Questionnaire

Questionnaire

For my as media coursework I am designing a music magazine, I would be grateful if you take the time to fill this questionnaire out.

1.      Are you male or female?

2.      How old are you?

     15-20        20-25        25+

3.      How often do you by music magazines?

      Weekly?    Monthly?   Yearly?

4.      What colours do you associate with indie music?

5.      What your favourite indie music artist?

6.      On a scale of 1 to 5 were 5 is very important and one being the least relevant, how do u rate the following aspects of a music magazine

Pictures                     1       2       3       4        5

Competitions?          1       2       3       4        5

Feature articles?      1       2       3       4        5

Interviews?               1       2       3       4        5

Prizes?                       1       2       3       4        5

Updates?                  1       2       3       4        5

Gossip articles?        1       2       3       4        5

7.      Do you either download your music online or buy CDS?

8.      What three words do you associate with indie music?

9.      What do you dislike any contents of a music magazine?

10.  What entices you to buy a music magazine?

11.  Do you attend allot of concerts? If yes who have you been to scene?

12.  How much are you willing to pay for a music magazine?

13.  Do you have a particular favourite part in a music magazine?

This is my questionnaire, I have done this to help me create my magazine by using the answers to give me ideas for my target audience so for example; if the majority of my target audience don't like the colour blue then I will not include blue in my magazine. Furthermore, I will give my questionnaire to my target audience so I get the answers that are related to my genre (Indie).

All the questions that I have included in my questionnaire is to do with the creation of my magazine, so I will use the results to make my questionnaire to create my magazine so it is liked by my target audience. Also I have used rate systems in my questionnaire as they only take a few seconds to complete they contain allot of research.

Analysis of of a double page spread

Colour Scheme

Simple colour scheme, colours are kept to a minimum, in this magazine there are only 3 colours used; orange, white, and grey. This is because the reader is not distracted by the colour and so they focus on the content of the magazine. Also the colours are simple colours also for the same reason why the colours are kept to a minumum.

Main image as background

Sometimes the main image is used as a background, but in this case the photographer would have to think about were the band members were because there would have to be space for the text and the title, so in using the main image as a background it would have to be thought through beforehand and placed very carefully. Also they would have to think of the whole image as the text needs to be easily seen so for example the main image couldn't have a busy multi-coloured background, it would have to be plain and simple with a colour that matches the colourscheme of the dps.

 Main image

One large picture which takes up a whole page, and sometimes the picture bleeds between pages they do this to link the two pages together. So the reader can reconize the text with the images and link them, also the text relates back to the picture so the reader can read the text and look at the image, this helps the reader to imagine that they are actually at the interview.

Quotes

Quotes are used in the headlime, on the picture or in the standfirst or to break-up text. They use quotes in the title to entice the reader as the title doesnt nessesarly tell the reader what is in the article so this makes the reader want to find out what is in the dps.

Drop capital

A drop capital is used for the simple reason of showing were the reader were to begin as some people may get confused and start reading at the wrong point. There is other techniques used aswell like; bold text, slightly bigger type size and lastly capitals are sometimes used for the first few lines.

Moreover, a standfirst introduces the article, this is usually placed under the headline, there is often a mention of the journalist's name.

Headline

The headline is a major eye-catcher for the reader, as it does not exactly tell the reader what the article is about so this makes the reader actually want to find out what it is about. The standfirst tells the reader what the article is about.

Byline

The byline tells the reader who wrote the article and also the photographer name is mentioned.

Layout

The layout of a magazine is usually 2-4, and there is usually a strapline at the top which explains a little what the article is about.

Tone

Furthermore, the article is usally written informally and in the personality of the jornalist this makes the reader feel more involved in the conversation.

Analysis of professional Front cover.

Colour

• With a professional magazine cover, they use simple colours. Moreover, they only use about 2/3 colours that they know will look good on the shelf. Also, they do research about what colours are favoured by their target audience so for example; NME magazines target audience is people around the age of 16-25 who are men, so they are not going to use bright pink on the front cover.

Title

• Magazines use their title as a way for the readers to differentiate from magazine from another. Moreover, the titles on a professional magazine cover is unique from any other magazine. Furthermore, the title is usually only one word which is catchy and remember able. Also, it takes up the whole of the width of the magazine. Lastly, the title is usually bold and it stands out on the shelf.

