Questionnaire Questions and Reasons

In this lesson the teacher asked us to think of 10 or more questions to relate with our genre which we would give to the public, blow are the questions I asked.

1. How old are you?
                 12           13          14        15        16

2. Who is your favourite pop band?
___________________________________________________________________________

3. Why do you like this band?
___________________________________________________________________________

4. What are your three favourite colours?
___________________________________________________________________________

5. What three words would you relate with the pop genre?
___________________________________________________________________________

6. What would make you buy a pop magazine?
                  Interesting band       Buzz words        Colours        Pictures        Free stuff      Stories     Other

7. How often do you buy pop magazines?
                 Once a week     Once a month      Yearly      Occasionally      Never

8. Which pop magazine do you buy the most?
                  Top of the Pops      We Love Pop      Pop

9. Why do you buy this magazine the most?
___________________________________________________________________________

10. Would you be more interested in buying a magazine with an exclusive story rather than one which did not?
                  Yes     No      Maybe

11.   How much money would you be willing to spend on a magazine?
                  £1-£2      £3-£4      £5 or more


Here I then had to explain why I chose the questions, blow are the reasons.

For my first question I asked ‘how old are you?’ This was a closed question. This question will help me to know exactly how old most of the teens are who would buy my magazine therefore I could make it more appealing to them.

My next question I asked ‘who is your favourite pop band?’ This question will allow me to see who the teens like at this moment in time; I will then make my cover story about them. This would mean that more teens would buy the magazine as their favourite pop band/person is on the cover.

The third question I asked was ‘why do you like this band?’ By asking this question I will find out why the band is appealing to the target audience and will then include similar reasons in my biography about them.

The next question was ‘what are your three favourite colours?’ This question will help me to pick my main colours on the front cover, this will then appeal to them more as I have used the colours they like the most.

I then asked ‘what three words would you relate with the pop genre?’ Here I am hoping to get the words fun, dancing and bands. Fun is what I would like to make my magazine so more people will buy it, dancing is what people do to good music so I will have bands/people who sing good music and bands are what I will have in the magazine.

My sixth question was ‘what would make you buy a pop magazine?’ This was also a closed question where the answers were interesting band, buzz words, colours, pictures, free stuff, stories and other (people could choose more than one). This would help me with my magazine because I would know why they would buy a magazine. For example if they chose pictures I would have lots of good pictures on the front of the magazine which would tell the audience that there are more good ones inside.

The next question I asked was ‘how often do you buy pop magazines?’ Once again this is a closed question with the answers; once a week, once a month, yearly, occasionally and never. Here I am hoping most people to circle once a month so they would be ok with the magazine only being printed once a moth.

I then asked ‘which pop magazine do you buy the most?’ This was a closed question with the answers; Top of the Pops, We Love Pop and Pop. When I find out which magazine they buy the most of I can look at that magazine more in depth so I can make my magazine similar to that.

I then asked ‘why do you buy this magazine the most?’ They will then tell me why they like the magazine more than the others, this will then help me with my magazine as I will know why they like the pop magazines.

The tenth question I asked was ‘would you be more interested in buying a magazine with an exclusive story rather than one which did not?’ Even I will still include my exclusive with a band it would be good to know if the target audience like exclusives more than non-exclusives.

The last question I asked here was ‘how much money would you be willing to spend on a magazine?’ This was a closed question, the asweres they could choose from were; £1-£2, £3-£4 and £5 or more. Most people would like a cheap magazine however in order for the magazine to be good it will have to be a little bit pricy. I am expecting more people to circle £1-£2 however I have already decided that the magazine will cost £2.99. 

Target Audience Research

Below is my target audience research. It shows who my target audience is and why I have chosen this age range.

The target audience is very important when it comes to magazines. This is because when you are creating a magazine you need to know what to include in it, therefore you need an age range so you know what they like. You can then put things into the magazine which you know people this age will like; the magazine will then sell more.

Usually the type of people who buy pop magazines are teenagers (aged 12-16). I will then target my magazine at teenagers, hopefully it will sell and people will be interested in it. To make my magazine stand out more to the audience, on the cover the main image will be of a boy band. I have decided to do this because teenage girls like boy bands. This then might make more girls buy the magazine and if they like it, buy it on a regular base.

I will also include interesting features in my magazine which teenagers like at the moment again more people will buy it due to this.

