How I addressed my audience and

Audience FeedbackFor my media product

Front coverBy looking at the front cover of my magazine the mode of address clearly strikes the audience that it would be aimed at 15-24 year olds whoa re interested in the rock genre. I tried to get these two points across by using dark colours such as grey, black, white and brighter colours to ensure that the magazine did not look too dark and boring. I used these colours but also red, purple and blue to address both genders of my audience.I used various fonts which were in sans- serif font which connotes informality and youth, but I also used occasional serif fonts in order to add more sophistication to my magazine so that the older members of my audience recognized that the magazine is also aimed at them and would not be seen as a young, immature magazine as I wanted it to be taken seriously.

The model on my front cover is one of the main modes of address I have on my front cover because he is of the same age and dresses in the same style as many members of my audience would. His body language connotes attitude because this is the kind of attitude my audience see’s themselves as having. My model would also be a role model to my audience who are of his age because some would be aspiring musicians or singers who are wanting to be in a band and produce music. At the bottom of my magazine I had a section which told the audience what else would be in the magazine which isn’t mentioned on the coverlines, this is used in may magazine because it allowed the audience to see what else they are getting inside the magazine which they would want to see and read about. To make my audience think that they were getting added value from my magazine I included a freebie, which allows my audience to receive free posters, this is appropriate for my target audience because they would be at the age where they start admiring people and making artists their role models. The puff which states that my magazine is the best rock magazine in the U.K also makes my audience believe that this is the best rock magazine they could buy out of the rest which are on sale in the shops, this also encourages them to buy this product because they believe that they are getting a high standard magazine for the same price as any other rock magazine would cost. The coverlines used in my magazine are written in different fonts and colours which still stick to the colour scheme used throughout my magazine. I used simple words, and short phrases on the front cover so that it didn’t appear like there was so much writing on the front as this could connote to the audience sophistication, complication and intelligence. Whereas my front cover with much less writing and simple, snappy words connote to the audience cool, simple, sleek and youthful which is what my target audience would be more interested in buying.

Contents PageThe images i have used on my contents page attract my audience because they are images which draw in their attention. I have an image of gig tickets which is a regular activity my audience are interested in, as they like live music. I also have an image of two ipods, these would be popular gadgets with my audience as they are again associated with music. I tried to photograph two ipods which i thought would be popular colours with my audience; green and purple. The photographs of the models used on the contents page are also dressed how my audience would expect them to be dressed for example the chequered shirts and the quirky hat. I edited these images to get rid of blemishes in order to make the photographs look more professional like they belong in a real magazine. I also cut out one of my models and placed him on a white background so that it looked slightly different to the other images, and didn’t look boring.

The colour scheme used on my contents page is also one of the main things i used to attract my audience, i kept a constant colour scheme throughout my magazine. I decided to use an unconventional technique and use a colour background which was grey, this is because i think it addresses my audience better as a simple white background could connote plain, simple and lacking uniqueness and i wanted to achieve the total opposite opinions from my audience. I used various fonts throughout my contents page, for the words which i thought would be of some importance for my audience for example the title of the page ‘contents’ i underlined and put in a bright red colour, this attract the audience attention and also familiarises them with what page this actually is.To keep with the running theme of the colour red i decided that the editors box, which a convention used in most rock music magazines would have a red background, this separates itself from the grey background making the audience recognise this is an important feature which is written for them to read, i also did this because i didn't want the audiences eyes just skimming over it, i wanted them to notice and to read it.My contents page is made up of two columns, in the first column i had my editor’s article, five images which represented the main coverlines and straplines featured on the front, these were number co-ordinated with five sets of text underneath which read the names of each of the main coverlines with a short description beneath it. I used a bold font for the main contents heading which was in black because i wanted it to stand out to the audience but not be so colourful as i didn't want it to dim the red colouration i used at the top of that column. The second column featured ‘this months special’ which was a picture of my main feature, again dressed how my audience would expect with his body language connoting attitude and coolness. Then i had my main contents which would feature in every magazine, i kept the language of these quite simple and short so that my audience understood the main point of what that particular page would be about. I used black and red and a different font so that it didn’t blend in with my contents page and also made this column stand out like the first did, i kept the colour scheme in this column also by turning some of the text red. Below the contents i had a feature which informed the audience what would be in the next issue of ‘Rock Core’ because i wanted to keep them interested in the magazine and make them look forward to the next release. I put this text in a white box so that it contrasted with the red box which contained my editors article.

