Rough sketches of my magazine

Video of students answering questions

Initial Ideas

Graphs and evaluations on questionnaire

I asked this question because I thought it would give me a good idea of why people actually buy a magazine. The results show that 50% of people buy magazines because they like the person on the front, and 50% are interested in the cover stories. This tells me that on my front cover of my magazine I should include a picture of a singer and cover stories of what the magazine is going to include as I know from doing audience research this will attract my target audience.

 This graph tells me that 50% of my target audience look for interviews in any magazine that they read. 20% look for stories, 20% look for gossip, 10% look for music and nobody looks for images. This tells me that when making my music magazine I should focus more on the layout and writing in my magazine rather than using lots of images to attract my audience as I know this isn’t what catches there eye. I could include an interview on my double page spread then put gossip on my front cover so my audience will want to open my magazine and read it.

 I left this question an open question to see the amount of variety I got. My graph shows me that only 30% of my target audience enjoy reading music magazines the most. Whilst the other 70% enjoy reading magazines not related to music. However this tells me the style of magazine people enjoy reading such as the other magazines are to do with celebrity and gossip, therefore in my magazine I could include gossip about a singer which means I am including things people like although it’s a music magazine not an everyday magazine.

This question shows me straight away that 70% of my target audience enjoy reading interviews with famous people the most. Only 30% enjoyed reading stories and nobody liked reading about gossip. Since interviews was the most popular I will include an interview on my double page spread as I know this attracts a wide range of people therefore my magazine would be interesting.

 Front covers are a huge part to a music magazine as this is what attracts an audience to read it. This graph shows that 80% of my target audience enjoy images the most on a front cover and this is what makes them want to pick it up. Only 20% thought cover stories attracted them to a front cover, therefore when making my front cover I will focus more on the images rather than the writing and make my front cover more image dominant as I know this is what my target audience liked. Nobody said bright colours attracted them therefore I will make my colours darker and not so bright as I know nobody likes this.

This graph clearly shows that my results are 50/50. 50% like the contents page to be blocky style whilst the other 50% like image dominant. This tells me that I can do a bit of both throughout my magazine as I know my target audience like both. I could include more images on one page but make another page blocky to give more variety.

 This question tells me a lot as I will be able to find out what type of music genres my target audience enjoy the most. My graph clearly shows that 50% like R&B the most, followed by 30% enjoying Indie music, 10% like Pop and 10% like Rock. This tells me that I should make my music magazine more related to R&B music and maybe add a little bit of Pop as these two genres are similar and I know 60% of my target audience would enjoy this. I do not listen too Indie or Rock myself therefore making this magazine wouldn’t attract me or 40% of my target audience.

This graph shows me that 40% of my target audience like Rihanna the most, Rihanna is R&B/Pop therefore this fits well with the type of magazine I want to make. 10% liked Lady gaga which is another R&B/Pop singer. However the other 50% liked Indie bands, this tells me that even if I made my magazine R&B/Pop 50% of my target audience would be interested in reading it.

 This question tells me that the most popular colour scheme people liked was black white and purple. 40% liked black white and navy the best and 10% liked black white and grey. This gives me good advice as colour scheme is an important thing to consider when making a music magazine as this is a main element that attracts an audience. The colour schemes I have thought about are all dark colours therefore I would have to make my pictures and other text a bit brighter to attract my target audience rather than making it all dark.

Presentation and layout is a main thing to consider when making a music magazine as there is so much to include it needs to be presented well. My graph shows that 40% liked it spread out, 40% liked it organised and 20% liked a messy/wild look. This tells me that when making my magazine, at least 80% want it to look tidy rather than wild and all over. However I will probably make my magazine organised rather than spread out as I think it looks more professional and presentable when it looks tidy.

 The image on a front cover of any magazine is essential as it’s what attracts the audience to read it. Therefore asking this question was very important to give me inspiration on what to include on my cover. 80% wanted to see a certain singer on the front, 10% wanted to see a band and the other 10% wanted to see a celebrity. However a celebrity would not appear on the front cover of a music magazine as the main image. Since 80% wanted to see the main singer this would be good to include one main person on the front cover as I could take a variety of different pictures with different angles to give it a different look.

