.

1. Research
Mel Nuttall

2. Existing Product
Cosplay Realm is a magazine founded by a cosplayer and photographer named Em
(@emilyreycos) who created Cosplay Realm to “highlight how incredible every single
person in the cosplay community is. To show that they each have something unique,
important, and spectacular to create and bring into this world.” 4.
For the front cover of this edition, one image is used for the
main photograph with the heading title for the name
displayed at the top. For the writing, a font that is its own
style but still easily readable in a colour that stands out
makes it clear what the magazine is about. The font is quite
sci-fi like The word “cosplay” has the biggest font to grab
the attention of any fans or other curious people, with the
rest of the name following underneath. If the name for my
product has this in it, using this sort of technique is
something that I should consider. The background for the
picture ties in with the theme of that particular cosplay,
Moana, and the different blue of the water works nicely to
help the person and the title stand out and give the image
depth but not be too distracting from the image. Since blue
5.

3. Existing Product
in generally a calm colour, the image isn’t too bright to distract from the person but
actually makes the red of the costume appear brighter as the blue darkens. Since the
character is from a Disney movie, I know that lots of bright colours are going to be used
from drawing a child or Disney fan’s eye to the cover. For other cosplays this might not
be needed, though usually if the characters are from animated movies or comics, the
colours are bright, bold and appealing. However, besides the title, the only other text on
the cover the cover reveals that it is a Disney issue plus the credit
to the cosplayer and the photographer. This is quite nice
and simple as the image isn’t disrupted by blobs or stars
and could intrigue a reader as to which other Disney
characters to be in this edition of the magazine. This
could be a style that could work nicely for my magazine
if the photographs I take suit that style well enough.
The person in the picture looks directly at the camera
so makes an imitation of eye contact to whomever
looks at the magazine. This is good for drawing that
person in, even for a brief moment to catch their
attention, whether they intend to read the magazine or
not.

4. Existing Product
This page from Cosplay Realm’s website is titled
“inside the magazine” and it gives an insight as to
what kind of content is included in each issue of the
magazines. They talk about the cover pages and what
being on the cover of their magazine would entail.
There is then another section to talk about
interviews. This should be something I consider in
making my own products.
The layout for this page is easy to follow as the reader
is able to scroll down through the images and text.
One problem that I found to be frustrating was the
scrolling gallery at the bottom. The time to look at
the images didn’t last very long and there was no
option to pause the slideshow if I wanted to have a
longer look at the picture. The rest of the website in
general is quite boring, with just a white background
and black text. If I decide to create a website as a way
of showing my portfolio and/or magazine, I’ll make
sure to have a more interesting and aesthetically
appealing look but not so much that it is distracting
from the content.8.

5. Existing Product
Cosplay Culture Magazine, founded at the start of 2015, is the world’s premiere cosplay
magazine that showcases different cosplays of a huge variety of characters from all
around the world. They also include movie and comic news and tutorials that other
cosplayers can use as inspiration for their own. Having other things in my magazine
besides the photography would be a good addition to take inspiration from like both other
magazines I’ve looked at so far.
The front cover for this edition of Cosplay Culture Magazine is
a little different to the Cosplay Realm front cover. Similarly,
however, the cover uses one main cosplay image instead of
several that could confuse the reader. Both have a fairly
simple background colour, this one being much darker to help
the person stand out more clearly and blend into the
background less. The title heading still stays at the top with
part of the cosplay ( female Loki’s horns ) overlaying the title.
Using red as the font colour is good for standing out against
the dark background and for catching attention. Red is one of
the best colours for doing this; a lot of brands use this
technique for customers. In terms of font, the style is much
more simple than Cosplay Realms but the slight differences
6.
7.

6. Existing Product
that make it its own, mean that they want readers to focus more on the image than the
title. It’s also in sans-serif which shows that it is a fairly new thing and can be read even by
people with reading difficulties and screen readers. The magazine can also afford to cover
more of the text because they are a more popular magazine whereas the other magazine
image does not cover the title as much. With the background being almost black, this
cover includes a blob and other headings as clues to what is included in the issue.
However, the blobs and the barcode doesn’t obscure the
picture in any way and draws attention to details in the
cosplay some people might have otherwise missed. This is
something I should consider when making mine as they can
be useful and helpful in giving information but without
disrupting the image. What is good about the other titles on
the cover was that it appeals to the cosplayers already in the
community, but to others who might be interested in joining
and to get a jumpstart if they choose to by seeing what the
professional cosplayers do as inspiration. The cosplayer is
facing the camera which attracts the attention of who might
look at it. It makes the cover look direct, although the
cosplayer has lifted her head slightly to reflect how the
character she portrays looks down on some people.

7. Existing Product
The page for Cosplay Culture’s website has a similar style to Cosplay Realm’s style. The
text is fairly plain with a white background and bold headings that link to the articles. An
image is good as well to draw any potential readers’ attention to that article with a
recognisable image. If the images use brighter colours or it is of a character that I
recognise then I’m more likely to read the headline to see if I want to read the article too.
9.
But again, like the other website,
the layout and presentation of
these articles are quite boring as
the background is plain. The home
page for this website is much better
done but it doesn’t continue the
theme throughout. This could due
to the fact that the main purpose of
the website is to promote the
magazine and the articles that
weren’t included or featured a
video. When creating my products,
I will try to keep them to a similar
level of quality.

8. Existing Product
The website for the Yorkshire Cosplay Con (YCC) is very different to the style and design
for the websites of both Cosplay Culture and Cosplay Realm. This could be due to the fact
that YCC doesn’t produce a magazine and therefore isn’t there to just promote that
product. Since all of the information and advertisements are linked to this website, more
effort has been put into making this website as user friendly and informative as possible.
10.
The most common colour used on
the home page for the website is
yellow. Symbolically, yellow is a
colour of happiness, loyalty,
positivity and is also an attention
catching, bright colour. This could
suggest that they are trying to
express the friendly, happy and
enthusiastic atmosphere that
people can expect at the
conventions held. From my own
personal experience of attending
their cosplays, I know that this is
true.

9. Existing Product
Along with yellow, red, green and orange are popular colours that all do a similar function
to the yellow. The use of dark grey and black provide some contrast to the brighter
colours so they can stand out but aren’t too harsh to look at. The layout is also pretty
simple to follow, although the navigation bar isn’t as towards the top of the page as I had
expected, but it didn’t cause confusion for long. What I will probably do with my own
product is try to have the pages eye catching but not so bright that viewers don’t quite
know where to look first. The
website has links to a list of
different social medias so that
people who are interested in
going are able to have multiple
ways of keeping up to date with
news in addition to the website
blog posts.

10. Existing Product
11.
I started to research into different cosplay photo shoots and portfolios to help get an idea of
how I could set up my own portfolio. I liked the idea of having several different themed
photo-shoots, varying on character, to make up one portfolio as a whole. This is why I looked
. at these images, which were part of a Merida (Brave) cosplay’s “fall
photographs”. It’s unclear as to if the images are edited and how
much they have been if that is the case. The top picture especially,
since the orange of the leaves are much brighter with the orange of
the character’s hair, which I feel actually looks like a better image
and more cinematic than the other ones. Orange as a colour usually
represents enthusiasm and determination, which are traits often
associated with Merida. Orange is also
a warm and fiery colour which again
reflects her personality but also brings
out the bright fiery colour of her hair.
The type of shot also varies so the
images don’t all look the same from
being taken from the same angle and
distance. Being taken in the woods, it
references the use of the woods in the
film as well as giving it a medieval vibe.

11. Existing Product
The cosplayer is also always looking at the camera. And while this does draw in the viewers
attention to the picture as they feel directed to do so, I feel that having them all looking
towards the camera seems a little odd. The cosplayer seems to be doing a very similar pose
for each photograph and the images seem a little repetitive. I think that the series of images
would look better if the cosplayer used different poses and slightly different places of shots,
especially if they reflected the personality of the character a little better. It’s definitely
something that I need to consider when taking my own
photographs. Since I am considering
including this character in my own
project for part of my portfolio I need
to insure that I take my own advise to
get the best images I can.

12. Existing Product
12.
It was more difficult that I thought to find the style of cosplay video showcases that I
could take some inspiration from. But I found a video that fit one of the potential styles
that I would create for my fmp. This one is several cosplays in character from people in the
Harry Potter movies. I liked how the video was edited together and in most places it did fit
in with the music. The story followed a logical order that built up a story viewers could
keep up with. There may have been some subtle colour grading to make the clips seem
more cinematic which were a nice addition, along with the slightest glimpse of some VFX
for the spell during the video. Personally I think that they could have done more with that,
which could be something I could consider, depending on what my video could end up
like.
https://www.youtub
e.com/watch?v=lAY7
fvODcIc

13. Existing Product
12.
After the first type of cosplay video, I decided to look at something slightly different to get
a better idea of what I could realistically and ideally create in the time I would have for
this project. This video is different, since it is about showcasing the variety of different
cosplays at a convention, rather than telling a story of a set character or characters. The
video was edited well together, and used the clips for a nice transition into other clips.
Using the tree to transition was a nice addition and definitely something I would consider.
A video like this would be possible to create although if it wasn’t just showing different
cosplays my friend and I do, I would have to wait until June, which may not give me
enough time to gather the clips and edit them how I want.
https://w
ww.youtu
be.com/w
atch?v=a_
wJBZjPEP
E

14. Audience Profile
Since cosplay was first introduced in America, I had to look at the American YouGov site
to look at the demographics for Cosplay. According to the profile, the most common
cosplayers were men between the ages of 18 and 30. Popular jobs related to people
who like cosplay included charity work or media and journalism. It is also most popular
in the state of Colorado, according to the 450 people that filled out the profile. Of course
thousands more people do cosplay so this may not be accurate. From what I know

15. Audience Profile
personally, the split of genders between cosplayers is varied with every gender feeling
welcomed in their community.
Popular movies among cosplayers include movies such as Deadpool to movies such as
Zootopia. This shows that there is a wide range of interests among cosplays of Marvel to
Disney, both in general enjoyment and to actually cosplay.

16. Audience Profile
The YouGov site had this demographic for people who were interested in
cinematography and photography. Most commonly, these people were males between
the ages of 25 and 39. The vast majority were shown to live mainly in and around Wales,
but also popular in northern and central Scotland. These people were mostly left wing
on the political scale, but not as one sided as how cosplay was shown to be. Common
professions included: architecture, research and development and retail.

17. Audience Profile
The YouGov site had this demographic for people who were interested in magazines.
Since there are so many different types of styles, topics and genres of magazines that
aren’t specified here, the information here might not be completely relevant. Most
magazine readers were more mature women that are over the age of 55. Contrary to the
others, these readers are based more around London and are more right wing than left.
Common jobs for these people included: advertising and marketing, media and
entertainment.

18. Audience Profile
This is the demographic for people who are interested in websites. Again the most
popular gender is male, between the ages of 25 and 39. Their top region is London, but
the other regions mentioned such as Wales and central Scotland are common with the
other audience profiles I’ve looked at. Similarly, their political alignment is much closer
to being even but does sway to the left still. Jobs that are popular involve: Information
Technology, Media and advertising.

19. Research Analysis
• What common features do the researched
products have?
Most of the pictures use direct eye contact with the
camera to draw in the attention of the reader. All of
the images use a high saturation to make the
colours brighter and bolder. Any font is sans serif
and easy to read. The videos use clear and crisp
clips that are colour graded to get the colours
brighter and more appealing, and use a mix of
simple and interesting transitions between clips.

20. • What aspects of the research will you include within your own production
work?
Since I am not going to make a magazine in the end, due to the results of my
audience research, I’m going to use what I analysed from the pictures of the
front covers to apply to my photography portfolio. What I said about the
fonts I can keep in mind for other parts of my project such as my website or
if I decide to use one image as a title for that part of my portfolio. In terms of
the website that I will be creating, I will try to use the good aspects of all the
website pages that I looked at but not having mine too close to either end of
the scale. Some parts of the pages seemed boring while another was so
bright it was almost confusing so I will try to have my website somewhere in
the middle. With regards to my portfolio, I’ll make sure to follow along the
lines of my analysis by varying the types of shot in photo shoots as well as
the position of the character that the cosplayer is stood in. When it comes to
my video, I will most likely create a video in the style of the first one looked
at, that follows a story of one or more characters. If creating another one is
possible I will, but I do not want to wait until June to be able to get my clips.

