Why audience research is important

Audience research is important because...

It allows you to design the magazine to the target audiences general taste which in turn, increases sales.

It gives you a better understanding on what stories to include and who to base them on.

Questions I need to ask

My magazine music genre is dance music.

How much would you be willing to pay and why?

What artists would you expect to see in this type of magazine?

What kind of stories would interest you and why?

What kind of colours on the magazine would attract you and why?

What kind of clothes would you expect to see on the models and why?

How frequently would you like the mag to be published (daily, weekly monthly)?

Would you prefer a paper copy or electronic copy and why?

What props (speakers etc) do you associate with the genre?

2 contents page drafts

2 front cover drafts

My reader profile

This is my reader profile and explains what I like to do as a reader of mix mag and lover of this genre.

Reader profile analysis

This is a reader profile for the magazine I have been focused on, mixmag.

Conventions analysis #3

Again, different magazine (same magazine company) yet nothing else conventionally different. Aesthetics will change in every magazine but the key elements will stay in place.

Hari

Conventions analysis #2

As you can see, in comparison to the other cover, contents page and double page spread, this varies very little. The same conventions are there yet its a different magazine. Writers purposely include similar conventions and features in all their work.

Hari

Conventions analysis #1

Magazine covers, contents pages and double page spreads all have common conventions. In these diagrams you can see how different aspects are depicted and how actually similar conventions are used in different magazines.

Hari

Magazine name ideas

These are a list of 7 possible names for my magazine, I will go through why I chose each of them now.

808 - The 808 drum is commonly used in the electronic genre, it is something alot of people in this scene are familiar with. This means that it will ring a bell for anyone interested in electronic music.

Osc - Osc is short for oscillator which is something used in music to create a virtual sound. This name therefore is short, snappy and very relevant to the genre.

Base - This is an elaboration on the word 'bass' which is specific to this type of audience. This therefore will make the reader feel more involved in the magazine as they're sort of 'in on the joke'.

EDM - EDM is short for Electronic Dance Music, and dance music is arguably the most notorious sub genre in electronic music. It is also a very commonly used phrase by alot of people.

Wave - This name was inspired by the different waves you get in music, and again this is specific to this type of audience.

Perc - Short for percussion, this is something that a vast amount of people will recognise even outside of the electronic genre so it is a good idea to consider a name like this.

EQ - EQ short for equalisation is an effect used in all modern music and is something that I find rolls off the tongue very nicely and is also memorable which is very important.

Hari

Mood Board (Colour scheme)

These are four possible colour schemes that I could use in my magazine. These seemed to be conventional for this type of magazine, this is partly why I chose them.

Hari

Sub genres

Of course there is the genre, but there are also sub genres too, and some magazines may target a niche audience by dedicating the magazine to a single sub genre.

Hari

Fonts

Here are just a few fonts that I found that caught my eye and I thought related well with my genre. I will use some of these fonts depending on what style my magazine is.

Hari

Common costumes

With this mood board I decided to outline the common costumes associated with the genre and what ones are usually seen in electronic music magazines. As you can see the outfits wore are very casual and don't vary much, mainly t-shirts and shirts, jeans and that's it.

Hari

Artists

I created this mood board in order to create an awareness of certain artists involved with the electronic genre and included in said genres magazines also. There are many more artists but these are just a few.

Hari

Genre research

For my magazine I am focusing on the electronic music genre. This is a genre that is growing rapidly and breaking into mainstream music, this is possibly the most exposed this genre has ever been. It genre ranges from techno all the way to dubstep and has evolved over many years.

A notable example of an early form of electronic music is the 1977 collaboration between producer Giorgio Moroder and vocalist Donna Summer on the song "I Feel Love", a groundbreaking dance hit with no traditional instruments. The first era of electronic music comprises the instruments and music created prior to 1945. The new field of information science inspired composers to explore the use of computers to compose and synthesize music, beginning in the 1950s. The development of computer technology historically paralleled the development of the modern electronic music studio and synthesizer, leading to a cross-fertilization of the two fields that greatly benefited electronic music.

The biggest features in electronic music so far are artists such as Skrillex, Deadmau5, David Guetta and many more breaking into the scene. These artists all feature in the charts at this moment in time.Some more artists can be seen in one of my mood boards found here: http://haridavison.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/artists-mood-board.html

Recently DJ Snake was in the charts with his single ‘Turn down for what’ which is his biggest release as of yet. Calvin Harris is also in the charts as ever with his new track ‘Blame (feat. John Newman)’. Calvin Harris has played a massive part into making people more aware of electronic dance music in particular. ‘Lovers on the sun (feat. Sam Martin) by David Guetta has been in the charts for a solid 7 weeks and is just another one of his tracks he can say has been in the top 40.

Some magazines associated with this genre are ones such as mixmag, electronic and synth.

Here are some examples of music videos in the electronic scene.

I really love the special effects used in this music video, its really iconic of electronic music to carry alot of energy and this video correlates.

This is a video really tells a story, this really appeals to me as its a music video that really strengthens and enforces the intended emotions.

Some common costumes seen in the genre can be seen in my blog post here: http://haridavison.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/with-this-mood-board-i-decided-to.html

Hari

Main Brief

To design a front cover, contents and double page spread of a new music magazine. All images and text used must be original, a minimum of four images must be used.

Hari

Evaluation

What have you learnt from completing this task?

