Music Magazine Questionnaire

Questionnaire


Name:……………………………….. Age:………

1. Do you read magazines? Circle 1 answer Yes No

2. What type of music do you like to listen to? Circle answers
Pop Rock R’n’B HipHop Acoustic Rap Classical
Other……………………….

3. Would you read a magazine just based on your favourite type of music? Circle 1 answer
Yes No

4. What magazines do you currently read?
…………………………………………………………………………….

5. How often do you buy magazines? Circle 1 answer
Weekly Fortnightly Monthly Annually Other………………….

6. Would you read an online version? Circle 1 answer
Yes No

7. Is a free gift important to you? Circle 1 answer
Yes No

8. What would you prefer on the cover of the magazine? Circle 1 answer
A band/artist Magazines logo Readers photos Photo of a music event

9. How much would you pay for a music magazine? Circle 1 answer
50p-£1.00 £1.01-£2.00 £2.01-£2.99 £3.00+

10. What would attract you to buying a particular music magazine?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Reader Profile

Mood Board

Mood Board for Music Magazine

For my music magazine i will design and create a magazine for teenagers that is just about music, not also about television like pop music magazines such as 'Top of the Pops'.

On my mood board i have included pictures of some popular pop music artists that are well known amongst my target audience, this include; McFly, Jonas Brothers and Girls Aloud.

As well as this, i have included electric guitars that add a modern dimension of music to the magazine. Therefore, the photos on my mood board represent the type of music that will be featured within my magazine and the style of a magazine: a pop magazine for female teenagers.

A Case Study of a magazine

A Case Study of 'Top of the Pops' magazine

Background and Ownership

Top of the Pops magazine is a glossy magazine that is published monthly by the BBC Worldwide. It was launched in February 1995 whilst the popular TV show was launched. When it was first produced, it was described as a 'missing link between Smash Hits and NME magazine'. However, the TV show is in cancellation but the magazine is still being produced even though it has less music content inside it than it has when it was first launched. The magazine is part funded by the licence fee revenue and part f the profits are returned to the BBC for the benefit of the license fee payer. There are also free gifts and posters with every issue.

Content and approach to music

Top of the Pops is published monthly is appealing to female teenagers. The layout of the magazine resembles other magazines that are aimed at the same target audience such as 'Smash hits'. The magazine is an 'offshoot' of the once popular television show version of 'Top if the Pops'. The main musical emphasis is on chart pop music with well known and popular acts such as McFly, Girls Aloud and Rihanna. As well as this, the magazine also focuses on movies and television shows that are aimed at the same audience as read the magazine; for example, 'High School Musical'. These shows and music types appeal to the teenage demographic. The magazine tends to focus on discussing the private and love life of these celebrities. Therefore, the 'Top of the Pops' magazine has a bigger approach to the celebrities themselves and does not really mention how they are known; for music or television shows; unless on reviews and lyric pages. The emphasis is off the music stars as recording artists and tends to focus on them beyond this with their love lives; however, there are some features that do focus on bands and television stars on what their celebrity profession is. In this particular issue, there is an interview with the 'Jonas Brothers' but he questions are focused on their personal and love lives. The interview does not talk or focus on their careers in the music industry. The main feature that is shown on the cover of this issue is called 'The boy issue'; it writes about 'blush free advice', 'kiss confessions' and 'hot pics'. Therefore, this does not focus on the music and television careers of the popular stars shown; Joe Jonas and Zac Efron.

The main features advertised and expected within the magazine are beauty, fashion and celebrity boy based. As well as this there are real life stories that tend to be shown as sitting 'shallow mock scandals facing celebrities'.

Editorial Content: 'opinion leaders' and reader interaction

'Top of the Pops' magazine offers information on celebrity lifestyles as well as knowledge on the genre of popular chart music aimed at the target audience. By doing this, the magazine dictates the taste and needs of the target readers. Many artists are out as cover stars as they are popular amongst the age group and are also recognisable. This attracts more people to the magazine if they see someone they like or someone they recognise on the front cover.

Throughout TOTP magazine, there are opportunities for the reader to interact with the publication through letter pages that offer prizes for the 'star letter'. These letter pages give the reader a chance to write in about their favourite celebrities and send in photos of the reader with a celebrity they have met. This is different to the opportunities in magazines such as Kerrang! and NME that offer chances to give feedback and opinions on new music releases and events on pages such as 'feedback' and 'rant of the week'.

Promoting the industry and other products

Top of the Pops magazine uses cross-media with the BBC and radio 1. The radio show offers the pop acts shown in the magazine a similar demographic. The magazine also often tends to recommend BBC television shows such as 'Doctor Who'. They do this with features about the programme and interviews with the cast and sometimes give away free gifts that relate to this.

Competitions within the magazine also show cross media references of pries of HMV vouchers, mobile phones (videophone, Motorola) and Nintendo and PlayStation game players. Other big prizes include tickets to cinemas for free screenings and tickets to premieres of new release films. In this way, this also promote the films, for example 'pirates of the Caribbean' and 'Just my luck'. Just my luck, was a popular film and starred popular music acts, McFly, which made it easy to cross-promote media techniques within the magazine.

