Proposal and Initial treatment

After much research on music magazines, I have found that numerous ways of designing a magazine can affect the appeal and the target audience. This has given me many ideas to achieve the best magazine that I can design for my target audience. I know that I can use technical codes such as, colour, font, size, mast headings and others to make my magazine fit into the correct conventions of its genre.
The intended audience for my magazine will people people around the age of 16-24 as this is the age group I can relate to and I find that people of this age group tend to be the main target audience for music magazines and are a large percentage of the population that purchase these magazines. The purpose of my product will be to appeal to the target audience with technical codes and make them interested in my magazine by making it unique to its genre. I intend to use many key selling points to make my magazine unique and help it stand out if it was a magazine on the shelves in a shop. I will use unique selling points (USP) such as:-

• Short sentences
• Interesting information
• Large font
• Colours that appeal to the audience
• Lexis that grabs the comsumers attention e.g. free, exclusive
• Interviews with artists/bands

My approach to this magazine will give an edge on any other music magazines out at the moment as I will use my USP's to appeal to the target audience to encourage them it is the best magazine to purchase and has many good features about it. Also I think the use of exclusive images will give my magazine that edge on the others in the market.

Primary Audience Research

To make sure I was on the right lines of who my target audience is and how I can appeal best to the consumer I decided to do some research by making a questionnaire to justify my initial thoughts of these topic and to see if there was anything new I didnt know about to add into my magazine and improve on.

This is the copy of my questionnaire that I handed out to ten people of my target audience.

My focus group contained 5 friends (4 males and 1 female) from between 16-17 years of age. I discovered that the majority of my focus group preferred to have large images and big font on their front covers which helps to attract them to seeing the magazine. Also they suggested that too much text would be off putting to the purchase of the magazine and the use of lexis of their age would help appeal to them as it would be more specific to them and they would feel comfortable reading the magazine knowing and understanding the language used. However the one female in my group thought there should be more in the magazine to relate to females as she thinks the main music magazines out at the moment are slightly bias to males and contain more reading and representations that males would enjoy and be interested in. She also suggested that there should be more coverage and information on female group rather than male group who dominate the music magazines. The males in the group suggested that there should be other references on the front cover to appeal more to the target audience. Other references such as;- console gaming, fashionable clothing and more interest in smaller gigs that less known bands are attending. My focus group were all conclusive at the decision of using the correct colours to represent my representations that I want to apply to the target audience to help make my magazine more appealing to the consumer. For example I would use red if I wanted to represent passion and danger or white if I wanted to represent cleanliness and innocents.

Music Magazine Analysis

This is a double page spread for NME magazine.
The text on this double page spread is quite different to other music magazines as it uses the font and size to stand out and catch the readers eye. Also the artists name, Lily Allen, is in a red coloured text which singles out her name and represents that she could be a risk taker and live life dangerously. Another feature of the text is how the main quote across the first page of the double page spread is very eye catching with letters varying from size to give the representation fun and a very up and down lifestyle. This magazine would fit into the music genre. The purpose of the text is to inform the reader with information on the artist that is shown on the double page spread. Also it aims to attract the reader into reading the information with the big stand-out quote which acts as the main heading on the page. This type of heading makes the reader want to read about it as it gives a small bit of information that will entice the reader and make them want to read he full story. The unique identity of this text is how there is a picture of the featured artist on one side of the page and a large heading and text on the other side which makes the page identifiable to a double page spread. Also the unique selling point of this text is the exclusive quote that the artist (Lily Allen) has given which makes this text very unique as it is the only magazine that has this quote and further information on it. Based on textual analysis I think my target audience is people between the age of 18-28 as the clothing that are being used on the artist are around this age group and the quote that is in large font across the page can relate to people of the audience as some people also have this type of attitude due to there age and environment. I think it could be targeting females more than males as females are stereo-typed to be attention seekers as this is what the quote could be representing for its target audience. The text trys to appeal to the target audience with lexis if its target audience age and by making the text relate to the consumer with headings like it does. Also its helps to appeal to them with the artist dressed in clothing of the target audiences style. The main colours on the page are white and black which represents may things. For example white represents cleanliness and purity and black represents mystery and sexiness which I think is the reason why these colours have been used. Also I think the face and hair of the featured artist in the image have been adapted to help strengthen the colour to make the text and her face/hair relate to each other. The way in which Lily Allen is photographed with her hand on her hips and leaning forward displays that she's got attitude and is sometime quite upfront and in your face. This can also relate back to the quote that is used as the heading. I think the layout of the double page spread is set out so it is easy on the readers eye and simple for follow. I think the text does follow the conventions of its genre as it has an image of a singer and the text contains subject specific lexis such as;- pop star and band. In my opinion I think this text will help to inspire me in my own magazine as it has helped me to recognise that you can be creative with your headings which helps to make your magazine more unique and increases the appeal on the target audience.