A double page spread is an important page to put in a magazine and has to look presentable for someone to read. My graph shows that 70% of my target audience would like to read an interview on a double page spread of a certain artist. 20% said they would want to read about gossip, 10% said they would want.

This question tells me the most popular type of article my target audience would want to read. 50% said they would like to read about celebrity gossip, 30% said they would want to read about new music and the other 20% said they would want to read about new bands. This tells me that for my music magazine I should include an article/interview on celebrity gossip or new music as I know this is going to attract my target audience.

XXL magazine analysis

By only having one main image on the front of the XXL magazine it straight away tells the reader about the audience which this magazine is attracting. The image used is very bold and immediately stands out. The image also gives off the dangerous sense by the confident strong stance the character is giving and the way he is dressed in full black gives the feeling of danger and threat. Also the way the character is towering over the buildings make him seem more dominant and serious. The colour scheme used on the front cover is quite plain and simple but the bright red attracts the reader’s eye and gives the sense of blood or danger which relates as well with the large image. By looking at XXL you can straight away tell the target audience and genre of the magazine. It is aimed at older teenagers mainly boys but also some girls interested in R&B/hip hop may enjoy it too. The large title has been put in the top left hand corner of the magazine and it seems quite hidden away from the image over lapping it. This makes the front cover look more image dominant as the image seems the most in control. The title instantly catches the reader’s eye and the way the image overlaps the text a small bit makes the reader look at the image after and know what the magazine is about. The artist name Jay-Z has been written in huge text just below him and is bigger and bolder than all the other text showing that this is what the magazine is all about.

The contents page of XXL is very similar to the front cover in which the images and title seem more important than the text. The main image of Rihanna a popular singer takes up the whole top half of the page. The way they Rihanna is standing and posing is quite laid back and chilled and looking directly at the audience creates a sense of rebellion. The title takes up the top part of the magazine making it the first thing the audience reads. The first letter of the title doesn’t have a capital letter and just says “the B-side” by not having a capital letter suggests it’s not a formal magazine and is quite laid back and casual. The headlines of the features in the magazine are in bold so that they all stand out to the audience and are not hard to find. The same colour scheme has been used on the contents as it has on the front cover with the plain background to make everything else stand out more like the image and text. The text is all in one block down the right hand side of the page which makes it seem lots to read however there is images which is bigger than the amount of text as there is hardly any text there. Unlike other contents pages which have the contents in three or four sections and a lot more writing which make it easier to follow and read.

This double page spread features of a stereotypically, male, R&B artist. This is the typical artist which XXL magazine target audience would be interested in. The main image takes up the whole left hand side of the double page spread and it shows the artist dressed casually, also sitting casually smoking a cigarette. This makes the page look very laid back and informal. However this image of Usher fits in well with the stereotype he is portraying. The way he has been positioned with the certain camera angle makes it so you can see his clothing and watch and how he is smoking a cigarette gives off the connotations of wealth. The text next to the artist is in a different font to everything else which attracts the reader’s attention straight to that. The word “GREATEST” stands out straight away which emphasises how important the word is. On the right hand side of the page is an interview with Usher, the whole interview uses lower case letters which makes the interview seem more informal and casual just like the image on the left.

NME magazine analysis

From looking at NME I can straight away see that the target audience for NME is teenagers, male and female and I can tell this from the male and female artists on the front cover. NME is a different style magazine to Mixmag but by looking at the magazine the audience can instantly tell what the magazine is about. However NME won’t attract all teenagers, only the ones that are interested in this type of music. With Lily Allen being on the front with her black hair and white face clearly shows the audience the genre of music because just by looking at Lily Allen you can tell she is indie/emo. The colour scheme used is mainly black, red and white. These colours suggest danger and rebellion and give the feel of an Indie/Rock look. The image on the magazine is the first thing that stands out. The picture being a medium close up instantly draws the reader’s eyes to picture. Lily Allen gives off a sense of danger by the black hair and black eye makeup and the dangerous look in her face looking straight on at the reader. The main title has different a different font to everything else and looks like the letters have been cut out of a newspaper and they have that messy look making the magazine look wacky. All the fonts have harsh sharp edges which also give off a feel of threat. The rule of thirds fits in well with this certain magazine cover as the text and picture both have their own section. However like the majority of music magazines the image is always in the middle with the text above and below or overlapping. The text is all in capital letters which looks like its shouting at the reader to pick it up and read it and gives the feel that it’s an important magazine to read.