The use of free gifts with TOTP magazine allows the female teenagers to feel that they are getting as much as possible for their money; for many, their hard earned pocket money. A main 'freebie' with the magazine is free posters of popular celebrities as well as stationary sets and charm bracelets.

Advertisements are also included within TOTP magazine and many are based with an emphasis on female beauty and hygiene. As well as this, there are also adverts placed in the magazine for child line and the NSPCC, this reminds the audience and reader that the publication can show and provide a service beyond celebrity narrative and lifestyle stories.

Fanzines

The definition of a Fanzine is a non-professional publication that has been produced by 'amateurs'. The intended purpose of the publication is to share a common interest with other people such as popular culture phenomenon's. 

Media fanzines were originally written by science fiction fans. 

Music Magazine Research

Magazine Research

NME Magazine Cover

NME (New Musical Express) is a British magazine that is published weekly by IPC Media.

Every issue of NME magazine follows the same theme and layout style. Each issue also uses bold colour and thick and bold text.

This particular cover uses a basic yellow and red coloured theme. These are neutral colours and so therefore appeal to both males and females.

NME are most known for being closely associated with punk rock music.

The main photo of the cover is of a popular band; The Automatic. The photograph used is creative and adds a fun and appealing edge to the magazine cover.

The Red and yellow colours are used as a contrast to the black and dull colours of the band's clothes in the main photo. This makes the cover more eye-catching and appealing. The magazine uses appealing and interesting features to 'advertise' on the cover to give an insight into what the magazine contains in the particular issue. The features are outlined in red and are in large and bold lettering with a small image to make the cover more visual.

The magazine cover for NME follows some typical magazine conventions such as having the barcode, price and date on the cover. However, in many magazines it is a typical convention that the title and masthead of the magazine is central to the top of the page to make it eye-catching. However, NME Magazine puts the title in the top left corner and this challenges the typical conventions of a central masthead.

The text and language used on the cover is non-conforming and the sentences are shortened and abbreviated. This makes the text easy to understand and will therefore attract more people as it can be a light read for the audience.

Therefore, the cover of NME magazine is appealing to both males and females but from extra research, it can be believed that NME magazine is more popular amongst males.

Smash Hits Magazine Cover

Smash Hits magazine was a popular music magazine aimed at a young teenage audience of females. It mainly focused music but also has fashion and television aspects included.

The cover of this particular issue is mainly in pink which makes it appealing to the female audience. There are more pictures than text on the cover which also makes it more appealing to the younger audience as the pictures are more visual and colourful; therefore more appealing.

The language used on the cover is non conforming and this is also appealing. It uses laid back language such as ‘stars exposed’. As well as this convention of a magazine aimed at a younger audience, it also includes the date, price, barcode and the masthead/title on the cover.

The masthead is central to the top of the page which is also a typical convention of a magazine.

The layout of the cover is very simple and it uses photos of popular celebrities that are well known amongst the target age group. Different fonts also add a variety to the cover and make it appealing.

The cover gives indications to some of the features within the magazine so that the readers and target audience will have an idea of what to expect from the magazine and will also make them want to buy it if they know that there are features in the magazine that they are interested in.

'Top of the Pops' magazine Double page Spread

By analysing a double page spread in 'Top of the Pops' magazine it is clear to see that the magazine does not fully focus on music. The double page spread is an interview with the pop band; McFly. The questions asked in the magazine are not music based although the magazine is known as a music magazine due to it's name from the television show; 'Top of the Pops'.

Questions that asked and answered are more general and personal based rather than talking about the music. There is one main picture as the background of the page and the band are smiling which makes the page seem 'happy' and non conforming.

The interview uses non conforming language and uses a lot of colour to make it visual. The use of vocabulary such as 'Exclusive' and 'cute boy alert' is language that will attract and appeal to the readers of the magazines target age group. The layour of the interview is different to normal interviews and does not follow the typical conventions. At the end of the interview, it promotes new release singles by the band and their website and this is a typical convention of interviews with music bands and artists.

Evaluation

From carrying out all of my research and designing flat plans of a sixth form magazine, i have created a front cover and a contents page that would be suitable and appealing towards Sixth form students. I have used non-conforming language on both the cover and the contents page so that it is appealing towards the students. I have used photographs and colour for visual aspects of the magazine. When i was analysing existing school magazines i found out that the most popular school magazines were magazines that used many visual aspects. Therefore, i used this technique to make my magazine as appealing as possible to the students in sixth form.

When doing my research on existing school and sixth form magazines i came across problems in finding school magazine covers on the internet that i could analyse. When producing magazines on a school size it can work out expensive and time consuming and therefore many schools may not have a school magazine and this is what i came across when looking for school magazine covers to analyse. I came across more school magazine covers on the internet than i did Sixth form magazines and so therefore i decided to make a sixth form magazine that i could make and challenge typical conventions of a media magazine.

My magazine audience is students in years 12 and 13 at Southend High School for Girls. The sixth form at this school is a mixed sixth form with both males and females; however, the majority of the students are girls. To make sure that i was attracting my magazine as much as possible to my target audience i used a focus group. For my focus group i chose three students, 2 females and 1 male, that i could ask more in-depth and precise questions about magazines in general as well as my own media magazine.

My magazine will be produced in school, will be issued monthly, and will be free of charge as from my questionnaires, most people said they would have the magazine if it was free of charge. Therefore by having it as a free magazine i will be able to attract a wider audience who would not necessarily want to pay for the magazine.

My magazine challenges typical school magazines as well as using some existing conventions. The existing conventions that i used on my own magazines are having the schools name on the cover and the photograph and masthead as the main features on the cover. On my questionnaires i made a tick box question with four title names and i asked my focus group which title they liked the best; the result was 'Insight'. This title can connote 'Insight' into school as well as social aspects and students lives. After this research i also asked them questions about what magazines they read and what they would be interested in reading in the magazine.

After i had carried out all of the research with my focus group, i started to take photographs for my magazine. I began with taking my front cover photograph in medium close up. However, i came across some problems when doing this. My photos had sun spots on them and i also could not find a suitable pose and frame for the photo. I wanted a casual pose that would look non-conforming on the cover. The photograph that i used is casual as my model is smiling and as she is looking away, it appears as though she is on her way to do something; very much like everyone in school is. She also has her ipod headphones in and this adds a laid back approach to the front cover.

For my contents page i took a series of group photos as well as some singular photographs. However, some of my group photos still had sunspots on and so i retook some more photos without direct sunlight onto them. I used 3 posed pictures on my contents page and 1 unposed picture. I used males and females in my pictures so that the magazine is appealing to both genders. I took one photo on self timer to try out different techniques. Media magazines tend to use a posed photo on the front cover and so i challenged this convention by making my photo more casual, laid back and 'spur of the moment'.

My media product represents different social groups because i have used people from different religions and races, therefore showing that the school is ethnic.

When making my magazine, i came across new technologies such as different types of camera that i had never used before. I learnt new techniques for using these cameras and how i could use different lighting to make my photos of good quality. I used photoshop to create my magazine. However, when making my magazine cover in photoshop i came across some problems. one major problem was when i was producing my front cover in photoshop, i came across my magazine file becoming corrupt. Therefore, i had to re make my magazine cover, and this was more time consuming as the file that was corrupt was a completed front cover. From this i have learnt to always back up my files of work so that i never come across a major problem like this again when producing other work in the future.

Looking back at my preliminary task i feel that i have learnt a lot in the progression from my research and analysis to my final front cover and contents page. I have learnt what makes a school magazine appealing to the students so that they are attracted to it rather than it just being aimed at their parents. In addition to this i have also learnt how to use different types of cameras and how to use lighting differently within different pictures.

If i was to make the sixth form magazine again, i would probably ask more general questions to my target group and focus group so that i would gain a better insight into what they like and would want to read so that i would know even more features that i could include in the magazine.

Inconclusion, i am pleased with my final product and i feel that is does appeal to my target audience of students, both males and females, attending sixth form at Southend High School for Girls.

Contents Page

Front cover

Research Summary

Summary of Research

All of the research that i have done has been very useful to me in finding out what i will need to include in my sixth form magazine to appeal to the students in the 16-18 year old age group. By analysing magazines aimed at schools and magazines aimed just at sixth form i have found the typical conventions used to appeal to the target audience as well as why some styles, colours, vocabulary and photographs are used. I have also learnt how connotations are important on a magazine and how what mastheads connote is important for the magazines because the title is usually the main and most eye catching part of the cover.
Also from my research i have found what makes the main photo on the cover interesting and how i can take the photo to make it appealing and look less studious so that it is non-conforming for the students.
I made questionnaires for 10 students and then selected 3 students for my focus group so that i could gain a better insight from 3 typical students at Southend High School for Girls; i chose 2 girls and 1 boy for my focus group so that i could get mixed opinions, ideas and interests. From doing this i have gained a better insight into what features will be most popular to include in my magazine and what names the target audience would prefer.
In conclusion, i feel that by doing research on existing school/sixth form magazines as well as my own research into what makes a good magazine by making questionnaires and focus groups i have gained a better insight and look into what is needed to make my sixth form magazine appealing to my audience. I will use the research i found to create the magazine so that it is as appealing as possible.

Focus Group Questionnaire Results

I have collated the results from my Focus Group questionnaires and from these i will be able to make my magazine for Sixth form students as appealing as possible. By asking my focus group specific questions i can develop a better understanding on what particular and average students would want from a sixth form magazine.

From Question 1 asking about the magazine title i received 2 answers for the name 'Insight' and 1 answer for the name 'Idea'. I feel that 'Insight' will be a good name for my magazine as it is the connotation of having an insight into school, work and social events.

Tom said 'I prefer the name 'Insight' for the sixth form magazine as it is represents school and social events, not just school and is therefore more laid back and appealing rather than the name 'Knowledge' as it gives off a more studious feel and would therefore not be as appealing.'

Therefore, i will use the name 'Insight' for my sixth form magazine as it had the most positive response and also portrays not only school aspects but also social aspects as well.

Another question that i asked my focus group was what colours they would want used for the magazine if it was aimed at both males and females. The colour most popular for this was blue/turquoise. Other colours suggested were green, purple, yellow and orange.

Daisy said: 'I think that Blue and purple should be used as they are colours that could be aimed at both males and females. Blue and purple are also cool, calming and relaxing and therefore could be appealing to students as they may be stressed from work and these colours used could be relaxing'.

All of my focus group like to read and would be interested in reading about school achievements. Therefore i will include achievements from within the school into my sixth form magazine.

I will also include music articles about inside music events as well as outside of school music events and releases. There were positive reactions to this from my focus group and therefore this will be an appealing aspect to use in my magazine.

Information on School events in the sixth form magazine will also be appealing as 16-18 year olds like to go out and therefore by adding in events and dates, it will attract more people to read the magazine.

I also asked what magazines my focus group read to find out what magazines are most popular so that i can see what techniques and styles they use to attract to the audience of 16-18 year olds. Some of the magazines that came up from my focus group are 'heat', 'Sugar', 'Bliss', 'NME', 'OK', 'Cosmo' and 'Elle'.

Therefore i can look at the styles and features used in these particular magazines to see what makes them so appealing to this audience.

Focus Group Questionnaire

Name:_______

1. Which name do you prefer for the magazine?

Insight/In the Know/Idea/Knowledge

2. What other magazines do you read?

_______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

3. Why do you read these magazines?

________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________

4. What colours would you want used for the sixth form magazine if it were aimed at males and females?

____________________________________________

5.Do you like to read?

Yes/No

6. Do you enjoy reading celebrity gossip?

Yes/No

7. Would you like to read about School Gossip?

Yes/No

8. Would you want to read music articles?

Yes/No

9. Would you like to read about achievements within the school?

Yes/No

Focus Group for Sixth form magazine

Focus Group

I am going to have a focus group of 3 students at Southend High School for Girls, currently in Year 12, taking their A-Levels. By having a focus group, i can ask for advice from my group on features that they would want to read about and can also ask for advice on what titles, colours and photos they feel should be used on the magazine cover. This will be useful to me as i will therefore include what people in year 12 would most like from the sixth form magazine into my own. I will use 3 students, 2 females and 1 male, from year 12 at Southend High School for Girls.

1: Raechelle Jackson, 17, Southend on Sea

Raechelle is a 17 year old student who is currently attending Southend High School for Girls. Raechelle has attended this school since year 7. Raechelle is currently taking her A-Levels and for these, she is taking English language, Psychology, Geography and maths. Raechelle enjoys going out with her friends, singing, acting and listening to music. She also enjoys going to London and going to see new films. However, Raechelle does not like butterflies and spiders. Raechelle's ambition is to be a teacher and to be in a job in which she can help others. She wants to live in London when she is older.By using Raechelle in my focus group i can get an insight into what a female 17 year old wants from a sixth form magazine. Raechelle is also up to date with general knowledge and also social aspects of this particular age and therefore i can use this to make my magazine more appealing.

Raechelle often uses social networking websites such as myspace as well as reading magazines and texting. Raechelle uses both the internet and texting to contact her friends and for latest news and 'gossip'. Raechelle also regularly uses her ipod to listen to pop music as well as r'n'b releases.

2. Thomas Love, 16, Leigh on Sea

Thomas, also known as Tom, is a 16 year old student currently attending Southend High School for Girls. Tom started at Southend High School for Girls in year 12, when he began his A Levels. Before this, he attended Southend High School for Boys, from year 7 to 11. For A Level, Tom is taking Maths, Art, ICT and Product Design. Tom is very interested in computing and design and so his views on the design of my sixth form magazine will be very useful.Tom also goes to Scouts and therefore will know what other people of this particular age group enjoy and are interested in and therefore his views about these aspects will also be useful. Tom also enjoys taking part in local events such as Leigh Regatta with his Scouts. Therefore, Tom will be useful when finding out about local events and what is needed to make them appealing to students and teenagers. Tom uses myspace, msn and other social networking sites to talk to friends. Tom does not read magazines regularly but every now and again, he will buy and read magazines. He is interested in science and animals and so reads on these topics. Tom regularly listens to new release music on his ipod.

3. Daisy Deakin, 16, Southend on Sea

Daisy is a 16 year old student at Southend High School for Girls, currently studying Theatre Studies, maths, English Literature and Biology for A Level. Daisy is very interested in theatre and as an interest, attends a drama school as well as doing singing. Daisy also runs a drama group within School for younger students and enjoys mentoring them. Daisy also attends clubs with students of her age and so will know what students of this age will expect from a sixth form magazine. Daisy regularly buys 'Hello', 'Cosmo' and 'Elle' magazines for fashion tips and latest celebrity gossip. Daisy also uses social networking sites such as Myspace and facebook as well as msn to keep in contact with friends and family. Daisy uses her ipod and her mobile phone to listen to songs from musicals and films.

Questionnaire Results

By analysing my questionnaire results i can see what factors and features are most important to include in my sixth form magazine so that it will be appealing to my target age group.

I asked 10 people to complete the questionnaire, 2 males and 8 females. The majority of the sixth form at Southend High School for Girls is made up of females with only a small percentage of males. Therefore i asked the majority of my questionnaires to the girls but i also asked a couple of boys so that i can incorporate both the preferences of males and females into my magazine.

Question 1

From my results of question 1, i can find out that students expect there to msotly be school and general news in a magazine. With 26% expecting a school magazine to include events and competitions.

Out of the 10 people i asked, no one expected to read general sport news in a school magazine.

Question 2

My results from question 2 will help me to know what to include in my magazine. The majority of the people i asked would prefer to read about school gossip and school music. However, some also answered school sport and some 'other'.

For the option of 'other', people answered 'events and dates' and 'extra curricular activities'.Therefore i will also include these features in my magazine to appeal to a wider audience of students.

Question 3

My results from question 3 show that everyone that i asked would prefer the magazine to be in colour. Therefore, i will design and print my magazine in colour so that is appealing to all my target group of students.

Question 4

I asked this particular question to find out more about the people i was asking the questions too. Therefore i can include features and ideas about these hobbies into my magazine. This will therefore make it more appealing and readable for the students. The majority of the people do hobbies that are based around music.
The option of 'other' gave answers such as 'scouts', 'drama' and 'horse riding'.

Question 5

Qustion 5 asked 'what other interests do you have?'. From this question i got the following answers:

• Computing
• mentoring younger years
• seeing friends
• Guitar
• Music
• Horseriding
• Television
• Singing

These results show that the students are also interested in social activities and therefore i will also include relevant features in the magazine with social aspects.

Question 6A and 6B

This result shows that from the people that i asked, 60% would not pay for the sixth form magazine, therefore only 40% said they would.

In conclusion, in order to attract this target group i would have to make the magazine free or less than £1.50.

My results from question 6B, asking 'if yes to question 6A, how much would they pay?', gave me answers between 5op - £2.00.

Question 7

This shows that the majority of the people of this age that i asked would want the magazine monthly, with a small percentage weekly, and no one choosing the option of annually.

Therefore, i would print and release the magazine monthly to attract my audience as this is what the most popular option with 90%.

Question 8

I asked this particular question to find out who reads the magazine so that i know whether to also make the magazine appealing to younger/older siblings and parents. The majority said that they read the magazine along with their parents with a small percentage of the people i asked saying that their siblings would read the magazine.

Therefore, i would need to make it appealing and aesthetically pleasing for parents and siblings as well as the student.

Question 9

These results show that 90% would want competitions included in the magazine, therefore only a small percentage of 10% saying no.

As the 90% of yes is the largest proportion i will therefore include some competitions into my magazine.

In conclusion, by analysing my results i can see what is most popular from 10 students to appear and feature in and on the magazine. I will use the options with the largest proportion on my magazine as therefore, it will appeal to the widest and largest student audience possible at Southend High School for Girls.

2 filled in questionnaires

These are scans of 2 of my completed questionnaires. One has been completed by a 16 year old male and the other by a 16 year old female. The results from these 2 questionnaires show how preferences and interests between males and females of the same age differ.

Audience Profile

Audience Profile for preliminary Task

My Audience profile for the School magazine in the preliminary task is a target group of 16-18 year olds.
My target audience will be a mixed gender of both males and females of this particular age.
My target group will be the students attending Southend High School for Girls in both Year 12 and Year 13. The current sixth form at Southend High School for Girls is a mixed gender sixth form and therefore, i will make sure that my magazine will be appealing to both males and females.
The magazines and other items that teenagers buy at present represent their personalities, interests and even education. Therefore, i will look into my audiences needs and wants and incorporate these ideas in to my sixth form magazine.
Young teenage girls are usually interested in fashion and music, whereas young teenage boys are interested in computers, sport and music. However, even though there are differences in the interests, there are similiarities and therefore i can include these into the magazine.

Many social activies and hobbies that are taken up by this particular age group include sporting events, music/concerts, theatres and meeting up with friends.
There is much more freedom for teenagers nowadays and therefore social activities have changed over the years.

Research about Teenager statistics that are useful when making my magazine:

• ''Some 75% of boys aged up to 16 frequently play a team game, compared with only 42% of girls. ''
• ''Teenagers spend an average of 12 hours watching television each week, while only five or six hours are spent with family or doing school work.''
• ''two-thirds of boys and three-quarters of girls over the age of 16 are staying in full-time education. ''

Preliminary Task: Mood Board

School magazine Mood Board

This is my mood board for the preliminary task. I have included interests of both males and females on my mood board as my magazine will be aimed at genders of the 16-18 year old range.

I have also included general school pcitures such as a school bus and the schools emblem.

I will use the colours light green and light blue on my cover as they are suitable colours for both males and females. They are neutral colours and will also give a fresh appearance to the magazine.

The photos i have included in my mood board also link to the social aspects of school and between groups of teenagers such as music, fashion, gossip, texting, concerts and social networking sites such as myspace.

Inconclusion, my school magazine mood board represents what the teenagers will want from my magazine and represents education and social aspects.