This is the contents page of Q music magazine.
The form of the text on this contents page is quite typical of a contents page with text down the left and on the bottom of the page with a image in central view for the reader. Also most of the text is in a big font with the mast headings being slightly larger than the text on the rest of the page. Although most of the text is quite large there is smaller text which is there to give extra detail on the larger text on the contents page. This is done to give the reader further information on what the headings mean on each of the features, oasis special etc. This magazine would fit into the music genre. The purpose of the text is to inform the reader on what is in the magazine and on what page. Also it gives added information on what is on some of the pages that the target audience might find more interesting. The text on the contents page aims to be quite plain and straight forward which will make the reading simplier and easier to follow. The unique identity of this text is the page number and contents of what that page has on it, this is very unique to contents pages as its aim to to help the reader find pages with materials that they are most interested in reading first. Bases on the textual analysis, I think the target audience for this magazine would be people around the age of 16-28, this is because its advertises its myspace website on the page which is a site based around this age group. Also in the text it contains phrases and lexis of this age, for example: bottoms up! any old tat. This helps to appeal to the target audience as they feel they understand the text more and makes then feel the magazine is for them and no other audience. Also because of these factors I would say the target audience was more male than female. I think the image of the four lads helps to appeal to the target audience as this is how people of the target audience as dressing and their hair stylkes are very typical of their target audience which helps to relate to them. By using the colour red for the name of the magazine it represents danager and risk which also helps to appeal to the target audience as they are seen to be quite risky and dangerous. The image of the band displays a very strong representation as the location of their photo shoot shows that they are free people and are individuals in the world, however when they are tgether as a band they are a team and work together to make their success even stronger. Also the image displays that the man with the sunshades on is the main man in the band as he is the only one that is looking directly into the camera and is wearing the most stand out T-Shirt and sun-glasses. The font used on the page is very simple to keep the page easy on the eye and nothing too complicated for the reader. The text to omage ratio favours the text more as contents page aren't known for lots of images but just to inform the reader on what is on what pages. I think the text follows the conventions of its genre as it contains an image of a music band and also has lexis of it genre. Lexis such as rock 'n' roll, guitar and drummer. I think this contents page will inspire me to keep my contents page simple yet effective.

This is the front cover of the NME magazine.

