Analysing Contents page

Contents pages are usually very simple and set out in a fashion that make it easy for people to find what they are looking for. As you can see the contents page uses a few more images than the front cover, however Kerrang is an overall image based magazine. The colour scheme of the page is yellow, black and white, this colour scheme looks good as well going well with the images used. The contents page is laid out in a very manic fashion but I feel like this portrays the genre of music that people who would buy the magazine enjoy.

The larger image used on the contents page takes up half of the entire page. This is because the particular band that has been featured would likely draw attention to someone reading the magazine.  Four different fonts have been used, by doing this the diversity of font creates a more interesting piece to read.

Analysing Contents page

There is a consistent layout throughout all “Q” magazine issues. The logo and banner are placed across the top of the page and the main image is usually placed in the middle of the page, by using this layout it draws attention to the page while the reader is going through the magazine. The magazine has a three tone colour scheme, the colours that were chosen are not gender specific so it appeals to a wider audience. The word contents is written in the biggest font, this ensure that readers straight away know what the page is about. The second biggest font is the sub heading

The layout of this contents page is very conventionally set out with the columns at the side, and the titles and page numbers, with a few images, which makes it look professional. Each section of the magazine is under a certain section, for example on the left side we see that some are seen as ‘features’ such as ticket touting and the Q list.

Font selection.

Kerrang magazine analysis

Kerrang! Is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music. It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper. Kerrang was named after the onomatopoeic word that derives from the sound made when playing a power chord on a distorted electric guitar, in the early 2000s it became the best-selling British music magazine.

During the 1980s and early 1990s the magazine placed many thrash and glam metal acts on the cover (like Slayer, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Poison, and Venom) but later discarded them when grunge acts such as Nirvana rose to fame. The magazine was often criticized for repeating this process every time a new musical trend becomes popular.

The majority of the devoted audience are males, the fan base for the rock magazine is split 60/40 with the male fans coming out on top. The main ethnicity of the readers are white British and aged between the age of 16-24 years old.

The total circulation of the magazine during 2013 in the UK was 30,300. Compared to in 2008 where the circulation sales were at an all-time high with sales of 50,128, these figures show us that despite its audience being a demographic entity, the magazine is still very successful.

Overview of the magazine industry

This is a brief overview of the magazine industry, by researching the magazine industry and reading varies tables and charts it can clearly be seen that music magazines are not top sellers. The most sold magazine in the world according to http://www.betterretailing.com/category/magazines/ is TV choice, this is a magazine filled with TV listings. Since most individuals own television this connects a much larger audience than any other genre; with its estimated sales this year at 1,276,045.

However I also found that seven out of the top 10 best-selling magazines in the world are targeted at women. This suggests that women are the larger consumers of magazines. However as we know many magazines also are target towards men, these being stereotypical things men like; things like tools, games and vehicle. Compared to magazines that are commonly aimed at women, these include; healthy lifestyle, parenthood, craft and baking magazines.

From http://top40.about.com/od/top10lists/tp/musicmagazines.htm  I found that Q is the best-selling music magazine, this isn’t a surprise as Q very much caters to the pop culture, this is closely followed by rolling stones, a American rock magazine. The most popular music magazine seem to be the ones that contain a lot of pop music, this popular culture is adored by many and purchased by consumers.

When it comes the advertising within the magazine industry it isn’t cheap.  Many companies decide to advertise their products in magazines as they are viewed by many, usually make up companies would advertise in a magazine aimed primarily at women. L'Oreal put 18.1% more towards its advertising budget. L'Oreal's grand total came in at $1.34 billion spent on advertising. This is worthwhile though as it is expected that for every £1 they spend on advertising they make £5. This profit is very important when it comes to weighing up the budgets and deciding a suitable amount to spend.

Advertises moodboard

Logo moodboard analysis

The logos I have included on the mood board are ones that I believe represent the target audience of the magazine. For example I have included kerrang and nme’s logo because these are the magazines that the audience would read. As well as this I have included a variety of different food and drink brands that are I feel would be commonly consumed by people between the ages of 16-19 years old. Logos of brands like facebook and twitter have been used as we are in a very technological era so most are constantly immersed in social media. 

As the genre of music the target audience are very alternative I selected logos of various hair and beauty brands that are considered “out there” brands such as hot topic and crazy color. Lastly I have provided images of the logos of different festivals that the target audience may wish to attend, as well as this I have also included the logo for ticket master, as ticket master provides cheap tickets to these festivals that my young target audience may be attending. These festivals include, reading and leeds music festival and vans warped tour.  Lastly I have included a few clothing brands that may be worn by my target audience. 

questionnaire analysis

From analysing the questionnaire results I have found that over 80% of my audience are aged between, 16-19 years old. Using this knowledge I will suit my magazine to be appropriate for people of this age range and provide material that they would be interested in. Question two asked what three colours would attract them to the front cover the most, most of the audience suggested red, black, white and occasionally blue or purple. In order to attract the customers to the front cover of the magazine I will use three of the colours that were selected the most.

Over 80% of the questionnaire participants said that they enjoy punk/alternative music, this is a great response as I now know exactly what genre to pick for magazine. As well as this 80% were also interested in receiving free posters, this means on my front cover I will provide some free posters that can be received with purchase of the magazine.

The most popular contents subjects that the public selected to be part of the magazine were; band news, a gig guide and fashion as well as the over 50% were also interested in fan art being shown in the magazine. Concerning how much the audience I willing to pay, the majority would happily pay £2.50 for the magazine. Lastly the questionnaire asked how often the public would like to see the magazine published, most people said they would like to see it published fortnightly. 

Questionnaire Results

Moodboard

College magazine contents page

College magazine front cover

College magazine analysis

College questionnaire analysis

College questionnaire analysis

90% of the people I surveyed said that they do not read the college magazine, this implies that the magazine isn’t reaching its target audience. One of the questions included in my survey asked for the audience members preferred colours. The colours that came up the most were; black, red, blue and white. By using this information I can create a colour scheme that would appeal to my target audience. As for the front cover 80% of the magazines target audience asked that either the image of a student or students work is featured.

Concerning how often the magazine should be published, the response from the target audience states that they would like magazine to be published either weekly or fortnightly as 70% put this as their response in the questionnaire. 75% of the target audience said that they would be willing to pay between 50p-£1, as we favour the majority vote, the magazine will charge between the chosen values.

As for contents that the public would like featured, six topics propped up a lot. These subjects to be featured in a contents page were; college events, technology, jobs page, gig guide, film/tv and subject information. I will take in account all these suggestions and attempt to incorporate all categories so that it appeals to all of the target audience.

A few suggestions were given by students as to what they would like the magazine to be called, suggestions such as; East Norfolk life, EN news, College news, EN weekly and college magazine. Personally I favour the title “East Norfolk life”.

As well as this I asked if the target audience would be more obliged to purchase the magazine if it contained freebies, 85% of people surveyed said yes. With this data I will look into ways to incorporate freebies. Finally is asked the target audience if they would like an online version and if so would they subscribe to it, 50% said that they would like to subscribe to an online version.

Feature Article

Magzine Cover analysis

College Magazine questionnaire