21. Questionnaire Analysis

22. Audience research
• Observation: Most of the people that took my survey were in my age range or
slightly older.
• What this says about my audience: That a large part of my target audience will
include 16-24 year olds.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I’ll try to keep the language that
doesn’t sound boring or condescending but not so sophisticated that it’s
confusing.

23. Audience research
• Observation: The genders of my audience identify as male or female, with slightly
more males having taken the survey.
• What this says about my audience: My target audience involves a mostly equal
amount of people in either gender.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I’ll make sure that I have a range of
different cosplays and information that appeals to any gender so no one feels left
out.

24. Audience research
• Observation: A few people cosplay themselves, most people have at least heard of
it and only one person out of my results hasn’t heard of it before.
• What this says about my audience: Most of this part of my audience don’t cosplay
themselves, but know what it is so could still be interested in reading it.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I know that I can add sections into
one of my products about what cosplay is and what it can mean for some people.

25. Audience research
• Observation: Most people at least show some interest in conventions, whether they have been to a
convention, want to go to one, or would consider it if there was one nearby. Just over 30% said that
the idea didn’t interest them.
• What this says about my audience: That a majority of the 19-24 year olds who took my survey
would be at least interested in going to a comic/cosplay convention, even if they haven’t been to
one before.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I will definitely make sure to have some mention of
conventions in my products for the people it interests but not so much that it bores the people that
aren’t interested in conventions

26. Audience research
• Observation: People are drawn to the cosplays and the celebrities that are known to be invited, or a
combination of several things. No one said they would go just for the merchandise and around 25%
of people said that none of these things interested them.
• What this says about my audience: That my audience are interested for the cosplay as well as the
other things that are at conventions.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I’ll make sure to include information in my products
that mentions the inclusion of what people could expect to see at a convention to try to appeal to
those who might not be interested.

27. Audience research
• Observation: More people would be likely to read about cosplay online rather than with a physical
copy of the magazine.
• What this says about my audience: They are of a generation where most of us are technology based
and therefore would be more likely to prefer to read information online.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: Instead of creating a magazine how I had originally
planned, I’m going to have the information on a website. I feel like this might be a better decision in
the end because there is a lot more that I can do with a website, as well as linking to social media
sites and keeping the information up to date.

28. Audience research
• Observation: Most of the results show that all parts are popular but the most popular part of
content regarding cosplay is the photography.
• What this says about my audience: The majority of my audience would be drawn to a cosplay
photography portfolio or a video showcase of one or multiple cosplays but also the social side too
where meeting others is a large possibility.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I already knew that I was wanting to build up a
photography portfolio so this is reassuring that it will be popular. I was also a bit surprised that a
short video showcase was as popular as it was, which will increase my chances of making one will
definitely be more likely now, more than a tutorial video. I’ll also make sure to include as many
elements that I can to do with how social of an activity that cosplay can be and how that has
benefited certain people.

29. Audience research
• Observation: Marvel was the mot popular cosplay choice, then video games and
the DC, Disney and book characters afterwards.
• What this says about my audience: My audience would be most popular with
cosplaying Marvel and video game characters. None of the members of my target
audience that took my survey seemed to be interested in cosplaying anime or
retro style video games.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I already wanted to have a good
section dedicated to Marvel cosplays so I know now that this would be a good idea
as it is obviously very popular. I can also include more about Borderlands since it is
included in the modern video games, along with Disney and the possibility of Dc
with characters that are easily recognisable.

30. Audience research
• Observation: The majority would be interested to see cosplays from all around the
world although around 30% would prefer to just see cosplays in the UK.
• What this says about my audience: That they enjoy to see what sorts of cosplays
other people around the world do, but also like to know what our own countries
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I will include mentions of what
other cosplayers around the world do, but also have a main section that dedicates
to cosplay in the UK.

