organisation: final draft survey responses

I have asked my audience if they think that the Q&A article on the double page spread is long enough. 14% said that it is not, therefore, i have to consider adding a bit more Q&A's to the article in order to satisfy all of my target audience.

All of my audience said that there are enough features on the contents page, therefore the contents page matches the amount of things the audience want to see in the magazine.

All of my target audience have said that the magazine matches the target audience of teenagers and young adults, which means that the magazine is suitable and can attract people of these age groups. This means that the magazine can sell and make profit.

This shows me that i may need to put more cover lines on the contents page, as 43%, nearly half, of my target audience has said that there aren't enough cover lines on the front cover. Furthermore, adding more cover lines can help me get rid of any negative space which makes the magazine look less professional.

All of my target audience have said that the front cover picture is effective. I think that the use of the guitar, darker clothing and make up helps to build up the rock theme of the magazine, making the picture contribute to the theme. The picture could be effective in showing the darker music of the band as well as creating cohesion in the magazine in terms of the magazine having a rock theme.

All of my target audience have said that they like the red and black colour scheme, and have said that it is suitable. This is good as is the target audience like the design on the magazine they are more likely to be interested in it and buy it. The red and black also contribute to the rock theme of the magazine as these colours are usually used on rock magazines (as shown in my similar product research).

All of my target audience have also said that the black and red colour scheme help to build up the rock theme of the magazine. This enables the audience to automatically see that the magazine has a rock theme.

organisation: Final Draft Survey

i am going to hand out this survey to my target audience of young adults and teenagers in order to see if the final draft of the magazine matches their expectations. This is important as the magazine needs to appeal to my target audience so that it can interest them, and then sell. It is important to know what my audience think of the magazine at this stage so i know what i need to improve in order for the magazine to be appealing to the target audience. If it does not appeal, it is less likely to interest them and less likely to sell. Along with the survey i am going to show my audience printed off pictures of the final draft so they can look at the magazine and assess it at the same time.

organisation: What i think needs to be improved about final draft

• the main cover line - i think i need to work on the main cover line a bit more to make it look suitable. I think right now it looks somehow effective, but for it to give the best effect of attracting the eyes of the audience on the magazine, i need to look around for more colours and font styles.
• Front cover picture - i think this needs to be made bigger so it appears as the biggest and boldest on the page, there is still a bit too much room between the cover star and the masthead
• selling line - i have added a selling line but i need to work on it's placement underneath the masthead so it fits the theme of the magazine, i also need to explore fonts for this
• contents page - there is still negative space in the contents page that i think needs filling with more features

Final draft

this is the final draft of my magazine.

drafting and planning: Asking audience about main cover line font

In order to decide on the font for my main cover line i have decided my audience, mainly teenagers, to choose the font which they think is the most appropriate. Most of my audience have chosen the second font which is a lot more bold and more eye catching. I feel that i should choose this fo9nt not only because its the boldest (if it is bold then it is more likely to be noticed amongst other magazines as well as be distinguished amongst other cover lines on the front cover) but also because it appeals to my target audience. It is important to me to consider my target audience as if i do then it means that the magazine is more likely to sell as it appeals to the target audience;it has features which they like and can relate to. These features can include the font of the cover line as if it is bold and standing out then it can relate to the bold attitudes that are often associated with teenagers. Therefore this is the font my target audience and I have chosen:

Drafting and planning: Cover line font

These are the two fonts which I think would be the most suitable for the main cover line. I have chosen the colour to be yellow as I want the main cover line to be eye catching and stand out against other features on the page. However, I have also made the ‘also inside’ font yellow to create cohesion, which means that the audience will look at the main cover line and also look at the ‘also inside’ feature, persuading them into buying the magazine. I think that both of these fonts are suitable as they are bold and readable, which is important as the reader needs to be able to notice the main cover line straight away.However, i think that font one is the most suitable and it is the boldest, meaning it will easily be visible from shop shelves. Furthermore, this font is also used in the double page spread which creates cohesion; this makes 'age of revolution' more recognisable within the magazine, making the reader automatically aware of the band.

Personal feedback response

My personal feedback was:

• Cover page picture is too small, it needs to be cropped so that it fills more space.
• too much space between the head of the artist and the masthead
• more content on the contents page to fill negative space
• add more content to the article

In response to my feedback i have changed the following in order to improve my magazine:

• As the cover picture was too small, i enlarged the cover page picture in order to fill more space. Now there is less space between the masthead and the head of the coverstar. Therefore, the cover page now looks more professional as i have applied something to my cover page that most professional magazine front covers have. Also, by having minimal space between the masthead and coverstar on the cover page, the coverstar can bring the readers attention to the masthead by having eye contact with the reader, which my coverstar does have.
• I have added a few more cover lines onto my contents page in order to make it look more realistic. I have also filled negative space with my own photography (picture from a concert i went to last year).
• I am also expanding the article by adding more questions and answers. This way i can provide the reader with more information as well as filling negative space which makes the double page spread look plain.

drafting and planning: Article for double page spread improvement #2

AGE OF REVOLUTION: BIGGER. BETTER. LOUDER.