Sixth Form magazine: Questionnaire

Sixth Form magazine Questionnaire

1. What do you expect to read in a School magazine? Tick all that apply

     School News:

     General news:

     Sport News:

     Events & Competitions: 

2. Which would you prefer to read about? Tick all that apply

     School gossip:

     School Sport:

     School Music:

     Other (please State): ______

3. Which style would you prefer for the magazine?

     Colour:

     Black and White:

4. What Hobbies do you do outside of School? Tick all that apply

     Music:

     Sport:

     Dancing:

     Academic:

     Other (please state): ______

5. What other interests do you have?

     ________________________________________________

6. What would you want on a front cover? Tick all that apply

     1 main photo:

     Lots of small photos (montage):

     No photos:

     Coloured Background:

     Other (please State):______

7. Would you pay for a School magazine?         

     Yes:

     No:

8. If yes, how much would you pay?

     _________

9. How often would you want the magazine?

     Weekly:

     Monthly:

     Annually:

10. Who would read the magazine? Tick all that apply

     You:

     Parents:

     Siblings:

11. Would you want competitions included in the magazine?

        Yes:

        No:

Analysis of school magazine designed for 16-18 year old students - 1

This magazine is for Reigate college. The front cover is a photo montage of current students branded as the 'college celebs'. The cover is social and visual and therefore is appealing to the students between the ages of 16-18 at the college/sixth form. There is only a small amount of text on the cover. the text on the cover is about the 'college celebs' and the text is small but in the right hand corner so that it is eye catching.

However, though the cover is visually appealing the overall layout and style does not appear professional and sophisticated. not all of the photos are in proportional size to each other. The colour yellow is used alongside small stars to add a small colourful and laid back approach to the magazine.
The cover is not very informative and does not show traditional values of the college by including emblems and motto's. The cover also doesn't include the schools name and as it is a college magazine, does not follow normal magazine conventions such as barcode and price. The cover does not state when the magazine was released and whether it is a weekly, monthly or annually released magazine.

There is no main feature on the cover and the magazine does not say what features are in the magazine.

However, i feel that this magazine would be appealing to the teenagers and students at this college because it looks a 'fun' magazine that they can relate to. The photos add visual aspects and students like visual aspects to magazines without bulk text.

In conclusion, i do feel that this magazine does attract the students for the social side of school but not for the academic part of it. Nevertheless, the photos give the magazine a youth feel to the magazine and therefore will be appealing to the students.

Analysis 2
This is the cover of the South East Essex College 'Dave' magazine. The magazine is aimed at everyone at SEEC. The cover looks modern and the layout resembles music magazines such as NME.

The title of the magazine is the largest font and text on the cover and is at the top of the magazine, this makes it eye-catching for the students.
There is one main photo on the cover of the magazine and is the main focus point of the magazine. The use of 'Dave' as the title creates an informal approach to the magazine, as it could be the name of a teacher or student at the college and therefore will appeal to the students as it can be a magazine read for fun that is nonconforming. The overall feel of the title and layout of the cover suggests that the magazine is not an academic magazine and is there for social and celebrity 'gossip' and news.
There is one main colour scheme of yellow, white and black on the cover and this gives the cover a sophisticated and mature appearance.
The cover also includes what features are in the magazine. The cover advertises the main features that will be most appealing and therefore will attract the most students.The magazine uses colloquial language and this will be more appealing to the students and the people who will read 'Dave' at SEEC. The cover also suggests the magazine includes 'gossip' as it states on the cover 'what's on, where and when'.In conclusion, i feel that 'Dave' is appealing to all at SEEC because it looks professional and mature and uses both images and text to appeal to the target group. However, the cover does seem to focus most of the attention on celebrities rather than the students at the college and therefore, may not be as appealing to some people who would rather read about college news and events and trips.

Nevertheless, it is consistent with its colour scheme and uses typical magazine conventions of including the date released and issue number. This makes the magazine seem more professional. Therefore, i do feel that this magazine cover is successful in attracting its target audience.

Analysis - 3

This magazine cover is for Emmanuel College. This issue of the magazine was for 2003-2004. The initial feeling from the magazine is not positive and happy. the cover lacks colour and appealing images.
The cover does show the college's emblem and therefore this can connote traditional school/college values. There is one main visual aspect of this cover; the main photograph on the bottom half of the cover. The photograph shows building work being done in the school and therefore this can instantly show students and parents new changes happening within the school. I do not feel that this magazine cover would be very appealing and popular amongst the students of the college as it is not colourful and does not have visual aspects. However, it may be more appealing to the parents as they would not want too many photos to look at.

There is some colour used in the bottom photo but it is dull and does not give the school a positive attitude. There is not much text on the cover, however the text that is on the cover, is small and is not eye catching as the masthead. The cover of the magazine does not show what features will be in the magazine and so it therefore may not be appealing to some students as they may want to see what is in the magazine before they read it.

In conclusion, i do not feel that the college magazine for Emmanuel College is very successful in appealing got the target audience of the students in the college as it does not use colour and photos to attract to them, therefore it may be more appealing to the parents of the students.

