Make Up Inspiration for my pictures

These are a few ideas of the make up design I would like for the front cover of my music magazine. I want my artist to have diamante lips to give off an expensive look of the magazine. I want my artist to have smokey eyes or eyes with black eyeliner as this highlights their eyes and makes them stand out, which i want my magazine to do. It also creates the mysterious look which attracts my target audience, as the well known artist could be their role model and boys may be attracted to the particular artist on my front cover.

Focus Group

In class me and Nadine did a focus group. We was asked questions to do with the genre of magazines we read and what we can do to improve magazines as well as other questions. This helps us out with the ideas of our final magazine as its gives me a perspective of what someone thinks about magazines from my own age group and then I can include my own ideas as this is what other people my age may want for a magazine as a pop/chart magazine which is mature for the 16-25 age range as there is a gap in the market for this.

Thought Shower and Initial Ideas

Target Audience Research on Prezi

                                     Market Research

 

I have been researching many different front covers, contents pages and double page spreas from different pop music magazines. Blender Magzine (front cover) have used similar colours to the Top of the Pops magazine with the blue, white and grey I think this is because the aqua blue stands out promptly from the white and grey/black colours used in the magazines which would attract us to the magazines. All three magazines have used very well known artists too which will be recognisable and role models to many readers across the world which will attract the reader to buy the magazines/ The Q magazine contents page is again running with a theme throughout as it used black, red and white on all of its pages this white writing is always made to stand out by a filled red or black background behind it, they use big bold numbers instead of the word page and have different sections for example 'every month' 'review' 'features' and 'women in music' this divides up the contents page as well its almost a long story short and gives us a glimpse of what that sections of the magazine will be about which makes us read on. I like this idea and may even use it for my own contents page. All three magazines use pull quotes which I am going top use when producing my magazine front cover, contents and double page spread as well as different fonts and sizes.

 I then looked at Billboards magazine front cover,Top of the Pops contents page and Q magazines double page spread. Billboard and Top of the pops have both used electric colours which instantly stand out to me. The billboard front cover uses electrifying red and I like how the girl is covering the end of the Billboard title but we still know which magazine it is due to it being a popular magazine which I could try out on my front cover. The different font colours and layout of the font on the front cover makes everything stand out and we can instantly read specific words that entice us to read on, also the way it is all on the left stacked on top of each other catches my eyes but different stories are separated by faint grey lines which I could use when producing my own magazine front cover. Top of the pops have used a specific layout that is used in every magazine. They have placed the front covering the contents and drawn arrows to the stories from the front cover and just placing page numbers which are big and bold to help us find the stories but then also added sections again like the Q magazine from about placing stories that relate to each other in a specific section. I am also going to take in account that have used images relating to other articles on the contents too. Q magazine have been very clever in this double page spread, again using their usual colours of red black and white with all the image relating with the font colours as Shakira is wearing the same colours too which I could take into account with my images but I like the cleverness of the font and that it is placed on a white box slant but its as if we're reading a magazine within a magazine due to it being on the slant and not filling the bottom half of the page. Like the top of the pops contents it has used a thumbnail image instead of using the one image.



The front covers of all the magazines I have researched are generally women which I have taken into account when I am going to produce my own magazine and are always the sexy looking pictures not fun pictures even on WE <3 POP magazine which is a target audience of children from around 8-13. When I looked at this front cover the artists name instantly stood out at me which they have used font bigger than any other on the front page which I could use as an idea for my magazine. It is a very busy magazine due to it being targeted at children this could show how busy and full packed the magazine is going to be if thats only the front cover which could be a key element to selling my own magazine this is unlike other magazine front covers which are for an older audience as they are less busy sometimes but more mature and simplistic. Fonts are highlighted and pull quoted have been used which is also used in the Blender magazine double page spread. Thumbnails are also used on the front page of WE <3 POP as well as the Billboard contents page. The front covers layout of the font is all over and even over the middle part of the picture as we recognise Katy Perry straight away. The contents page text is all laid out the left of the page and again just used numbers with a bigger font and bold which most magazine contents I have researched have used which I think I will use with my own magazine contents. Billboard have also put their name and the date of the issue in the top right hand corner which I like reinforcing themselves again to the reader. Red is a very dominant colour in magazines as I have noticed over my research which I may use in my own magazine as you can see this on the contents from Billboard and the Double Page Spread of Blender magazine. On the double page spread the image and large tect is very dominant and the text is more towards the bottom right hand corner which I like again with the re-occuring theme of red, white and black which is like the Q magazine. The atrists name 'Florence Welch' is in blue which instantly stand out to us too as it is the only text in blue on the whole page this is another idea for my own magazine.

Uses and Gratifications

The audience is active and uses or buys the text for their own gratification/pleasure. In this model the audience holds the power as it is up to them whether they buy the text or not. Therefore it is vital the producers meet the needs of the intended audience. In this model the audience holds the power as it is up to them whether they buy the text or not. Therefore it is vital the producers meet the needs of the intended audience. The uses and gratifications model demonstrates that consumers have wants and desires and consume the types of chosen media for individual needs.