“Bigger, better louder”. These are the ultimate aims of the new band ‘Age of Revolution’ who, despite their recent appearance in the punk rock scene, have high aspirations and are looking forward to the future with anticipation. The leader of the band, Grace Hill, agreed to sit down with Smash magazine during a hectic day to answer our questions and give us an insight into the past, present and future of the band.

Q: First of all, tell us about the history of the band first of all

A: At first it was just me playing guitar alone in my bedroom. Then, at the age of sixteen I decided to try my luck playing with a band. However, I didn’t have friends who played instruments. I posted on social media that I would like a band to play music with, and I could be the lead singer. Soon enough after I couple of days I met up with a couple of people who responded and we called ourselves ‘Grace Hill Band’.

Q: So how did the name ‘Age Of Revolution’ come along?

A: Age Of Revolution actually didn’t come along until recently. One reason to why we changed our name was because we though ‘Grace Hill Band’ sounded plain and boring. We needed something cool. We always had the dream of causing a musical revolution, so the word revolution had to be included with no doubt. And then I actually thought of ‘Age Of Revolution’ as a random thought and the band liked it!

Q: What are the band's plans for the future?

A:We mainly want to expand our audience. I'd like more people to listen to our music. I'd say our music is engaging and relatable so a lot of people can get to know it and like it.

Q: You recently released a new album, can you tell us more about it?

A: Yeah! Our new album is called 'Edge of tonight', and the title came about from a special song on the album, which i unfortunately cannot spoil for people who haven't listened to it yet. This is our new album amongst the several EP's we have out. Hopefully people like it and enjoy listening to the songs on it.

Q: Do you have any tour plans?

A: we are planning to tour the UK very soon. It's time to start a revolution! I think a tour would be a nice way of spreading the word about us and our new music. So, look out for tour dates very soon!

Q: Something about your personal life now, what is it like handling everyday life and the band?

A: Honestly, the band has become my personal life. It's part of my routine; it is essentially my life. At first it was difficult to coordinate everyday life and the band, as in the two would clash, but after this year or two years it has become normal for me to get up, eat breakfast and go to the studio.

Q: Would you call yourself famous?

A: We don't consider ourselves famous,  maybe 'well known' in the rock. I think it was when fans started waiting after the shows to meet us, that was really weird. When we first started out, the only people coming to shows were peers, people from our school and they were waiting around after to meet us, they were waiting around after to party, hang, be our friends. So once we actually got fans waiting around for signatures. I remember feeling like 'this is so strange. Why do you want me to sign this? This is so weird.

Q: Where do you see this band in 5 years time?

A: In 5 years time I’d hope to see us still going strong as a band. You know, touring, making music. I want us to grow and expand, reach out to more people and gain a bigger audience. That would be amazing. I do think we have a bright future ahead of us.

Q: If you had to change anything about the band, what would it be?

A: Honestly, i wouldnt change anything. I love the way this band was formed, and the people it was formed with. I love our music and the impact we have on people. In some peoples lives we have already made a revolution. We get tweets from people thanking us for being a big part of their life. It's spectacular! I never thought this would come so far. So no, i wouldn't change a thing.

Q: Have you made any mistakes in terms of the band?

A: I dont think any of them were major. We [the band members] have petty arguments sometimes, so maybe having these pointless arguments is a mistake because they get in the way of the flow of things. We also live together so it's a bit awkward after arguing about who used the same tea bag or who left the window open at night.

Q: Is there any advice you would give to people starting out in a band?

A: Sure. There is one bit of advice that is key, which is to never give up and take every chance you get because you never know how taking this chance can turn your life around for the better.

Q:If you got the chance to join a different and much more popular band, would you take it?

A: Honestly, i wouldn't. I think that all of us in the band have worked very hard to get to where we are now, and taking that chance would ruin the hard work. 

Q:Would you say you are the most hard working person in the band? Have you put in the most hard work?

A: No, definitely not. If anything i think that all of us have worked equally hard to get us to this safe place of having albums out, touring and even having fans who support us. None of us really take credit for our successes and no one takes the blame for our downfalls... we are all equal here.

Q: Last question, do you enjoy being in this band?

A: of course i do! The band is my life. I love to make music, tour and talk to fans. Fans are what keeps this band going to be honest, they give us the support and inspiration we need. I couldn't live without being in this band, and i definitely would have not survived without my bandmates.