Research: Surveys

So in our last lesson we explored the dfferent research methods we could use to approach out target audience.
From this research found that there were three types of research;
- questionnaires,
- interviews,
- and experiments.

We also found that there were two different result types;
-Quantitative: which are usually closed ended questions with answers such and 'yes' and 'no'. The results can also be written numerically.
-Qualitative: these are open ended questions which would allow users to express their opinions in worded answers.

During the course of the lesson, we also founf out the advantages and disadvantages of different types of research methods. i will be putting these up in the next post.
The reason behind this research is that we need to conduct some research (either a questionnaire/survey) asking our target audience what they want.
I will most likely be doing a survey using the site 'Survey Monkey' so that I can get effective and accurate results from my friends on facebook. will also be conducting a questionnaire that would be sent around in the schools registers so that students all over the school could give me some feedback.
The results from thes pieces of research will also be put up in the next post, as well as ome more research on successful magazines and their brand names.

Research: De-Constructing Magazines (pt 2)

The second magazine that I'm going to de-construct is the Billboard magazine. The Billboard magazine is a music magazine which consists of music news, articles, reviews and information. The Billboards was originally a source of information about music charts and they have a website which lists the most recent music charts. 

The contents page for the Billboard magazine is very unique, in the sense that there is a lot on the page, and it also contains the chart list. The contents also has pictures which have the page numbers of where the articles are set. The contents page also has a large cut out picture, maybe of the person who was featured on the front of the magazine. They have included sections in the contents such as 'In Every Issue', 'Music', and 'Features'. I do like the contents page, however I think that there is too much going on on one page, which is something that I would try to avoid when I create my magazine. 

Most double page spreads in magazines generally have the same common conventions. They all have the writing in neat collums so that it's easier to read. This is very common in interviews too.

Research; Double Page Spreads

In this double page spread the writing is in collumns. There is also a drop capital at the beginning of the article making it look neat and proffessional. This article isn't written in a question and answer type of way, which is the way I want to write out my article.

This is another double page spread which shows an article written in the style that I want to write mty article in. The article also has one main ppicture, which is the same as the article above. Both articles also have quotes written in bold, which is a common convention in all types of magazines as well as music magazines.
I would like to base my magazine on the second image above, because its simple and easy to read and it has the questions that the interviewee asks as well as the answers. However I wouldnt write the name of the interviewee and ther interviewer - Instead I would change the colours of the questions and the answers so that the reader can establish who whether the interviewer is talking or not.



Research; De-constructing Magazines

De-Constructing Magazine Front Covers
So we've recently been set a task, to de-construct two magazine covers which are similar to the genre of the magazine that we will be creating in the near future. At the moment, I don't really have a clear view on what type of magazine I want to create, so I chose magazines that I really liked the look of.

The first magazine I chose was Vibe Magazine. In my previous post, I had showed the conventions of a Vibe Magazine cover, and I really liked the layout of them, so here is what I've found:

On the front of the cover we have Chris Brown as the main image. This also shows that the main article would be about Chris Brown. There is also a part on the page where it says 'Exclusive' above the Cover Line of Chris Browns interview. When I first looked at this magazine, I really liked it because its simple yet very eye catching, and this is how I want my magazine to be. Like a normal magazine, the magazine consists of many general conventions such as Cover Lines, a Main Image, a Mast Head, and a selling line at the top.

The colour schemes on this magazine are yellow, white and black. The title of the magazine is a very bright yellow and the main image covers the title. Even though the main image covers the title, we still know what the name of the magazine is, which is something that I may try out with my magazine.

The articles in the Vibe Magazine mainly feature news about music, movies, TV, and culture.
The magazine also has an online site where you can read articles, view blogs and more,
Vibe Magazine is sold in the USA, so I'm not really sure of the price, but considering the types of artists they normally have on their front covers, I would assume that their magazines would sell for at least £2 in the UK.

De-constructing the Contents Page:
Of all the Vibes Magazines I've seen, they're contents pages all have the same style. They always have an image of the artist who was on the front cover on the contents page, with the letter 'V' as a background. They also have the word 'Contents' written in an original way. On the contents they tend to have headings such as 'Features' 'Regulars', and 'Fashion' etc.
I like the way that the magazine contents page is laid out as its very clear and simple, and you can tell from the contents who the main article will be about.

Media Portofolio

So for our AS Media Portofolio, we need to create a music magazine - a front page, and contents page and a double page spread.

Before we start creating the magazine, we have to research existing music magazines to get an idea of the type of product we will be making.

Here's a brief piece of research for Vibe Magazine:

:)