact the audience so they will pick up the magazine in the first place. On the Bodmin College magazine cover, there is no information in the left third at all, and a very small amount in the top sixth, which is merely relevant to the magazine issue information and not teasers or magazine content, showing that the layout of the magazine has not been thought about in order to attract the target audiences and instead seems as if it has been quickly put together in order to construct the rest fot he magazine. Additionally, the magazine “sweet spot” is the area in which some researchers believe the eye of the reader is immediately drawn to, and a good example of the use of the sweet spot is Cosmopolitan magazine, however, this cover has nothing in this area but one of the large images and therefore does not use this to entice the reader.

The use of a single cover line in the centre of the cover is unnecessary due to its lack of clarity making it illegible because of the poor lighting in the image itself and the images surrounding it. This also makes the cover look “messy” and unprofessional which a lot of the target audiences would find unappealing. There is also a lack of any other lines, teasers or a menu bar on the cover outside of the top sixth and left third which means the only assumption readers can make about the contents of the magazine are that it may be about dance and this may decrease the chances of the majority of the target audience taking the time to read the magazine.

There is no cover mount with the magazine, which could be due to the fact that the magazine’s main purpose is to inform and therefore a cover mount would seem out of character for a magazine of this type.

Overall, this Bodmin College magazine cover is not very effective in that it hardly abides to any common conventions of magazine covers and doesn’t appeal to the target audience very well.

Secondly I will be analysing a Skive magazine front cover, which is a student made magazine with a target audience of sixth form students in Bodmin College, so males and females aged 16-19 who will fall into bands D-E in social status demographic. This medium is also a print item that is used to inform and entertain, however more towards the entertainment side due to the target audience and the general nature of the magazine to be about teenaged topics of interest.

The masthead of this magazine is much more aimed at the target audience with scruffy, unfinished styled typography, which creates a very distinct and original brand for the magazine. The visual effects of fire and smoke connote a rebellious theme possibly smoking and burning things, but not completely advertising this behaviour. The fire could also connote heat, for example that the magazine is “hot off the press”, meaning it’s brand new with an original idea.

The colour palette of this cover is a lot clearer with main colours of black, white and orange. S Hall’s theory stereotyping young people can be applied to this cover, with the use of black connoting depression and criminal behaviour, the use of white possibly connoting drug use with white text in lines, and the orange connoting more criminal behaviour such as arson and fire in general. Pink is also used on the cover, which contrasts with the main colour palette, however it is used well in order to attract females due to the possible lack of interest in the rest of the cover and it works because of the red/pink colour in the main image.

The main image used is a highly photo-shopped and exposed medium close up of someone’s face, which has an expression that looks slightly scared and stressed, (stress being a main feature of adolescence life represented in the magazine cover and the magazine in general.) The image has a sense of horror, which makes the image unsettling to the reader, furthering the main emotion of stress that the magazine tries to highlight. This appeals to the target audience because the magazine is therefore showing empathy with the reader and showing the intent to help adolescents whilst they’re growing up, with stories and information that would appeal to as many different people as possible.

Furthermore, the cover looks really busy, which, to me, is unattractive and makes it seem like the creator was trying too hard to fit all the relevant information on one page. However, this works because it uses a range of different stories to appeal to different audiences. For example, the taglines "Africa Trip", "Music Reviews" and "Tartan Style Is back" have all been used to represent the broadness of interest that is evident within the target audience.

The lexis shows an attempt to denote the thoughts and emotions within the target audience and therefore gives the reader something to relate to which draws their attention to seek empathy or refuge in the magazine. However, the word "monogomy" may not have been a good choice because, after a class study, not many of the target audience have come across the word and this may put the reader off carrying on with the magazine. In general, I think the lexis has been chosen well, although slightly wordy for a cover.

The different typography used is very good in appealing to the target audience because it's mostly clear and easy to read, however the range of fonts seems to make the page look messy and indecisive. Also, the fonts could be more original and unique to give the target audience something different to read as opposed to fonts that look like the regularly looked at fonts of computer programs.

Overall, I think the magazine cover works really well in catering for the target audience's needs and it represents them in an attractive way, through typography and image, and I especially like the choice of masthead. Furthermore, it abides by many common conventions of magazine covers of it's style in comparison to the more professionally made cover in the first analysis.

Analysing College Magazines

Analysing College Magazines

For me to develop my skills in creating magazines, I will first need to analyse existing magazines in order to understand the common conventions and styles used for making a magazine popular to the chosen target audience. Some known theorists have said the following quotes to indicate that being creative involves referring to existing common conventions. I need to abide by this by analysing how to represent information that's relevant to my target audience.

'A process needed for problem solving... not a specific gift enjoyed by a few but a common ability possessed by most people' (Jones, 1993)

'The making of the new and rearranging of the old' (Bentley, 1997)

'Creativity results from the interaction of a system composed in three elements: a culture that contains symbolic rules, a person who brings novelty into the symbolic domain. and a field of experts who recognise and validate the innovation' ( Caikazentmihalyi, 1996)

Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task

To start the course I need to complete a Preliminary task in order to indicate my current ability in creating print media, develop my skills by creating more professional-looking print than I have made before and improve my understanding of magazine conventions. In this case I will create a magazine front cover and contents page.

AS Brief Choice

AS Brief Choice


The range of Foundation Portfolio briefs gave lots of exciting choices for my AS coursework, however I chose the Print brief because I had already made a magazine in GCSE Media Studies, to a basic level, and I wanted to improve on the simple skills I developed in this coursework, at AS Level. Furthermore, the genre of this task, the music industry, really appealed to me as I am interested in music, youth culture and the way they relate to each other. 


The Brief: