2. My audience age range is 16-24, so it
ranges between older teenagers and
young adults of both genders, I designed
my magazine in a way that will attract this
specific type of readership and using both
a male and female on the cover meant
that it would not become too gender
focused and would appeal to both the
male and female target audience as I feel
that having just a female model on the
cover would attract more of a male
audience and could end up conforming to
Laura Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory, which
would not be appropriate for my
magazine genre or target audience. The
very basic mono-tonal colour scheme
(black and white) used throughout my
magazine also meant that my magazine
would attract both a male and female
audience as it is simplistic and
minimalistic which suits the genre of the
magazine, the band featured on the cover
and the ‘indie/alternative’ target audience
I am aiming DWNLD at.
3. The initial part of the magazine that the reader would see if it were to be placed on
a magazine shelf in a shop is the masthead; this is because it is positioned at the
top of the magazine meaning it would be visible on a shelf. The font I used
(Innovation) is bold and clear yet it has an unusual italic edge to it, this means that
readers will form a ‘brand recognition’ in relation to this type of font and the
magazine itself. I used a similar font style to magazines i-D, Wonderland and
Dazed & Confused; they are all bold and therefore hard to miss, they also share
the same audience as my magazine so I can be assured it will appeal to the
correct audience.
4. The models I used on my cover are dressed in
the same style as my target audience are
interested in, creating a blog post prior to taking
my photos meant I was able to do some
research into where my target audience like to
shop and the current trends they were wearing
(UK Tribes research), I then had the chance to
plan out their costumes prior to the shoot to
ensure it would attract the correct audience. My
final cover features both the male and female
members of the band; both in juxtaposition to
each other (in relation to their poses). Both of
their personalities are clearly shown on the
cover which attracts the audience well, as they
are a new band readers will see the bold image
on the cover and will want to find out more.
George is presented as the more serious
member of the group, ‘moodily’ looking directly
at the camera and addressing the audience with
a rather intriguing expression on his face,
whereas Ellie is presented as playful with an
attitude and her winking facial expression
contributes to her outgoing personality; which
also helps to attracts the reader’s eye.
5. On my contents page I decided to use an image where both models are directly
looking at the audience, again the grabs the reader’s attention and is one of the
main focus points of the page, Ellie’s blue eyes and red lipstick are very appealing
to readers and again draw the audience further in. Using clear and concise
subheadings and columns on my contents page created a symmetrical page with a
minimalistic and simplistic style that my audience could read with ease, shortly
summarising each feature with a suitably vague sentence leaving them wanting to
know more e.g. ’Are you having a laugh? TEED’s Orlando Higginbottom certainly
is…’
6. When writing the article for my double page spread it was important to get all syntax and
grammar correct, as any spelling mistakes for example could alienate my audience and
create a bad name for the magazine. However it was still important to get the right balance
between formality and syntax, as making my article too informal and too much use of
colloquial language wouldn’t suit the genre of my magazine or the band, however making
my article too formal may mean that readers may not be able to understand what they are
reading and again could alienate them/put them off buying the magazine again.
