Target Audience Research

The two magazines that I have analyzed were good in terms of a college magazine. However, to make a good quality magazine I have created surveys in order to find out the target audiences preferences, likes and dislikes, what stories interest them, the target audience that it is going to have to appeal to the social classification C1 – E.

Survey monkey results

The results from my survey monkey found that the majority age group that answered my questionnaire was in the 14 – 17 age band, which would be in the years 9 – 12. So this is going to be my main target audience and so to appeal to this audience I would have to make the text and images relevant to this.

The majority of people that answered my questionnaire were males. This however does not mean my magazine should be gender biased.

I also asked which of the magazine covers shown did they like the most out of Time, NME, Heat or Empire. The people that answered my questionnaire had the majority vote for NME so my magazine should be styled like the NME magazines in terms of text and imagery.

Furthermore, I asked the audience what kind of stories they liked the most out of a list of Drama, Art, Science, Music, History, Media, geography, Sport or Psychology. The majority of answers said that stories on music were the most desired.

I also asked the audience if they thought the mastheads appealed to them, which I have created in Photoshop. The majority said that they were appealing.

From my results of the survey monkey, I can deduce that the target audience for my college magazine I going to be 14 – 17 year olds, which are male but not make the magazine too gender biased as not too discourage female readers. The demographic area is going to be Bodmin. These people would prefer to read stories about music and have a rock style to the magazine. Because of the age group and demographic of the audience I would place them in the C1 – E social classification. (C1 - Lower middle class and E - urban ventures)

Common Conventions of a Magazine

Edinburgh Napier University Magazine Analysis - Contents page

Target audience

The target audience hasn’t really changed focus except for maybe appealing to the university staff rather than the graduates because of the quantity of information.

Masthead

The masthead is clear, easy to read and identify it would probably not affect the appeal of the magazine as it would be what you would expect of a contents page.

Layout

The layout of the page is good because it has the editors message on the left of the page and a main image to go along with that article and on the right is the table of contents for the magazine with publisher information at the bottom, this would appeal to the target audience because it looks tidy and not all over the place, the information is easily identifiable. The double page spread for the contents page is not a common convention of a magazine and is an unusual spread to have, however the layout on the second page is clear and well presented making the page not burst with information and pictures.

Colour

They have kept the same colour scheme as the cover giving it a good sense of continuity, the sections are coloured differently so you can distinguish between them and also the contents have coloured numbers for the pages which may make the information easier to find, this would appeal to the target audience because it allows them to find the information they want quicker and easier.

Imagery

There isn’t a substantial amount of imagery on the page but the only picture is of the director of international development, this may appeal to the university staff because it is linked to a story with relevant information for them. The picture is well taken, looks good and is not blurry which would maybe appeal to photographers in the university. The page could use about two or three images.

Typography

The text is small and contains lots of information and is in a clear readable font which isn’t over the top and looks professional which would appeal to university students and the university staff because of how it is presented and the information that it has.

In conclusion, I think that the Edinburgh Napier university magazine is much better than the Bodmin College offering; this is because the Edinburgh magazine has clear imagery, a good looking and recognizable masthead and stories relevant to the target audience, when this is compared to the college magazine it looks more professional and has more relevance to their target audience and is not gender biased. In terms of colour scheme and imagery.

Edinburgh Napier University Magazine analysis - Front Cover

Target Audience

The target audience for the magazine is going to be university graduates from the ages of 22+ and also has a secondary audience of staff at the university, I think that the magazine would appeal to the target audience because it looks professional and it includes stories that would interest university students. The university students will be in the class category A – C1.

Masthead

The masthead is big, bright and eye catching, everything that a masthead should be, it’s concise but it doesn’t have a tag line, it has the Edinburgh university logo on the top and also has the date on the magazine but does not have an issue number

Layout

The layout is good because it contains one central image with big writing on the left hand side with the main story, which is eye catching and it looks neat and not messy and it also has one other story listed which is interesting as it says special which could intrigue readers and also has two sub-stories below

Colour

The colour scheme works well because it has stuck with a 3 colour rule which is no more than three colours, which makes the magazine look better than using a rainbow of colours and blinding the reader which would make the magazine appealing to the target audience

Imagery

The only imagery on the page is the one big, central image which makes the magazine look good because the image is clear and well taken and has a degree of professionalism which would appeal to the target audience because it looks good and professional which is what university students will like, and the image itself is also relevant because it’s a picture of a cyclist in Edinburgh, which would appeal to cyclists and the picture may appeal to photographers at the university

Typography

The text is clear and concise, easy to read and not blurred and the text is not slang or gossipy in style but its informative which is more likely to appeal to the target audience compared to magazines like Heat or Hello and the text is also well worded and so it reads more sophisticated than magazines like NME or Kerrang.

Bodmin College Magazine Analysis

Target Audience

The target audience for the Bodmin college magazine is mainly for students, which are in the age range of 11-19, but it also for teachers, parents and Guvenors, which are in the B1 classification.

Masthead

In terms of denotation, the masthead is a shockingly bad example of a magazine heading, the text is hard to read and unclear, the typography is very sophisticated so it doesn’t really appeal to the youth that it is trying to appeal to. The masthead also doesn’t have a strapline to catch the eye of readers and the masthead itself is unoriginal and is not appealing to students. The design at the top of the magazine also has no relevant connection to the students because it is a picture of corn, which doesn’t really connote that the magazine is for youth and so is not attractive to the target audience.

Layout

The layout is bland and features three main pictures that are poorly taken. The pictures show that the magazine is mainly for female dance students and that is the only connection between them. The main attraction of the magazine should be one central image, which is relevant to students, and have some smaller images around the bottom featuring some smaller stories or teasers for what is in the magazine, but it lacks this and so is not attractive to the target audience.

Colour

There is no colour coordination on the page; it features over 15 different colours which is overwhelming to any reader and this is certainly not going to get students to read it, more likely repel readers, and the overall design of the magazine does not attract attention to one main image but instead makes the reader not know where to look, and the colour scale is not going to attract the primary target audience and certainly not the secondary target audience, it’s like someone had a paint pallet full of bright colours and just threw it at the page.

Imagery

The main pictures on the front cover are all of the female dance groups, (Mulvey 1975) this may have been an attempt by the producer to attract male and female audiences, females because they might like dance and males because they want to look at girls, mainly in an erotic way, this though, does not appeal to the sixth form because the pictures are of ‘little kids’ which is not going to attract any attention from the secondary target audience and will probably repel the main target audience as well. The images are mainly blurred in appearance and poorly merged.

Typography/Text

The first thing the text denotes is that there is no issue number; no teaser or straplines and the text itself is hard to read and blurred by the background colour, the text itself is in comic sans which should never be on a magazine even if it is a college magazine. The text doesn’t appear to appeal to any target audiences and instead alienates anyone who doesn’t like dance.

In terms of the common conventions of a magazine, it doesn’t apply to either target audience and the overall theme of the magazine is misdirected with to many colours, bad presentation in terms of layout, poor pictures, blurred text and a bland masthead, this is not the way to attract their target audience.

Analysing Existing Magazine Covers

To ensure that I know the common conventions of school magazines I am going to analyse the Bodmin College Magazine and also the Edinburgh university magazine front covers and content pages to make sure that the magazine I produce represents the target audience as many media theorists have argued:

“A process needed for problem solving…not a special gift enjoyed by a few but a common ability possessed by most people”  (Jones, 1993).

“The making of the new and the rearranging of the old” (Bentley, 1997)

“Creativity results from the interaction of a system composed of three elements: a culture that contains symbolic rules, a person who brings novelty into the symbolic domain, and a field of experts who recognise and validate the innovation” (Csikszentmihalyi, 1996).

Prelim task

In order to progress my skills in pre-production, critical reflection, photography and photoshop before I embark on my main task I have to first complete the preliminary task which is outlined in the student brief:

My AS Coursework

I have chosen to follow the print brief for my foundation portfolio as I have an interest in music and the music industry, and I feel that through developing my print skills, it will provide me with a good starting point of knowledge concerning media production. The brief I will be working on is as follows: