Evaluation Q5

By Oliver Midgley

How did you attract/address your audience?It was important that on my front cover I convey the fact this is a music magazine, so that people who are interested in music and therefore are more likely to purchase the product will be attracted towards it. I feel I have achieved this firstly, through my masthead- the serif font which gives a classical impression on top of the horizontal lines resembles that of musical notes- however the symbols (in this case letters) spread past the top and bottom lines to imply the publication is bursting [with content]. Secondly the splash image is of an artist who would be easily recognisable to any followers of the indie music scene. When they see his him, the brain automatically makes connections to music. The singer/songwriter also carries a positive image through producing incredible music so having him on the cover will plant positive ideas about the magazine into potential customers’ minds. This is especially crucial given we are just trying to establish ourselves so people could be apprehensive about buying this somewhat unknown brand. The final feature which will blatantly tell the viewer this is a music themed magazine is the picture of the stage. These clues rely on the connotations certain things carry. There are smaller hints too if the reader looked closer for example the tagline reads “The stepping stone to new music” however in such a competitive market where a customer may only afford your magazine a few seconds of their fleeting attention, it is important to deliver the most significant aspects.

Not only does it matter that this is a music magazine but the fact it is in the indie music genre matters too. To show the audience this is Indie I used: a black and white filter (popular amongst this social group as it has certain implications regarding emotions and the removal of colour acts to remove distractions from the image so focus is on the raw subject and not superficial irrelevancies), the main model who is a recognisable figure in the indie music genre, a title which relates to how they audience may be feeling and a focus on upcoming, unfamiliar artists.

The colour scheme is black, white and red- staying consistent throughout. On the cover page, I used the brightness of the red which contrasts with the black and white to highlight certain things. Using it sparingly helped me to emphasise the more important parts. This includes the title (makes it stand out), the main cover line heading (the artists name stands out making it easier for people to identify him and register interest) and ‘WIN’ in the plug (summarises that in this cover line there is something to be won, ‘win’ also usually implies there will be some kind of competition to take part in- something that could appeal to certain people). The colour scheme is what I would consider to be a rather sophisticated one with elegant colours as oppose to garish bright pinks, yellows and blues that you may expect to find in a gossip magazine or something aimed at a very young audience. It will attract a higher class of person which generally goes hand in hand with the Indie social group too.

The plug boasts the chance to ‘Win 3 months of free Spotify’. Because of the positioning, sizing and colour I chose, the words ‘Win’ and ‘Spotify’ stand out the most- this is a quick summary of the cover line. Spotify is a music streaming app which has become a popular brand amongst a young demographic of music fans of all genres hence it is definitely the perfect product to place on my front cover to entice my audience of young customers. Spotify is especially good for the indie followers as it has a wide database of many artists allowing them to search for artists who can bring them exclusive prestige. Alternatively, Spotify are also good at doing all the searching themselves and compiling some of the most promising musicians and their music into specific playlists.

I have also widened the number of people my magazine could possibly appeal to by writing various artists’ names who feature along the bottom- more artists means a higher chance there will be someone you’re a fan of which could sway you to buy the magazine.

At first it may not be obvious to the reader, but I have used semantic fields within my cover lines which specifically relate to men. The themes of heists, criminals and volcanoes are all topics of action and adventure and would be considered to be of a more masculine appeal.

For the contents page I followed the same colour scheme to attract the same kind of higher class customer. I have addressed the audience as if they are a higher class too with sophisticated vocabulary like “auspicious” and “Subterfuge”. The layout is very neat with thin lines to divide sections but I have avoided lines coming into contact with anything. I have done this because I feel it’s important with a contents page to create clear sections but I still wanted to achieve a seamless finish. The lines are also aligned with each other- this miniscule detail may not be something you notice at first or even at all but subconsciously it makes it easy to look at.

Seen as this was for a fairly young audience, I didn’t want to make it completely serious because some may find it too intense. This is why I have included a Q&A- this is a fun way of interviewing an artist and it gets the reader more involved as they can choose the questions. I also refer to a monthly caption competition where a picture of someone recognised within the indie genre is shown and taken out of it’s context, the situation can look questionable to say the least. The readers have to come up with the funniest caption for it. The best responses to last weeks image are displayed as well as the new picture. There is a prize for having the best caption. One of the feature headings is “Frown for the Camera” which is obviously play on words with the conventional “Smile for the camera” and sarcastically mocks in good humour how Indie acts sometimes fake their edgy expressions.

That is not the only reference to the indie genre with one of the more eye-catching parts being a model holding a blank piece of paper with holes in over his face. When people see this, they are instantly intrigued and have to read more. The description in his feature is relevant and to an extent explains it. He believes society is just a charade and the paper he holds up is representative of the ‘masks’ people wear in society to hide their true selves. It is certainly an interesting an unconventional theory- typical of the genre really and people will want to read more. The album cover that features below it has a stylized Indie design. There are many mentions of the genre with features like “Indie Festival Guide”, “Spotify’s Top Indie Songs” and “Devoted to Indie Pop/Rock” which covers both bases. As well there is a reference to alternative music with “A Better Alternative”. All of this works to attract the audience and then the social media links show I am addressing my audience as people interested and very active on social media.

For my Double Page Spread, I attracted with audience with a large picture that almost takes up the whole of one page- it is impossible to miss. I have once again tried to make it flowing by making the background colour the same as the one in the picture so it appears to be one continuous picture across the two pages- this was especially difficult to accomplish considering the background colour of the original image has a gradient due to the lighting so just picking a colour and setting that as the background wouldn’t look right with other parts so I had to use the blend tool. I have utilised InDesign’s excellent formatting abilities by shaping the text box around the model to avoid the text being encroached by the curving picture without using new start point for the text which would leave gaps. It is a small detail that definitely makes a difference. Other graphological features include the large drop cap- this again catches the eye and leads the reader to the start of the article. There is also a pull quote which contains a vague but interesting statement. This will entice the reader to find out more from the article. Both the drop cap and pull quote are in red which stands out against the black, white and greys of the rest. It is likely people will be attracted to that first. A tag in the top right corner states how this is “Exclusive” and the “Main Feature”. When flicking through a publication, it is the right side of the right page across a DPS which is visible so this is what they will see and be drawn in by the two tags.

As for how I addressed the audience, I used intricate syntax and vocabulary like “antipathy” and “begetting” as this is for a well- educated audience. I the content had an even balance of emotional and factual content. The emotional part appeals to the Indie social group who wear their heart on their sleeve more than most- regardless of gender. The factual side is for the male audience as they stereotypically are more interested in facts. Finally, I used a fun conversational tone- this is summed up with my pun at the end about the artist “… is going to erupt this year” playing on the fact the article is about his new album named after a volcano.