Monday 2 May 2011

Audience feedback questionnaire

1)      In your opinion what genre of magazine would you class “turn it up” as?













2)      In your opinion what sub genre would you class “turn it up” as?













3)      Who do you think the target audience is?













4)      What feature(s) do you like the most?













5)      What feature(s) do you think need to be developed?













6)      Would you purchase this magazine?













7) Do you
find the magazine content engaging?














8)      Would you be interested in buying this product? If not why?









The answers given for the option “no” were as follows.
1)      Not interested in music magazines
2)     Dislike of Indie music

Tuesday 29 March 2011

Final products

Front page- This is my final copy of my front page. Having followed the advice given by my teacher,
 I have made the relevant adjustments and produced a product that i am happy with.




Contents page

Double page -




My target audience

My target audience is based on young females such as Peaches Geldof. I have chosen her because she has an interest in a variety of music however she mostly enjoys mainstream music. Peaches Geldof also attends a lot of festivals, which is what my target audience also enjoys doing. She is into fashion and enjoys socializing, much like my targeth audience. Furthermore she enjoys shopping in places such as topshop and vintage shops and regualarly goes to bars and clubs with her friends. Peaches Geldof is and ideal representation of my target audience as although she has a thriving social life she still has a sucessful career.

Friday 25 March 2011

Peer evaluations

My media class looked at my preliminarymagazine pages and each evaulated them, saying what I should improve, which helped me to improve my pages.
Front Cover
• Does the front cover engage the reader’s interest immediately – if ‘yes’, why do you think this is. If ‘no’, write 3 suggestions to improve this quality?
(i) The front cover is bright and colourful, making it stand out. This draws attention to the reader who is then willing to buy it.
(ii) There is an obvious colour scheme which is consistent, however the sub text is hard to read at points.
(iii) Large masthead, main focus point. Attracts the viewer’s attention immediately.

What do the sell lines reveal about the potential reader?
The sell lines reveal that the reader is around 15/16 years of age, doing their GSCEs as help is offered. Also, there is a section about ‘fittest male teachers’, which would attract the attention of teen girls.


Who do you think this magazine is targeting and how can you tell?

The overall colour scheme is pink; therefore I think that the target audience are girls. The photo is of a girl around 16 years of age and I think this is the main target age. There is the mention of GSCEs which girls of this age would be doing.

What does the representation in the image and/or in the language tell us about the potential reader?
The girl is very happy, a girly girl with pink nails and long hair. There is eye contact which engages with the reader and makes them more willing to buy it. The sell lines are very much about gossip and secrets, something that a teenage girl would be interested in.

Offer one comment about the use of image. It can be either positive (although remember that your aim is to help the publisher improve) or constructive.
(i) The model looks very relaxed, giving the magazine a relaxed, positive feel to it. The eyes are at the right level on the page with direct eye contact which is more appealing on a front cover as it is engaging.

Offer one comment about the use of language. It can be either positive (although remember that your aim is to help the publisher improve) or constructive.
(i) The language is very positive, encouraging the reader on how to do well and succeed at school. The language is typically suited for a teenage girl. For example, ‘omg’. This suits their target audience well.

Does the front cover have the following elements:

Significant masthead
3 or 4 different colours / definite colour scheme
Date of issue
Barcode
Price
Image smiling
Intertextuality
Variety in fonts


Front Cover
• Does the front cover engage the reader’s interest immediately – if ‘yes’, why do you think this is. If ‘no’, write 3 suggestions to improve this quality?
(i)Eye contact with the reader immediately grips the audience
(ii) The model looks happy which makes me think the content of the magazine will also make me happy
(iii) Suitable to target audience, and the picture is very effective in making me think school and fashion/ looking good can be combined
• What do the sell lines reveal about the potential reader?
That the reader is at an age where exams are a stress, but so are boys and make-up. They want to balance everything whilst also maintaining the balance between an achievable goal and their hopes and dreams for the future.
• Who do you think this magazine is targeting and how can you tell?
Year 9’s and 10’s, because it’s quite girly and young, yet refers to GCSE’s.
• What does the representation in the image and/or in the language tell us about the potential reader?
The image on the cover tells me the magazine is for quite girly girls who want to look good, know the gossip yet still work hard.
The language tells me the same thing as the image and also lets me know it’s quite a modern up to date magazine with use of words like “OMG”.
• Offer one comment about the use of image. It can be either positive (although remember that your aim is to help the publisher improve) or constructive.
(i) I would use a different background, something more coloured, although not too colourful, maybe a pale pink just to fit in with the colour scheme. The actual picture, however, I wouldn’t change anything.

• Offer one comment about the use of language. It can be either positive (although remember that your aim is to help the publisher improve) or constructive.
(i) I cant really think of anything you would need to change it’s pretty perfect.

Thursday 24 March 2011

Magazine research.

