Music magazine audience research.

I need to gather some information again to see what content I should include in my magazine. Instead of creating a word document and sending it out via email, or even printing a questionnaire out and handing them out, I thought it would be much easier to create a survey online - it causes a lot less fuss. The website I used was www.surveymonkey.com, but, unfortunately, you can only create up to 10 questions (otherwise you have to pay). Luckily, 10 questions seemed enough in the end.


http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JH8KSSZ 
The link to my questionnaire -^


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Double page spread analysis.

To grasp an idea of how to set out a double page spread and make it look attractive, I need to analyse a couple from a music magazine. Once again, I am going to pick one from Kerrang! Magazine.


Issue # 1276
Article:
Main Title - Font change puts emphasis on the word 'fun'. The yellow makes it bold a bright, making it stand out.
Photography - Relaxed, easy going, friendly. All members are smiling and laughing which means they are having a good time; it reflects the band and their image. It's staged with props and the mise en scene presents a place of fun and relaxation.
Puffs - Quotes from the article entice the readfer into reading it - they're giving an insight into what's included in the article.
Postage stamp - It's metaphorical; it's as if they band are sending a message to the reader.
Colours - Colour scheme is clear; yellow, black, orange, and white.
Content - Various lingual techniques. eg. elipses, rule of three, etc. The article is about the band finally picking up and playing at reading, asking fans to "see at least one set".


Issue #1183
Gig review:
Main title - bold, yet plain and simple - Doesn't distract the reader from the main review. Includes a rating - informs the readers of the gig's success.
Photography - Live gig pictures. Main image is of the lead singer with the fans, showing him as appreciative and interactive; good publicity. Others include band members and also of them socialising weith their support band and having fun.
Writing/captions - Puns about the pictures making it comical for the reader. White on black makes them stand out so they won't be missed.
Sellotape - Looks like the photos have been stuck down to make a montage of images. It also looks more realistic.
Content - Review on 'Avenged Sevonfold's' gig in London. Includes both negative and positive feedback. There is also a section called "how was it for you?", containing a statement from a band member making it more appealing to the reader.

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Music magazine research.

So I have a clearer understanding of the music magazine industry, I am looking into my favourite magazine (Kerrang!) so i can find out the different conventions of a rock/metal magazine. I am doing this because it is the same genre I want to do for my main task.

• Genre: Rock, metal, emo, alternative, etc.
• Audience: Mainly teenagers - ages 14-21, rock/metal fans;
• Content: interviews, articles, free posters, gig reviews, new bands, new releases, album reviews, gig dates, advertisements;
• Publication: Sold all over the UK weekly, Australia monthly and in Spain;
• Image: Care-free, hardcore -language and images used, bands interviewed all portray this image, along with its house style and layout.

 Examples:

Front cover analysis:

Black on white masthead – effective, makes it stand out.

Lead singer’s head overlaps the title - showing us that the magazine doesn’t need lots of space for the title because it’s recognised around the country.

Big, bold cover line – takes up most of the cover line space. Makes it stand out and tells the reader who the main article will be about.

Pun within the cover line - “unfold the puzzle”, the theme of the band’s album is puzzles. As well as this, the Paramore cover line has a pun, too, creating a relaxed and casual feel to the magazine. “Hayley starts a ‘riot!’”. “Riot!” is the name of their album.

Exclamations – creates a sense of emergency; a ‘must read’. The fact that there are things on offer for free also entices the reader into buying the magazine.

Red banner - informs the reader who else will be featured this issue.

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Preliminary task.

