Addressing an Audience

To test how successful my products are in relation to the interests of my target audience, I interviewed somebody who fits my audience profile -  she is a 17 year old female with a strong interest in music, in particular the genre that my magazine is focused on (alternative). Firstly, I began by asking my target audience member what attracts them to my products. The result of this question shows that the theme of the magazine, including colour scheme, particularly appeals to them. As well as this, the poses of the model, other images and also font/layout was an interest.
The unique selling point, in the eyes of the target audience, is the main cover line of the front cover and change of colour in text. They felt that the overall style and layout of my products is conventional because everything works well together, in their opinion, and meets their expectations as a reader. The cover lines and article topics also meet their interests because the bands that have been featured are artists who the target audience listen to regularly.
Something which my audience would like to see more of is events such as festivals to go with the selection of bands and artists featured in the contents/front cover.
Overall, after interviewing somebody in my target audience category, I have found that my finished products meet magazine conventions and also meet the expectations and interests of my intended reader. Certain design aspects such as the images, layout, fonts and colours attract them to the magazine and the content is interesting to them. Therefore, these final products have successfully given an outcome and appeal that is appropriate to a specific audience that I have been trying to reach throughout the process of designing.

Target Audience

Target audience from clarajackson27

Technologies

Representation

Institutions

With careful consideration, research and reflection on my previous work regarding different media institutions, I believe that my magazine would benefit if the company Bauer produced and distributed it, rather than choosing to work with a medium sized company or privately. There are many advantages and disadvantages of using a major publisher, however I think that the pros would outweigh the cons in this case. 

Bauer is considered to be the UK's most influential media network and says "our aim is to connect audiences with excellent content through our broad multi-touchpoint brand platforms. Wherever, whenever and however they want"  (https://www.bauermedia.co.uk/about/culture-values). Bauer already publishes some of the UK's leading magazines; this includes Grazia, Kerrang and Heat. In total, they publish 107 different brands on different platforms such as radio, digital, TV, magazines and live.

 My own magazine is targeted towards both male and females within the age range of 16-25 who are interested in music - Bauer already work with this target audience, therefore the company would know what successful angles and approaches to take with the publishing of my magazine. 

Not just this, but another advantage of choosing Bauer to publish my product would be that they would meet the need of synergy; this company is able to produce a stream of resources from the underlying companies in order to produce a better product at a reduced cost. As well as this, using a large publishing company would benefit financially as they have more purchasing power and a wider distribution, meaning a bigger audience and a bigger profit. 

My magazine would make money not just by distribution from Bauer as a tangible magazine, but also through the price advertisers would pay for ads within each issue.  As well as being sold to the target audience in UK distributor stores, Bauer would offer the opportunity of providing my product to my target audience digitally and also through subscription. Due to their multi-media platforms, my magazine would also have the potential of expanding to different platforms if it was to be published by this leading company. Their cross-platform offer would be a huge advantage to the success of my magazine and is something that would be more difficult to achieve if I was to use a private publisher. 

There are, of course, some disadvantages of having a major media company publish my magazine. The media is very persuasive and much of this power lies in the hands of these large cross media ownership's. Also, my brand would have a considerably less amount of privacy due to massive databases of personal information. Not just this, but my product would lose its individual status due to the media text becoming part of a brand. I also would not receive all of the money made from my magazine because Bauer would take shares of any profit produced, whereas if I was to work privately then all earnings would be received by me entirely.

All in all, due to the range of target audience that my product is aimed towards, I think that my brand would benefit financially and become more successful through the publishing of Bauer. This is because Bauer is the leading UK publishing company, and even though they would own shares of my product, I believe that more money would be made through them and their multi-platform options even with the money they take from any earnings. I do not believe that my magazine would be as successful if I was to work privately because the scale of distribution would be considerably smaller, therefore less money would be made and a lesser quantity target audience would be reached. And, the growth of my business would rely on my ability to find private backers willing to invest in my company - something I needn't do when choosing Bauer to publish the magazine I have produced.

Production Schedule

Production Schedule

Week 1 (16/11/2015) – Work on the drafts for my three main task products including page structure, image composition, cover lines, magazine name and other conventional features (rough sketches with annotation) and plan my photoshoot; props, costume, location, model etc.

Week 2 (23/11/2015) – Complete the photoshoot for my magazine products; main cover image, double page spread image and other photos which can be used in the double page spread and contents page. Also gather previously taken photographs from concerts which can be added into the contents page. After the photoshoot, produce a contact sheet and select the strongest images to use for my products.

Week 3 (30/11/2015) – Begin to construct my magazine front cover. Edit the chosen main cover image using conventional airbrushing techniques in Photoshop and use a consistent colour scheme.

Week 4 (07/12/2015) – Continue with magazine front cover construction. Add cover lines, masthead, barcode, puff, price, main cover line and banner using fonts from ‘DaFont’. Use a variety of fonts and sizes to conform to magazine conventions. Also use grid lines/rulers to evenly space features on the front cover.

Week 5 (14/12/2015) – Begin to construct the contents page of my magazine. Work on the basic layout of the page and edit the images that will feature. Use a consistent colour scheme and use fonts from ‘DaFont’; use the same font as on the magazine cover for the title of the page.

Week 6 (04/01/2016) – Continue to construct the contents page by adding page numbers and descriptions and image captions. Also add links to social media pages at the top of the contents page and write subscription information at the bottom of the page. Evenly space page descriptions/columns to look conventional. Add finishing touched to the page – web address, page colours, font size etc.

Week 7 (11/01/2016) – Begin to construct the double page spread for my magazine. Edit the main image of the page conforming to chosen colour scheme and position it onto the DPS. Also edit the second image (smaller) that will be on the left page. Explore font styles in ‘DaFont’ and create the pull quote page title and kicker.

Week 8 (18/01/2016) – Continue to construct the double page spread by writing the feature article (interview style) using a column structure with even spacing. Add conventional page features to the DPS such as page number, small magazine masthead denotation, image captions, magazine issue and subtitle.

Week 9 (25/01/2016) – Review all of the final products and improve each one in any ways possible or necessary. Check that they conform to genre and magazine conventions and are all appropriate to my target audience in a professional and representational way.

Week 10 (01/02/2016) – Make any final changes needed to my finished products.

Costume/Prop List

• The props which I will be getting my model to use is two types of guitars; one electric and one acoustic. As well as this, for part of the shoot my model will be sitting on an amplifier. These props are items which I already have at home therefore they do not need to be hired. I will use these props because they clearly represent the shoot to be music orientated, therefore conforming to the genre of the magazine and meeting audience expectations.

• There will be two outfit changes – the model will be bringing their own clothes which I have advised. This includes two different tops and two different trousers. The shoes will be kept the same as they will only be seen in one of the shots used in the magazine. I have requested the model to bring these outfits because it reflects the style and interests of my target audience.

• I will be doing the photoshoot for my magazine in my own home; I will be using my own lighting and camera equipment.

Costume List:

1. Black t-shirt/top                
2. Flared pink trousers                        
3. Flared patterned trousers                                            
4. Doc marten shoes (black)
5. Green shirt

Prop List:                              

1. Acoustic Guitar                
2. Electric Guitar                  
3. Amplifier