Friday, 16 October 2015
Pitch Feedback
To gain some target audience feedback from my magazine proposal, I printed off a copy of the post and gave it to a member of my target audience and asked them to highlight what they liked in blue, what they disliked in orange and then to give some pointers at the end. This is what I received:
Monday, 12 October 2015
Target Audience Surveys
I have created several surveys on SurveyMonkey.com to gain more information about my target audience and what they want. I believe this is one of the most important aspects due to my magazine's success depending on how many magazines are distributed to and bought by this audience.
Survey 1.) This survey explored the artists that my target audience were interested in. I created a multi-choice survey with various artists for them to choose from and these were my results:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-NQRMDR5S/
From this survey, I became aware of who should be featured in my magazine, and if I were to include up and coming artists, what category of artists/music my target audience enjoy, tailoring the magazine to them and therefore designing a product that they will enjoy and hopefully want to purchase.
Survey 2.) The second survey I created, questioned how much my target audience would be willing to pay for a professional music magazine. Here are my results:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-M8XKYT5S/
This survey told me that the majority of my audience would be willing to pay £4+ for a high quality, professional music magazine. Therefore, I will take this knowledge on and use it to adapt my final product.
Survey 3.) The third survey I created was centralised around my Double Page Spread. Here are my results:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-FP2TRN5S/
From this survey I gained knowledge about the kind of DPS my target audience would want. From here I will ensure my single image takes up one page, that it is balanced (50/50) with text, and that the article itself is story based.
Survey 1.) This survey explored the artists that my target audience were interested in. I created a multi-choice survey with various artists for them to choose from and these were my results:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-NQRMDR5S/
From this survey, I became aware of who should be featured in my magazine, and if I were to include up and coming artists, what category of artists/music my target audience enjoy, tailoring the magazine to them and therefore designing a product that they will enjoy and hopefully want to purchase.
Survey 2.) The second survey I created, questioned how much my target audience would be willing to pay for a professional music magazine. Here are my results:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-M8XKYT5S/
This survey told me that the majority of my audience would be willing to pay £4+ for a high quality, professional music magazine. Therefore, I will take this knowledge on and use it to adapt my final product.
Survey 3.) The third survey I created was centralised around my Double Page Spread. Here are my results:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-FP2TRN5S/
From this survey I gained knowledge about the kind of DPS my target audience would want. From here I will ensure my single image takes up one page, that it is balanced (50/50) with text, and that the article itself is story based.
Sunday, 11 October 2015
Time Management
Recently, I have struggled to post my blog posts before the deadlines set within class. This has left me needing to make extra time in order to ensure of my work's completion. This is anything from time spent in the college learning centre, to emailing myself work to complete at home. In order to ensure that I don't fall behind, I have set myself a personal deadline to ensure everything is completed and up to date buy the end of this week.
By selecting this deadline, I am fully self-motivated to catch up and be on top of my coursework.
By selecting this deadline, I am fully self-motivated to catch up and be on top of my coursework.
Friday, 9 October 2015
Monday, 5 October 2015
Target Audience Research
I have interviewed an example of my target audience to answer some questions that would allow me to gather information for my magazine. This ensures that my magazine not only caters to what I believe will suit my target audience, but these answers will allow me to employ aspects that my target audience want.
Below I have embedded a final video that I edited together using iMovie and posted to my AS Media Studies YouTube channel. Within the video, I have use a two shot. This is because I believe that this shot was the best way to add a conversational interview feel, and it easily displays the interviewer and interviewee. The two subjects are turned towards each other in a polite manner and have a chatty, but slightly formal exchange of conversation. The camera is taken through a handheld shot. This was partly because I felt like this added more of a conversational feel and will make the audience feel more as if they were there with the interviewer and interviewee.
If you cannot view this video, please click this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSKkaDxXXvE
Below I have embedded a final video that I edited together using iMovie and posted to my AS Media Studies YouTube channel. Within the video, I have use a two shot. This is because I believe that this shot was the best way to add a conversational interview feel, and it easily displays the interviewer and interviewee. The two subjects are turned towards each other in a polite manner and have a chatty, but slightly formal exchange of conversation. The camera is taken through a handheld shot. This was partly because I felt like this added more of a conversational feel and will make the audience feel more as if they were there with the interviewer and interviewee.
If you cannot view this video, please click this link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSKkaDxXXvE
Target Audience Research Questions
'What is your
favorite music genre and why?'
