Questionaire Analysis

Institutional Research

Bauer produces mainstream/niche magazines which give them a wider target audience as the have magazine for cars (classic cars), fishing (Sea Angler), landscape (Landscape magazine) , music magazines (Kerrang, MOJO, etc.) and much more.  Bauer have many target audiences as they have different types of magazines like ‘Q’ their target audience are aged for 25 and over, for both gender. They also have a younger target audience, ‘MATCH’ is a football magazine aimed for 11 to 16 year old males, who enjoy news about the latest football news. Their brand image is giving their customers the best up to date magazine, with their magazines being able to be seen online. Bauer also has links with other media like ‘4Music’ as they are popular and known by a lot of people it’s good for advertising new magazine issues in their commercial breaks. They also have link with some radio stations like ‘Magic’ and ‘Kiss’ they too are good with advertisement as they are well known radio stations which people may listen to. Bauer are a large media company as they own some magazines, radio stations and TV channels

IPC Media produces mainstream/niche magazines which give them a wider target audience as they have magazines about homes (25 Beautiful Homes), gardening (amateur gardening), gossip (CHAT), music (NME), and much more. IPC Media have many precise aged target audience; they are aimed for an older reader. ‘Golf monthly’ is for Golf loving reader who enjoy reading about top players, tournaments, golfing gears and golfing tips and instructions; their target audience is aimed at good golfers and regular golfers. ‘CHAT’ is for the real-life weekly that reaches out to touch the reader and shares with her an explosive conversation through heart-stopping moments and the wit and grit of real-life. Bursting with energy, Chat tells the stories that get everyone talking.  Their brand image is their customers their monthly dose of their hobby, like a monthly golfing magazine, cycling, home decorations, etc. IPC Media have a link to each other magazines which can be advertising new issues of magazine being published. The company does not own any other media except magazines as they would like to focus in one production.

Immediate Media is niche magazine, who is aimed for young readers, ‘Match Of The Day’ who are for young football fanatics who enjoy to know about the latest news feed about the premier league, players, clubs and players transfers/prediction moves.  ‘Horrible Histories’ for readers who like to learn about history and the funny and gruesome facts that they did not know about. They do have an older range audience for mums, ‘Made for Mums’ magazine.  Their brand image is that they give the younger target audience more priority as they have more magazines for them as they do for the older target audience. Immediate Media has other media links as some of their magazines are TV channels for kids and they could advertise their new magazine issue on television.

Development Hell is niche magazine which only focus on two magazines, which are both music magazines ‘Mixmag’ & ‘Don’t Stay In.’ They may only focus on two magazines as they would like to give their readers both quality and quantity in their magazines. The median ages of a Mixmag reader are 26 - 72% male, 28% female - and they tending to be urban and single.  Their brand image is publishing a monthly magazine which potentially give good quality and quantity magazine for only publish two magazines a month. They do not have any other media links, they promote their magazine by banners and TV commercials.

The two institution that strikes me are Bauer and IPC Media as both tend to focus on niche audiences with their different range of magazines. As my magazine is focused on Hip Hop, Bauer seems to be an ideal institution as they have a lot of music magazines and a younger target audience. With their link to 4 Music and radio station that would be great for advertising new magazine issues to music lover and hopefully Hip Hop listeners. 

Initial Magazine Plan (Brainstorm)

http://prezi.com/672nnvkdcq02/present/?auth_key=679bc3n&follow=ouksveufeqeg

All photographs taken for the cover and article pages

Chosen Images For My Magazine

NME Contents Page Analysis

The NME magazine does use images in their contents page. There are 8 images and some are related to the indie rock genre like the guitarist image on the right hand side. There is a promotion on the page that relates to indie/ rock fashion that the target audience would like to wear and there is one promotion image to subscribe to NME as they would save £1 a issue. The image supports the initial findings about the style of the magazine of the magazine as it is indie rock related music or indie fashion that is targeted only for NME’s audience.

The magazine’s colour scheme is White. Black, and Red. They did not want to make it look fancy as they think giving their readers interesting articles and tips is more important. The information is accessible for the reader as the titles are in bold and the font size is big enough to read. The design of the contents page looks to me as a old fashion newspaper, that could be that they believe in the ‘old is gold’ phrase.  

The different sections of the magazine are presented so that the main articles that the readers are looking forward to are in bold but the rest just states the articles name and page number with no flashy page layout. The magazine’s logo is placed in the promotion image. As this shows they are not focused on their magazine but the quality of their articles to please the readers.  

Contents Page Analysis - VIBE

In this contents page there is only one image, Kanye West, getting the attention of the readers as he is the main and only image on the page.

The magazine shows Kanye West in their contents page as he is one of the world’s known and best rapper, and that would attract many readers as they would hope that he would reveal his perhaps new single, album, tour or even speaking out on rumours about him. The reader's eyes are focused on Kanye as the image is very big; it covers nearly the whole contents page, leaving a right corner for the magazine content information.

The colours used in the magazine contents page are black and white and the only visible colour that catches people’s eye is the red heart place on Kanye's body. The red stands out due to the colour's contrast and this makes this contents page quite creative and eye catching.

The information is accessible for the readers as it is visible to read and there is no fuss about it. There are only two different sections in this magazine’s contents page which are features and fashion. This tells us that the magazines is focused on the music genre topic and have fewer articles that relate to fashion.  The magazine’s logo ‘V’ initial of VIBE is placed behind Kanye West, that shows that VIBE magazine put their music, artists and articles first.

Double Page Analysis

The choice of the band chosen for the double page article are the indie rock band ‘Muse’ as they were presented on the front cover. So they are the main band who catches the readers attention, as they would like to read the articles of the indie rock band Muse. They are also been placed in a futuristic background as the lights look bright and unnatural. This could mean that this article could be about the future of Muse, maybe about future albums and tours.

The language used in the magazine is formal, as they know that some of their target audience are a bit older as they have an estimate of their target audience‘s age. They also use a friendly approach as there is strong language in the article like ‘the whole thing looks fucking amazing.’ That shows that they are comfortable enough with the reader that they could swear and it also shows that others words can not describe their ‘ridiculous’ tour. The colours used in the magazine are a bit dull but that some bright, futuristic colours which give it a sci-fi effect. As the band ‘Muse’ is in the middle with brightly lit lights shone on them; so they catch the reader’s eyes of this double page article.

The style of the text is eye catching as they want the readers to read about Muse as they are the main image of their front cover. As they placed a big quote told by Muse aside of them. But their interview is in the right hand side with smaller font size than the image and quote. The reason being is that NME wanted to grab the attention from the readers of Muse and their surroundings, is it a glimpse of their new concert which they will be playing at.

The double page is laid out with a huge picture of Muse  in a low angle which makes them look intimidating and mysterious,. The band members are wearing black leather clothing, as that makes them look more masculine. The background looks to be in a concert with a futuristic background lighting, which makes the reader see that their concert will not just be any normal concert. With a big quote from Muse ‘It began as a sketch on a napkin...’ That intentionally makes the reader wonder what they are talking about is it about their tour or about the band in general. They place the interview article of Muse in the right hand side.

The sort of tone the magazine is addressing the reader is like a friendly close friend, as they are interviewing the band Muse and would like to make the reader part of it, by making them to get to know Muse. The band is represented as cool and macho indie/rock band.

The style of the front cover does match the double page article as they made the indie/rock band Muse standout and grab the reader’s attention as they are placed in the middle. The article does not demand much prior knowledge as it is just an interview with Muse; it’s just an article about their tour.