1. Question 4 & 5
Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you
attract/address your audience?
2. Target Audience
The target audience for my magazine are :
- Both male and female
- Fans of indie / pop music
- Interested in music events eg. Concerts, festivals
- Young adults (17 – 25)
Throughout the production of my magazine, I have kept
my target audience in mind and conferred with my focus
group, who fit the description of my target audience. I
made a Facebook group chat with them to discuss
different aspects of my magazine and they have given
me useful feedback and have helped me address and attract my chosen target audience. This
encouraged me to understand what my target audience would want from a music magazine.
3. Appealing to my Audience – Front Cover
I decided to make my magazine a subscriber’s edition, similar to clash magazine.
Meaning that my audience would subscribe to Pulse and then automatically receive a
new copy every month. Because of this, I didn’t feel the need to heavily promote what’s
inside the issue as the audience have already bought it, instead going for a more
simplistic design.
However, I still wanted the front cover to strike and entice the audience, one of the ways
I did this was by using direct mode of address to create a feeling of a personal
relationship between the artist and reader (uses & grats). The image appeals to both
male and females as the artist is seen as the subject and not the object, as the image
isn’t provocative (challenging Mulvey – male gaze), but quite neutral – which would be
the preferred reading of my cover.
I used the anchor text to create a hermeneutic question, enticing the reader and
displaying other featured artists to encourage the reader to want to see what else is
inside.
4. Appealing to my Audience – Editing
By cropping and editing the contrast & brightness of my images, I made the face more dominant and gave the
image a more eye catching and appealing look. Making the face more dominant creates a stronger relationship
between the audience and artist (uses & grats) and draws their attention. I also edited the subject’s top,
enhancing the white and also making the flowers look more vibrant. This would again make the image more
eye catching but also appeal to the audience as they can compare themselves and see the similarities between
them and the artist, and how they can be perceived.
5. Appealing to my Audience – Contents Page
By displaying social media links, the audience are encouraged to connect
with the magazine between issues. Because of the ages of my target
audience, this will be very beneficial in gaining audience interaction.
The competition section encourages audiences to engage with the
magazine in between issues. The word ‘win’ entices the reader and makes
them think they’ll get more from the magazine than initially expected.
I used clear columns and rows to make the text simple for the reader
which allows them to quickly find what they’re looking for, fulfilling their
individual cognitive and informative needs (uses & grats). I tried to create
easy navigation for the audience, therefore attracting young adults and
appealing to both regular readers and new buyers.
6. Appealing to my Audience – Mise en scene
I styled my models in clothing similar to what I would perceive
people of my target audience to wear. This instantly forms a
relationship between the artist the reader as the reader can
relate to the artist. The backgrounds of some of my images
(town & beach) also reflects the area of where my audience
could be on a day to day basis. This would appeal to them, and
act as a personal integrative need (uses & grats) and can also be
seen as personal identity assurance.
7. Appealing to my Audience – House Style
I wanted to appeal to both genders in my magazine, and did this through the use of my house
style. I avoided gender specific colours and opted for black, white, dark grey and light blue. This
prevents a gender from being turned off by the colours used and creates a more delicate style
as opposed to other magazines I researched which were commonly red, white and black.
This encourages a preferred reception ( reception theory ) and could potentionally create a loyal
fan base.
