Danny Carr: Evaluation Question 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

Front Cover
On my front cover and throughout my magazine i stuck to a three colour pallete, most succesful magazines stick to this, although magazines such as Q and NME tend to stick to the colours red, whit and black. As i wanted my magazine to have a bit of edge and be different like its genre and audience, i added green instead of white as i felt it added vibrancy and life to the magazine and it also helped to represent the genre i was trying to portray of Dubstep and dance music.

My fonts used are generally easy to read and are quite cleancut and simple which is what i wanted as i wanted it to be easy on the eye for my readers. The colours of my font are the key in particular my Logo 'SOUNDZ' is very striking neon green and the outline is a striking yellow which makes the text look like its the lights for a club or bar this type of music would be heard in so it is quite representative of the genre.

My model i used is posing the way he is because i was looking to emulate this picture by example he used on a promotion for his new song, i decided to emulate this photo because is one of the big names within this industry and he knows how to be a succesful so i felt it would be a good thing to in trying to emulate to make my magazine succesful. So i got my model to look away from the camera and putting his hood up as this showed his attitude and gave him edge like the genre is which i was trying to represent. His clothes are also similar to example as he is wearing a zip hoody and white shirt so this also emualtes well example so represents the genre well as well.

This is the image of Example i have tried to emulate.

For the content of my magazine i have used well known artists as the audience are going to be more likely to purchase the magazine if the artists are well known. The artists i used were also relevant as they match my genre of dubstep and dance style music so it is going to attract my target audience. Big names such as Example are not only going to attract this genre as he is starting to become a bit of a global star he will also get other people to read the magazine who may not be particularly interested in the genre but interested in him so it will interest ranges of audiences.

For my sell lines i used a play on words with the name of the band and the actual sell line. As the artist i used was called 'Sky's don't lie' i used a play on words and called the Main sell line 'Skiy's the limit' this is a creative and clever way of using a headline and will also engage the reader. I have occasionaly seen this used in other magazines, i know from previous experience of reading magazine headlines and main sell lines that 'Puns' and 'Play on words' are clever ways of creating an effective headline which can engage an audience.

Contents Page (on image next to front cover)

For my contents page i carried out the same three colour pallete of red, green and black. What this does is keep the same consistency and continuity throughout, in doing this my magazine looks more professional and appealing to the audience. In keeping a three colour pallete you can also create a theme which makes the magazine memorable and unique to the audience. The content of my contents page also carries on the same stories found on the Front cover of my magazine. My images found on my contents page also represent the genre as the clothing they are wearing and poses they are pulling match the genre and represent power. The colours on their clothing are quite loud and in your face which is how the genre should be represented. Also the layout of the contents page was copied off how Q magazine often layout their magazine as they have in the past used two images on the right side with the main image being slightly larger as it is of more interest. And they also use a smaller image under the headline features as i have to show more artists involved within the magazine.

Double Page Spread

For my double page spread i have again kept the same three colour pallete as it again shows continuity and consistency also these colours represent my genre i am trying to portray. I decided to do a Dps which features one page with the photo and the other with the content i found that this was a very effective way of using a DPS in particular the one used by Q in a lady gaga shoot showed how this can be effective. I used this DPS as a massive influence on my final piece.I made my font standout against the clothing my model was wearing and gave it a bold black outline as it made the text stand out more. i used a different colour font for my text for when the artist was talking instead of SOUNDZ i kept the soundz text green as this was the colour of the theme for the magazine and red for the artist in their interview to keep in with the three colour pallete.

This is the Lady gaga DPS i was referring to.

Here is what my target audience wanted to See in my product:

The general consensus was that the magazines i used represented the younger target audience particularly between the ages of 16-25 and Q is of More of a mainstream target audience.. Also a key point which was brought forward was that the use of colour scheme was a major pull in trying to get the audience interested and focused on the magazine, as the use of colours is what the audience look at and the bright vibrant colours used in Q represents the artists being used and if i was to use dark and dull colours it wouldn't really appeal to and engage with the required target audience. Also consistency is necessary between the front cover and contents page and keeping an 'Eye Catching' display is crucial in making the magazine a success. The use of fonts is also important getting the right contrast between the colour of the text within the masthead and side headings in relation to the main image and theme of the magazine is important so that it looks professional, consistent and so that it will make the reader want to read the magazine. Keeping a simple structure to the magazine so that it doesn't look messy and un-organised is also important to catch the eye of the audience and make reading easy and wouldnt deter them.