 This magazine cover follows one colour scheme which is yellow which adds a consistancy to the magazine and adds order and a sense of organization to it. Furthermore the bold "KERRANG!" masthead is in bold white lettering, catching the readers attention straight away, the fact that the lettering is in capitals and has an exclamation mark after it denotes a loud and excentric target audience, possibly the rock genre. The theme of rock is further supported by the sell lines for example "HUGE 7-day rock guide". The use of bold, black font also stands out to the readers and again, hints that the magazine is aimed at fans of rock. The pose of Hayley Williams is interesting as it does not conform to the usual head ons hot, seen on many magazine covers, suggesting that this magazine is unique and it also engages the fans more.




 This magazine features the yeahyeahyeah's, the image is very engaging as the three members of the band are doing different poses, adding variety to the cover and making it more interesting for the reader. Additionally, the female singer is wearing an almost retro/disco patterned shirt suggesting the genre of music is upbeat and maybe techno. The names of the artists featured in the magazines are clearly shown as they are highlighted in different colours and all in capital letters, making the readers eye go directly to the band/artists name that the recognize. The models are also described as "heroes" giving the target audience people that the can look up to and admire. The use of alliteration: "emo empire" is rememberable and will make the classic stereotype "emo's" want to read about the article.
 Cheryl Cole is arguabely one of the most desired females in the world, by having her on the cover of Q magazine her fans will want to buy the copy. The seductive pose may also appeal to the male audience who would not usually buy the magazine. Moreover the image is very unique, much like Hayley Williams for Kerrang, the use of rain perhaps makes the image sexier, again appealing to men. The fonts vary in sizes and style making the front cover more appealing and exciting for the reader. Furthermore the words "Cheryl Cole Rocks" are very large attracting attention and making it clear that this is the main focus. Key words are highlighted through larger fonts fr example the word "best" is large so that it stands out. Additionally the banner at the top shows the magazines status: "The UK's biggest music magazine" persuading more people to buy it as it is the biggest magazine in the UK.
 Oasis alos posed for Q magazine. The contraversial sell lines such as "Oi! Idiot! I'll do you harm!" are very radical in the sense that people are not used to seeing this type of language used on typical music magazines furthermore the use of the primeminister is very risky and contraversial: "Blair? Tosser!". This may suggest that the magzine is more outrageous in the interviews and therefore will attract a lot more readers than perhaps a more reserved magazine would. The use of the blue outlined font attract the readers eye straight away to the numbers and then consequently to the sell line. The use of superlatives such as the "greatest" and "most" suggesting the magzine is the best one around. The bright yellow box at the top reads "FREE CD" the word "free" will grab the readers attention and boost the likelihood that people will buy it. The banner at the top says "the essential music guide" the use of the word "essential" denotes that the reader must buy this magazine.
 The popular music magazine NME features the music bad boy Pete Doherty. The colour scheme consists of pink attracting the female eye, which contrasts with the blue background. The sell lines such as "in the raw" suggest that Pete Doherty has revealed a lot about his personal life in the interview, it could also be a punn as he is topless. The sell line "oasis world exclusive, first deatils of theri new album" is placed right at the top next to the masthead. It attracts more readers becaus eof the fact that it is "world exclusive" meaning that only the readers of this magazine will be able to read the interview, so even if an oasis fan is not a devoted reader of NME, they may buy the magazine in order to read the interview. The competition would also attract a lot of young readers as festivals are extremely popular events that young people regualrly attent especially in the summer. the fact that it is "VIP" also makes the magazine more attractive.
 This copy of RollingStone differs from the other magazine covers that i have analysised. Forexample all of the sell lines are on the left hand side of the page and they are non descriptive and there are very few of them compared with the others. The pose challenges the codes and conventions of a normal magazine, the artist is not making eye contact with the reader evoking a sense of mystery. The names of iconic singers are also shown such as "prince" and "allman brothers" there is no description or any further sell lines making the reader read on if they want to see features involving the artists. The appearance of the artist appeals to the more chavvy stereotype as the tattoo's, silver tongue necklace and serious expression suggest.
Taylor Swift is the model for this cover prosuced by the RollingStones magazine. The masthead is partly covered up with her head, showing that the magazine is perhaps so well known that they can afford to cover up the masthead. The artists name is set aside from all the sell lines showing she is the main feature being discussed in the magazine, the bold white font also heightens this. The use of the brown guitar hints that Taylor Swift specialises in acoustic music or country music the sell line also reveals waht sort of person she is "secrets of a good girl" making the article seem more mysterious and exclusive through the word "secrets"

Wednesday 23 March 2011

Action Plan

I devised an action plan which would aid the development of my magazine. I included the name and why i chose it, my reader profile, a collage of my reader's interests, ideas for the main image,what i equipment i needed, what i needed to organize, ideas for the front cover (sell lines etc), ideas for the contents page. I found the plan very useful when i came to construct my magazine because i knew exactly what to write and put together, it helped very much with my organization skills as i had written down everything i needed to to and what equipment i needed in order to achieve this.