Main Image

• The main image on a front cover has always got something to do with the feature article so when the readers see the main image they know what the main article will be in the magazine and if they are interested in the main article this will entice them to buy this.

PUFF

• This is what magazines use to entice the reader by offering something a little bit extra so the audience is swayed towards that magazine and buy theirs instead of the competition.

Coverlines &Sublines

• Coverlines- they are usually only a couple of words to attract the reader.
• Subtitles- Subtitles explain the coverline in a short sentence to make sure it sounds appealing to the reader. Also the subline is in a smaller text.
• There is usually up to 6 or 7 coverlines and subtitles on a magazine front cover.

Exclusive Main Feature

• This makes sure the reader buys their magazine,  as they make out like they are the only magazine with that interview which is very effective. Using words such as 'exclusive' makes the reader sound included in the gossip and what they are about to read is very secret.

Strip across the top or bottom.

• This is a strip which includes artists names who feature in the magazine.

Inital Plans for my magazine

With all the research that I have done I have come to a decision about my own magazine.

Price

• I have decided to price my music magazine at £2.00 this is because this is the average of the other music magazines that my music magazine is in competition with, so therefore it cannot be any more than the competition as the customer will go for the cheaper option and not buy my magazine.

Frequency of publication

• I have decided to make my magazine a weekly magazine, this is because all the other indie magazines such as NME is a weekly magazine so therefore I want to be the same as the competition and keep the readers up to date frequently.

Issue size

• I have decided to make my magazine around 300 pages as that is the average of the magazines have around that many pages. So i do not want to have less than the competition because that means less information so then the buyer will go for the magazine that has more pages so they feel more satisfied with their purchase.

Regular Content

• I have decided to have

Feature Articles

Reasearching the market place

NME Magazine

Prices

• The price of my competitors (NME magazine) is £1.25 a week. Moreover, on the NME website there is a deal on at the moment for 4 magazines for only £1.00 as a starter trial.

Frequency of publication

• The frequency of publication for the NME magazine is weekly, so therefore my magazine will have to be weekly also.

Issue size

• The issue size of the NME magazine is usually 220 pages including advertisement pages

Regular content

• NME magazine gives exclusive information on the hottest indie music, they also share great music writing and photography on the latest bands.

Feature articles

• Music Updates
• Ticket information
• Indie bands
• The latest indie band gossip (make-ups and fall outs)
• Interviews on quirky bands
• hottest producers right now

Uncut Magazine

Prices

• UNCUT magazine is a expensive magazine, as it is a huge £4.90.

Frequency of publication

• This magazine is issued monthly so this is probably why the magazine is so expensive as it has a whole months worth of information on music.

Issue Size

• 148 packed pages, the magazine will have allot of pages because of the fact that it is only issued monthly, not weekly.

Regular Content

• Interviews with music legends.
•  Gig updates
• Prizes
• New and upcoming artist debates.

Feature Articles

• Ticket infomation
• Latest gossip
• Question and answers for the readers
• Debate pages
• News
• Reviews on the latest music artists.

Inital Ideas

Type of music magazine that I am going to produce

• The type of music magazine that I am going to produce in an indie magazine.

Target Auidence

• The target auidence of my magazine is going to be people aged 15-25, this can be people of any gendre. The reason why I have chosen this age range is because the context of my magazine is going to be a little complicated so people under the age of 15 will not be able to understand the language in my text. My magazine is unisex because my genre of music is liked by females and males. Also my magazine is going to be for britsh people as I am making the magazine in england.

Rough Layout of front cover & Contents page

This is the drawn plan of my front cover on my music magazine. This helped me decide the layout of the magazine when it came to making it so there was no confusion. Moreover, it helped me decide what pictures to take when I was using the camera. This made the whole process allot quicker and easier.

This is the drawn draft of my contents page, this helped me when it came to making my contents page because I already knew what the set layout was going to be. Moreover, this also helped me with my photography as I already knew what the contents of my magazine was going to be I could relate the pictures to the content so that was a huge help.

All pictures taken but not all of them used.

