Feedback

To allow me to get feedback on my magazine, I made a questionnaire, and have put the results into pie and bar charts. I distributed the questionnaire to ten people in my media class, who fitted with my target audience.

Here is a copy of my questionnaire:

1. Do you like my finished magazine?
Yes No


2. If so, what do you like about it?
a) The images
b) The professional finish
c) The content
d) The cover
e) The colours
f) Other

3. Do you think the design of the magazine fits with the target audience (generally males aged 14 to 30)?
Yes No


4. What would you change about it?



5. Do you think that overall I have succeeded in creating a magazine that could sell and looks professional?

Here are the overall results. A large percentage of the people who answered liked my finished magazine-9 out of 10. Most people liked either the professional finish, the images or another aspect of my magazine. The aspects that people thought I could have changed were the number of fonts I used, which were very limited, the colour scheme, which some found was too red, having more information in the "retro" section and the images (they felt it should have had more images of males). I think that if I were to re-do my magazine I would definately incorporate some of these ideas, for example having a better variety of images would have made the magazine look more effective, and also having a bigger number of fonts to provide more variety. 80% of people thought that the design of my magazine fitted with my target audience, which was a successful result. 9 out of 10 people thought that I had created a magazine that could sell and looks professional, and commented that it looked "well put together" and "original". Overall, I am impressed with the feedback that I got, and although I would have changed some aspects of it if I were to do it again, it was completed to the standard that I was hoping for.

Evaluation of the finished magazine

http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B1V9LDUYjiYPM2IwNGI2NWEtNTY4OS00OTllLWI2NDgtYjY4Y2NiNGZjNTNk&hl=en_GB

My finished magazine both uses and challenges conventions of real media products. The ways in which it uses these conventions are these. The font I have used for the title of my magazine "IVM", is in a similar style to the font used in NME magazine, which is a bold red font in capitals, which is using magazine conventions. The bold, red font would appeal to the readers as they will want the title to be clear and easy to read, and also a very bold kind of font can represent a particular brand for a magazine. I think that this is why NME have used their font, and I felt that having a bold logo for my magazine would help to create more of a brand. The fact that my contents page has been split into different sections is very typical of most magazines, particularly music, as it allows the reader to find specific pages more easily. Examples of music magazines that I have analysed that use this are Kerrang and NME, e.g. Kerrang magazine divided theirs into feedback, news, live reviews, features, album reviews, gigs etc. I have included a banner in my magazine, on both my contents page and my double page spread, and this uses conventions as generally most magazines contain a banner so the website of the magazine can be advertised, and I found that most music magazines, e.g. NME contained a banner. The position that I have put my masthead in (the top right hand corner), uses magazine conventions, as this is the where the name of the magazine is usually always put, as it allows it to be seen a lot clearer and allows more room for other information on the cover and this again was used in NME and Kerrang magazine. Another that my magazine uses conventions is in the fact that I have used a limited number of fonts. Despite my initial plans of using five or six fonts, I found that when it came to creating the magazine this made it look jumbled and messy, so I finally stuck with three fonts. These were times new roman, oceania and MTF base. I used the font "oceania", as the main font throughout the magazine, which meant that the pages linked together and looked more professional. Many magazines, especially music, use a limited number of fonts, as it helps to give the magazine a professional, simple finish. This will then mean that the audience will be concentrating more on the content of the magazine rather than the design of it, and this is what I have aimed for in the simple design of my magazine. The fact that on the front cover I have put a list of some of the other artists in it uses magazine conventions, as many magazines like NME and Kerrang do this. Having this at the bottom appeals to the audience as they will be able to tell whether they will like the rest of the articles and artists in the magazine, as well as just the main sells and flashes. Finally, the way that I have advertised subscription information on the contents page goes with magazine conventions, as many magazines will do this to encourage people to spend more on the magazine and become a devoted fan of it. An example of a music magazine that used this was NME. However, the way I have designed the magazine means that it also challenges conventions of media products. For example the fact that the cover image and most of the other images I have taken show her looking away or down from the camera challenges conventions, as usually magazines show the person looking at the camera. I felt that this made her look more edgy, and gave her a more vacant expression that would emphasise her personality. The fact that I have used one block colour (black) for the whole of my contents page also challenges conventions of magazines, as in all of the magazine covers I have looked at, the star has been looking at the camera. They are usually done in a very plain black and white, newspaper style, for example in NME the cover is done in black and white with splashes of colour like red and colour photographs. I felt that changing the design of the contents page in my magazine would make it more fresh and exciting for readers. The fact that I put coloured text boxes behind my text, like labels, challenged conventions of magazines, as usually magazines just stick to a normal font and make it bolder or a different colour if they want it to stand out. Having the labels there helped to make my magazine look more indie and differ it from other music magazines. It also helped to make it look more professional. The final way my magazine challenges conventions is by having a black and white cover image. Most magazines use colour images to make them look bright, and stick to a similar colour scheme throughout (although NME magazine have used black and white images for their special editions, such as their decade edition). However, I felt that using the photo in black and white made it more of an iconic image.

