Draft Evaluation 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

The front cover of a magazine is the main way that the magazine attracts people because it is what they see on shop shelves so it is the most important page of the magazine. It has to sum up the magazine and attract the right audience. I designed my magazine to be simple but bold so it is easily readable from a distance and there is not too much that would confuse or overwhelm a potential buyer. I saw in many indie music magazines such as Loud and Quiet or NME that they were simple but bold so I decided to follow that convention to attract the right audience. The simplicity is very different from mainstream magazines and would attract the right audience that enjoy being different and like different things. The image I used on the cover page also captures the eye of the possible reader because of the intense eye contact and the costume which would attract an indie audience. Overall I believe my magazine would attract the right audience well with all it's features and style.

Focusing on the masthead I got inspiration from 'Clash' another music magazine that uses a very bold font for it's masthead. I used this type of masthead because I believe the name of the magazine should be the most important thing on the page occasionally behind the subject of the main picture but in my magazine I decided that the masthead had to be the most important part which is because if it was published would be a new magazine and the name would need to be remembered by the audience. I decided to put a thick outline on the masthead to really emphasise it's importance, because the masthead is on a black background I decided to use only white on the cover page for the text this makes the mast head stand out even more.

The cover lines on my cover page are big and stand out because they need to be easily read by the potential buyer to see what is inside the magazine. I used white for all my text so it stands out on the black background and the dark green coat. The font I used (Rockwell) is great because it is a serif font and is more interesting than a sans serif font this is breaking convention because most magazines use simple sans serif fonts but I think it will attract more people because the target audience enjoys different products so this would cater to that need. I positioned my main cover line in the centre to grab the main attention of the reader

The main image of the model on the cover page is very important to getting the attention of the reader if not the most important. To cater for the target market my model is wearing a vintage style parka and his hair is styled in a stylish way with a small bit drooping at the end which is different and could attract the alternative audience. The audience may see the magazine as a way of looking for new fashions to aspire to so the costumes of the models are very important.

Contents page

On my contents page there are many different techniques I used to attract the attention of the reader. Firstly I put the most important things in yellow which makes the reader look there before anywhere else, I would assume they opened the magazine (if they are not regular readers) for the artist Beanboozled and his page number and title is highlighted as well as a badge advertising a competition for tickets to a festival which could definitely grab the attention of the reader. The amount of pictures I used are purely so the reader does not get bored with just text and are there for entertainment and to add to what the text says. The title of the contents page is inside a black box and then a white box which makes it stand out and look different to other magazines. I used a busy contents page to show the magazine is full of information and entertainment and not just sparse. Just by looking at this page the customer should be able to tell whether they want to buy this magazine or not so I made it very interesting and full.

Double Page Spread

I got inspiration from Q magazine with the big watermark letter, I think this grabs the attention of the reader because it is unusual and adds some excitement visually to the page which would otherwise just be black and white text. My audience likes things that make magazines and everything different so this letter would make the magazine feel different and they would enjoy this. The title bending around the B is the same as it is unique and against convention. I am using the rockwell font again for the titles and the B and a simple sans serif font for the main body of the text following convention so it is easier to read. The serif font adds some art to the page making it more interesting. The picture on the double page has no eye contact which is not a problem as it is not the cover page. The style is simple just as the target audience like and may aspire to look like. However the framing on the picture has left too much white space which could be boring for the reader and that must be fixed. Overall my contents page would be considered interesting and the reader should enjoy it.