My colour scheme will relate to pop; this will be anchorage as it will pin down the meaning of my central image which I have chosen. I will have a quote from the interview on the front cover in my main colour so when the audience will see the colour they will think of my magazine. The quote will be interesting and exciting so people will pick up the magazine and will want to know more.  

Initial Plans

In this lesson I had to state what my plans where for my magazine, it includes; how much it will cost, how often it will published, etc.

Initial plans

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Researching The Marketing Place

Here I have analysed two magazines to see how many differences and similarities there are between them in order to make my magazine better.

There are two pop magazines which would be in competition with my magazine, these would be; Top of the Pops and We Love Pop. I will first focus on the ‘Top of the Pops’ magazine. The price for this magazine is £2.99, this is quite expensive however reasonable compared to ‘Q’ magazine where it costs around £4.99. The magazine is published every month which is plenty of time to get the magazine in order. Usually all of the magazines which this company produces should be around the same size, this issue size happens to be 66 pages. This is quite a lot of pages however again other magazines such as ‘Q’ can be around 170 pages long. Usually in magazines a regular content is stated however in this magazine it has not been put on. I do know from buying this magazine often that the regular content is the cringe page, shameful celeb slip-ups and horoscopes. These are normally near the back of the magazine. The magazine is split into five sections which are; we love shopping, we love boys, celebs & gossip, all about you and wins & offers. However I do think that this magazine has feature articles which are in the celebs & gossip column. In this section you will find exclusive interviews and pictures of celebrities, every magazine should at least have feature articles to interest the reader. Some magazines however (like this one) do not as ‘Features’ which means you will have to look closer to see where they are located.

Next I will focus on ‘We Love Pop’ magazine. The price for this magazine is again £2.99; the price should be consistent throughout all the issues. This particular magazine is published every month. This is good for the people who work at the magazine because it gives them lots of time to get their stories sorted out. I think that when I come to making my magazine I will make it monthly. The number of pages in this issue number is 66 pages. This should be consistent throughout all issues of these magazines. On the contents page there is not many subtitles which tell the audience about which is monthly or featured, this may confuse them as they may be used to knowing exactly where to go to look for a specific item in the magazine. I don’t know which is monthly however I can see that inside this issue what is featured as it says “inside this month...”

I have said that ‘Top of the Pops’ magazine has the same colours for every issue which is anchorage however this is wrong. Every issue is a different colour; this is so the audience doesn’t get board looking at the same colours. It may also attract a wider audience doing this as the next issue might be their favourite colours. 

Looking at both of these pop magazines I can see what they have done to make the magazine sell more. I am going to use these magazines to help me create the best pop magazine possible.       

Analysis Of Double Page Spreads

Above is a slide show of my two double page spreads, I have analysed them. I have done this so I know what I definatly need to include in my double page spread. I have also done this to get a sense of two different double page spreads.

Double Page Spread Analysis

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Analysis Of Contents Pages

Below is a prezi explaining my two contents pages (Top of the Pops and We Love Pop) this is to help me make my own contents page as I should get ideas of what to include.

Analysis of contents pages on Prezi

Analysis Of Front Covers

Evaluation on Prezi

(I created this on Prezi. I have evaluated two music magazine front covers to help me with my main task of creating my own music magazine. I have stated the colour scheme and the codes and conventions of the magazones, this is to help me when creating my magazine)

Evaluation

Evaluation on Prezi

(Here is my evaluation of my front cover and contents page, I created this on Prezi. This helps me to see my strenghts and weaknesses on both products and what I could do differently the next time)

Final Contents Page

Below is my finished contents page, by looking at the previous post you can see which parts I did first and now my finished item.

Here is my finished production of my contents page. I have displayed all the images and information which I put on my sketch. You can clearly see what the pictures are relating to in the magazine and what the other stories in the magazine are.

Production of Contents Page

Below are screenshots of my production of the contents page. I have done this so you can see how much work I have done and which parts I did first.

I first started out with a blank page on QuarkXPress Passport.

I first added the title of the page and the sub-headings. I have placed the two sub-headings evenly apart so there is enough room for the information to go under this.

I then wrote in the page numbers and stories to go with the pages. This will tell the audience where to locate stories and if they are a feature in this month’s magazine or a monthly thing.

Afterwards I proceeded to put in pictures which will relate to the stories inside the magazine.

