Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

After researching into my target audience's interest and therefore what they would look for and need in a music magazine, I had to ensure my magazine catered to these needs by successfully attracting and addressing my audience. I think I have been very successful in doing so in a number of ways, and to show this I have uploaded my final product designs to Flickr and added a number of annotations to each product highlighting the areas which will particularly appeal, based on my audience profile. The links are attached to the following titles (must be signed in to a flickr account to view annotations)

Front Cover
On my front cover I have highlighted aspects such as the language, competition, cover star, banner and low cost which all have elements which are particularly attractive to my target audience to encouraging them to initially buy the magazine when they see it on the shop shelf.

Contents Page
On my contents page I have highlighted aspects such as the title, subscription box, contents featured, layout and images, as things which will appeal to my audience in ensuring it is aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate around.


Double Page Spread
On my double page spread I have annotated elements such as the image, mise-en-scene, pull quote, flash box and language/content of the article to appeal to my target audience and encourage them to read the article.


Some general additional elements of my magazine which I have ensured I took into consideration in order to suit the wants and needs of my audience are the overall language and register, and the colour scheme.

Top of the Pops

Kerrang

My own product

I think I have been especially effectively in using aspects which will attract my audience, such as a competition, list of artists and attractive cover model however I could have addressed my audience more as I only directly referred to them in my competition section using "you". This example makes them feel as though it is very personal and achievable to them, encouraging them to open the magazine and find out more. On looking at existing examples of publications, I am aware that the audience is addressed much more clearly by using language which is clearly relevant to the age group. For example in TOTP very colloquial language is used which relates to the very young female audience reflecting the types of language they would tend to use themselves, and Kerrang is aimed at an older, rock group and again the language and topics features reflect this, as they are clearly relevant for older people and are more unusual, intriguing phrases. Despite this, I have used language which manipulates my audience but in a more subtle way, such as "don't miss a minute" to create some urgency so it is more indirect and therefore doesn't lower the formality of the magazine - I did not want it to be too informal as many teenagers may find this patronising because as you can see from the example of Kerrang, an older audience is not addressed as casually and therefore my audience may think the magazine is actually aimed at a younger teen than 16+. The language used on all three products is still fairly friendly and the vocabulary is not too advanced so it is accessible to everyone and doesn't seem too up-market/upper class.

My colour scheme will appeal to my target audience as it is limited to a colour palette of light blue, navy, and a pinky red. Although this branches away from the conventional red colour of music magazines, this colour scheme will definitely appeal to my target audience as I have ensured it is not all blue therefore is gender neutral, and even the blues featured are not necessarily just associated with males, as it is a bright light sky blue shade and a navy, both of which are popular with girls too. The connotations of my colour scheme are youthfulness, fun and liveliness, all things which all members of my target audience will find appealing. The way I have combined colours so nothing blends together and everything stands out well from the rest of the things on the page means it is particularly eye-catching and aesthetically pleasing which a young audience will find very attractive and unique on the shop shelf. As well as this, I have maintained this colour scheme throughout every page and even in the mise-en-scene of the images which gives some order and consistency to the magazine - something teenagers find appealing in their lives.