Double Page Spread

In order to attract my audience to my double page spread, i firstly had to make sure that it looked attractive to my audience. I did this by sticking with the constant colour theme which is used throughout the rest of my magazine. I made this page appear quite dark with the black background, i knew that using backgrounds in magazines wasn’t popular and isn’t usually used but i noticed on some pages in ‘Kerrang!’ this was evident, and decided that this would address my audience much more than a regular white background because it looks more interesting and eye catching.I used four images in my double page spread because i wanted my audience to see who my main feature was, i used a DSL camera to take these images and edited these on Adobe Photoshop to get rid of blemishes and other unwanted marks on my model so that the photographs look more professional.I used a different font to write the artists name so that it stood out to the audience and also connoted the type of music he specialises in, though this would be apparent as he is featuring in a rock magazine.For the main article itself, i wanted the interview to sound fun so that the audience wouldn’t get bored and would want to read on, as most of my audience tend to loose concentration easily. I asked questions which i thought my audience would want to know about the artist and would ask him themselves if given then chance. I tried not to use language which would be too complicated for my audience and kept to simple sentences. I also regularly used slang words and words which my audience would recognise as a key dialogue feature to how they talk so that the can relate to the artist and the written article much more.

• To get information back from my audience about my media product I uploaded images of my front cover, contents and double page spread onto Facebook.

• Facebook is a popular social networking site with my audience and regularly spend large amounts of time on it.

• Putting these images onto my Facebook meant that I could get my target audience to comment on these images without there being too much hassle for them

On each of the images uploaded I asked my audience when commenting their opinions to consider these

questions

• Who do you think the audience for this magazine is?• Why do you think that they would be the audience?• Does the magazine appeal to that audience?• Does they layout of the magazine represent a particular audience?• Any opinions about the colour scheme?• How could it be improved?• What kind of messages do the images used on the front cover give you?

From this research I learn that I have successfully managed to address my target audience, as my feedback shows that the audience have recognized that the magazine is aimed at both genders between the ages of 15-24.

They said that they had recognized that the magazine was aimed at a young audience because of the model on the front cover. His body language and clothing connote youth to the audience and as he is a teenager and is also part of the demographic for my audience

I then asked people from my target audience to express their ideas about the magazine.

My audience mentioned that the use of different fonts also made them aware that the magazine is not aimed at a mature audience because the fonts used would be much more basic and there wouldn’t be as many as there is on my magazine.

Also mentioned was that the colours used throughout the magazine represented the audience who are likely to be reading this magazine, because darker colours tend to be associated with the rock genre and this group of people interested in it. They also said that the colours used in the magazine represent both females and males because they are colours that can be related to both genders. I used colours such as…

Black Grey Purple RedWhite

The colour scheme used throughout the magazine was picked up on by the audience and some also mentioned how I co-ordinated the coverlines to match the models shirt. The audience took the preferred reading for my magazine which meant that I have successfully managed to address my audience by using forms and conventions of existing magazines to do so.

My audience said that the layout of my magazine look like any typical magazine layout as it is very simple but still connotes “coolness” to the audience.

Some of my audience said that the top half of my magazine looked professional like a real magazine.I was also given positive criticism back about my magazine on how I can make improvements. Some points that were suggested were…• The page feels too empty• Images look like they have been randomly placed and could be framed or blurred in.• Coverlines and straplines used didn’t stand out as much as they could have.• The coverline which reads ‘i-pod’ looks oddly placed and could be moved into the centre of the black box.

The importance of this audience feedback was that it allowed me to see how my target audience viewed my magazine, most of my audience took the preferred reading of my magazine which meant that i have successfully managed to target the specific audience i set out to. I think if i made some slight changes to the way text was placed and added a bit more detail to the front cover it would appeal even more to my audience and would be quite successful in selling in various shops.