AS Media Report
Pre-production
The style of magazine
that I will be creating is of a professional looking sports magazine for older
and more experience audiences. A good example of this is "FourFourTwo". Both my research
through the survey and textual analysis has given me a good understand of how
my production will look.
The survey that I
created featured 10 questions, ranging from 7 closed questions such as
"How often do you buy magazines?" to 3 open questions like "What
qualities does there need to be in a magazine to make you want to buy
it?". The reason I chose 7 closed questions was to get quick and simple
responses that would help me get a clear understanding of what makes a good
magazine. The 3 open questions were more time-consuming for the person answering,
however game me more personal and in detail information which is subsequently equally
as important for good research.
From my research I
learned a number of things for how to present my magazine. For example, I was
told that magazines are becoming less popular than reading online for many
different reasons such as it being a lot easier and comfortable to get
information from online compared to going out and buying a copy. Also that in
order for someone to want to pick up my magazine it had to be bright and
exciting to the reader, even though “FourFourTwo” is more of a professional
looking magazine compared to another football magazine like "KiCK!" However
I know that there is a much greater chance of someone wanting to pick up the
magazine if it attracts your attention with bright colours and bright texts.
The cover must also feature a well-known celebrity or icon that attracts your
attention, preferably through eye contact. Along with this should be bold and
exciting headlines to make you want to open up the magazine and find out
information as opposed to reading it online. As for the prices for magazines, 9
out of 15 of the people I asked said they were willing to spend £5 or more for
a good quality magazine. This suggests that if they were willing to spend that
much on a magazine then it would have to contain sufficient and interesting
information.
From my textual
analysis, I know that the presentation of magazines like
"FourFourTwo" make them stand out among other sports magazines as
having a good amount of information but also a professional looking design,
hence the reason why it is aimed at a much older and mature audience. These
types of magazines use much longer and complex words for its audience rather than
with magazines like "KiCK!" which are clearly aimed at children
because of its use of such words as 'cool' or 'wicked'. However the reason why
my magazine will be very different to this is because its presentation is much
clearer and professional looking. This would be different to a kid's magazine, which
is often very messy or filled with pictures of well-known footballers. Instead,
my cover will feature just one main image, with a classic and smart looking
title and attractive headings. This is because my target audience is going to
be very similar to "FourFourTwo" because of its professional look. It
will also feature a lot less images. Something that a child would not be particularly
interested in and more bored with compared to something like "KiCK!” My
target audience specifically is people aged 17-40. However this is very
flexible because while a lot of older people prefer to read things like newspapers,
some would still read my magazine. Therefore I would place the audience anywhere
from the 'C' to 'A' groupings because of age rating and the type of information
you get from the magazine.
Production
For my production, I
created a double page spread to go along with the front cover of my magazine.
My magazine is similar to “FourFourTwo” as it aims primarily at experienced
readers, with detailed information and original photography. As mentioned
earlier, my magazine would mainly be purchased by those placed in categories
‘A’ to ‘C’ because of how expensive the magazine is and the type of detailed
information it possesses.
My double page spread is focused on footballer Ryan
Bird, a former Derby County player who has made a big-money transfer move to
one of the biggest clubs in Europe. It uses quick and interesting information to
attract the audience. It is also laid out in the style of an interview to
simulate what is seen in “FourFourTwo” magazine. This gives a good ideology as
it is showcasing a new and up-coming talent in English football and meets the
needs of whoever picks up the magazine. Interviews are very popular and so it
will make the magazine unique, especially as the player is just making his big
leap to stardom.
Along with the interview are a number of short, yet
informative sentences, giving the reader an insight into one of the brightest
young talents around. Having read this, the reader is more likely to want to
read on as it supplies them with a huge amount of answers and insight about the
player. This is exactly what you would expect from a magazine like “FourFourTwo”,
confirming to the audience that their money is well spent.
The headline: “England’s Next Wonderkid” is bold and
exciting. It draws the audience’s attention and makes them want to read on, due
to its unique nature. Rarely would you see such a confident statement about
such a young player. Therefore it is very exciting for the reader. The main
quotation is: “It’s been a crazy two years since making my debut for Derby… and
I’m just looking forward to aiming high and playing good football with the best
team in the world.” It stands out across the page, showing Bird as a young and
exciting talent who is not afraid to speak out. This is often associated with
articles on young players to show them as the next best thing, and therefore
the layout of the quotation achieves this. The information seen at the top of
the page is to give the reader a good level of insight into the player, before
reading more about them in the interview below. The interview is placed in the
bottom left corner, while putting the main attention of the reader on the main
photo, headline and quotation, as is often done in magazines like
“FourFourTwo”.
The striking photography introduces Bird to the
audience, especially as he is making eye contact, showing he means business.
This is very common in high-end magazines as opposed to something like “KiCK!”
which probably wouldn’t even take original photography if interviewing a
player. This gives a very professional look and helps to attract the audience.
Strengths in the double page spread are that it
supplies the reader with the kind of information someone in the ‘A’ to ‘C’
category would want to see. While it isn’t a huge article, it still establishes
Bird as an individual and answers a lot of the audience’s questions. The
photography is also good as it attracts people’s attention through eye contact
and presents a professional layout, with good fonts and quotations.
Disadvantages may be in the fact that there are only six questions or perhaps lack
of photos. However it is common to see only one big image on a professional
article like this one. The questions may also be quite short, but are answered
in great detail by the young footballer, once again satisfying the audience.
