Deconstruction of genre magazine

Contents page 

Deconstruction of genre magazine

Front cover 

 I have identified the genre I am planning on basing my magazine, which is R&B and deconstructed a magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread based on this genre. Analysing the three will help influence the way my magazine will look. I could not find a contents page and front cover that linked so I chose a front cover and contents page with the same artist. This is was a setback because I did not get to see how the producers would have made the two link using colour schemes and images. 

 

Mood board identifying my genre

I have identified the genre I want to be working on, which is R&B. This  was based on the results I received from my questionnaire, which showed that R&B was the most popular. I conducted some research into the genre, the origins, artists, current magazines linked to the genre and I have presented them in a mood board, made on glogster. 

Interview

I have conducted an interview to gain knowledge what the best way to go about my magazine is.  I asked Shari several questions in relation to my music magazine to gain some knowledge on how I would proceed in laying my magazine out. I asked questions to a 16 year old because she fits in my target range . Using the information I gained from my survey I was able to narrow the questions down, so they would be best suited for my magazine. A video camera on a tripod was used to film this movie; it was then edited on IMovie on the Apple Mac and uploaded on to YouTube. This allows my interview to look more professional.

Here are some quotes from Shari

 "I think the NME one with Tyler the creator stands out the most because name is the biggest thing and it straight away catches the eye"

  "The pull quote is pulling me in and I can tell everything is linked together"

After talking with Shari it gave me a clear inside of the most important things that I should include on my magazine. From this interview I noticed that the audience like the magazine more when they can clearly identify the artist and the masthead is bold and clear. I will make my mast head noticeable and very bold and clear. I also noticed that the incentives must link in some way to the genre of music.

Reader profile

Analysis of results from my survey

Survey

This is a screenshot of my questionnaire. It was made on survey monkey, which is a survey-making website.

·        Question 1

I started the questionnaire off by asking ‘what is your most preferred music genre?’ I did this because I wanted to get an idea of what the most popular genre is, so that I could base my magazine on it.

·        Question 2

‘Do you read music magazines?’ requires a simple yes or no answer. If they answered ‘yes’ they would find it easier to answer the rest of the questions because it would relate to them. If they answered ‘no’ some of the questions on the survey become irrelevant. This question also allows me to know how popular music magazines are for my age group.

·        Question 3

‘How often do you read music magazines?’ I gave 3 options and an ‘other box’. If they ticked they read them regularly this will make the rest of my questionnaire easier to answer.  

·        Question 4

‘What attracts you most when buying a music magazine?’ I gave five possible answers to this question and an ‘other’ box in case it was listed above. Knowing what attracts the audience to a magazine allows me to know what my main focuses are on the magazine. If they choose ‘artist’ I will have to make sure that my model is based on someone popular in the R&B genre, so that it attracts a better audience.

·        Question 5

‘What colours would you like to see on a magazine? (Pick 3)’ I have given many different options so I can find out what the most popular colours are. From this I will choose three and put them on my magazine.

·        Question 6

‘How much would you normally spend on a music magazine?’ although no one is buying my magazine i must ensure that I know what my target audience are willing to pay.

·        Question 7 and 8

‘Are you subscribed to any magazines?’ and ‘how many magazines do you receive/ buy per month?’ My last two questions will tell me how frequently my target audience read music magazines.

The ‘other’ box is to ensure that if an option is not present, the person could state an answer. The reason for my survey being online instead of on paper is because it is faster and more efficient in collecting data. Using this site I have sent out my information to people I know via email and my results will be collected and shown on the analyses page present on survey monkey. The information i gather from this questionnaire will go into making my focus group sessions more narrowed down. 

Research Rationale (300 Words)

What target group do you have access to?

The target group that I have chosen is mainly aimed at teenagers; because I go to school I have access to teenagers aged 11-18, because I have many different target groups that I am able to talk to I can gain much more information which will allow me to see if there is a gap in the market. This will also allow my gathered information for my magazine to vary and give me an advantage of having different views on what type of magazines that age group read.

What type of research will you conduct and why?

The types of research that I will conduct will be observational research and quantitative research. The observational research allows me to ask people questions that will allow people to elaborate on their answers. I will organise a focus group. During the focus group meeting I will hand out loads of different magazine covers that I think would concentrate on the different genres of music that are out there; whilst people give me feed back I will be filming them. 