'How much would you
be willing to pay for a professional music magazine?'
'What encourages you
to buy a magazine?'
'Do you prefer a text
or image led double-page spread?'
'Would you prefer a
question and answer (interview) style in your double-page spread, or would you
like a story?'
'Do prefer several
images or one main image?'
'What colors are you
most attracted to?'
'Would you prefer a
hard copy of a magazine or would you refer to read it on something like a
tablet?'
'What sorts of
contents and articles would you like to see in the magazine?'
Friday, 2 October 2015
Deconstruction Feedback
As I have recently annotated, analysed and deconstructed 3 Front Covers, 3 Contents Pages and 3 Double Page Spreads, I have gained various ares of knowledge surrounding the layouts, conventions, images and text of these particular pages in magazines. This has really helped me within this course and gives me a good base of knowledge surrounding what to include in each page and how to go about setting out my product. This will help me to create a professional outcome and gives me aspects of inspiration in order to prepare me to make my practical product.
In terms of a front cover, I have learned various conventions that are typically used, for example, a masthead is very important in order to inform your audience on the name of your magazine as well as what they are currently reading. I will definitely use a masthead in my final product. An image generally covers the whole of the front page, with it's focus (e.g. artist) covering at least two thirds of the page. I feel that this is an extremely important part of my front cover. Cover lines, I found, were also very common on front covers in order to inform the audience of what is in the particular issue in order to persuade them to guide it. It is apparent that not all magazine covers have as many cover lines, with some having none. I believe these types of magazines would be those that does necessarily have to make the magazine look worth buying, due to the name selling itself, for example, Nylon. From this, I am not sure whether I will use cover lines. For the purpose of the place in which the magazine is sold, most magazines have a barcode and price on the front cover (unless the magazine is free), which I see as a highly important convention of the front cover, so will most definitely be using. Another convention used frequently, I found, was a sell line, a one statement/sentence summing the magazine up and putting it forward in a positive light. I believe that a lot of these were very punchy and self-proud, and would certainly convince me to buy the magazine if I spotted it in a shop, therefore I will be using a sell line. Issue number and date were also found on most front covers, both being extremely informative and organised, reminding the audience of which issue this is and when it has been published, in order for them to ensure they are purchasing/looking at/reading the correct issue. I will be using both of these conventions. Finally, on the front cover, some magazines placed their website address on the front cover. This was used so that the audience can be reached on the most frequently used platform by the magazine; the internet. The magazine will reach a far wider audience by using the internet and various aspects of social media. However, the website URL was printed several times on almost every page on the magazines I looked at. I believe that using a website URL would be a positive aspect of my magazine, so I will include it, although I don't believe I will be using it on the front cover (rather on contents, articles etc).
The contents page was one of the other pages that included a website link. I believe this would be a more suitable place to have a website URL, so I will be including one in my contents page. One of the main aspects of the contents page is the page title, informing the audience of what page they are on. I will be using a page title in my own product. Alongside this, there is the date and issue of the magazine to inform the audience of the time and issue they are reading. Predominantly, the contents of the magazine are placed on the either side of the page, with the page number and a brief summary of what article is on the page. I will be using this in my product as it is the sole reasoning behind a contents page. Other than this, there is a pull quote taken from the main article, giving a hint as to what will be in the article, and causing the reader to want to read on. I believe this is a good convention, I am not sure whether I will use it, though.
In relation to the double page spread, there is an article title, usually something creative, which I will certainly be using, as well as the artist in question's name at the top of the page in order to inform the audience of who they are reading about. I believe that this is also a key convention and will be using it in my own product. In the bottom of each page, there are page numbers, a vital convention, as well as the name of the magazine to reiterate to the audience, what they are reading. Alongside this, there is sometimes some social media links to reach a wider audience on a different platform, and a subscription link, in case the reader is enjoying the magazine and wants to be automatically sent each issue, whilst paying in bulk. I will certainly consider using the social media links, however I will not be using the subscription link as I feel that if I do use it, I would rather feature the information on a more suitable page, for example, the contents page. The double page spread is another page that features the issue number/name, often also featured at the bottom of the page and will be a feature I will be using in my product. Moreover, the text is in a column (traditional) layout. I believe using this layout will make my product look realistic and professional. It is evident that at the beginning of certain paragraphs (especially the first) a drop letter is used, which is considerable larger than the rest of the text, and is usually printed in a decorative font. I believe that this encourages the readers eye to the text and therefore causes them to want to read on, so I will be using this convention. Finally in the double page spread, text and image credits are often used in order to identify those who put effort into bringing the article to the magazine and its readers, so I will most likely use this feature within my magazine.
