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.