Target Audience

In order to create my magazine i had to establish my Target audience. I did this by finding two magazine's that are very similar to mine and are already published. I have done this by finding the website online and looking through the media pack on the site. The two magazine's i researched were called 'mixmag' and 'Djmag'.

Mixmag

Readers of this mag are the first to recommend a new tune and the first on a new fashion trend. Also at that new cool club very early and they move on before it starts to go cold . Informed about top DJ's and upcoming tunes, and have have the latest mobile (even if their current one is less than six months old).

Readers have a high disposable income and a high propensity to spend it on:
-Nights out
-Clothes
-Tunes
-The latest mobile and MP3 player
Nearly 80% do not read another music magazine and they spend little time watching TV, especially at weekends.
The median age of a Mixmag reader is 26 - 72% male, 28% female - and they tend to be urban and single. Based on this information from 'http://www.mixmag.net/content/reader-profile' my target audience is going to be the same as 'Mixmag's' audience, as this magazine is what mine is going to be based on.

DJ Mag

This is a bar chart showing statistics about the readers of 'Dj mag'. By looking at the chart i can see that 94% of males read this magazine, although there are a considerable amount more male readers who read 'Dj mag' compared to 'Mixmag', but the magazine is still read by more male than female. based on these results it is clear that i am going to be more successful if i aim my magazine at male readers, i am therefore going to focus on drawing in male customers, not spending a great deal of time interesting my female audience. The average age for both magazines are 25.7 and 26, these to figures are basically equal, telling me my target audience is going to around 25-26. This helps me a great deal as i know what images to use, and what level of grammar is needed to keep my readers interested. A high percentage of readers for both magazines tend to be single. To attract this group magazines designers tend to have a lot of images of woman, as this is what a 26; single; straight male would be hugely interested in. Another similarity of the readers is they both have a high disposable income, this is perfect for a magazine to aim at because it is extremely likely for the reader to buy an issue every month as they would not mind spending a little amount of their income on a cheap magazine.

Researching these two magazines have given me a clear picture of who my target audience are and what my magazine needs attract readers. My target audience are going to be; urban males who are in their middle 20's, are single (straight) and enjoy going to club's and listening to the latest dance tracks.

Main Coursework

Introduction- For my main task i have been asked to produce a music magazine of my choice, designing and coming up with; front cover, contents page and a double-page spread. The genre of my magazine is going to be Dance. My main coursework is going to consist of the skills i learnt from completing my preliminary coursework, also developing these skills throughout.

Flat plans (sketches)

This is a sketch of my front cover. I did this to plan for my final piece which i did on 'in design'. I did not keep to this design 100% but it helped me in a big way to decede were my images were to be placeed.

This is a sketch of my contents page. I put the number in a collumn so that my audience can easily see what page they're interested in. This is a better layout than having the page numbers scattered all over the page as this would be difficult for the reader.

Final Evaluation

This is my completed front cover. I chose to use the image i used in my earlier post as it is relevant to the issue within. I also stuck to a colour scheme of blue and yellow as it does not clash or blend in with my image.





















This is my final design of my contents page. I was told not to produce a final piece just do a basic outline of what my contents would involve. My colour scheme is similar to my front cover, this scheme would flow throughout the 'Freshers' section of the issue. I also think it is important to have images on a contents page because it keeps the reader interested and gives them and idea of what is coming up.

Photographs

This is the image i have taken myself of a student and have chosen to have it as my main picture on my front cover. I have chosen this image of a regular student because it matches the target market i am aiming at.

The second image i took is not suitable for my front cover. This is because it is not a medium close-up and therefore can not see the students face and this is not appropriate for my front cover.

Introduction

The preliminary task is to create and design; a front cover, contents page of a college magazine. My magazine is going to be not focused on anything specific, just college in general. My target audience is going to the students attending the college i am basing my magazine on.