Overall, the deconstructions enhanced my knowledge surrounding various aspects and conventions found in the pages of magazines that I will be creating. From here, I feel that I will be able to create a more realistic and professional product, and this research has allowed me to explore ideas that will guide me when deciding what I will/will not include in my final product.
In terms of a front cover, I have learned various conventions that are typically used, for example, a masthead is very important in order to inform your audience on the name of your magazine as well as what they are currently reading. I will definitely use a masthead in my final product. An image generally covers the whole of the front page, with it's focus (e.g. artist) covering at least two thirds of the page. I feel that this is an extremely important part of my front cover. Cover lines, I found, were also very common on front covers in order to inform the audience of what is in the particular issue in order to persuade them to guide it. It is apparent that not all magazine covers have as many cover lines, with some having none. I believe these types of magazines would be those that does necessarily have to make the magazine look worth buying, due to the name selling itself, for example, Nylon. From this, I am not sure whether I will use cover lines. For the purpose of the place in which the magazine is sold, most magazines have a barcode and price on the front cover (unless the magazine is free), which I see as a highly important convention of the front cover, so will most definitely be using. Another convention used frequently, I found, was a sell line, a one statement/sentence summing the magazine up and putting it forward in a positive light. I believe that a lot of these were very punchy and self-proud, and would certainly convince me to buy the magazine if I spotted it in a shop, therefore I will be using a sell line. Issue number and date were also found on most front covers, both being extremely informative and organised, reminding the audience of which issue this is and when it has been published, in order for them to ensure they are purchasing/looking at/reading the correct issue. I will be using both of these conventions. Finally, on the front cover, some magazines placed their website address on the front cover. This was used so that the audience can be reached on the most frequently used platform by the magazine; the internet. The magazine will reach a far wider audience by using the internet and various aspects of social media. However, the website URL was printed several times on almost every page on the magazines I looked at. I believe that using a website URL would be a positive aspect of my magazine, so I will include it, although I don't believe I will be using it on the front cover (rather on contents, articles etc).
The contents page was one of the other pages that included a website link. I believe this would be a more suitable place to have a website URL, so I will be including one in my contents page. One of the main aspects of the contents page is the page title, informing the audience of what page they are on. I will be using a page title in my own product. Alongside this, there is the date and issue of the magazine to inform the audience of the time and issue they are reading. Predominantly, the contents of the magazine are placed on the either side of the page, with the page number and a brief summary of what article is on the page. I will be using this in my product as it is the sole reasoning behind a contents page. Other than this, there is a pull quote taken from the main article, giving a hint as to what will be in the article, and causing the reader to want to read on. I believe this is a good convention, I am not sure whether I will use it, though.
In relation to the double page spread, there is an article title, usually something creative, which I will certainly be using, as well as the artist in question's name at the top of the page in order to inform the audience of who they are reading about. I believe that this is also a key convention and will be using it in my own product. In the bottom of each page, there are page numbers, a vital convention, as well as the name of the magazine to reiterate to the audience, what they are reading. Alongside this, there is sometimes some social media links to reach a wider audience on a different platform, and a subscription link, in case the reader is enjoying the magazine and wants to be automatically sent each issue, whilst paying in bulk. I will certainly consider using the social media links, however I will not be using the subscription link as I feel that if I do use it, I would rather feature the information on a more suitable page, for example, the contents page. The double page spread is another page that features the issue number/name, often also featured at the bottom of the page and will be a feature I will be using in my product. Moreover, the text is in a column (traditional) layout. I believe using this layout will make my product look realistic and professional. It is evident that at the beginning of certain paragraphs (especially the first) a drop letter is used, which is considerable larger than the rest of the text, and is usually printed in a decorative font. I believe that this encourages the readers eye to the text and therefore causes them to want to read on, so I will be using this convention. Finally in the double page spread, text and image credits are often used in order to identify those who put effort into bringing the article to the magazine and its readers, so I will most likely use this feature within my magazine.
Overall, the deconstructions enhanced my knowledge surrounding various aspects and conventions found in the pages of magazines that I will be creating. From here, I feel that I will be able to create a more realistic and professional product, and this research has allowed me to explore ideas that will guide me when deciding what I will/will not include in my final product.
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