Questionnaire Results

After giving my questionnaire to 20 people of different ages and genders I calculated the results and decided that it would be best to turn the answers into pie charts so that I could easily analyse the results.

The pie chart shows that out of the three names Phoenix, Indi and InTune; the most popular is Phoenix because 60% favoured it. I personally prefer the name Phoenix however to get further research I will create a focus group asking if they agree that Phoenix is an appropriate name for an Indie Rock magazine and why they have this opinion. 

                 

The pie chart shows that out of the three different colour schemes, the most popular colour scheme was red, black and white. Whilst I agree with this decision I also think that I should use a colour scheme that is related to the colours in my main image. However I will make sure to include red, black and white font through out my magazine because I believe that the colours compliment each other nicely. 

The pie chart shows that 90% of the people I asked think that my music magazine should be released monthly. I agree with this decision because it will allow for the issues to be made to a high standard. 

The pie chart shows that out of the 5 different price options; £3.00, £3.50, £4.00, £4.50 and £5.00; the most popular option was £3.50 because 35% of people choose that option. The pie chart also shows that nobody would willingly pay £5.00 for a music magazine therefore I will not sell my magazine for that price option. However I believe that £3.50 is not a high enough cost for a good quality music magazine that will feature many articles. Therefore when I hold the focus group I will ask for their opinions on what the cost of the magazine should be. 

This pie charts shows that 65% of the people I asked would find a band index on the magazine contents page useful. However 20% would find it very useful and 15% wouldn't find it very useful. This therefore suggests that people would prefer to have a band index on the contents page rather than there not being one. Therefore when I hold the focus group I will ask for their opinions on either they think that a band index on the contents page will help with the sale of the magazine. 

The pie chart shows that out of the 5 different double page spread article ideas that the most popular article idea was about the artist answering questions and talking about their new album or tour because 45% of the people asked choose it. The second most popular article idea was the artist answering questions and talking about what tour is like for them. I like both of these article ideas equally however I feel like I will be able to come up with better questions for talking about their new album or tour because there is more content to cover. 

The pie chart shows 95% of people believe that I should include competitions to win tickets to concerts and gigs whilst 5% disagrees. I think that competitions might come across as tacky and might not seem legitimate which might potentially put people of off buying the magazine. Therefore when I hold the focus group I will ask for additional opinions on if I should include competitions to win tickets to concerts and gigs. 

The pie chart shows that out of the 6 different location ideas for the photographs for the magazine front cover and double page spread there were 2 options that were equally popular. These were; Brick Lane or Camden (Graffiti Backgrounds) and 5 Arches Park. I like both of these ideas and I also like the idea of taking photographs in a studio location using different coloured backgrounds. Because I will need to take a variety of different of photographs for the magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread I think that I will take photographs at all of these locations and then using social media and focus groups to choose the best photographs for the magazine. 

The pie chart shows that there was an equally divided opinion on whether the magazine should include a free magazine or cd that is related to the genre of the magazine. Whilst the free single or cd will attract more people to the magazine because it appears that they are getting better value for money, the price of the magazine might have to increase to ensure for that artists or bands who single/cd is will get their moneys worth. Therefore when I hold the focus group I will ask for their opinions on whether the magazine should or shouldn't include a single or cd. 

Questionnaire

I have created this questionnaire because I want use it to find out what my target audience would like the magazine to be like. I can then use the answers from the questionnaire to help with my decisions for my final ideas. I will give my questionnaire to at least 20 different people within the age range of 15-25 so that I have a variety of answers that reflects the whole range of my target audience.

Software

To create my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread I will use Adobe Photoshop CS4. I will use photoshop because it has a variety of tools that I can use to create professional looking magazine. Photoshop is easy to navigate because on the left had side of the document it shows each layer that you add to the file; this make it easy to see what you have added and makes it more easy to edit each individual layer. Along the top of the photoshop document there are sections that split up each of the tools; this makes it even easier to navigate and find the tools and effects that I want. Some of the tools on photoshop that I plan to use are the transform tool, to adjust the size of shapes and images, the textbox tool to add different text and fonts to my magazine and the shape tool to add rectangles and lines to specific parts of the magazine.