Analysis 4
This magazine cover is for the City of Bristol College and is aimed at the students of the college. The title 'Level Best' is an effective title because it is the connotation of A-levels which the majority of the students at the college will be taking. The use of 'best' portrays doing well and therefore can give confidence to the students.
The main feature of the cover is a female student laying on grass. Therefore, this does not symbolise working and therefore is non conforming as it gives a relaxed feel to the college magazine cover.
The student is blowing bubbles and this also gives a relaxed feel to the magazine. The magazine appears to be approachable and gives the college a positive attitude and will be appealing to the students.
However, the cover does not show what features and articles are in the magazine and therefore may not be as appealing as the students will not know what to expect from it and therefore may not get the magazine.
The masthead is the largest and boldest font on the cover and is at the top of the cover and is therefore eye catching and noticeable.
The magazine cover also lets the students and any potential students know what school it is for and also uses a traditional element of using the colleges emblem in the bottom right hand corner.
In conclusion, the cover is non conforming and connotes a relaxed atmosphere at the college and therefore along with the colours, and main photo used, the magazine will be appealing to the students. the colours sued are neutral colours and therefore will be appealing to both males and females of the college, but will probably not be as appealing to parents as it is not informative from the cover and because the title connotes a meaning that will be appealing and understood by the students. Therefore, the cover of the magazine used for the City of Bristol College is successful in appealing to the target audience of the students, aged between 16-18.

Analysis of a School magazine - 3

This school magazine uses a more of an art approach to the cover and this is a positive approach because it looks interesting and is therefore more appealing to the target age group.

The cover shows the school building and as a blended image with the sky, there is a photo of a female student and this adds an interesting aspect and change to the cover to make it different from others. This represents that the school is artistic and interested in print and design.

The cover is bright and therefore gives a positive mood to the reader and also represents the school in a positive light.

There is not much text to give information about the magazine and school on the cover as it is mostly visually based. This could therefore be appealing to the students because many students prefer to read small amounts of text with images rather than pages of text and not many visual images.

From the text underneath the cover, it suggest that this particular cover was designed by a student and therefore this cover can represent what students want to see from a school magazine. therefore, this magazine cover will be very useful with my research for designing my own school magazine cover.

The photograph of the school is a positive image that is bright and show the school positively. The school therefore will be seen by students, parents and prospective students as a clean and sophisticated looking school. Therefore, this magazine has used positive imagery to attract people to read the magazine.

In conclusion, this magazine uses aspects that will appeal to the Target audience of the students at the school and the cover represents the school in a positive light with an interest in design, art and print. The magazine is successful in appealing to its target group.

Analysing a School magazine cover - 2

This school magazine cover is for a school in Sheffield. The magazine is all in one colour, green, and therefore may not be very appealing to the mixed audience of the students at the school.

It is not very colourful and there is only one image, the schools emblem, as a visual aspect to the cover. therefore, it may not be very appealing to the teenagers. It may, however, be more appealing to the parents of the students. The emblem is the largest part of the cover and its the background of the cover. Therefore it is eye catching that it is for the particular school, King Edward V11 school in Sheffield.

The Schools motto is also on the cover of the magazine. This shows the school is traditional and has pride for the school.

The magazine may be more appealing to the parents of the students as the colours and style seem aimed at an older audience. In addition to this, the cover also looks 'mature' and 'sophisticated'.

The text fonts are large and bold and therefore noticeable however the colour of the text blends with the colour of the background and does not stand out so that it is eye catching.

The Cover does not state what issue of the magazine it is and therefore it is unknown whether the magazine is weekly, monthly or annually.

In conclusion, the school magazine cover for King Edward V11 School Sheffield, uses 1 plain colour as the background and text for its cover. It does not use visual aspects such as photos to show more about the school and to show what the students and clubs are like at the school. The emblem is used as the main eye catching part of the cover and this, as well as the motto, shows that the school is traditional. Therefore, the magazine represents the school as traditional but the magazine would most probably be more appealing to the parents rather than the students because of the dull colours used and the lack of visual aspects.

However, this is an old copy of the school magazine and can therefore be compared with more recent school magazines that use more colours and visual aspects. Therefore, school magazines have changed throughout the years and comparisons between moderns school magazines and the King edward V11 School Sheffield can show this. 

Analysis of a School magazine

Analysis of a School magazine

This school magazine cover has been designed in neutral colours so that it will be appealing to both the males and females of the school as it is a mixed gender school. The cover has the school's emblem on the cover which will show the audience where it is for and it also adds colour to the cover.

There are photos down the right hand side of the magazine and this adds visual imagery to the magazine. The photos can appeal to the teenagers because many teenagers prefer proportional amounts of text to the photos. Therefore, by seeing images on the cover, it may appeal to the teenagers more. However, the photos are very posed and look fake to represent the sports and events that happen within the school. Therefore, this can give off the impression that the school may not be exactly like portrayed on the school magazine cover.

There are neutral colours used on the cover. This means it is not stereotyped to being aimed at just males/females, such as pinks for the girls and blue for the boys. It has used neutral colours and this shows that it is appealing and aimed at both males and females of the mixed gender. However, the colours are not very bright and eye-catching and this could not be appealing to the teenagers and therefore, this magazine could be aimed at the parents of the teenagers who don't mind if it is colourful and bright. The colours are also simple as well as the layout. This makes the cover look professional. Therefore it could be appealing to both the teenagers and the parents as it represents the school as being 'sophisticated' and 'mature'.

