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Final Magazine Front Cover, Contents Page And Double Page Spread

Mock Up Of Final Idea

Front Cover:



Contents Page:



Double Page Spread:

Ideas Of Hooks, Teaser And Buttons, Etc.

Photographs

Here are some of the images I took for my magazine.









Here is the proof of me taking the pictures:

Double Page Feature Ideas

Colour Schemes/Mood board

Possible Typefaces

Possible Mastheads

Flatplans For Front Cover, Contents Page And Double Page Spread

Photography Research

Questionnaire

I produced a questionnaire to find out what my target audience (hip-hop and RnB fans) would prefer the magazine to be like. I asked fifteen people to fill out my questionnaire who were my friends, family and people from my school. I included closed and open ended questions so I could understand people's choices and get their own opinions. This research will help me in producing my own magazine as I now know what the target audience are looking for, and what they expect.



Below are my results. I put my results into bar charts as it is easier to read and understand. My results are not representative as the sample of people I used was not large enough. My results would have been more valid If i had questioned more people.

Audience Theory And Case Study On Chosen Genre

My case study is about ‘Flavour’: an entertainment, music and creative arts magazine. ‘Flavour’ is a free publication that has been established for three years. It is distributed nationally on a bi-monthly basis, with 20,000 copies dispensed in London alone, copies are available in music stores, at tube stations and other public places. Full editions of the magazine can be downloaded from the website and postal copies can also be ordered online.

‘Flavour’ magazine’s aim is “to become the UK’s leading urban lifestyle brand offering an exciting and electric mix of music, art, fashion, interviews, gadgets, reviews and beautiful models". Its slogan: “young, ambitious and cool” suggests that the target audience is young teenagers. However, the magazine is read by both men and women (fifty-three percent female and forty-seven percent male) between the ages of 18 and 24 years including those in full-time employment and education. The brand reports a hundred percent pick up rate.

The magazine contains advertisements for government health campaigns such as Chlamydia, other publications, new technology, financial and debt services, job opportunities, music albums, clothing and shops, clubs, restaurants, theatre productions and jewellery. ‘Flavour’s’ own concerts and events are also publicized in the magazine.

The brand of ‘Flavour’ has media partnerships with the organisers of the Notting Hill Carnival, The Urban Comedy Awards and The Concert Factory, and have also recently confirmed 16 major events of their own for 2009 with fashion, music and entertainment specialists. Each year, the events are attended by over 2 million visitors. ’Flavour’ has an annual stand at The Notting Hill carnival, which attracts thousands of people each year.



‘www.flavourmag.co.uk’, the magazine’s website, was re-launched in December 2008. The highly informative website is updated daily and easily accessible and user friendly, available twenty four hours a day. There are 61,000 monthly individual visitors to the site and Flavour’s website has a growing membership, currently consisting of 10,000 regular social networkers. The website provides an online multimedia edition of the magazine, featuring interviews and behind-the-scenes footage of celebrities, models, fashion shoots and other high profile events.

The website is bright and vivacious in colour and uses flashing, moving and constantly-changing, eye-catching images to attract or ‘hook in’ the audience. It uses consistent colours of pink, white, black and silver and a similar font type to maintain its continuity of image. The background is plain to focus attention on the central messages. The simple and clear ‘click on’ icons make it easy for users to find what they are looking for quickly and without confusion. It has many colourful images and video material as well as advertisements and ‘pop ups’ are used to convey important information, for example, advice about knife crime.

A simple ‘Google’ search (or another search engine) will find ‘Flavour’ but inputting the full website address will give instant and direct access.

There are many similarities between the website and the magazine. They have the same font type and colour scheme. They are both targeted at the same market so use the same pictures and information. However, there are also some differences as obviously the website can benefit from moving images and flashing words, although, the nature of a computer screen is that less is available at a glance. The colours used in the magazine also appear brighter than those used on the website. In addition, the website seems more chaotic, with so much information flashing on and off the screen.

The features of the website include viewing and downloading previous editions of the magazine online. Furthermore, it contains links to Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, other events or clubs taking place, search facilities. The website provides additional information (such as interviews, latest gossip and trends) following up on articles covered in the magazine.

As the website is updated daily, news and information provided is always up to the minute and usually cutting edge. The newest information is situated on the homepage using bold headlines or scrolling across the screen for people to notice that it is new.

Advertising is usually incorporated by the use of frequently changing ‘pop-up’ boxes although there are also fixed blocks of advertising.

The range of advertisers is fairly similar; government advertisements are common to both the website and the magazine, but advertising of consumer products on the website appears to be more up to date.
With the magazine, it is portable, you can take it on the train, bus, to the workplace and readers can pick it up and put it down at their own convenience. Moreover, printed magazines can be kept for future re-reading, whereas website pages are regularly being updated so information may not always be available for as long as you need or want it. The website requires computer and internet access which is not always so readily available. Moving ‘pop-ups’ on the website can be distracting and prolonged computer use is not advisable as it can be detrimental to your health. Problems with computers (e.g. gremlins) are common and disruptions to computer access can be extremely frustrating.

I do believe it is important for magazines to consider online and alternative publishing methods. They need to get their publications out there to be able to compete with other similar products and maximise their profit. They need to ensure their magazine reaches as many readers as possible so they need to attract a bigger and wider audience, through the internet and other means of communication.

This particular magazine, ‘flavour’, is using online availability to primarily target the younger generation who are perhaps more inclined to use the internet than older people as they have been brought up with this technology. They are also targeting advertisers as they need more adverts for different publications (e.g. magazines, websites and events). However, as increasing numbers of people are engaging with technology, the use of online provision of the magazine will lead to a greater consumer market.

Rather than narrowing accessibility, online and other publishing methods can only serve to increase readership across a wider target audience. This is a good way of trying to reach diverse groups of people and publicizing magazines. Also, trying different means of reaching new audiences will show the magazine companies whether such marketing is to their advantage in terms of profit.

I would target it more towards young girls and women as in my opinion these individuals are more likely to buy and read magazines.

Some alternative ways of publishing this magazine could include the production of a brail version for blind people or an audio book-type version. Magazine programmes are popular on the television and I feel sure that a ‘flavour’ TV series show could be a big hit.