Researchers Blulmer and Katz expanded on the Uses and gratifications theory and published their own in 1974, stating that individuals might choose and use a text for the following purposes

•Diversion - escape from everyday problems and routine.
•Personal Relationships - using the media for emotional and other interaction, eg) substituting soap operas for family life

•Personal Identity - finding yourself reflected in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts
•Surveillance - Information which could be useful for living eg) weather reports, financial news, holiday bargains

Since then, the list of Uses and Gratifications has been extended, particularly as new media forms have come along (eg video games, the internet) 

Music Magazine Target Audience Questionnaire

After looking at the demographics tables I decided to ask ninety peers to answer a few questions in relation to my magazine and this would help build and create my music magazine as well as put price and genre into perspective. 

How old are you?      

16 years old - 25

17 years old - 26 

18 years old - 18

19 years old - 10

20 years old - 10

21 years old - 5

22 years old - 3

23 years old - 3

24 years old - 0

Which genre of music do you most like listening to?

Pop/Chart - 28

RNB/Rap - 13

Rock - 15 

Indie/ Alternative - 20

Country/Folk - 5

Dance - 9 

Classical - 0

Drum n Bass - 0

Do you read/buy magazines?

Yes - 90

No - 0

Which of these magazines have you purchased in the past?

Q Magazine - 22

NME - 17

KERRANG - 12

Billboard - 7

Top Of The Pops - 15

Rolling Stones - 13

Other - 4

How Often Do You Buy Music Magazines?

Weekly - 16

Once a forntight - 29

Once a month -  35

Rarely - 10

Never - 0

How Much Would You Pay For A Music Magazine?

£1 - £2 - 32

£2 - £3 - 45

£3 + - 11

Other Amount - 2

Demographics For My Own Music Magazine

For my music magazine I have chosen to target the age band of 16 - 24. I have taken into account that a large percentage of the 16 - 24 band will either be in higher education, university, apprenticeships, part time jobs and working out what they want to do with their future. I have chosen this age range as most of the population at this age will not have sufficient income and so I would be making my magazine monthly and at the lowest price possible. I am also going to include a chance to win tickets to a concert of the readers choice due to them maybe not being able to afford this if at university or college. I have looked at other demographics and taken them into account. My magazine wont be gender or race specific giving me flexibility of colours and themes I use but  my magazine will have a specific genre of pop/chart music.

Maslows Hierarchy Of Needs

Maslows Hierarchy of  Needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Thoery of Human Motivation". Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans curiosity. 

Physiological needs are the physical requirement for human survival. If these requirements are not met, the human body cannot function properly, and will ultimately fail. Physiological needs are though to be the most important; they should be met first. Air, water and food are metabolic requirement for survival in all animals, including humans. Clothing and shelter provide necessary protection from the elements. 

Safety and Security main needs include personal security, financial security, health and well-being and safety net against accidents, illness and their adverse impacts. Saftey and security also have the social stability aspect of being able to fit into a specific social group which I will be taking into consideration when creating my music magazine.

After physiological and safety needs have been fulfilled, the third level of human needs starts to happen which involves feelings of belongingness. This need is especially strong to childhood and can override the need for safety as witnessed in children who cling to abusive parents. This level can impact on an individuals ability to form and maintain emotionally significant relationships in general such as friendship, intimacy and family.

All humans have a need to feel respected, this includes the need to have self esteem and self respect. Esteem presents the typical human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People often engage in a profession or hobby to gain recognition. These activities give the person a sense of contribution or value. People with low self esteem often need respect from others; they may feel the need to seek fame or glory. However, fame or glory will not help the person build their esteem until they accept who they are internally. 

The level of self actualization refers to what a persons full potential is and the realization of that potential. Maslow describes this level as the desire to accomplish everything that one can, to become the most that one can be. 

Demographics Tables

This demographics table shows the social class of todays society. These tables are used to help businesses choose a specific audience they are wanting to target their product at and also helps to identify consumer wants, needs and lifestyle. Having a strong demographic knowledge helps to boost the sales of a magazine by the use of a reader profile. Demographics can help to let the business understand the type of people magazines are selling to and can then design their magazine around them for example if the magazine was to target at group E you wouldnt use expensive features such as adverts of expensive clothing and perfume but you would target CDs and clothing in their price range that they can afford. Where as group A would buy a magazine expecting better quality within the magazine and more artists/celebrities wearing designer clothing and advertising where they could get these. Demographics provide insight into the target audience and provide the information needed to be able to produce the right product for the correct group helping you to sell your product.

Understanding Demograpahics

A business owner needs demographics to identify the ideal consumer for his product or services and develop marketing strategies such as product packaging, advertisements, business location and pricing.  Any provider needs to understand demographics so that they can decide on exactly what their product will include. Firstly they need to reach out to consumers and get to understand who they are and about them having this kind of information about a persons age, gender, income and education tells a marketer how likely a person is to making a purchase. Understanding the demographics is important because if the business gets to know their target audience very well then this gives the business a better advantage at selling the product.

Demographics Definiton

Definition: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/demographic

A portion of a population, especially considered as consumers as well it can be seen as a statistic characterising human populations (or segments of human populations broken down by age or sex or income etc.)

My Reader Profile

This is the look I am going for with my reader profile. I have taken ideas from both of the previous reader profiles such as using gender ratio and age range from the Q magazine but also using images that represent my readers and what the readers interests are.

Reader Profiles

Q Magazine 

NME Magazine

http://www.ipcadvertising.com/resource/6dcz2moj66wp0swdpyx5rv3o.pdf

I want to create a reader profile more like Q magazine as it is the same genre of the magazine I intend to create. Its also clear and easy to understand but I do like NME's idea of using pictures to represent what kind of things their readers are into.