I have learnt about common conventions of a lot of college magazines and what different aspects are needed for an effective magazine cover that engages with the reader. For example, any given magazine should only ever include 3 colours in the colour scheme, and the main image should usually be a medium shot. I have also learnt how to use Photoshop; many of my skills learnt on Photoshop have been used in making my front cover. For example, I’ve learnt how to scale things so that I can get everything the size I want to be. I also learnt how to delete backgrounds of photos and make them look a lot more natural by using a range of tools. These skills have been extremely usually when making my front cover. I have also learnt how the media is what controls our perception of the world and just how powerful it really is. They have way too much control because too many people are too impressionable and don't check facts for themselves. They lead people to a conclusion, and only a critical thinker or person who has directly experienced media bias will question them. Here's an example. Ron Paul raised more money in the 4th quarter of 2007 and had more active supporters than generic bandwagon Republican candidates. Yet, the media didn't even invite Ron Paul to multiple debates. They gave him no coverage deliberately in an effort to suppress his message. They almost never mention him, and when they do, they portray him as an extremist, "fringe" candidate. Nothing could be further from the truth. Does the government control the media?


How have you used technology?

I have used technology in many different ways throughout this task. Technology is becoming a bigger and bigger part of media every day, in fact it dominates the media scene and helps expand it and develop it. “The hardware cost of an iPod is insignificant compared to the cost of the media that it holds”, an 80GB iPod will today cost you £259. The music to fill the same iPod (20,000 songs) will cost, via the iTunes Store, £15,800. This shows truly how much revenue the media can make through us. Also, because things change, you must adapt to those changes and that is what I have done in my media task. I tried to capture the way modern media uses technology and implement it into my work. I have used it to make my magazine in Photoshop and to publish my work also. Photoshop is a very powerful technological tool in media that I took full advantage of. I have also used other programs such as Publisher to create my magazine drafts and PowerPoint to arrange some images and diagrams. My whole project has revolved around technology, similarly so do mainstream media projects.


What conventions have you used and why?

I have used many different conventions of a college magazine in mine. One of them being student/students which are very common in college magazines. This convention is used to demonstrate that it’s a college and usually the student is smiling so it usually suggests it’s a good college also. I tried to involve the student holding some books so that it reflects the hard working students, and the great work ethic they have. Another convention I used was casual clothing, this shows the reader that the school gives the students freedom and lets them express themselves even further. The magazine was created to try and reflect the vibe I was trying to emit to the reader and many things helped assist this such as the colour scheme, mise-en-scene etc… I have also included certain features excluding the main image. I have used a secondary image to support a feature story. This adds more variety and gives the reader more information on the story and provides them with imagery which engages the reader. I have also used a skyline which is used mainly as extra information and a filler for the magazine to improve its aesthetics. I included a masthead stating the magazines name and made it fairly large. The masthead is the magazines brand essentially and once it’s got a reputation, it’s the biggest thing that’s persuades the customer to buy it or not. I used a plug on my cover to add variety to the magazine and some excitement at the chance of winning an iPad, it very eye catching and usually adds to the overall look of the cover. The feature stories were used to give the reader an inside look at what they will be buying, this is vital as it is a massive persuasion for people to purchase the magazine. The barcode was intended to provide the customer with key information such as the price of the magazine which crucial. The main story is probably the main reason the person will be buying the magazine, so its needs to be eye catching, big, and very interesting to the reader. Finally there’s the footer which is a common convention in magazines, also used mainly as a filler.


What would you change if you were asked to do this task again?

If I were to do this task again I would try and take better photos, as I am only at the beginning of the course, I am obviously not the best photographer and as a result I would have preferred to take the pictures at a higher level. I would have also liked to improve upon my blog layout. I feel as though it could have been looking more professional and better laid out then it was. Something else that I would have also liked to do differently is the font used on my front cover, I feel as though more time could have been spent on choosing a more suitable font for my cover and as a result would have improved the look of my magazine massively. At this time no other changes come to mind, I feel as though it was a good attempt so early into the course.

Photoshop progress

My progress with pictures

My college magazine front cover

This is what all my research etc amounted to. I am happy with the result and I hope you all like it too! Keep updated for the step by step breakdown and evaluation.

Hari

Digital DPS

This is a digital draft of the DPS (double page spread) of my future college magazine. I placed labels for the different features and placed them on the page. This will hopefully assist me with my final piece.

Hari

Digital contents page

This is a digital draft of the contents page of my future college magazine. I placed labels for the different features and placed them on the page. This will hopefully assist me with my final piece.

Hari

Digital draft of my front cover

This is a digital draft of the front cover of my future college magazine. I placed labels for the different features and placed them on the cover. This will hopefully assist me with my final piece.

Hari

Mise-en-scene and location ideas

- Books
- Bags
- Students
- School
- Good lighting
- Medium/close up shot

- Library
- On the balcony
- Outside college
- With another student or teacher

Possible feature stories

- Record breaking results for Wyke students this summer
- New building implemented into Wyke college
- New headmaster for Wyke college

Colour scheme ideas

- Red & black
- Purple & white
- Black, white & yellow
- Dark blue, light blue & black

Magazine name ideas

- Wyke Essentials
- Wyke daily
- Wyke weekly
- Wyke news

Experimenting with different camera angles (Models are Jake Alexander Wardle & Robyn Margarete Desiree Drew-Powell)

I took 10 separate photos all featuring different angles and approaches, this will help me with the main image when it comes to my final piece.

Hari

Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of meaning-making, the philosophical theory of signs and symbols. This includes the study of signs and sign processes, indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication.

My first photoshop draft...

This was my first encounter with Photoshop, I had picked up some tips and tricks from my teacher and decided to test them out. This is all in aid of my final piece when I will be using Photoshop to edit it.

Hari

Mood Board

This moodboard shows the typical conventions associated with students. I decided to create this as it helps give me perspective as to what should be included in my college magazine.

Hari

College magazine cover conventions

To help me gain an understanding of college magazine conventions, I decided to annotate a few. The results were both successful and helpful.

Preliminary task

To produce a front cover for a new school/college magazine and a mock up of the lay out for the contents page and double page spread.