This is my reader profile:
Reader Profile:
Gender: Female
Age Range: 14-21
Favourite TV programmes: X Factor, Pop Idol, Britains Got Talent, Music Channels, Soaps, celebrity related programmes.
Music Tastes: R&B, pop, dance etc.
Favourite Albums: Chilled R&B, R&B classics, Now that’s what I call music.
Favourite place to purchase music: Itunes, HMV.
How music is listened to: Radio, Ipod, Mp3, Computer, Music Videos on TV.
Favourite items related to music: Headphones, Ipod, CD’s.
Clothes/Fashion: Republic, River Island, New Look, H&M, Top Shop, Zara and Primark.
When is music listened to: Travelling, privately and publicy at social events.
Food and drink: popular foods like sweets and chocolate, snacks, maybe healthy snacks.
Other hobbies: Keeping active, Meeting new people, Meeting with friends.
Hates: Boredom, Hypocritical people and liars.
Loves: Music, relaxing, meeting friends.
Transport: Walking, buses, trains, cars.
Values and Beliefs: Treat others as you would like be treated yourself. Have you own moral beliefs and stick with them – don’t just follow the crowd. Live each day as though it’s a gift and appreciate what you have got, have fun and enjoy what you are doing.
Personality: Laid back, fun-loving, sociable, care free, fairly relaxed, confident. Etc.
After creating the reader profile, I made a questionnaire which will aid the development of my music magazine by providing me with critical information to help me establish what the audience would like out of a music magazine and what they would not like. It also enables me to find out what their current interests are and favourite colours in order to help me decide on a colour scheme etc.Here is my questionnaire:
Music Magazine Questionnaire:
1. Tick as many of the following which appeal to you in a music magazine:
Celeb gossip | TV gossip | The charts | Other music | Games/Quizzes |
2. How much would you be willing to pay for a music magazine?
£0.50 | £1.00 | £1.50 | £2.00 | £2.50 |
3. What are you most interested in on TV at the moment?
X Factor | Harry Hill | You’ve been framed | Soaps | Other |
4. How many pages would you like the magazine to be?
20-25 | 25-30 | 30-35 | 35-40 | 41+ |
5. Tick as many of the following that you relate to music:
Celebrities | Fashion | Dance | Parties | Social events |
6. How often do you listen to chart music?
Every day | 5-6 times a week | 3-4 times a week | 1-2 times a week | Never |
7. What would the ideal prize be in a music magazine?
Tickets to live show | An electric guitar | A make-over | A Top Shop Voucher | Other |
8. Do you prefer formal layouts or quirky layouts?
Formal | Quirky (informal) |
9. How often do you purchase music magazines?
Once a week | Once a fortnight | Once a month | Once a year | Never |
10. Which is your favourite colour out of the following?
Red | Yellow | Blue | Green | Orange |
Purple | Pink | White | Black | Other |
I also did research on different music magazine front covers and contents pages and compared them to identify what was good about them and what was not so good. This helped me recognise what made an affective front cover and contents page and what did not. I found that for a pop magazine and a younger audience it is important that they are very bright, colourful and informal so that it engages with a younger audience as appose to a formal structure and bland colour scheme which may appeal to an older, more sophisticated audience. The research gave me insight to how different images, type faces and colour schemes can portray the genre of the magazine and therefore appeal to the appropriate audience. I did research on the X Factor magazine and the top of the pops magazine for the front covers because these relate more closely to the genre I am adopting with my music magazine. However for the contents pages I looked at a range of magazines and found that they had a much more varied style, therefore I was able to analyse them in greater detail.
After planning out drafts, I decided that I wanted the music magazine to relate to older chart music. This should therefore engage older teenagers and shall be a unique music magazine as it will not be similar to any other magazines currently on the market. Therefore I began to design the front cover and contents page to relate to an older style. This theme is reflected in the font of the title I chose for the magazine, it is also reflected in the old fashioned style and format of the magazine as well as in some of the images. However some of the old themed typefaces, images etc contrast with new ones which gives the magazine a contemporary feel to appeal to a younger audience and raise awareness of older music.
However, the only problem with changing my ideas to having an older theme is that it makes it more difficult take pictures which reflect the ideologies of the magazine. I am going to take a picture of someone dancing but dressed up in fashion which was evident at the time of the music which shall therefore reflect the ideas of the magazine.
After establishing a number of difficulties with the idea of creating a magazine about older music I decided to stick with my original idea of creating a magazine about mainstream music which shall attract a larger audience.
I have chosen my target audience to be mainly teenage girls aged between 12-24. This is a large age catergory so I therefore need to ensure that I include aspects and a colour scheme to attract the entire target audience.
The colour scheme is consistent on the front cover. It is made up mostly by three colours; Pink, Navy and White. This works in concordence with the models clothes which therefore links the model with the magazine as well as making the magazine look more attractive. The pink adds feminity and fun, whereas the blue adds an element of sophistication and seriousness. The white works to seperate the pink and the blue to ensure that they do not clash or become over powering. Therefore the colours work well together and convey an appropriate message to the reader. The colours suggest that the magazine is fun and feminine whilst suggesting that the reader are sophisticated, this is important because it makes the reader feel respected. The colour scheme is also adhered to by the text which ensures that the magazine has a theme and does not look jumbled and chaotic with different colours flying everywhere otherwise this would make the magazine look unprofessional and would therefore not appeal to the audience as it would not be taken seriously. The only other colour introduced with the text is black. Black is used with the text because it is clear and easy to read which therefore makes it appropriate for the text. There is not too much text, so the change in colour is relatively unnocticeable which ensures the colour scheme is still consistent.
Small icons/images are used to reinforce the text. Images are appealing as they give meaning and ideas immediately without reading anything beforehand. Therefore the images appeal to the reader because they are simple and highlight the message that the text is portraying. The images will apply particularly to the younger end of the target audience, whereas the text will appeal more to the older end. This therefore ensures that both ends of the age range are catered for making the target audience as broad as possible in terms of age.
A lot of the important information is primarily on the left of the magazine front cover. This ensures that no matter how the magazine is displayed in a shop, the most important information will be displayed to appeal to the target reader.
The mast head is bold and stands out, the dark colour on the light back ground also makes it clear and easy to read. The connotations of 'music mania' insinuate that the magazine is packed full of important information about music. This therefore appeals to music fans.
If I was to do the magazine again, I may include more headings and pull quotes in order to attract the audience because the magazine front cover may be criticised for not having enough information on the front cover or for looking a bit blank, this would therefore put off potential readers rather than appealing to them. However, I like the magazine showing not too much information because it prevents it from looking over crowded and busy because this would have negative implications on the appearance as it would look chaotic rather than laid back and fun.
In order to evaluate the magazine front cover successfully, I created a short questionnaire to ask people what they thought about my magazine. The results were helpful in helping me establish what I did well and what I did not do so well;
1.What do you like the most about the front cover?
A) The model = 7
B) The colour scheme = 5
C) The layout = 3
D) The information = 4
2.What do you like the least about the front cover?
A) The model = 3
B) The colour Scheme = 5
C) The layout = 6
D) The information = 5
3.If the magazine were on the market, would you buy it?
A) Yes = 12
B) No = 7
In conclusion, the results helped me establish that I would need to improve on the layout and information, whereas the model was successful in promoting the magazine to the target audience. The model also promoted the ideologies of the magazine well too.
The contents page follows a similar style to the front cover in order to keep a style which the readers can relate to because otherwise the magazine may appear unprofessional which can be unappealing to many readers. It also helps establish the magazine as a brand. Therefore the same colour scheme is appropriate in suggesting the magazine has consistent ideologies.