My magazine is specifically for a certain genre of music: indie. It is about showing music that goes against conventions and the usual chart music. Therefore, many of the readers of this magazine will have a similar mentality to this, and want to go against conventions. The images I have used for my photoshoot reflect this. They show the artist wearing very individual and eccentric clothes like tutus and dresses with long socks. They help to show to the readers that you do not have to dress in fashions just because they are in style, and that you should dress however you want to. The photographs would appeal to females as they may be interested in the different styles shown in them, and represent a particular group of females: indie girls that try to dress in a unique way and go against current fashions. However, the photos would also appeal to males, who are the main body of the target audience, as the artist is wearing short, revealing dresses in them. The language I have used in my magazine also represents particular social groups. I have used quite casual and laid back language, which represents the typical language of teens and younger adults, who my magazine is aimed at. The language that I have used definitely represents males more than females, with swearing etc, and this again represents the target audience of my magazine, and that it appeals to a male audience. However, the language also represents females as it talks about what the artist is wearing at one point. In terms of race, the language I have used definitely represents typical language of white people, rather than the slang of people with dark skin. Although the magazine could appeal to all races, generally, the way that it has been written and the styles of music that are presented in it make it more targeted at a white audience.

I believe that some of the publishers we looked at in the first weeks of the course might publish the magazine. A publisher like IPC media would be a good company to publish it as they publish good, high quality magazines, and also have similar products available in their range like NME, which would help to promote interest for this new magazine (http://www.ipcmedia.com/). I think that because of the popularity of indie music magazines, a wide variety of shops could stock it. WHSmiths would stock it, as it would appeal to readers of many of the other magazines they stock like NME and Kerrang. Therefore they could create interest by putting the magazine into their shop. However, I think that the magazine could also be sold in music shops like HMV, and this would help to increase the fan base of the magazine, as many people with different music tastes shop in HMV. HMV would want to stock it as it would appeal to a large proportion of their listeners, as a lot of people who go into HMV have a serious taste for music, rather than just liking everything that is in the charts. It could also be sold in specialist record shops, as many of the readers who are into individual music may go into these to find unknown music that is not found in chain music stores. They would choose to stock the magazine as the target audience of their magazine may match the audience that their shop is based at, which would bring them more sales.

Here is a link to my previous research on my target audience:(http://chloelamb.blogspot.com/2009/10/target-audience-for-music-magazine.html). In terms of demographics, I feel that the target audience I have designed my magazine for would be in the A, B and C1 categories, as the magazine will be a good quality magazine and these types of people will have the disposable income to pay for the magazine. Also, however, I think my magazine could also be targeted at people in the E socio-economic group, as this includes students, and I feel that because of the design of my magazine, it would appeal to a lot of students and teenagers. I think that generally, my audience would be more based at males rather than females, and this is shown in the language that I have used and the overall style of the magazine. However, a small percentage of females will read the magazine, as there are elements in the magazine that have been designed to appeal to females, and many females are into indie rock music as well as males. I have targeted my magazine at readers between the age 14 and 30, as I feel that this is a significant age range, and I feel that because of the versatility of the magazine, it will appeal to anyone between these ages. In terms of race, I feel that my magazine does appeal more to white people, rather than people with dark skin, however black people are represented in the magazine (e.g. the noisettes), and this may encourage them to read it. Although the type of music that I have included would appeal more to white people, it could appeal to any race. Therefore, my magazine does not have specific race appeal, and anyone could be interested in it. Finally, in terms of psychographics, my audience will generally be individualists, who will be people who want to show the world that they are different. By reading an indie magazine, which shows many different types of music, and not just the usual pop, they will be showing that they are different. However, my magazine could also appeal to succeeders, who will generally be in the A, B and C1 socio-economic groups. They will have the income to be able to afford quality magazines like my magazine, so it may appeal to them.