 This contents page of NME is quite simple and easy to read. The same colour scheme from the front cover remains consistent on the contents page still using the black white and red. By using a white background it makes the contents page look easy to navigate round as the colours aren’t off putting and don’t distract the reader’s attention. The rest of the text is white black or red therefore looks presentable and tidy rather than colours all over. All the writing has been split into sections which makes it look a lot more organised rather than all over the place. All of the subheadings for each page stand out well and wouldn’t be hard to find as the white writing has been placed in black boxes with white wording therefore are straight forward and easy to read. There are two main images underneath the title and would be the first thing that attracts the readers eyes which maybe suggests the images are more important than the text as it follows straight on from the title. The images are two men singing which tells the reader it’s all about music and nothing else.

The headline of this double page spread from NME is set in the same style as the front cover. By using the same style text shows that the front cover and double page spread are related are talking about the same person. The white background is quite plain therefore the reader’s attention is just mainly set on the text and image. The image is similar to the front cover and is a picture of the main person, Lily Allen. She takes up the whole of the right hand side of the double page spread showing that she is controlling and over powering by taking up so much space. The way she is standing and looking directly at the reader suggests she immediately wants lots of attention. Again the colour scheme is the same as the front cover and contents, using black red and white to give off certain messages. However the red on the double page spread is used in Lily Allen’s clothing and the way she wears the clothes suggests she is quite manly especially from the way she is standing with the shirt on. The text is in 4 columns all on the left hand page quite crammed in closely together, there isn’t much writing as the image and title takes up three quarters of the page suggesting they are more important and what the magazine is about. From looking at the double page spread you can immediately tell Lily Allen is the total main focus, mainly from the photo, but also from the title being a quote of what Lily has said, and when her name is mentioned in the text, it’s in bigger writing and a red font.

Vibe magazine analysis

Vibe magazine keeps the same sort of theme throughout so the audience who enjoy reading Vibe can easily relate and identify the magazine. The main title ‘vibe’ is in bold and in yellow font and it almost takes up half of the A4 page which stands out and attracts customers. Another thing which Vibe magazine keeps the same is the image. Most of the time there is just one main image on the cover of a famous celebrity, with usually a close up of the artists face or sometimes, like this magazine it is a mid-shot of Ciara’s whole body. Most magazine covers have a large image of the artist looking directly at the camera which maintains eye contact immediately which creates a relationship between the magazine and the reader as they feel involved in the magazine. The image of Ciara giving direct eye contact creates a certain look which intrigues and intimidates the reader which will maybe make them want to open it and read more. The main features of the magazine are placed all around the image of the artist. The text is written in different fonts, all different shapes and sizes which suggest the magazine has lots of variety in it and not seems all the same.

The contents page of Vibe seems to crease the same layout as the front cover and also other issues of Vibe magazine. However it has a different colour scheme to the front cover. The whole page is set in black and white but there is a sense of grey/navy too it. The contents page has a blank background with a grey/dull colour too it which gives the sense that the writing and images are more important than colour and isn’t taking away all the focus. The word ‘Contents’ is written on 3 lines creating an unstable sort of look but still look original and new. The list of the features of the magazine have been placed in the bottom right hand corner of the page with page numbers in bold so they can be easily seen but the writing in normal font. The artist who appears on the front and the artist who appears on the contents and double page spread will be similar which links all the pages together well and allows different poses and the pictures too all be different.

The double page spread from Vibe magazine focuses directly on a R&B genre. The colour scheme used throughout the double page spread is quite plain just like the contents page. It uses dull colours in the background and the background images using only black, white and blue. However by just using these dull colours makes the double page spread appeal to both a male and female audience and by doing this can be an advantage on increasing the fan base of the magazine. The girl on the double page spread is wearing an orange/red dress with high heels. This image doesn’t use dull colours however uses the total opposite and uses bright colours compared to the background which suggests the image is more important than everything else. From the artist wearing a colourful dress enables her to stand out the most as well as her name being written in the headline before the text in bright blue so the reader knows straight away who she is. The two pages are different in terms of layout as the first one had 3 columns of lots of text compared to the second page where there is only one column and a small quote since there is a huge establishing shot almost dominating the page.