I will also use the website “Picmonkey” to edit the additional images that I add to my magazine. For example the extra images that I add to my double page spread and any other images that I add on my contents page. “Picmonkey”  is clearly laid out which therefore makes it easy to navigate around and edit images. 

I will also use DaFont.com to some of the fonts that I use on my magazine such as for the Masthead. DaFont has thousands of different fonts available to download therefore I will have many font styles to choose from. 

Initial Ideas

After researching different music magazines and their genres I have decided that I want the genre of my music magazine to be Indie Rock. I have decided on this genre because it is the genre of music that I listen to and is a similar style to my own; therefore I feel like I will be able to produce this genre of magazine to the best of my ability. I am going to use the original NME as inspiration when designing my music magazine.

Before deciding on my final ideas I am going to produce a questionnaire to find out my target audiences opinion on all of the favourite ideas. This will help me make a successful magazine because it will be based around the ideas that my target audience liked the most.

Target Audience: 
The target audience for my music magazine is teenagers over the age of 15, young adults as well as aspiring indie rock bands/artists. This will allow me to use a mode of address that is colloquial however is still vaguely formal; this will then make it appropriate to all ages.

Masthead/Name Ideas: 
I came up with 6 possible name ideas for my magazine, these are;
- Phoenix
- Indi
- InTune
- Base
- Clash
- Beat

My favourite names out of these three are Phoenix, Indi and InTune, therefore I will use these three names on the questionnaire that I will produce to find out which name is most popular.

Colour Scheme: 
I want to use a black, red and white colour scheme for my music magazine because I feel like these colour best reflect the genre of the magazine. However when I produce a questionnaire I will feature different colour options on it to find out what colours will be most popular.

Star Image Mood-board and Ideas

Star Image Ideas: 

For my magazine I will use a female model. I will take a variety of photographs of the model wearing different clothing however I will make sure that the clothing is of an indie/alternative style that is laid back so that my model becomes an indie/alternative icon. The items of clothing that intend to use are black skinny jeans, light blue boyfriend jeans with distressed knees, green and purple flannels and either plain t-shirts or graphic t-shirts, i.e. band t-shirts. The model will also wear either combat styled boots, chelsea boots or converse.

For makeup I want the model to have relatively grunge makeup. To create this I will use warm toned brown eyeshadows, clumpy mascara and possibly winged eyeliner.

Initial Ideas Brainstorm

Star Image

The theory of ‘Star Image’ was created by Ricard Dyer. In this theory he proposes that celebrities and icons are constructed out of a range of materials by institutions for financial gain. Dyer has split his theory up into different sub-sections, these are; Constructions, Hegemony (Cultural Beliefs) as well as  Audience and Institution.

Constructions: 
Dyer believes that celebrities are built for an audience instead of being a real person; for example, stars are sometimes built to be different to create originality and likeablility. This construction is then emphasised through magazines, music videos and advertisements. Record companies are usually responsible for the construction of a “star”.
Audience and Institution: 
Dyer believes that celebrities are built only to make money. Therefore every “star” is constructed to met the interest a specific target audience to generate revenue for record companies. The “stars’ are constructed to be what the record companies believe audiences want.
Hegemony (Cultural Beliefs): 
Dyer believes that celebrities are constructed to have certain beliefs, values and attitudes. Therefore audiences relate to them because they have features/ideas that they share or admire. This results in audiences seeing “stars” as role models and aspiring to be them.

There are many examples of bands/artists for all genres of music which posses a star image, some of them are; The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Rhianna, Lana Del Rey and One Direction.

The Red Hot Chilli Peppers: 

The Red Hot Chilli Peppers are an alternative band from Los Angeles who formed in 1983. The band has an easily recognisable logo which is a star. This logo appears through out all of their work; on album covers, merchandise as well as in their music video for their song ‘Californication’ . This helps to successfully sell the band because the audience will become familiar with the logo which will help the record company to make money. 

The Red Hot Chilli Peppers are portrayed to have a ‘don’t care’ attitude which denotes the idea that they are cool. This attitude will attract a specific type of audience, if the band lost this attitude it is likely that they will suffer a lack of sales. 

This research on star image suggests that artists/bands must posses a star image in order for them to be successful and popular within the current culture. Therefore I am going to create a star image for the individual on the main image that appears on the magazine front cover, contents page and double page in order for my magazine to sell successfully.