In the design of my magazine, I have kept to my decided target audience, and feel that many features of the magazine appeal to them and would encourage them to buy it. I have included many language features that appeal to the target audience. I have included swearing, which will appeal to the target audience, as it makes the magazine seem relaxed and also many teenagers and young adults swear a lot so they would be used to this kind of language. I have also included humour in my article, as having this in it would appeal to my target audience and encourage them to read it more. The tone of the magazine and general mode of address is very suited to the target audience, as it is light hearted and jokey, which is generally the tone that most music magazines take, as if they were completely serious the whole time they would become quite dull. The audience will expect this kind of tone from a music magazine. From my research of other music magazines, I found that they generally used this kind of tone. For example, both the articles I looked at from Kerrang and NME magazine used this kind of light-hearted, jokey tone, even if the subject matter of the article was not particularly jokey. The images I have used in my magazine also appeal to my target audience. All of my images I have used contain girls, and this can appeal to both boys and girls, which will give it broader appeal. The images could appeal to the type of girls that would read the magazine as they may be interested by the fashion and outfits used in the shoot, and the male target audience would find the photos appealing as they show a confident, attractive woman wearing not a lot of clothing! I have found that in magazines like NME and Kerrang, although they mainly use images of males in their magazines, they do include images of women, which create sex appeal. This was what I was aiming for in my magazine. Finally, I feel that the general layout of my magazine would appeal to the target audience. Everything on the pages is clear and easy to find, especially on the contents page, but it manages to be simple and still look professional and edgy. Overall, I feel that both the mode of address of my magazine and the photos I have used appeal to my target audience.

I have learnt a lot about technologies from the process of constructing this product. Many of my ideas that I had I was able to do in InDesign and Photoshop. I was able to add a text box in the shape of an explosion, which I felt made it more interesting than just a plain square text box. I was also able to put square coloured boxes behind my text, which made it stand out a lot more and a lot clearer. It also made my magazine look more individual and professional. In photoshop, it allowed me to edit my photos to the standard I wanted, and make them look a lot more professional. The editing processes I used were simple (simply changing the brightness and contrast of the images, and changing them to black and white), but they worked effectively and improved the original images. I found the editing processes very easy to complete in photoshop, as photoshop enabled me to change the brightness and contrast of the images by simple dragging an arrow across a range. I did not physically have to cut parts of the images out, as they were already at the right size and shape, but I did have to crop images, which I found very quick and easy to do. Also, I found it easy doing simple tasks on InDesign, which made the magazine look more effective (for example, putting in banners at the bottom of my article to include a website address and putting in the numbers of pages). However, the software was limiting in some sense, as some of the ideas that I had planned I could not do using it. For example, I found it very hard trying to make my text clear over the pictures that I had taken, and had to take absolute care when drawing the text boxes around it to make it look professional. I also found the software quite confusing at times, for example trying to layer different things on top of each other I found difficult, as sometimes when I tried to bring the text to the top layer it wouldn't go. The final problem that I had with the technologies of making the magazine was putting it into a pdf format. When I did this, some of the images and lettering became pixelated, making it look less professional. Also, some of the colours changed in the process of making the image a pdf (for example, colours that I had made red turned out orange in the final pdf copy). I had the same problem with putting my evaluation powerpoint into a pdf format, and I found it took ages to load and pixelated the text. Overall, however, once I had got over the initial difficulties of InDesign, I felt that it enabled me to complete my magazine to the standard that I had wanted to, despite the colour changes.

Looking back at my preliminary task, I feel I have learnt a lot in the progression from it to the full product. I think that certain elements of my design skills have improved. I feel that I have got a lot better at choosing fonts that work well together, and look professional, as before I used a limited number of fonts and it did not look so effective. I also think that I had learnt a lot more about the software by the time I got to making the real magazine, so therefore I was a lot more experienced at making my magazine look effective. I became better at aligning the text, which I had not done previously, which helped to make my magazine look more professional. Also, I was a lot better at putting in the little details in my magazine, which I hadn't done before, which just helped to make it look more professional. They were things like putting page numbers in, a banner at the bottom of the page with the website and date etc and also putting in a larger letter at the beginning of a paragraph, which most professional magazines do. I also found that my language use was better, and I was beginning to adapt a tone that would suit and appeal to my target audience. I used words that fitted with the target audience, such as swearing and strong adjectives like "ultimate". In my previous preliminary task I had used simple, everyday language, but I feel that in the main task my language improved a lot. I also planned more thoroughly for this magazine than I had with my other one, which enabled me to get a more professional finished product. I put in a lot more detail on my flat plans, such as each individual font that I was going to use, the colours I was to be using and drawing sketches of the type of photo I was going to use, instead of just writing "picture" in a text box. I found that as my flat plan was a lot more detailed, I was sticking very closely to it, and therefore this enabled me to complete my magazine very easily and quickly. Overall, I feel that my detailed flat plans, familiarity with the software and language use helped me to improve my new magazine, and give it a much more professional finish.