Audience Research Feedback

After collecting audience research and designing my magazine I decided to collect some feedback on the products I have made.

Case Study of a Magazine Publisher

The magazine publisher I’ve decided to study was NatMags (National Magazine Company).  The National Magazine Company has been going for over 100 years now and is one of the UK’s leading media companies with over 20 brand platforms which reach more than 20 million adults every year. NatMag targets women as their audience with “1 in every 2 ABC1 women reading NatMag magazine, over 14 million readers, 8 million monthly unique browsers and 46 million page impressions.”

The NatMag portfolio includes world famous brands, such as:

·         -Cosmopolitan

·         -Men’s Health

·         -Good Housekeeping

·         -Bazaar

·         -Esquire

All of which can be reached via multi-platforms including print, online, mobile and social media.

NatMag– Rodale was formed in 2004 and publishes three market leading magazines and four websites in the UK. NatMag- Rodale is an equally joint venture between The National Magazine Company and Rodale International in the US; which is a global leader in health and wellness. For example, they publish Men’s Health, Runner’s World, Prevention, Women’s Health, Bicycling, Backpacker and Organic Gardening.

COMAG is a UK marketing and distribution company which was formed in 1977. It is jointly owned by The National Magazine Company and Conde Nast Publications. COMAG is the largest and most influential third party magazine distributor, which represents high profile marketing titles and global brands, as well as niche market magazines and specialist publications.

To top off NatMags success, they have also gone green. With the help of facilities, production departments, IT departments, and a staff network of 40 green monitors, the NatMag going green has made great progress. The National Magazine Company is now in the top 25 of the Sunday Times Green List 2010, has received a Diamond award in the Green500 awards, a gold Green Apple award in 2009/10, and a silver award in the Association of Circulation Executives 2010.

Chosen Sketch for Music Magazine Cover

Sketches for Music Magazine Cover

Magazine contents pages: Conventions:

The contents page I have decided to study was a ‘Q’ magazine. This contents page in particular is double sided. There are eight photographs on the contents page for this magazine. Three of which are print screens of articles within the magazine. The magazine consists of 154 pages.

The title of the contents page is across the top of the page with the logo of the magazine. There is a small version of the front cover of the magazine positioned in the top right hand side corner of the contents page. On the first side of the contents page there is a large portrait orientated photograph of a band on the right hand side of the page. There is another photograph of another band to the left of the page. This photograph however is much smaller in size but still portrait. The text for the content is below the smaller image, down the left hand side of the page. Texts are red and black to match the magazine colours.

The over side of the contents page looks much busier than the first side. Some photographs on this page are overlapping other photographs, which helps create this busy affect. It consists of the same layout regarding the title, fonts and colours; however, the photographs and text on this page are laid out differently. Two of the print screen images are in the bottom left hand side corner of the page and the other is in the top right hand side of the page. The last three images are of different stars in the music industry. The first positioned at the top towards the left hand side and the other two below. The text for the content is positioned down the right hand side of the page.

Audience Research

Here is some audience research I collected in helping me understand what people want/expect to see and read in a Music Magazine.

Textual Analysis of a Music Magazine

The music magazine cover I have chosen to analyse is called “Q”. This magazine focuses more on most recent or popular bands and musicians, rather than a pacific genre. Therefore, the age range will also vary between 16-40 year olds (possibly even wider). However, for this pacific magazine cover, I believe it focuses on rock music.

The masthead on this magazine is simply “Q”, which is positioned in the top left of the magazine cover. It is a white, sharp font on top of a red background. The font colour and style helps give it a modern look and also helps make it stand out.

The main coverline for this magazine cover would be “WORLD EXCLUSIVE! COLDPLAY Four months of fear, tantrums and nudity”. This coverline is much larger then over coverlines, which shows it is the main coverline. Also, we can tell it is the main coverline because it is accompanied by an image of the band, Coldplay, showing its level of importance in the magazine. The font colour for this coverline is white; however, the part which reads “COLDPLAY” is yellow. This helps make the name of the band stand out from the rest. Also, it is the topic of discussion, which means it will help draw the attention of Coldplay fans regardless of what it is actually about.

The coverlines would be “MADE IN HELL! The 10 craziest rock couples” and “BLOC PARTY Young, hot... and glum”. Both have the same font and roughly the same size. The colours of these fonts are the opposite of the title and main coverline. These fonts are infact black. Both accompanied by a small image relating to the subject.

The barcode is found in the bottom right hand side of the cover; keeping it out of sight for the audience because it is irrelevant to selling the magazine.  The issue number, date and price are located above and below the title of the magazine. The font is extremely small which shows the magazine designer did not want it to take up much room on the cover. Also, they did not want the reader the pay any attention to the price.