The fonts used are bold and in white and this makes the text stand out from the dark background. The cover also shows what year it is from and this gives the impression that the school magazine is given out annually and therefore this could be more appealing to the teenagers because if it is annually, it will contain news from the year and therefore they will be more likely to read it for a change, rather than a weekly magazine which they may not always want to read.

In conclusion, the school magazine may be more appealing to the parents of the teenagers rather than the teenagers themselves because of the colours used. However, the visual aspects, photos and emblem, may be appealing to the teenagers at the secondary school.

Analysis of 'Closer' magazine

The publishing company, EMAP entertainment, publishes ‘Closer’ magazine weekly. It’s title, ‘Closer’, suggests the connotation of being closer to celebrities and real life. This is appealing to audiences because many of the audience will buy this magazine because they want to learn more and get the latest news on celebrities, diet plans as well as reading real life stories. Therefore the idea of getting ‘closer’ to this, gives the idea that you will learn more and get insight information on the stories.The magazine is £1 which will attract the audience because it is good value for money, even though it is a weekly released magazine.
‘Closer’ is published by EMAP entertainment. EMAP entertainment is a large publishing company that also publish the popular magazine ‘Heat’. EMAP entertainments also have other media interests such as Broadcasting, Retail and world retail congress, as well as radio and music television channels. By having a popular and well known publishing company to publish the magazine it will be marketed how other media interests of this company have and it will be popular with audiences because they may know of other media texts by EMAP which may make them want to buy ‘Closer’.
‘Closer’ seems to be targeted at an audience of middle aged women who would read the magazine as light reading for celebrity stories as well as real life and other articles such as diet facts.The stories in the magazine are about women and there are fashion pages within the magazine and therefore this is appealing to women and not men. The fashion pages show clothes that would be appealing to middle aged women and therefore the magazine is aimed at this age target audience.
The advertisements in the magazine are also aimed at this target group. There are 24 adverts in 1 typical edition of ‘closer’ magazine and the majority of the adverts are cosmetics, fake tan, make up, chocolate e.t.c and all these advertisements would be appealing to women of the targeted age group.
The cover of the magazine is made in stereotypically girly colours such as bold pinks and yellows. There are non-posed celebrity pictures on the front cover and this can appeal to the audience because it shows celebrities’ not looking their best and can show the middle aged women audience that not everyone always looks ‘celebrity perfect’ and can therefore make them feel good about themselves.
There are many particular features that are shown on the cover and contents pages that will attract women; such as the real life stories and diet plans.
The cover also includes the date, price, barcode and price which is a convention used for all magazines.‘Closer’ magazine has a slogan that is used above the title of each issue; ‘The only read you need’. This slogan is unique to ‘closer’ magazine and therefore when it is heard and written it is identified to be from this particular magazine. The slogan also suggests that the magazine includes all the news you will want to read and therefore is the best magazine for you and therefore will be appealing to the target audience.
By having the slogan and the title at the top of the magazine, it is at eye level for the targeted audience when on the shop shelves and is therefore eye catching.
The layout of ‘closer’ magazine is similar to the popular celebrity and real life magazine ‘New’ and this could attract the readers of ‘New’ magazine to ’Closer’ because it is of a similar format that seems to be popular amongst the middle aged women audience. Therefore, 'New' and other similar styled magazines are in competition with 'Closer'. However, 'Closer' is also in competition with the dominating women's weekly magazine, 'Take a Break'. It records nearly the double the circulation of that of 'Closer' magazine. Nevertheless, 'Closer' leads the young celebrity market with approximately 570,239 sales in half a year.
'Closer' magazine can also attract a wider audience by using its website. By having an official Internet website, it can appeal to a wider and larger audience, of those who use the Internet. The website, http://www.closeronline.co.uk/, is presented in the same colours as that of the printed magazine. It consists of features similar to those in the latest released magazine and also includes features and adverts that are targeted at the middle aged woman audience and that are similar to the stories featured.'Closer' is printed as a glossy magazine and this makes the magazine More appealing as it looks professional and presentable. It also makes the magazine look more expensive which can make the price of the magazine, £1, seem an even better price for the magazine. The bold text and large photos are used to create and overall effect that there is not much text but a lot of photos and this can be appealing for an audience who want a light, enjoyable read.
In conclusion, 'Closer' magazine is aimed at a middle aged female audience and this is presented but the features in the magazine, the colours and photos used and the advertisements that are appealing to women. The magazine used conventions of all magazines to attract to its audience as well as features that will compete against similar styled and designed magazines.
In my opinion, i feel that 'Closer' magazine is popular because it has interesting features that will appeal to the target audience and these features are presented on the front cover and this will initially give the first impression and attract the audience. The magazine offers its readers celebrity news that will be appealing to the audience and real life stories that many of the audience can relate to and therefore feel 'closer' too. This connotation links to the title of the magazine. I also feel that, 'Closer', uses ideologies to reflect the social needs and aspirations of the targeted audience. It achieves this by using real life stories that will be appealing to the audience, so that they can relate to it, and by using features that will be appealing and useful such as diet plans. Therefore, 'Closer' magazine uses its features and presentation well to attract its target audience.