Roughcuts
I was given the following feedback on my roughcuts: I was told that on my front cover that the Logo was to big and that i needed to reduce the size of the Font and size of my sub colour that i used as a banner for my logo. I also was told that i needed to reduce the size of my headlines and sub headlines as they were too big and took emphasis off the photo used on my Front Cover. So to improve my front cover i will reduce the size of the logo and it's banner, this will also allow me to organise my front cover better so i can fit more onto it but still not making it look cluttered. For my contents page i need to change the colour of the font used as it was a bit too bright and in the face of the audience so to improve this i will tone it down and make it a darker shade of green so that it doesn't contrast as much making it easier on the eye for the reader. I also need to organise my contents page better so that the black background doesn't over ride and go onto the side i used for my photos so no emphasis on these is lost. On my contents page i also needed to make the actual heading of 'Contents' more noticeable and make it stand out more i also decided that i needed to change it from red to green so it would fit the theme of the front cover better. I also need to refer back to real magazines more so when i make my corrections to my current magazine i will have a magazine open and then look at what it has done to be successful and then try and incorporate it into my own magazine. In doing this my own magazine will have more of a professional look and it will look more appealing to an audience to buy the product. My double page spread also needs improvements it also featured a similar problem with the font as the contents page so i will tone this down to an easier theme on the eye, but i will keep the same colour of green as it matches the theme of my magazine.

Cover and Contents

The first image is of my final product and this is shown by how much it has changed and improved in light of the feedback i recieved on my roughcut. As i got told to i made my banner smaller and made my logo smaller but put it on a diagonal to give it the illusion that it is bigger than it is actually. I also organised my barcode and date better so they looked more compact and in doing so more efficient. Also on my front cover i reduced the size of my headlines and made them smaller and i arranged them in a better order, as my final product it features the title hotlist 2012 and i made this smaller then used a different colour font to highlight what artists are in the magazine. I also made my major selline stand out more and added a quote from the dps to add to the proffesional nature of the magazine. ALso in my final product i raised the image of my actor so that he was in the higher third to display more power and show his authroity and that he is a character doing well. I also added a circular banner showing of an offer the magazine employs this is to make more people interested in buying the magazine as they will feel they are getting more for their money.

For my contents page i Changed the layout slightly and made the contents title much larger so it was more noticable i also carried on the same three colour pallete throughout so that it carried on a proffesional theme. I also changed the colour of the main sybtitles from red to fluro green, this is so that they stood out more and were more noticeable to the audience i also centre alligned them so that they looked easier to read more compact and in doing this more professional. I also added a new headline called features ive seen this work to great effect in magazines such as Q so incorporated it into mine as i wanted to emulate proffesional practice as much as i could. I also changed it so that were only two images on the right hand side and added one to above the text as this is the layout they used in a contents of Q i saw and i thought this worked well in making the layout look more appealing as it was more compact.

Double page Spread

For my DPS i have changed the colour of the main headline and made it stand out more by changing the colour and thickness of the stroke outline i have made it black with a neon green font theme as these two colours worked well as a contrast and made my product look effective. I have also added a couple of quotes from the the text and made the font theme of these the same colour as the main headlin. I have changed the colour of the main font to make it match the main headline and stand out more and in sticking with my theme in keeping with the three colour pallete. I have also inserted a neon green border arounf the imahge to make the extra image stand out more. I have also inserted paragraphs into my final product so that it looks more like a proffesional article and adds to the realism of the piece. I also put my quotes on an angle to give them more edge and also to match with the actor looking down to the floor i thought this would be a clever piece of composition.