Past Masters
The reader of Past Masters is someone who still lives decades in the past and is damn proud of it. They know times have moved on, and are more than happy to go along with the new technological world of today, but music to them is something that died in 1979. They have an iPod, but the most recent addition was Phil Collins’ greatest hits and the re-release of ‘A Little Less Conversation’.
During their youth, they spent hours of the week, listening to the latest music with their friends, and thinking the great times they were witnessing in the music industry would last forever. Eric Clapton was god and Elvis was the king. The Beatles were ruling the world and everybody was swinging.
As they grew up, the world started to turn on their music. Elvis was struck down at his prime, the Beatles were tragically parted and the genre of pop music faded and went in many different directions. Fortunately for him, he was prepared for such an event! All of his LPs were stored well and transferred to compact disc, he was safe in the knowledge that he would never have to buy another piece of music, unless the good times came back.
Today though, he is in a high-income bracket of £50,000 per annum and upwards, and because of this he is still used to having a large disposable income and using it extravagantly. His £80,000 Mercedes doesn’t excite him anymore and his continuing love of the music from his past requires some stimulation.
His life was turned round for the better when he first found Past Masters because this was everything he had hoped for in a music publication. This allows him his monthly opportunity to escape from middle-age and head back to his youthful days of the past.
Tuesday, 11 November 2008
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Music Magazine Questionnaire
Music Magazine Questionnaire
1. Which of the following age ranges do you fit into? (Please Circle)
Under 15 15-24 25-34 35+
2. How much money do you get per month?
______________________________________________________
3. How much money do you spend on music per month?
______________________________________________________
4. Do you own an iPod or another mp3 player? (Please Circle)
Yes No
5. How do you acquire your music (circle as many of the following as applicable)?
CD Online music sharing iTunes or online shops
6. How would you best describe what music means to you?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. How much money do you spend on magazines and reading material per month?
_____________________________________________________________
8. How often do you go to gigs/ concerts? (Please circle)
Once a year 2-4 times a year 5+ times a year Never
9. (If applicable to you) How did you find out about the last Gig you attended?
10. When reading a music magazine, which of the following do you expect to be included? (Circle as many as apply to you)
Interviews Upcoming events Album Reviews
Features on upcoming artists Other (please state below)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11. What is your favourite Genre of music, and what do you think makes that genre stand out from the rest?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12. Other than your favourite genre, would you enjoy reading about any others?
(Circle) (If yes please state which below) Yes No
_____________________________________________________________
13. What colours do you think fit well with your favoured genre of music?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
14. Which of the following matter the most to you? (please circle one)
Interviews with current Chart Topping Artists
Discovering the next generation of Stars
15. What do you think a magazine, designed for your favoured genre of music should be called? (List as many names as you can think of)
_____________________________________________________________
16. How often would you like the magazine to be published? (Circle One of the following)
Weekly Fortnightly Monthly
17. On top of your current purchases, how much would you be willing to pay for a new music magazine? (Select one of the following)
Under £1 £1-£2 £2-£3 £3-£4 £4 and over
18. Who are your favourite 3 artists recording today that come under you favoured music genre?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
19. Who are your favourite 3 artists that are no longer recording?
_____________________________________________________________
20. Do you have any more views to share on the creation of this music magazine? (Please use space on the back of this page if yes) Yes No
1. Which of the following age ranges do you fit into? (Please Circle)
Under 15 15-24 25-34 35+
2. How much money do you get per month?
______________________________________________________
3. How much money do you spend on music per month?
______________________________________________________
4. Do you own an iPod or another mp3 player? (Please Circle)
Yes No
5. How do you acquire your music (circle as many of the following as applicable)?
CD Online music sharing iTunes or online shops
6. How would you best describe what music means to you?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. How much money do you spend on magazines and reading material per month?
_____________________________________________________________
8. How often do you go to gigs/ concerts? (Please circle)
Once a year 2-4 times a year 5+ times a year Never
9. (If applicable to you) How did you find out about the last Gig you attended?
10. When reading a music magazine, which of the following do you expect to be included? (Circle as many as apply to you)
Interviews Upcoming events Album Reviews
Features on upcoming artists Other (please state below)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11. What is your favourite Genre of music, and what do you think makes that genre stand out from the rest?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12. Other than your favourite genre, would you enjoy reading about any others?
(Circle) (If yes please state which below) Yes No
_____________________________________________________________
13. What colours do you think fit well with your favoured genre of music?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
14. Which of the following matter the most to you? (please circle one)
Interviews with current Chart Topping Artists
Discovering the next generation of Stars
15. What do you think a magazine, designed for your favoured genre of music should be called? (List as many names as you can think of)
_____________________________________________________________
16. How often would you like the magazine to be published? (Circle One of the following)
Weekly Fortnightly Monthly
17. On top of your current purchases, how much would you be willing to pay for a new music magazine? (Select one of the following)
Under £1 £1-£2 £2-£3 £3-£4 £4 and over
18. Who are your favourite 3 artists recording today that come under you favoured music genre?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
19. Who are your favourite 3 artists that are no longer recording?
_____________________________________________________________
20. Do you have any more views to share on the creation of this music magazine? (Please use space on the back of this page if yes) Yes No
Sunday, 2 November 2008
School Magazine Analysis...
Evaluation of Front Page and Contents
When deciding on the format and shape these 2 pages would take I had to call upon my expanding knowledge on magazines and the results of my questionnaire. I had to remember the rules for house style, font and images for the front cover, and make my contents page fit the front-page’s theme.
I decided to use 3 colours to go with my background image because this would allow white and black to contrast with the help of red. These were the most popular combination chosen during the questionnaire process.
The other main feature of the cover was the cover image. To analyse the image I had to look at the positives and negatives of what light it showed the school in, the model in and the magazine in. The image fits well with the cover story as it shows one of the students in front of a sign for the school cafeteria. However the image was not well planned and the picture had to flipped over to fit the magazine cover, leaving the writing on the sign back to front. The cover model wasn’t given time to prepare for the image as it was sprung on her out of the blue. So the result was her not really knowing how to pose for the picture.
The cover lines are all in the same font and style with the size and casing of the letters. This allowed the magazine to keep a sane and sensible feel to the cover even though with the full page image there is a lot going on.
One issue with the cover is the dead space that is left. In an ideal world the model would be filling up a bit more of the page filling the dead space above her head and the cover lines would fill all of the space on the left hand side of the cover.
The contents page lacked a proper design. The idea of boxes to separate the articles works in theory and the page numbers can be found at the bottom of each box. The idea of the boxes works well to separate the articles from each other but that’s about as far as the positives from this design style go. The order of the boxes was non-existent, and because of that the page becomes useless as a contents page in the normal sense.
In the music magazine, a more traditional style would better serve my magazines needs, and I’ll use less boxes, more organised information in future contents pages.
The other thing this page lacked due to the lack of images was some colour. The white background is only at it’s most effective when it has images on the page to compliment it. With more time and experience the articles could have gone with an image each to highlight exactly what was going on in each.
Other features that I missed out on include the barcode and USP on the front page. Having a free gift as a USP would have helped 3D stand out from other magazines.
In conclusion, this being my first go, I'm not downhearted by the mistakes that have been highlighted or i have seen myself, because they will help me move forward and hopefully help me improve by the time my Music Magazine is completed.
When deciding on the format and shape these 2 pages would take I had to call upon my expanding knowledge on magazines and the results of my questionnaire. I had to remember the rules for house style, font and images for the front cover, and make my contents page fit the front-page’s theme.
I decided to use 3 colours to go with my background image because this would allow white and black to contrast with the help of red. These were the most popular combination chosen during the questionnaire process.
The other main feature of the cover was the cover image. To analyse the image I had to look at the positives and negatives of what light it showed the school in, the model in and the magazine in. The image fits well with the cover story as it shows one of the students in front of a sign for the school cafeteria. However the image was not well planned and the picture had to flipped over to fit the magazine cover, leaving the writing on the sign back to front. The cover model wasn’t given time to prepare for the image as it was sprung on her out of the blue. So the result was her not really knowing how to pose for the picture.
The cover lines are all in the same font and style with the size and casing of the letters. This allowed the magazine to keep a sane and sensible feel to the cover even though with the full page image there is a lot going on.
One issue with the cover is the dead space that is left. In an ideal world the model would be filling up a bit more of the page filling the dead space above her head and the cover lines would fill all of the space on the left hand side of the cover.
The contents page lacked a proper design. The idea of boxes to separate the articles works in theory and the page numbers can be found at the bottom of each box. The idea of the boxes works well to separate the articles from each other but that’s about as far as the positives from this design style go. The order of the boxes was non-existent, and because of that the page becomes useless as a contents page in the normal sense.
In the music magazine, a more traditional style would better serve my magazines needs, and I’ll use less boxes, more organised information in future contents pages.
The other thing this page lacked due to the lack of images was some colour. The white background is only at it’s most effective when it has images on the page to compliment it. With more time and experience the articles could have gone with an image each to highlight exactly what was going on in each.
Other features that I missed out on include the barcode and USP on the front page. Having a free gift as a USP would have helped 3D stand out from other magazines.
In conclusion, this being my first go, I'm not downhearted by the mistakes that have been highlighted or i have seen myself, because they will help me move forward and hopefully help me improve by the time my Music Magazine is completed.
2 Reader Profiles
Reader Profile Analysis
The ‘Reader Profile’ of a magazine is there to entice people into reading them. If somebody sees the magazine and is unsure about whether to buy it or not they may look at the magazines website or do some research into the content. Whilst doing this if they come across the reader profile they have found the single most useful piece of advertising issued by the company, advertising the magazine to a particular group of people and generalising the reader into a positive peer group. The profile can come in various formats, either in the form of a block of descriptive text such as ‘Word’ or in bullet points with images such as ‘NME’.
Not only does the reader profile allow whoever is reading it the chance to relate to this ‘character’ it is describing, but it subconsciously offers this person the chance to become one of these people. Everything mentioned about ‘the reader’ is positive and shows the average reader of the magazine as somebody you would want to be. Anybody reading this therefore, is likely to be thinking, one of the following; “That sounds a bit like me”, “I Fancy a bit of that”, “Impressive people buy this magazine so I will”.
Word’s profile focuses on the income of the reader, their job type and how they spend their money on the music industry. It shows the reader as someone who is well off and spends plenty of their disposable income on music, DVDs and other technology. Anybody reading that, as a prospective buyer of the magazine will clearly want to be associated with people like that, whether they’re actually in that mould or not.
The 2nd paragraph however is the part that’s designed as something to relate to. The past of ‘the reader’ isn’t going to entice people who can’t relate to this particular youth like they might be enticed by the prospect of being perceived as rich. A music filled youth where any possible identity struggles were covered up by their particular genre of music or an unwavering addiction to a particular band of your era was what made you, you, however could be the reason someone buys this.
The next paragraph goes on with the personal theme, but this could entice people on a wider scale. Anybody who had a love of music when younger and is now developing into this world of technology with varying degrees of success where different devices work can relate to this to a point, but it really applies to people who are keeping their love of music alive whilst juggling work commitments and a family.
The last paragraph however goes back to describing the reader generally by showing them to be flexible and adaptable to modern life, while remembering their music based roots. This is how deep the magazine company feel they must go to achieve the best results from their reader profile.
NME have used a very different approach to their reader profile. Their aim is to show their reader as a very down-to-earth person, part of the ‘in-crowd’ and cool. There is a collage of images depicting an awful lot of every day items, often used by people who are aware of the modern world, such as hair-gel, an Xbox 360 and an iPod. People with these items and who shop in the shops show, for the labels highlighted are clearly in a position where they are attempting to create an image for themselves. NME feel by doing this, they’re adding their magazine to the list of must have items already mentioned.
It also throws some statistics at the readers; by saying how much the readers spend on clothes and shoes, as well as technological items such as Cameras and DVDs thus associating themselves further with things that are very much part of mainstream Britain today.
Whereas Word are trying to give people something to relate to in their reader profile, NME are attempting to show their magazine as a vital accessory for those with any sort of image to keep up.
The ‘Reader Profile’ of a magazine is there to entice people into reading them. If somebody sees the magazine and is unsure about whether to buy it or not they may look at the magazines website or do some research into the content. Whilst doing this if they come across the reader profile they have found the single most useful piece of advertising issued by the company, advertising the magazine to a particular group of people and generalising the reader into a positive peer group. The profile can come in various formats, either in the form of a block of descriptive text such as ‘Word’ or in bullet points with images such as ‘NME’.
