Evaluation: Question 2: How did you attract/address your audience? (Front cover)

FRONT COVER:

I chose to attract my audience to my magazine by using colours that would appeal to them, such as pink and purple. This enabled me to grab their attention and make the page look interesting to read as it has colours that they will like making them want to buy the product, as it will seem more attractive to them. Another way I have attracted my audience is by including pugs (the 'Win!' offer) that will appeal to their age group, for example on the front cover of my magazine I have chosen to include a voucher for Topshop, this will attract my target audience, because they will know that celebrities that they idolise shop at shops like Topshop, therefore they will want to win the Topshop voucher, attracting them to the magazine and making them more likely to buy it.
I have chosen to include a variety of cover features to show on my front cover to attract the audience, as these features will appeal to them because they connect to the genre of the magazine. I have chosen to include more than five cover features to convey value for money. I have also decided to make one main cover feature: the cover line, I have used a larger font for this which shows the reader that this is the most important feature in the magazine for this issue.

I have also attracted my audience by including social networking sites and downloadable apps, creating a symbiotic relationship and audience participation, which gets the audience involved in my magazine. I have used these, because my target audience will be interested in these because of the age group. Many people their age will have accounts on Twitter and Facebook, etc. therefore they will be more likely to buy the magazine if they can connect with it via social networking sites, and use it on an app, making the magazine more personal to them and more modern. My magazine is also only £1.80 this attracts my audience, because they fall into group D and E of the socio-economic scale this suggests they don't have that much money because most are non-working students, therefore they will not want to pay that much for a magazine, because they may only get an allowance once a week which they will not want to spend all of it on a magazine.

 

Cover star: 

I have chosen to put the cover star in the centre of the page, because this will focus the audience's attention and attract them to the magazine, making them want to read the magazine. I have also chosen to use direct contact, or 'the gaze' because this addresses the audience and makes them feel like a part of the magazine. Direct address also helps to make the magazine more welcoming and inviting making the audience want to read the magazine, meaning they are more likely to buy it. I have also used the rule of thirds to connect my reader to the cover star by putting the cover star's eyes in the top third, therefore focussing the audience's attention. I have chosen an image where the cover star's facial expression looks happy to invite the audience into the magazine, as they will see that the cover star is happy relating the magazine to happiness, making them want to buy it and read more. I also believe that my front cover makes the reader aspire to be like the star as she is happy and she is also pointing at the audience which could show the audience that they could be just like her. The cover star is also very confident which could encourage the audience to aspire to be like her, because many young girls want to be confident, happy individuals and my cover star highlights these qualities.


My magazine is similar to Billboard Magazine and Seventeen Magazine, in terms of layout, colour, artistes and style/ways in which artistes are dressed. For example I have included artistes such as Katy Perry and Ariana Grande in my magazine which will attract my target audience, as my target audience is similar to Billboard's and Seventeen Magazine's. However I have a different unique selling point to these products, making my magazine stand out; for example I have included free giveaways and prizes, such as posters and vouchers which appeal to my target audience. I also have a hybrid genre that highlights chart-based music, this makes music the most important feature of my magazine rather than celebrity lifestyle and/or fashion.


I have used a clear, easy to read font within my magazine, this will attract the reader, because my audience is quite young and so they are looking for a magazine which is fun and easy to read, therefore they will not want a font that is too small, because this will make the reader lose interest in the magazine, also if the text is not easy to read the audience is less likely to buy the product, because they are going to be reading the magazine in their leisure time, and not as a 'chore' or something that has to be done. I have decided to use the same font throughout my magazine to make the magazine look professional and to create brand identity. By using a consistent font throughout the magazine the reader will recognise that this font belongs to the magazine. I have also addressed my audience at the very beginning of my magazine by choosing an appropriate masthead font; I have chosen to use a clear bold font for my masthead because it will grab the audience's attention straight away; the font I have chosen to use is 'Broadway' which attracts my audience, because it links to the pop/chart-based music genre because it looks fun and appealing to the reader:
MUSIC NOW I have used this font as my masthead, because it is completely different to the other fonts in my magazine, this makes it stand out and makes the reader notice it straight away. I have used upper case, because it makes the masthead stand out and shows that it is the most important text on the page. I have also used a specific type of font to create brand identity and make the font recognisable to the reader so that they will relate this to the magazine.

To address my audience I have used informal language so that the magazine is fun for the reader to read. I have tried to make the text chatty and friendly so that the reader will feel like an equal when reading the magazine. My tagline also addresses my audience directly: 'Your music, your magazine' this allows the reader to have a sense of belonging to the magazine and helps them to engage with the magazine and also encourages them to read on.

I have used a banner at the bottom of my front cover with various extra artistes. This is important to include on my magazine, because it shows the value for money of the magazine and creates a wider audience. The extra features also encourages the audience to buy the magazine, because there is more choice of features. On my banner I also included social networking sites, as the banner makes them stand out and grabs the audience's attention. I have also included synergy by the website address on the banner, showing the audience multi media platforms, and because it is on the banner with extra information the website is easy to find. The barcode is also on the banner, as it is out of the way and at the bottom of the page, this shows that the magazine is official without getting in the way of important features.

After finishing the front cover I decided to change the background to suit the target audience. I decided that white was more appealing than grey and also connects to my target audience more, because the connotations of white are purity, heavenly and good. This links to my audience because they are young girls who are innocent and good.
I also decided to make some text brighter to stand out to the audience and link the text with my genre of magazine, as this would appeal to my target audience more than a darker text which I had previously.