Primary Research

Primary Research

1) What genre do you think this music magazine is?

2) Is this appealing to you? Why is or isn't it?

3) Are the images appropriate for the target audience?

4) Do you think the layout is appropriate on the cover? Why?

5) Do you think the layout is appropriate on the contents page? Why?

6) Do you thing the layout is appropriate on the double page spread? Why?

7) Do you think the cartoon style is appealing?

8) Do you think the image to text ratio is appropriate? Why?

9) Is the language appropriate for the target audience?

10) Are the colours used appropriate?

11) Would you change anything in the magazine?

This has helped me to understand more about my target audience and what appeals to them. For example, the contents page of Rock Sound was less appealing to the target audience as the layout was less clear so I wouldn't adapt it for my own magazine. This has helped so I can have a more user friendly contents page in my own magazine.
Rock Sound's genre was mainly identified as pop punk so I can use their methods in my own magazine by making it look quite fun and rebellious but to also look professional with different camera shots and a house style. My own house style might be darker and use more reds in the colour scheme to appeal more to my own target audience and connote passion and love for the music reviewed.
The images used in Rock Sound had mixed appeal so I can adapt their style to suit a wider range of people. I may use a cartoon style font for my main sell line however I won't in-cooperate it into the images. 
The layout of the front cover and double page spread was appealing to most of the people I had feedback from. I can use some of the layout techniques of the cover and contents page as they seem to be clear for the audience. The cover also follows the conventions of magazines which will make my magazine look more professional.

Secondary Research

Secondary Research

Secondary research- Research that's carried out from a different source.

Target audience- A specific segment of a mass audience that the product is aimed at.

Hybrid genre- The mixing of two or more genres.

Rock Sound Reader Profile

 

The audience is predominantly female (69%) aged at 15-24 (72%). Rock Sound's audience spend lots of time at live gigs and approximately £210 million is collectively spent on music and going to gigs. Readers are also very into fashion and collectively spend approximately £245 million on fashion. Rock Sound are influential to their target which is important because they have a teenage based audience so the target can learn from the magazine.

Kerrang Reader Profile

 

The audience is fairly equal with males at 59% and females at 41% mainly aged at 15-24 (69.5%). Kerrang's audience has 49.8% of it's audience at an ABC1 profile. Their interests would include buying music and going to live gigs and festivals. They would be interested in technology such as using Apple products and social networking sites such as Twitter and Youtube.

How will this research affect my ideas?

My Target Audience:

My target audience will be males aged 16-21 years old interested in the pop-punk genre. My audience will spend lots of their time listening to music and going to live gigs and festivals. They will be interested in social networking such as Twitter and YouTube and other technology such as Apple.

I am targeting this group as many other successful pop-punk style magazines target this group of people. This will help to give inspiration for the style and layout of my magazine and will help to make it appeal to my target audience and to make my own magazine successful.

My Ideas Based On Textual Analysis

Inspirational images.docx by gilllauren09

These ideas will allow me to in-cooperate methods that professional magazines use. The different costumes and shots signify the pop punk genre as some use quite bright colours but the fonts also suggest that the music isn't pop and has an air of something heavier. The layout's used for the contents page and front cover have given me ideas how to create my own. This will help to make my magazine look more appealing to my target audience.
I will try to use similar style fonts as these will signify the pop-punk genre and appeal to my target demographic. This will help my magazine to look more professional therefore making it look more trust worthy that my target audience would buy. The Kerrang masthead carries certain connotations and I plan to use a similar font for my own masthead. This will appeal largely to my audience by giving away the genre of my magazine.
I will also take into account the positioning and poses of the bands and artists on the cover. These images have given me ideas to mimic for my own magazine. This will give it more personality and help to appeal to a wider range of pop-punk fans.
I will most likely try to mimic the contents pages of Kerrang and Rock Sound as they both use different categories that organize and break down the page. 

Textual Analysis

This has given me ideas for my own magazine as it has given me an insight as to the appeal of my audience. For example, I will have to use friendly and less formal language to appeal to my audience. This will act as if my magazine is conversing with the reader instead of only feeding information to them.
Images I take will also have to use a wide range of shots. This will show different moods in the magazine. For example a close up will give more intimacy than a long shot which is more likely to show an event or a spectacle.
My layout will have to have a professional structure and I will likely take from these magazines and try to replicate and tweak the layout to suit my own magazine.

Inspirational images for my magazine:

Inspirational images.docx by gilllauren09

These ideas will allow me to in cooperate methods that professional magazines use. The different costumes and shots signify the pop punk genre as some use quite bright colours but the fonts also suggest that the music isn't pop, but has an air of something heavier. The layout's used for the contents page and front cover have given me ideas how to create my own. This will help to make my magazine look more appealing to my target audience.

Researching Genre

This has helped me as now I know the style of pop punk. This will help me decide on costumes for my stock characters. For example, to make my cover band look more rebellious, I might use tattoo sleeves to show they don't conform to society's expectations.
I will also think about applying the pop punk themes in my double page spread and make the genre of the band stand out. I will include themes such as attitude and individuality in the article. I could also show this with the bands body language on the cover and contents page with a range of different shots.
I should also think about the different locations I have available to use. I might take a few shots outside and have a brick wall for the background and also have chalk graffiti around the band to represent the pop punk genre as it shows rebellion and individuality.

Preliminary Product

Preliminary Drafts

Magazine Layout