Not only does the reader profile allow whoever is reading it the chance to relate to this ‘character’ it is describing, but it subconsciously offers this person the chance to become one of these people. Everything mentioned about ‘the reader’ is positive and shows the average reader of the magazine as somebody you would want to be. Anybody reading this therefore, is likely to be thinking, one of the following; “That sounds a bit like me”, “I Fancy a bit of that”, “Impressive people buy this magazine so I will”.
Word’s profile focuses on the income of the reader, their job type and how they spend their money on the music industry. It shows the reader as someone who is well off and spends plenty of their disposable income on music, DVDs and other technology. Anybody reading that, as a prospective buyer of the magazine will clearly want to be associated with people like that, whether they’re actually in that mould or not.
The 2nd paragraph however is the part that’s designed as something to relate to. The past of ‘the reader’ isn’t going to entice people who can’t relate to this particular youth like they might be enticed by the prospect of being perceived as rich. A music filled youth where any possible identity struggles were covered up by their particular genre of music or an unwavering addiction to a particular band of your era was what made you, you, however could be the reason someone buys this.
The next paragraph goes on with the personal theme, but this could entice people on a wider scale. Anybody who had a love of music when younger and is now developing into this world of technology with varying degrees of success where different devices work can relate to this to a point, but it really applies to people who are keeping their love of music alive whilst juggling work commitments and a family.
The last paragraph however goes back to describing the reader generally by showing them to be flexible and adaptable to modern life, while remembering their music based roots. This is how deep the magazine company feel they must go to achieve the best results from their reader profile.
NME have used a very different approach to their reader profile. Their aim is to show their reader as a very down-to-earth person, part of the ‘in-crowd’ and cool. There is a collage of images depicting an awful lot of every day items, often used by people who are aware of the modern world, such as hair-gel, an Xbox 360 and an iPod. People with these items and who shop in the shops show, for the labels highlighted are clearly in a position where they are attempting to create an image for themselves. NME feel by doing this, they’re adding their magazine to the list of must have items already mentioned.
It also throws some statistics at the readers; by saying how much the readers spend on clothes and shoes, as well as technological items such as Cameras and DVDs thus associating themselves further with things that are very much part of mainstream Britain today.
Whereas Word are trying to give people something to relate to in their reader profile, NME are attempting to show their magazine as a vital accessory for those with any sort of image to keep up.
Monday, 20 October 2008
Using the front cover, makes notes on the target audience of ‘Mojo’:
Gender / Age: Men in their late 30s to 40s
Music Genre Preference: (Combat) Rock/ 70s
Income: Upper middle class
Interests: The recent history of music, e.g. looking back at the 70s
Name: Mojo Magazine – Old language with connotations of old age and old fashioned. ‘Living in the past’
Cover Image: The Clash looking rather scary and confrontational in an intimidating manner. They look like the have a story to tell. Connotations from the picture are; negative and a revealing story.
Main cover-line: ‘Who Killed The Clash? The Rucks, The Drugs, The Shocking Truth!’ – The cover-line reveals straight away that this isn’t going to be a suitable magazine for children as it zeros in on the target audience. Anybody who has heard of the clash, or has interest in music will be automatically intrigued by the use of powerful emotive language such as “killed” and “shocking”
Colour and font: Basic colours and font make up a house style very familiar to magazines aimed at adults. ‘Mojo’ is no different and fits into this theme. The writing sticks to 3 colours, red, white and yellow, and the background a plain white allowing the image to take centre stage and become one of the selling points.
Music Genre Preference: (Combat) Rock/ 70s
Income: Upper middle class
Interests: The recent history of music, e.g. looking back at the 70s
Name: Mojo Magazine – Old language with connotations of old age and old fashioned. ‘Living in the past’
Cover Image: The Clash looking rather scary and confrontational in an intimidating manner. They look like the have a story to tell. Connotations from the picture are; negative and a revealing story.