There isn't a lot of text on this front cover however what text there is on the page purposely aims to appeal to its target audience. The text on the page is mostly quite big with the name of the magazine at the top in large font, the name of the band on the front cover in a little small font and the word "Christmas" in the largest font. This is because the 3 words are the key words which the magazine first wants the target audience to see as they display the title of the magazine, the featured band and the festive season that is being promoted. Also as this is a front cover the text doesn't have a specific format to follow but the use of key words help to attract people into seeing the magazine. This magazine would fit into the music genre and it aims to appeal to it target audience so they purchase the magazine every week. Also its purpose is to advertise the contents of what is inside the magazine so people want to find out the interesting interviews, information on bands and other topics that the target audience like to read about. The unique selling point of the magazine is how the magazine has made an effort to make the front cover with a christmasy effect and also the free giant tour poster that the purchaser receives when they buy the magazine. I think the target audience for this magazine would be around the age of 16-28 as some of the style of font is of a younger age and I think they try to target male more than females as the band have masculine props in their hands on the front cover. The text appeals to the target audience with lexis of the music genre, such as tour and many bands/artists that are names on the cover, also with free gifts that they have to offer with the magazine. They use green Christmasy outfits on the band members of artic monkey to apply the Christmas theme across to the audience and the white background to add the Christmas effect as white represents the snowy feel. Also the shot is a low angled shot which looks up to the band which implies that the band is powerful and the target audience see them as role models. I think the text slightly subverts the perception of its genre as nothing on the page fully represents music as the band and not wearing their usual clothing and are dressed up in the Christmas theme. The page inspires me to use the correct camera shots to represent my objectives on my magazine front cover.

Secondary Research into Target Audience

For my magazine I would like my taget audince to be between the age of 16-24. This is because I can easily relate to this age group with being 17, also I feel that this age group is one of the biggest buyers audience for magazines in the UK. The type of 16-24 years old I will target is the indie kids as this is the genre of person that is most likely to attend music festivals, music gigs and be most involved in participating in music themselves. Indie kids are also the target audience for other magazines such as; NME, Kerrang and Vibe. These magazines are big sellers as the 16-24 years old indie kid is a huge market and it is still growing with the music scene increasing in popularity. Men mainly dominate the purchasing and consuming of these magazines with 62% of men to a fewer 38% of females in the Vibe magazine and 69% males to 31% females in NME magazine. This shows me that I could lean more towards a male magazine but still include the female aspect of the it. I would also look to target the full-time workers and students as they both make up 81% of NME's customers which shows me that I would need to target these people as NME is a successful magazine. As a result of my target audience being of the age of 16-24 I will main use clothing brands such as topman, premark, fred perry, river island etc. I shall use lexis based on the target audience and use props related to the age of my taget audience. This is all because these are the typical items a person of my target audience would use or own in every day events.

DPS Analysis

This is a double page spread from a style fashion magazine.

The majority of the text is small accept for the two headings on the page. The heading at the top states the title of the page and the heading on the left page displays what that section of reading is about. This helps to keep the page structured and simple for the reader to follow. The genre of the magazine is style/fashion. The purpose of this double page spread is to advertise and inform the reader on information on style and fashion. Also its aim is to give the reader some tips on fashion to improve there style for different situation such as: working, casual, smart etc. The unique selling point of this page is the many colours that are being displayed and the tips for the target audience to use. Also the unique identity of a double page spread is how the two pages combine together so they don't look like two separate pages. I think the target audience for this magazine based on textual analysis would be women around the age of 25-40. This is because the props and clothing displayed on the page are feminine and women's items, also the colours used represent a women magazine. The text appeals to the target audience as the images used are all feminine and are of women's accessories. Furthermore, the lexis used appeals to the target audience with words such as style loop and beautiful. The lay out of the page could also represent the type of female its marketing to as the page is very organised and faultless. This could be the type of reader the magazine is looking to target. There is slightly more text than images in this double page spread but the images used signify the target audience and what the magazine is about. Also the text is set out in an organised way so it is easy to follow and keep the reader from feeling the text is too long. As well as this the use of the colour white for most of the page signifies the purity of the magazine and also represents the type of reader the magazine is marketing to. I think the text does follow the genres conventions as it contains images of it genre and gives hits on style and fashion of which the magaznie is about. The magazine has inspired my to use the correct colours for my magazine in order to reach my target audience and make it feel more appealing to them.