Here you can see that I have put in the page numbers and stories which the pictures are of.

The last thing which I put onto my contents page was the bar across the bottom with the writing inside. This makes it stand out more and gets people’s attention. When people read that you can win something every month they may keep buying it so they have a chance of winning.

Final Front Cover

I have included this to show you my finished product of my front cover. By looking at the post before this you will be able to see that I have done lots of work on this to make it look good.

Here is the result of my final front cover of my school magazine.

Front Cover Production

This post has all my screenshots of the production of my front cover. This is so you can see how I created everything on my front cover.

Here is where I started: a blank page on Photoshop. When I started creating the magazine front cover I selected international paper size A4. 

Next I added two black bars; one across the top and another across the bottom. This is so that the writing inside the bar (which I will add later on) stands out more.

I then added two pictures on either side of the magazine which are of a computer and a camera. Later on I will add the headlines to link in with these pictures so the audience will know what the pictures are about in the magazine.

After this I placed my main cover story image onto my magazine. It shows a sixth former reading a book. I also put in the magazines bar code.

The last thing I did was add in all the writing. The title, slogan, main story, cover story’s, price, issue number, date of magazine and the competition (trip to Alton Towers). This was the result of all of this.

Photography for Designs

Below are pictures which I will use in my front cover and contents page. I have explained what the storylines for each picture is and why I have used this. I have done this to show why I have chosen the things which I have chosen.

The storyline for this image is: Get Stuck in a Book, then a quote is used under this which is: “Books are my life”. I have chosen this picture to connote that this sixth former is ‘stuck in the book’ and she loves to read. This may persuade other student to go to the libery and read more.

The storyline for this is: Computer Help. Inside the magazine will be a page or two on what programmes to use on computers and how to work them. It will also include a small space where students will write in asking for help and their answer will be published here. The first image will be used on my contents page while the second image will be used on my front cover.

The storyline for this is: Mr Bottom’s Helpful Tips to ACE English! This will consist of tips from him to help students get an A in English. I expect that it will help students in their lessons get better grades. He is pointing to the English expectations list on the front of the door to suggest that this is what he expects from all students.

The story line for this is: Photography Fun. I hope that some students will be interested in photography and will want to buy the magazine so they can read this page. It will include a monthly competition which you can win by sending in you photographs, one will be picked as the winner and they will win something special. The first picture will be used on my contents page and the second picture will be used on my front cover.   

This storyline is: Question Claire. Claire is the school nurse therefore students can send in any questions they would like her to answer and she will answer them in the next issue.

This storyline is: Group Debates. This will include a page or two about debates which are happening in the school at the present time. Pupils should be interested and will then buy the magazine.

The storyline for this is: Maths Masterminds. This implies that on this page it will be talking about maths. The masterminds are students who are very good at maths and will be featured in the magazine. Some students like maths so I hope they would pick up this magazine.

Sketch of my Contents Page

(Here is a sketch of my school contents page. This will help me to know what I will include in my magazine)

I have stated that this page is the contents page at the top then under this is two sub-headings which are; features and monthly. Under those headings is a list which includes; page number and what is on that page. Most magazines have these therefore I thought it would be a good idea to put them in as well, they also help the audience find certain articles. I have then included lots of photographs which are eye catching and will give the audience an idea about what type of articles are in this magazine. Some magazines also have a picture of their front cover, I decided to add this in however when it comes to editing I may not include it depending on how much space is left for it. Once again across the bottom of the page is an eye catching feature, it states that you can win something every month. This will get the audience to keep buying the magazine and it lets them know that this is a monthly magazine.

Planning Content

Below are what I will include in my school magazine. I have chosen all of these becuase I think that they would be things which school magazines would usually have inside.