For my Preliminary task, my objective was to create a school or college magazine aimed at the age of my choice. I decided to target 6th formers (year 12 and 13). I had to take into consideration the house style of the magazine and how I would correspond with my target audience. To do this, I chose to take a picture of two female 6th formers, which I then cropped down to one:

#1

#2

I then edited the picture further by adjusting the brightness and contrast. Doing this made the picture clearer and made the sun in the top left hand corner bathe over the model:

After editing the picture, I drafted different mastheads to see which on I thought was the most effective. It had to be big and stand out from a distance, not to mention matching my house style correctly. Here are some of the things I came up with:

 

This is the design I decided to use:

I chose this design because it appeared to be the most aesthetically pleasing. To make it stand out a bit more, I added a shadow underneath, making it appear more clear.

My next challenge was creating cover lines which would be easy to read and, again, match my house style. I also had to try and integrate different style fonts. Here are some of my cover lines:

"LETS REVISE
10 top tips on how to revise effectively for those dreaded exams!"

"GAP YEAR HELP
Information and guidance about your gap year."

Once I had created the cover lines, I placed them on my front cover and I was on my way to finalisation. Here is my magazine at that stage:



















To make students want to buy the magazine, I inserted an eye-catching red banner across the bottom of the page. Along with this, I placed a star at the end of it with the price of the magazine on top. The banner reads:
"Win, win, win with our competitions!"
And the puff says:"Only £1.50!"
Offering competitions with prizes is an effective way of getting people to buy the magazine.
Here is my completed front cover:

Positive feedback:
"Front cover is great, i love the lighting;
really eye catching."
Negative feedback:
"Ensure the puffs and coverlines are clear from a distance"

Both pieces of feedback from the teacher has helped me. In the main task, I will be sure to look out for things appearing clear on the page.

After my front cover was complete, I had to make a mock up of a contents page. I hand drew a draft as displayed below:

I then transferred the drawing onto the computer using DTP, and this is how it turned out:



















Positive feekback: "striking
good colour scheme"

Negative feedback: "could be more interactive with the reader"

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Audience research.

Recently, I sent out a questionnaire to various people around school to find out different things the pupils in my school would want to feature in a school magazine, how often they would want it, how much they would be prepared to pay for it, etc. I created my questionnaire and gave it out to 20 people. Below is my questionnaire:

The results from this questionnaire were (majority vote): 

1. Price: <£1, £1-£2 - 7, 6;
   
2. More for colour: Yes - 10;
3. - (open question);
4. How often published: Monthly - 12;
5. More educational: No - 16;
6. Be involved: No - 15;
7. Themed: Yes - 12;
8. - (open question);
9. Content: Quizzes, Games, Articles, Interviews, Horoscopes - 15, 15, 14, 15, 14;
10. Size: A4 - 13;
11. Access: Through school - 17;
12. Entertainment (celebs/music): 20;
13. - (open question).

Positive feedback:The questionnaire gave me an insight into what people wanted and expected in a school/college magazine and enabled me to create relevant cover lines for the front cover of the magazine.
Negative feedback:
It didn't help me in the sense of designing the magazine neither did it help with coming up with a catchy name for the magazine. This is a question I am thinking about involving in my audience research for my Music Magazine.
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Photoshop experimentation.

To make sure that I am comfortable with DTP, I experimented with some picutres on Photoshop Elements. Here is what i produced:

#1 - I have rotated the picture to make a more direct angle, as if the cat was looking adoringly at the camera. Also, the change from colour to black and white ages the photo.
#2 - Saturating the background of colour makes the flower in the foreground more vibrant and makes the colour stand out more. 

Positive feedback: "both pictures become clearerto the observer;
great colours in the flower picture, great camera angle of the cat."
 Negative feedback: ---
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Introduction.

Task Outline:
Preliminary Task:

• Use DTP and an image manipulation program;
• Produce the front page of a school/college magazine;
• Include a photograph you have taken yourself, in medium close-up range;
• Include appropriate text layout and masthead;
• Create a mock up of the contents page to show use of DTP.

Main Task:

• Produce the front page, contents page and a double page spread of a new music magazine;
• Include a minimum of four images;
• The images must be manipulated in some way - the original images will form part of the evaluation;
• All texts used must be original - produced by you.