DPS Music Magazine Analysis

This is a double page spread from the magazine Kerrang.
The text on this page is very minimal and is dominated by large images and further smaller ones.The form of the text of set out in two rows which is a typical form of text in magazine and newspapers. This makes the text simple to read and makes it look like there is less text so the reader does get bored. There is a quote from the band, my chemical romance, which is in a large font at the top of the page. This is there as the quote is interesting and makes the reader want to read the article on the band. Also the words "the best mcr" are in a different colour and size to the rest of the text as the reader will first see this and will be interested in the article. Kerrang magazine would fit into the music genre with other magazine such as; NME, MOJO and Vibe. The purpose of the text is to inform the reader on what the band are getting up to and writing on other subjects the target audience will be interested in. Also it keeps the target audience interested so they want to keep buying the next Kerrang magazine. The unique selling point of this page is information it has on chosen bands and the off stage images it has to shows the reader while reading the magazine. Also phrases such as "world exclusive" is a unique selling point as it gives the reader the feeling of been lucky enough to reader this article on the band and that only the readers of Kerrang with know what was written. I would say the target audience for this magazine would be 16-28 years old as the images reflect this age group and on most research this is the age group that attend and read these type of magazines. I would also say that the target audience would consist of more male readers than female as all images contain males and some of the lexis used by bands are more male orientated. This text appeas to the target audience with exclusive interviews and information on big bands which the target audience is most interested in and like to know about. Also the images provide an appeal to the target audience as on this occasion they display life off the stage as there are pictures of the band in the recording studio which illustrates that its not all fun and these people do have to work hard in order to succseed. The use of the colour black displays the mystery for bands in the music industry and gives the feeling of the unknown. Also the red used represents the masculine side of the magazine and can indicate fear and danger into the page. The ratio of images to text much favours the images are the images can sometimes put the picture across better than text and images will always be favoured than text. I think the text does follow the conventions of its genre as it contains music lexis, music images and looks like a magazine of it genre. The text inspires me to possibly use more images than I origionally thought and to make my masthead interesting to the target audience.

Contents Analysis

This is a contents page from a yoga and health magazine.

This text is formatted in a much more complicated way the the previous two I have analysed. The page has a lot more on it and consists of more images and more text than a typical contents page. The main heading is much bigger than the rest of the text as it is there to to display the type of magazine and the title of it. Also the text is in a printed and easy on the eye font to show the relaxing feel of the magazine and yoga itself. The genre of the magazine is health and contains information on life-style, fitness and diet. The aim of the text is to is to inform the reader on what the magazine contains and what page to find it on. The purpose of this is to make it easier for the reader to find what they are looking for or just to select pages on what they are most interested in. The unique identity of this text is the information and page, which every reader can identify as a contents page. I think the target audience for this magazine would be 25-40 as it is a very spiritual magazine and most people of this age like to keep fit and athletic. I can tell the magazine is a spiritual magazine as it contains lexis such as; a spiritual almanac, wisdom and peace pagoda. This type of lexis sooths the reader and makes them feel comfortable and relaxed. I also think the target audience would favour the female as the images mainly contain women and the interviews that are advertised on the contents page are all interviews with women. The text appeals to the target audience as it use lexis on the health topic and has interviews to give the reader tips and information on the subject. I think this appeals to the target audience as they are interested in learning more about health and yoga to improve their own health at home. The two colours used on the contents page are blue and white. White represent purity, cleanliness, innocence and blue represents carming. These two colours are representing the feeling that yoga and a healthy life-style gives you. Also they are both easy on the eye and create a relaxing feeling to the magazine. The images are in correct proportion to the amount of text on the page as the text is most important but the images help to display the information on the page. I think the text follows the conventions of its genre with lexis such as; massage, peace, thoughts and wisdom. All these words represent the genre it follows and helps to appeal to the target audience. Also the images display the genre with peaceful, fitness images being used. The text inspires me tonot use too many colours as it could make my magazine too strong on the readers eye and not appeal to them as much.

Contents Analysis

This is a contents page from a gardening magazine.

