Creating a readership profile

Readership Profiles

Researching and identifying your target audience is a crucial task for any media producer. In magazines, we refer to this as our ‘readership’, which we define with a readership profile.

Analysing feature articles

Music Magazines: Analysing magazine feature articles

—  Look at the layout and design visually- how does it link to the magazine’s front cover and overall design?

—  What are the connotations of the design? I.e. what does it make you think of.

—  How does the article support the artist’s style and image?

—  What is the purpose of the article in respect of the audience- introducing a new artist? Promoting new album? Image change? Post-scandal?

—  How does the presentation of the artist suit the magazine’s target audience? Consider language, mode of address etc.

—  Consider how the artist is represented- what do you think the intention was?

—  What is the ‘tone’ of the article? (Positive? Excitable? Angry?)

—  Mode of address- are we as a reader spoken to directly, in a friendly manner, or more detached? Is there a sense of the magazine’s voice doing the interviewing, or is it purely about the artist?

—  Anything you notice about the layout over the pages of the feature article?

—  How do the images support the text and add to the overall look of the article?

 

Analysing contents pages

Analysing magazine contents pages

Look at a minimum of 2 contents pages

—  Look at the layout and design- how does it link to the magazine’s front cover, feature articles and overall design?

—  How does it entice people to read the articles mentioned?

—  How many artists are featured on the page?

—  How does the contents page use photography and visual features for effect?

—  The job of the front cover is to make people buy the magazine in the first place. For a contents page, however, the reader has already bought it- so what is the purpose of a contents page?

—  How do they entice you to read the articles featured on the contents page? Think about the language they use, images, persuasive techniques etc.

Analysing Front Covers

Music Magazines: Front cover analysis

Masthead (title)

What are the connotations of (i.e. what is suggested by) the masthead? What kind of magazine identity is suggested? Does it use a ‘tagline’ (a phrase showing off the status of the magazine, e.g. Britain’s best loved music magazine)? Is the masthead obscured/hidden in any way, and what does this suggest about the success or status of the magazine?

Readership

What type of music fan is the magazine targeting?

What does the cover suggest about the age, gender and personality of the readership?

Dominant image

Analyse and interpret the dominant image on the front cover: shot framing, eyeline, body language, mise-en-scene, connotations and effect.

What’s the relationship between the subject of the photograph and the reader?

What genre of music is suggested from the image?

How might all this appeal to the target audience?

Coverlines (words or phrases promoting the articles inside)

Explain what they suggest and how they entice the reader to buy the magazine.

Freebies, competitions and giveaways

What do they say about the audience, and their relationship with the magazine?

Layout and composition

Explain how the different elements of the front cover are organised on the page- is it conventional?

Mode of address

Explain how the magazine addresses the reader- direct address? Formal/informal? With humour? Like a friend?

 

Remember: you need to present this analysis in a visually interesting way on your blog! You should analyse at least three different front covers.

12B- G321 blog links for June 2015

Aneesa Anwar
Research and planning: aneesanwar3.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: aneesaanwarevaluation.blogspot.com

Orienne Attwool
Research and planning: oriattwool.blogspot.com
Evaluation: orievaluate.blogspot.co.uk

Daniel Bennett
Research and planning: daanielbennett.blogspot.com
Evaluation:

George Buckland
Research and planning: georgebmagazine.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: georgesmusicmagevaluation.blogspot.co.uk

Anya Charrington
Research and planning: anyacharrington.blogspot.com
Evaluation: anyacharringtonevaluation.blogspot.com

Amelia Elgar
Research and planning: millieelgar.blogspot.co.uk/
Evaluation: millieevaluation.blogspot.co.uk

Sophia Forrester
Research and planning: sophiaforrester.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: sophiasevaluation.blogspot.com

Louis Hart
Research and planning: louishart1.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: louishart123.blogspot.com

Georgia Hodge
Research and planning: georgiahodge.blogspot.com
Evaluation: georgiaevaluation.blogspot.com

Rosie Lawrence
Research and planning: rosiesmediamags.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: rosie-evaluation.blogspot.co.uk

Guy Leftwich
Research and planning: guylmagazine.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: guysevaluation.blogspot.com

Annie McDonagh
Research and planning: anniemcdonagh.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: anniesevaluation.blogspot.com