Regular Content:
- Horoscope
- Student Help Page
- Photography Challenge
- Computer Help Page
- WIN (something different every week)
- Question Claire
- Learning to Learn

Feature Articles:
- Exclusive interview with the Jazz Band
- Word Book Day
- How to DIY
- Maths Masterminds
- Plus an interview with the head teacher
- Reading Buddies
- Mr Bottoms helpful tips to ace English
- Life of a year 7
- New Clubs
- University Life

Images Used:
- Someone on a computer (side on shot)
- Over the shoulder shot of someone writing E=MC2
- Mr Bottom
- The school nurse
- someone taking a photograph
- People sitting on a long table with papers all over it while they are discussing improtant things
- Screenshot of the front cover of my magazine

(Here is a sketch of my school magazine, it will help me when making my magazine because I can look at it to know what I should include and where everything should go)

I have chosen this title to suggest that this magazine is representing the pupils of Weatherhead High School. This then links in with my slogan as it tells the audience what the magazine is called ‘The Voice’. The main story which is the front cover is of a sixth former reading a book; this tells the audience that in this magazine it will take about books. I thought it would be a good idea to put a competition in this because more people will buy it so they can win the trip, and therefore we will make more money. I have then thought of other little cover story’s to surround the rest of the magazine, this states what else will be inside the magazine. I have then chosen that the magazine should cost £1:50 as this is cheaper than other magazines and hopefully more people will buy it because of this.

Plans for Front Cover

In this lesson I had to think of what my magazine will be like. I had to think of a title, a slogan, the cover lines which will be used and the details of my magazine. These will then be included into my school magazine.

Title – The Voice

Slogan – We are the VOICE of the people
Details – The LRC. This magazine will be the voice of the people at Weatherhead High School. The colour of my magazine will be blue and purple as this is our school colours. My front cover image will be of a 6^th former reading a book; I will also get more books in the background of this image. This will tell the people who read my magazine where the person is and what they are doing. Their face will be covered by the book to imply that the book is interesting and they are stuck into it.
Cover lines – Get Stuck in a Book
                      - Computer Help
                      - Photography Fun
                      -Exclusive interview with Mr Bottom
                      -Student Worries

Different Types of Camera Angles

In lesson we were put into groups of 3 to take pictures of different camera angles. Below are the pictures my group took

Below is a low angle medium close up.

Here is a high angle long shot.

This is an extreme close up of the time.

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Next is a big close up of someone using a mobile phone.

This is a close up of someone in nature.

Here is a two shot in medium long shot.

This is an over the shoulder shot of someone writing.

This is a very long shot conveying isolation.

This is a medium close up.

Here is a long shot.

This is a photograph which has connotations of friendship. (When you are friends sometimes they do this to show that they are friends and they will keep a secret).

 This is a photograph which has connotations of stress. (It is of our school, people get stressed in school and therefore we thought this would be good for this photograph).       

                                                                                                        

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Codes and Convention of a Magazine

 

1.       There is always a central image. This is to tell the audience what the main story in this magazine is.

2.       There are also smaller images which are used to tell us what else in inside the magazine.

3.       Masthead. This is a bold title usually in a different font to let the reader know what the name of the specific magazine is.

4.       Colour schemes are used to interest and attract the reader. When the same colours are used in every issue the audience start to recognise which magazine it fits to. The colours may fit in with the genre of music, for example the rock music genre may be black and green this may connote the type of rock music it is. Magazines only tend to use 2-4 colours as this look tidier.

5.       There is sometimes a bar across the tip/bottom of the magazine, this draws our attention and gets us to read what is in that box. Usually it will say something like ‘Inside WIN a trip to...’ as an audience we will want to win something and will then buy the magazine.

6.       Cover lines also known as sub headings are used as this gives the audience a glimpse of what is in the magazine. This also gets us interested and makes us what to buy it. There will be lots of these to exhibit that the magazine is packed with interesting information/gossip.

7.       A price is displayed usually near the bottom of the page if the magazine is expensive or near the top if it is cheap.

8.       A bar code is used on all magazines at the bottom or side.

9.       The number and date of the issue is also near the bar code, they have placed this there so the audience will remember where it is and will therefore be easy to locate the next time. They have the date on the issue so we know if the magazine is out of date or not, and to also tell us if it is daily or weekly or monthly etc. The number of issues is displayed to let us know if we have missed any issues.

10.   Usually the website address is added in near here so that if the audience want to go onto their website to look for a specific item they can easily find it.

11.   Buzz words are used to catch the audience’s eye. These are; plus, exposed, exclusive etc. These words automatically interest us as we think that we are getting the exclusive and no one else will know what we know.   

12.   Puffs (an item free) are sometimes included in magazines. These are usually used in little kind’s magazines because when they seem them they want it and will convince their parents to buy it for them just for the free bee.

13.   Lastly a slogan is used as this reveals something about the magazine.