I think the format that this text is set out in, is very typical of a contents page. It is set out in a simple and organised format which makes the reading of this page much easier and straight forward to follow. It has the obvious sub-headings which are in a larger size that the normal text to show the reader what is in that section. Also each sub-heading has there own side on the page which again makes the contents page much easier to follow and find the page of the magazine that the reader would like to turn to. The genre of this magazine is gardening and the purpose of the text is to inform the reader of what is on what page in the magazine. The unique identity of this text is the typical contents layout and very few images which hint what is inside or what the magazine is about. I think the target audience for this magazine would be of the age of 35-65 as some of the features that are contained inside the magazine consist of; art lessons, organising flowers and garden designs which leads me towards this target audience because this age group is the most likely to participate in these activities and events. The text appeals to the target audience as it provides many tips to gardening and flowers. Also it offers information on different flowers such as; poppies, flame violet etc which some readers will favour as they are popular flowers and any information on them will appeal to the reader. The colours used on the contents page have a very soft and subtle feeling which can represent gardening as many gardeners feel this way when gardening. The colours also put the reader at ease and they are also very carming. The images used also keep the page very simple and advertise the conventions of the genre. The lexis used also conveys the genre as they use many names of flowers and use words such as; bucay and bloom. The text inspires me to keep my contents page simple yet effective for the consumer to enjoy. Also it makes me want to get the right colours for my magazine correct to put across the correct representations.

Contents Analysis

This is the contents page of mountain sports magazine.

The text on this contents page is set out very basic and makes the page easy to follow and easy to read. The colour of the text help with this easy reading as it stands out on the black on blue background.The designers of this contents page have only used 3 different colours which keeps the page simple and easy on the readers eye. The headings on the contents page are much larger than the text as they draw the reader to seeing the heading and from there the reader can choose what section they want to read about. This magazine would fit into the sports genre as it about mountain climbing. The aim of the text is to inform the reader on the different sections in the magazine and to guide them to the correct page that they are interested in. Also it helps to make the magazine much easier to follow with the sub headings and pages to coordinated the reader to the page. The unique p identify of the text is that it is a typical contents page that is set out how the ordinary contents page should be set out. From the contents page and the text on it I would say that the target audience would be around the age of 16-28. This is because that image displayed looks dangerous which would lead me to a starting age of 16 and because of the sport being a young athletic sport I would say that people would stop at around the age of 28. Also I think that the target audience would be mainly male as it is a male dominated sport and a male is representing the sport on the background of the page. The text appeals to the target audience as the image represents the fun and enjoyment that mountain climbing gives and the blue background illustrates how relaxing and exiting mountain climbing an be. Also it appeals to the target audience with competitions to win great prices and go to places the ordinary mountain climber wouldn't be able to go to. The font on the headings have a slight scratched look which can represent the danger of the sport and how injuries play a big part in the sport. The thin rope attached to the climber from the rock also represents the dangers.The colours on the contents page represent a masculine page which also helps to appeal to the target audience. I think the text does follow the conventions of its genre as the image is of a mountain climber and the text use lexis from the genre. For example; red rock, endless landscapes and red bull X-Alps. The text inspires me as I think it uses the two main colours well which are subject to its genre whic makes me want to get the correct colours for my magazine.

Front Cover Analysis

This is the front cover of Max power magazine.