Josh Morris
Research and planning: joshuamorris2.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: joshevaluation.blogspot.com

Dexter Roper
Research and planning: dexterroper.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: dexterroper44.blogspot.co.uk

Shannon Sturm
Research and planning: ShannonSturm.blogspot.com
Evaluation: shannonsturmevaluation.blogspot.com 

Grace Ullah
Research and planning: graceullah.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: graceevaluation.blogspot.co.uk

Izzy Willis
Preliminary Task: izzywillis.blogspot.com
Research and planning: izzywillis2.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: isabellewillis22.blogspot.com

12C- G321 blog links for June 2015

Megan Barber
Preliminary task: barber801.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: Barber802.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation:

Melissa Butler
Preliminary task: melissaprod.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: melissasmusicmag.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation:

Sophie Carter
Preliminary task: sophiestone93.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: sophiestone46.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation:

Danni Cox
Research and planning: Dannicox46.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation:

Adam Godwin
Preliminary task: adamgodwinplanning.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: adamgodwinmusicmagazine.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: adamgodwinmusic.blogspot.com

Bibek Gurung
Preliminary task: bibekgrng.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: gurubibek.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: gurublogsevaluation.blogspot.co.uk

Lucy Liddicoat
Preliminary task: lucyliddicoat.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: lucyliddicoat2.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: lucyliddicoat3.blogspot.com

Tom Llewellyn
Preliminary task: tomllewellynmedia.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: tomllewellynmagazine.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: tomllewellynmagazine2.blogspot.com

Filip Pawlicki
Preliminary task: frijjlova23.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: icecreamandcake333.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: swagonathousandtrillion.blogspot.co.uk

Caitlin Pearmund
Preliminary task: caitlinpearmund.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: caitlinmusicmag.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation:

Jack Pozniack
Preliminary task: icedoutjack.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: jackpozniak.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: healthandsafeg.blogspot.co.uk

Alex Pugh
Preliminary task: alypugh.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: alypughmusicmag.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation:

Theo Ritter
Preliminary task: theoritter.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: theomagazine.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: theomagazine.blogspot.co.uk

Ellie Sanmogan
Preliminary task: eleanorsanmogan.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: elliesmusicmags.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation:

Hayley Stacey
Preliminary task: hayleys--musicmag.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: hayleysmusicmagazinee.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: hayleysevaluationmusicmag.blogspot.co.uk

James Van Huyssteen
Preliminary task: jamesvh.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: jamesvhvh.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation: jamesvhmusic.blogspot.co.uk

Lydia Wauchope
Preliminary task: lydiaasmedia123.blogspot.co.uk
Research and planning: lydsmusicmags.blogspot.co.uk
Evaluation:

Preliminary task guide

 

AS Media Studies: Preliminary Project

 

Your task is to create a front page for a new Sixth Form magazine.

All of your work must be presented on your blog.

Suggested structure:

1) Review three typical magazine covers (of any genre). Come up with a list of conventions and style features that magazines have in common.

2) Using a screen grab of at least one front cover, annotate the particular features you have identified.

3) Plan your magazine’s target audience (its ‘readership profile’). Think about age range, gender, personalities, interests etc. For higher grades, you should be consulting your target audience on what they want from a 6^th form magazine. An audience for a 6^th form magazine will seem broad, but what do this age bracket all have in common?

4) Plan your magazine- name? Slogan? Any design features, such as colour scheme, dominant font etc, that will run through your magazine? (This is known as the ‘house style’). Reflect on your decisions as you go along.

5) Plan the photography for your front cover- does it suit/appeal to your identified target audience?

6) Do a design/mock-up of your front cover before you start the final version.

7) Plan the features and articles that will appear in your magazine (that will be mentioned on your front cover). Could you use your audience research for this?

8) Create your front cover on the computers, keeping your target audience in mind. All images must be original (i.e. taken by you). At this point, we don’t mind which software you use to put the page together.

9) Analyse your completed front cover on your blog- what conventions have you used or challenged? What was the thinking behind your design choices? How successful was your finished page? What do you need to work on for your main coursework portfolio? Reflect on the whole process, including elements such as time management.

 

DEADLINE:                     12B Thursday 18^th September/12C Friday 19^th September