Evaluation of my school magazine and the contents page

The front cover of my magazine follows the codes and conventions of a magazine cover because there is a large title which fills the cover of my magazine also my magazine has coverline which is the main feature in the magazine (Weatherhead High School). My coverlines are a one or two words, they attract the readers eye to read on leaving them on a kind of cliffhanger. With my coverline there is a small setence (cover lines) and a image which anchors the auidence to read my magazine, my coverlines are in a smaller text, so the reader are automatically attracted to the coverline not the subline. This is consistant throughout my whole design of my magazine cover.

Moreover I have a large image of a model for my background, the reason why i have chosen the model that I have is because she is a student at weatherhead high school so this goes with the main feature of the magazine.

Furthermore, the barcode is also on the front of the magazine so there can be advertisement on the back of the magazine. Above the barcode I have the date, the issue number, and the price this follows the codes and conventions of a magazine cover. Also my front cover and contents page are consistant with eachother according to colour scheme and font, so this follows the codes and conventions of a magazine cover and a contents page.

I have used no buzz words on my magazine front cover but I have other ways to intrigue the reader, I have used colourfull and eye-catching images and bright text so the reader will automatically be drawn to my magazine over anyone else's as it is full of colour. In addition the colour scheme matches with the target auidence (11-18).

Moreover my magazine follows the codes and conventions by not having boring photographs, my photography vary, so this will keep the readers interested in my work. My main image on my front cover is related to my main coverline (Weatherhead High School).

I used new media technologies in the making of my product my using a new high tec camera in taking my pictures, this helped me capture my pictures in the best possible detail. Moreover, I used quark express to make my contents page instead of photoshop this improved the quality of my work as it is a better piece of software.

 The strenth of quark express is the fact that because it is a better piece of software it instantly makes my work easier to improve as it is more advanced than your avarage photoshop. So for this reason alone my contents page improved because I can do things in quark express that I cannot do in photoshop, for example; I can easily colour the background in sections on quark express but photoshop it can become complicated with text box's and it could easily go wrong. The weakness of using quark express is the fact that not just anyone can use it, they have to be good at working programms. Also, people have to learn how to use quark express, so this can be very time consuming.

The strenths of the high-tec camera compared to any other camera is firstly, the obvious fact that the quality will be better so for example there would be less smudging and the camera would be able to capture images that wouldnt normally show up on a reguar camera so for instance something very far away, or something really zoomed up, that would normally be fuzzy on a regular camera. On the otherhand the weakness's of using a high tec camera is the cost of the camera compared to a normal camera, also if the camera was to get damaged then the expenses will be almost doubled compared to a normal camera repair. Moreover, some people may find a high-tec camera harder to use in comparison to a normal camera as there is more buttons so there is more confusion when some people just want to take a stright forward picture.

School magazine and contents page

Front cover

This is my magazine front cover, this is the finshed product after I had edited my photograph to the right side and added different text's and other images, I did this in my media lessons. I created my front cover in adobe photoshop.

Contents page

This is my contents page, this is the end result that I got after I uploaded my photographs to quark express, this is the piece of software that I used to create my contents page in. I changed the size of my images and I added text to the readers would know which pages was which.

Rough Drafts of Magazine cover and contents page.

 

This is my front cover, for my school magazine. I drew this as a draft for a guildline for my proper school magazine.

This is my contents page, I drew a rough draft as a guildline for my proper school contents page.

These rough drafts helped me create my proper school magazine as it helped me decide what pictures needed to be taken. Also this saved time as when it came down to make my magazine I already knew what i was going to do, so basically the ideas were already there I just needed to put them together.

Photography Work

This is a low angle medium close-up.

This a high angle medium close-up.

This is an extreme close-up.

This is an big close-up of someone using their phone.

Close up of someone in nature.

Two medium shot. 

Over the shoulder shot of someone writing.

       Very long shot conveying isolation.

Medium close-up.

Very long shot.

Connoting friendship.

Connoting stress.

I have chosen the certain pictures that I have because I believe they are good images and they go well with the critera that we was given. Although, I think I could of been a little bit more creative with the 'connoting friendship' image as it wasnt original and also in some of the images (very long shot) the focus could of been a little bit better as it was out of focus slightly. Furthermore, I enjoyed this task as I am very interested in photography and I liked furthering my skills even more. We took these pictures by using our class mates as models we did this is school time.