There are a variety of different sized texts for different reasons. The headings are there to attract the audience into the big issues of the contents of the magazine so it makes the target audience want to purchase it. Also the colour of the writing portrays different meaning, for example "max dwarfs go karting crazy!" this text is in red and it represents the danger of how the karting could result. This is a magazine under the genre of motor vehicles and this is made obvious to me as the whole of the front cover involves cars and the improvements to them. The purpose of the text is to make the target audience read the front cover and then buy the magazine to read the full content of it. The main unique selling points of this magazine are the interesting activities they do in it and the competitions that Max have to offer. For example the max dwarfs going karting, they don't just use the average karter but use a dwarf to give it an extra appeal to the comedy side of the event. Also the magazine contains many of the newest cars and some of the best affordable sports cars which appeals to the target audience as they are mostly young men who have their first of second car. In addition the target audience are young adults that like sports cars and racing cars, so "Japan's fastest cars" will inspire the target audience to own a car of such class. I know this age group is the target audience because the articles advertised in side the magazine are mostly fast, stylish and new sports cars which is the type of car the target audience are interested in. The text appeals to the target audience with lexis such as; hottest cars, fastest cars and comical phrase like - handles brilliant! goes like a rocket! loves it sideways! ..... and the cars not bad either which illustrates the type of speech people of the target audience like and use themselves. The use of the model in her underwear also appeals to the target audience as they are of the age group which likes to see cars and women together and also makes the car look more appealing. The masthead is in two different colours and two different sizes, this shows that the word "max" is more dominant than "power" and as "max" is in red this displays the danger that the word has. I think this magazine front cover does have the right conventions of its genre as it displays many cars on the cover and it also has the comical side for it target audience to appreciate. The text inspires me to make my magazine look interesting and advertise as much on the front cover the display the information that is in the rest of the magazine.

Front Cover Analysis

This is the front cover of the Hello magazine.

The form of the text is varied depending on the headings and the smaller print. This is because the magazine wants the headings bigger then the print as it grabs the readers eye and it is usually a very brief sentence on the story it has to tell. The text on this particular front cover has the obvious main heading that displays the type of magazine followed by the rest of the text that reveals wants inside to read about. The genre that this magazine fits into would be the celebrity chat genre which talks about the lives of celebrities and the ups and downs they have. The purpose of the text is to draw in readers so they want to purchase the magazine and hopefully buy it weekly. The big selling point for this magazine is the exclusive interviews and photos that Hello have to offer in the contents of the magazine. The target audience for the magazine is middle-aged females who have a reasonable amount of income. I know this as the magazines colours suggests femininity and the celebrities they write about are of the target audiences age. The text appeals to the target audience as it contains events that happen in the lives of its target audience. For example weddings, children and break ups. This means that the reader can relate to the celebrities and understand the magazine easily. Also the gossip in the magazines makes the reader feel like they are a part of the celebrity news as they can hear the different stories of celeb's lives. The photos on the front cover all display happiness and joy which suggests that the magazine want to portray a good feel about the issues so the reader feels the same way and wants to buy the magazine. Also the images on the front cover show relaxed celeb's to comfort the target audience. Furthermore the white material represents purity and cleanliness for readers to acknowledge her current situation. The text represents the genre as it uses many celeb names and lexis such as; weddings mother and wife which displays the celeb life. The text inspires me as it uses the correct lexis to appeal to its targwet audience and use the correct colours to represent the image.

Front Cover Analysis

This is the front cover of the NME music magazine.

The text for this magazine is big for its heading and sections where it advertises the contents of the magazine. Also there are many different text sizes to draw the reader into the heading so they look and want to read the article. In addition to this, there are bigger headings for artists and bands, so if a reader sees there favourite bands name on the front cover of the magazine then they will be intrigued in whats in the interview. The magazine is NME and it is appealing to the music audience. The aim of the text is to draw in the customer so they are intrigued in the front cover and want to read the full magazine. The unique interviews and information on the artists and bands are a big selling point for the magazine. This magazine is targeted for teenagers, this is because the three lads on the front are displaying teen fun and enjoyment. It trys to appeal to the target audience by advertising for concerts that its target audience mainly attend and given information on new bands their target audience might approve of. The clothes they are all wearing are representing the new, fashionable, young look. Also the lad in the middle is holding his hair up which represents the fun he has and the freedom music gives him. Furthermore the lad on the right is jumping in the air to also represent fun and his enjoyment for life. I think the magazine follows the conventions of the genres texts as it advertises bands and speaks about the life of musicians when they tour. Also they use lexis that is specific to music, words such as; institution, indie and glasto. The way in which the three lads on the cover are represented makes me inspired to make sure I get my actors in the correct possitions and have the correct clothing and props to make sure I my image is displaying the right conventions.

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