Main cover-line: ‘Who Killed The Clash? The Rucks, The Drugs, The Shocking Truth!’ – The cover-line reveals straight away that this isn’t going to be a suitable magazine for children as it zeros in on the target audience. Anybody who has heard of the clash, or has interest in music will be automatically intrigued by the use of powerful emotive language such as “killed” and “shocking”
Colour and font: Basic colours and font make up a house style very familiar to magazines aimed at adults. ‘Mojo’ is no different and fits into this theme. The writing sticks to 3 colours, red, white and yellow, and the background a plain white allowing the image to take centre stage and become one of the selling points.
Questionnaire Results...
These were the closed results for my questionnaire, listed below are the most popular results.
1. a) NO (the question was, is the school colourscheme appropriate)
b) White/Red
2. Group of Students (Cover image)
3. Yes (Sporting information to be included?)
4. No (Articles from other students)
5. Yes (Gallery of images or not)
6. Mixture (1 issue to be focussed on or a mixture)
7. Monthly (How often should it be released?)
1. a) NO (the question was, is the school colourscheme appropriate)
b) White/Red
2. Group of Students (Cover image)
3. Yes (Sporting information to be included?)
4. No (Articles from other students)
5. Yes (Gallery of images or not)
6. Mixture (1 issue to be focussed on or a mixture)
7. Monthly (How often should it be released?)
My Questionnaire...
Media Studies Coursework Questionnaire
Year Group:__________ Gender:__________
1. Would you like the school colour scheme of Navy Blue and white as the colour scheme of a school magazine?
Yes NO
If you answered no to the question above, which of the following colour scheme would you prefer?
White/RED Red/Blue
Different shades of Blue
2. Which of these do you think the cover image should be? (Please choose one of the following)
1 Student Group of Students
School related Object
School Building/Grounds
Other (please specify below)
______________________________________
3. Do you think the schools sporting information, such as fixtures and results should be included in the magazine?
Yes No
4. Do you think articles and information from other students should be included?
Yes No
5. What do you think would be a suitable name for the magazine
______________________________________________________________________________
6. What features would you be interested in, if they were put in the magazine?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Would a gallery of images be a good addition
Yes No
8. What is the most important aspect of your life in school?
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Do you think the issues of the magazine should focus on one important event or a mixture of everything?
1 Issue Mixture
10. How often do you think the magazine should be released?
Weekly Monthly Yearly
Year Group:__________ Gender:__________
1. Would you like the school colour scheme of Navy Blue and white as the colour scheme of a school magazine?
Yes NO
If you answered no to the question above, which of the following colour scheme would you prefer?
White/RED Red/Blue
Different shades of Blue
2. Which of these do you think the cover image should be? (Please choose one of the following)
1 Student Group of Students
School related Object
School Building/Grounds
Other (please specify below)
______________________________________
3. Do you think the schools sporting information, such as fixtures and results should be included in the magazine?
Yes No
4. Do you think articles and information from other students should be included?
Yes No
5. What do you think would be a suitable name for the magazine
______________________________________________________________________________
6. What features would you be interested in, if they were put in the magazine?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Would a gallery of images be a good addition
Yes No
8. What is the most important aspect of your life in school?
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Do you think the issues of the magazine should focus on one important event or a mixture of everything?
1 Issue Mixture
10. How often do you think the magazine should be released?
Weekly Monthly Yearly
3 possible titles...
These are the 3 possible names i have come up with for my school magazine...
- ‘3D’ – This name and it’s tagline ‘ A 3-Dimensional look at school life’ suggests the magazine has something in it for everybody, and from a point of view that may not have been publicly expressed before.
- ‘Cool School?’ – This name suggests the magazine would be posing a question and lots of different opinions would fill it giving a good analysis of what is good and bad about the school.
- BCHS Life – A simple and yet effective title. This has connotations of a mixture of information and features, allowing for everybody’s tastes and needs in the magazine.
- ‘3D’ – This name and it’s tagline ‘ A 3-Dimensional look at school life’ suggests the magazine has something in it for everybody, and from a point of view that may not have been publicly expressed before.
- ‘Cool School?’ – This name suggests the magazine would be posing a question and lots of different opinions would fill it giving a good analysis of what is good and bad about the school.
- BCHS Life – A simple and yet effective title. This has connotations of a mixture of information and features, allowing for everybody’s tastes and needs in the magazine.
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