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- 2. What have you learnt from your front cover analysis, How will you use this for your own front cover? My front cover analysis has taught me what my audience look for in a magazine. It is conventional to have a big central image, Coverlines and a masthead that stands out, therefore these are essential to add to my magazine. It is common to have the artists looking into the camera to create an impression of direct eye contact with the audience, forming a connection between the audience and the magazine so I will apply this to my cetral image. Bright colours like yellow are used to capture the audience’s eye. I’m going to use this in my ‘Flash’ and ‘Buzz words’. A lot of colours used come from the masthead to show that the contents come from the magazine company. The layouts are all pretty similar, with the Masthead at the top, the central image covering the entirety of the page, etc. I will stick to these conventions to give it an authentic style, making it look more like a real Music magazine. I have gained many ideas which I can use for my own magazine and make it look as good as I can make it. I will use the element I discovered on this task and interpret them into my own magazine, hoping it will impact on the effectiveness of the magazine.
- 3. What have you learnt from your contents page analysis, How will you use this for your own contents page? From my front cover analysis, I have learnt that it is conventional to have images, page references and graphic features to make the it look realistic. I have also learnt that having a decent amount of detail on the features is also necessary as it gives an insight to the articles, possibly tempting the reader to look at it. I plan to put the conventional elements above into my own magazine, as I believe it will make my own music magazine look a bit more authentic. As my magazine is aimed at a unisexual demographic, I would like to avoid making it at all biased to one gender, therefore my colours and layout will aim to be considered suitable for both male and female. I feel that I should leave my background for this plain, as I this is how the majority of the magazine contents pages I have analysed have been left, thus influencing me to follow the top-selling trend. I aim to separate each feature with a line to create a distinction and keep a thematic colour throughout the magazine. For the white gaps left, I will come up with a unique idea to fill it (with some form of decorative graphic, keeping to the style of the magazine)
- 4. What have you learnt from your Double page spread analysis, How will you use this for your own double page spread? In my analysis of the DPS, I have found that conventions such as cap locks, large central images, distinctive body copy, a bold artist name, an occasional callout and the odd graphic feature are usually within the contents of the article. I will use all of the above elements to make my magazine realistic. The images usually have some form of prop or indication of their genre, but I am going to deviate from this convention, as I wish to make my DPS unique. I am simply going to have two artists on their own sat in a calm and beautiful environment to be different. I noticed the use of photography effects on the images, therefore I am going to make my image black and white because this will be familiar to my chosen audience, as they are teenagers that commonly use the effect for their own images, creating a relation between the audience and magazine. The artists name is usually eye-catching and matches their images, therefore I will do the same with my magazine. This task helped me to understand what I am looking to include in my DPS.
- 5. What have you learnt from the questionnaire and focus group? How will this feedback affect your product? The questionnaire results established that I should aim for 16-18 year olds (male and female) into alternative music. The theme colour should be red and should be liked by both genders, so that the magazine isn’t at all biased towards a certain gender. Black and white will also be included, as they are also mutual colours with no biased or connotative meaning in this situation. I can imagine that males are more likely to buy the magazine, as females would be preoccupied with other magazines, but it will stibb be aimed at both (60% male, 40% female). The name should be ‘IA’ (‘Inside Alternative’) literally meaning what it says it is. It should be detailed but informal with images appealing to the audience, as my focused demographic prefer images to text. The text being informal will create another connection with the audience, as they it will feel like the magazine is talking to them rather than at them. The text will be white with a black outline, again sticking to that colour scheme of Black and white. It also makes it clearer and distinctive, making it easier to read. I aim to make it a weekly frequency and a £2.50 charge for it, as that would be considered a relatively below average amount to pay for a magazine, giving ‘Inside Alternative’ magazine the edge.