31. Audience research
• Observation: The majority of people would at least consider going to a convention,
whether in cosplay or not. 5 out of the 19 responses said that they definitely
wouldn’t go to a convention.
• What this says about my audience: That I can at least appeal to people who may
be unsure of if they would go or if not in cosplay, and for people that go for more
than one reason.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I’ll make sure to focus and have
sections on other parts of conventions besides cosplay, though still having that as
the focus seeing as it is the main theme for my fmp and a big part of conventions
as a whole.

32. Interviews

33. Interview 1
What do you find most interesting about cosplay and why?
Becoming a different character and socializing as that character with others of the same
interest. As well as the amount of work and creativity people put in.
If you were going to a convention, would you cosplay as a certain
character and why?
I usually dress up as marvel characters because there the ones I know
most about and people that know me when they see Deadpool or
Spiderman they think of me so I'm really set to two characters. That’s why
I cosplay as them.
Do you see cosplay to be more of a hobby activity or professional
and why?
I think its abit of both really, because I cosplay every so often spending
about £150 on a costume but I know people take it to the next level and
really put effort into looking like that character to any extent.

34. Interview 1
• Observation: The person doing this interview definitely
knows about cosplay to do it themselves.
• What this says about my audience: That some
people in my target audience actually cosplay themselves
and so are even more likely to be popular.
• How will your product appeal to this audience:
Now that I know that some of my audience actually does
cosplay, and what characters they generally cosplay as, I
know that I can make sure to include references to those
characters in my products. Being Marvel characters this
was already going to be a part of them, but now
especially so.

35. Interview 2
What do you find most interesting about cosplay and why?
It can be quite interesting to become that character and interacting
with others as that character.
If you were going to a convention, would you cosplay as a
certain character and why?
It generally depends on what type of convention it is, as you’d be more
likely to at a themed convention like a Gaming Convention or an Anime
Convention.
Do you see cosplay to be more of a hobby activity or
professional and why?
A Hobby because generally people would just do this as an occasional
activity however there are cases where people can do this for a living.

36. Interview 2
• Observation: This person doesn’t cosplay themselves
but do not seem completely dis interested by it
• What this says about my audience: That I can appeal
to other people who may not cosplay themselves but
still interest them with people that do.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I will
make sure to include parts that appeal to those who
may not cosplay/want to start cosplaying so that they
feel like part of the community too.

37. Bibliography

38. Bibliography
1. Nuttall, M. (2018) Target Audience Research Survey (conducted on 13th April 2018)
2. Hardwick,F. (2018) Target Audience Interviews (conducted on 13th April 2018)
3. Battams,T. (2018) Target Audience Interviews (conducted on 13th April 2018)
4. .Emily Ray, Aesthel. (2018). Cosplay Realm About. Available:
https://www.cosplayrealmmagazine.com/about/. Last accessed 11th April 2018
5. .Emily Ray, Aesthel. (2018). Cosplay Realm Magazine No.13. Last accessed 11th April
2018.
6. .Cosplay Culture. (2015). About Cosplay Culture. Available:
http://cosplayculture.com/about/. Last accessed 11th April 2018.
7. .Cosplay Culture. (2018). Cosplay Magazine. Last accessed 11th April 2018.
8. .Cosplay Realm. (2018). Inside the Magazine. Available:
https://www.cosplayrealmmagazine.com/services/. Last accessed 11th April 2018.
9. .Cosplay Culture. (2018). Articles. Available: http://cosplayculture.com/archive/. Last
accessed 11th April 2018.
10. .Yorkshire Cosplay Con. (2010). Available:
http://www.yorkshirecosplayconvention.co.uk/. Last accessed 18th April 2018.
11. .Clayton, A. (2013). Merida - Brave - Fall Photos. Available:
https://angelacostumery.com/2013/12/04/merida-brave-fall-photos/. Last accessed
18th April 2018.

39. 12. . LouBelle Cosplay. (2018). Harry Potter CMV. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAY7fvODcIc . Last accessed 30th April 2018.
13. . Appel Works. (2017). MCM London Comic Con October 2017. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_wJBZjPEPE . Last accessed 30th April 2018.