My quantitative research will include me creating my survey and questionnaire using a website named survey monkey, from here I will discuss the most popular topics in my focus group. My market research will consist on me using the Internet to look at magazines covers of the genre I have chosen, this will allow me to sample different magazines and to get a taste of how magazines are laid out in the genre I have chosen.

What resources will you need?

The equipment that I will need to be able to conduct this research would be a camera, the Internet and different magazine covers. The camera will be used to film my focus group as I ask them questions, the internet would be for my survey and questionnaire and the magazines will be for my focus group to analyse and give me feed back.

Marketing research

Here, I chose seven magazine covers that go with genre I am planning on basing my magazine on. They all vary in style and layout which, gives me a variety of things to gain inspiration from. The magazine I am more likely to choose and base my front cover is the 'NME' Tyler, the creator one.I chose it because I liked the fact that it was unique and had many connotations of what their target audience is. Also the magazine is symbolic with what genre of magazine I want to achieve for my brief, which is RnB/Hip-hop.

Task 2 - Analysis of magazines

I have noticed that on the 'NME' Magazine cover that it has more things going on, this is because it also contains stories outside of the music industry. The 'Kerrang' ,magazine cover is very simple and concentrates mainly on the music element. From looking at these two I am more likely to aim my magazine to be like the 'NME' one, because it is more likely to have a wider audience. 

I chose these two magazines because they are both because they are both similar but of different genres.  They both don't have a lot of writing, but they seem to use their space effectively. I intend to use the superimposition on my magazine to show the importance of my artist. From the 'Kerrang' magazine I will keep my main headline to the left but from the 'NME' magazine I intend to lay my magazine out in a similar style, due to the fact that there hasn't been a lot written but all the space has been used. I also intend to cover other stories like the 'NME' magazine because that would broaden my target audience. 

Task1 - brain storming of magazine

Analysis of magazines

The masthead is bold and clear to read. It has bright, feminine colours. The font is all in lower case. The title block is purple and high quality font for the target audience. Miley is covering the Masthead so that she is seen to be the most important thing and also attract costumers to buy.

The celebrity, Miley Cyrus, uses mode of address and is looking straight at the reader to establish a relationship with them. Her expressions give a chance for the reader to read the magazine. Miley’s make-up is strong, which makes her eyes stand out to the audience; it also attracts them.

The anchorage text links to the central image to the topics of the article on Miley Cyrus.

Variety of fonts and colours – the colour scheme has been stuck to the colours white, yellow and a little bit of blue and green in the masthead. This makes the magazine look neater and the yellow and white suggest a softer, simpler which the readers are able to read from the models dark hair.

The main puff shows the information that will be included inside the magazine. The font is bold and small. Orange makes combinations, which stand out, and colours are similar to the rest of the magazine colours.

The masthead is bold and clear to read, the font type if sans serif. It’s bright red and is a multi-gender style, which attracts the readers. The font is all in lower case. The title block is red and high quality font for the target audience. It suggests longstanding, high quality font. The title block is superimposition in front of the celebrity.

The direct mode of address is T.I he is in the rule of thirds looking straight at the reader to establish a relationship with the audience. 

Using a famous celebrity on the front cover attracts audience to read more about the magazine also wonder why they are on the magazine.  

The shot type is a mid shot; the camera is directly positioned in front of the model.

The magazine website makes it possible for readers to go beyond the hard copy of this edition and read the online version to.

The mode of address, Florence looks bold and feminine. Her Smokey eyes stand out. Here tilting her head and looking directly to the reader show Florence.

The main puff shows the information that will be included inside the magazine. The bold white colour stands out and makes the audiences feel involved and attracted to read more.

Featuring stars and celebrities are very popular with female readers; especially for teenagers they would like young popular stars to be on the front cover, this attracts them to read the magazine. An eye-catching image of a successful singer who girls aspire to be like.

Shot typed used is mid close up.

The main puff concentrates on the celebrity (mode of address) as well as suggestions on beauty, makeover and hair and to imitate the style directly.

Variety of fonts and colours – the colour scheme has been stuck to the colours white, red and black.

All three of the magazines use a medium close up and are using the direct mode of address. With 'billboard' and 'vibe' the mastheads are right in the middle and centered across the head. That means that both the picture and the masthead is deemed important.

With 'nme' the Masthead is in the corner because the main image is the most important part. Each magazine has the name of the celebrity in bold writing to attract the reader.