3. research(1)

Existing Product
This product is a PlayStation magazine from the early late 90’s/Early 2000’s
committed to showing its audience the newest and highest anticipated
games coming out in its time. It is the closest theme to what I want to
create in my project. The magazine uses many methods of catching the eye
of the reader such as highlighting the key words of each sentence such as
crowning itself as the ‘World’s best selling’. This confidence displayed by
the magazine creators will promise to the audience that their tips and
codes inside will be worth the investment. The font used in the cover is
plain and bold to clearly display to the reader what the contents are and
whole words are capitalised at points to emphasise importance opposed to
the rest of the cover. The font and its boldness is rather strong looking and
could symbolise the tips given in the magazine will be clearly and well
instructed to the reader, increasing their urge to buy it. The whole cover
has a light purple colour scheme to it which coincides with the main
character of the cover feature game. It gives fans of the game a familiar
vibe and they will be more likely to recognize the magazine. Lastly, the
cover has a feature board at the bottom which tells the reader clearly and
simply what other games are mentioned and talked about inside. This
again strengthens the trust from the reader to the creators that they have
clearly and easily laid out the tips and codes inside for them to easily
follow. I have chosen this magazine cover because of the theme of it and
also the type of magazine it is. In my magazine, I am hoping to achieve
some sort of nostalgic, retro style and feature both new and old games in
the way that professional magazines used to do. Not to mention that my
own magazine is going to use the same main featured game as this one
does. From looking at this cover, I have gained many ideas for what kinds
of fonts to use and what my colour scheme could potentially include. I also
have taken a look at how the cover structures the information in a clear
and simple way so that anybody can pick it up and know exactly what it is
straight away. The simplistic design is one of the many ideas and
inspirations for what I am planning my own cover to look like.

Existing Product
This screenshot is of a gaming news website who's main goal is to inform the reader of the newest
updates and announcements in the gaming world through articles. I have chosen to look at this website
because of the simplicity yet effective ways that it displays its information while also showing plenty of
content. There is a clear colour scheme which stays true through the whole site that gives the whole
product a structure and clean feel to it. The colour scheme is also used as a highlighter to show titles
and emphasise links to other parts of the website. It catches the reader’s eyes and draws them in,
making them want to read or click on the link. The fonts, much like the last product, are extremely
straight and simple but that just adds to the crisp design of the website. The red and white in the logo of
the website contrast very well with the black header to jump out at the reader. To
also pull the reader in, the websites
links are regularly changed to the
newest and highest rated games. This
ensures that the readers will never
get bored of the content already
there and move on. There are links to
various forms of social media on the
top right which further improves their
relations and communication with the
fans and their community. Overall, I
feel that the main appeal of the
website is the persuasive language
used in link descriptions and links
themselves.

This is another magazine design that prides itself on
giving its older audience a nostalgic trip and the
younger generation a lesson in the history of gaming.
It takes an old approach to style yet not as old as the
above design. It has the feature game as the theme
and the main character as the face of the magazine.
The character is layered in front of the header to
emphasize his importance in the magazine and to give
the cover a sense of depth. To help him stand out
even more, the background circles around him leaving
his face in the center of attention. To keep to the
theme of spies and James Bond, the colours used in
the scheme are the same as the colours on the
clothes he wears. There is a sharp looking blend of the
contrasting black and white and even the circles and
game's name are in a similar colour to his face. The
gold of the game title is different to the rest of the
writing and fonts on the cover to show clearly what
the feature is in this magazine. The only colours that
do not stick to the colour scheme that the cover
seems to have is the red in the headset offer on the
left side and the green in the game box shown in the
top right. These colours stick out very well in the
mostly plain cover, emphasizing them more and
ensuring that they are easily and clearly seen. The
fonts used stick well to the spy theme that the cover
has and looks like a typewriter has written it when
given the white highlight. The white also contrasts
with the black background to bring out the important
information. This is ironic seen as it is the same kind

Existing Product
Tense atmosphere to the page which could
instantly change anybody's first impression of
the game and lure them into buying the product
to find out the answers to the questions they
have. The colours used in this design are mostly
plain, much like the last cover that I analyzed.
The difference being in this design is that the
colour scheme for the articles are meant to
coincide with the background colours. The only
problem with this design decision is that where
there is white in the background image, you
cannot see the article as clearly. This lowers the
accessibility and stops the majority of people
from looking at it. The colour scheme also uses
red to emphasize main points like the previous
product.
This is a double page spread that aims to give the reader information on and hopefully persuade the reader
to buy the featured game. I chose this particular double page spread design mostly because of the article
techniques used such as text wrapping around important images. The articles are placed in such a way that
makes the character stand out among the other aspects of the image. The way they wrap around the gun's
silencer makes the articles look less structured and all over the place. This could imply to the audience that
the game itself is crazy and there is a lot of randomness going on in it. The fact that the character is moving
out from a concealed area wearing dark clothing which covers his face and armed with a dangerous weapon
could give the audience questions as to who he is, who he is fighting for and what is going on in that
particular situation. It brings a

Existing Product
This image is a screenshot of the android Play Store. More specifically, the
reader is looking at an app page for the popular app Snapchat. Colour in
this design means a lot more than one would first think. The app's main
colour is a plain white – this is to draw the attention to the apps as
opposed to the store app itself as it is trying to advertise them. The white
theme is also there to let the featured apps' colour schemes stand out
more which in turn brings in more of an audience. Logos in the designs are
made to be simple yet effective by using shapes that are easily
distinguishable such as the Snapchat logo in the screenshot on the right. To
further promote the apps in the page, there is a preview section in which
the user is able to take a look at the contents and features of the app page
they're currently reading. These often follow the app's colour scheme to
make the app feel more structured and as one rather than using random
coloured, confusing screenshots. To add to the accessibility of the Play
Store, it offers even more apps that are either similar or go well with the
app currently being viewed. Not only is this feature based upon what the
currently viewed app is, but it is also based upon the types of apps that the
user installs. The font used in this product as a whole is all the same as to
feel like a full experience and helps the reader navigate and find the
content they need or want easier. Shapes and icons are a huge part of a
product such as this as they are small and compact ways of showing the
user what a feature is or what kind of content something is. For example,
on the search bar at the top of the screenshot there is a microphone icon
to show that the app is able to use voice search. Also, next to the statistics
on the app page icons are used yet again to symbolize what the numbers
given mean such as a slanted 'T' to show the product being for teenagers
and a person's head and shoulders showing that the number next to it is
the amount of people who have rated the app.

Research Analysis
• What common features do the researched products have?
– The most common aspect of the researched products are the strong colour schemes. They gel
very well with the rest of the cover and make it feel like a unit.
– Almost all of my researched products have used layering to create a sense of depth. This helps
emphasize the feature game and the main pull for the magazine and helps in drawing in an
audience using familiar characters and games.
– Each of the designs use bold font in a different colour to the rest of the writing to emphasize
important features in the magazine or any other aspect.
• What aspects of the research will you include within your own production work?
– Most of all, I will get the most inspiration from the website design as I feel that that is the print
style I need the most improvement on. I will follow their colourfully minimalistic style as I feel
that it is crisp and clearly portrays its information to the reader.
– I will include text wrapping my final double page spread design as I feel that it is an
aesthetically pleasing technique and will benefit the style of my planned design. It can also be
used to help emphasize any characters or parts of a background that the creator wants the
reader to see.

Audience research
• Observation: there is a slightly higher amount of males as opposed to female people in my
audience.
• What this says about my audience: this means that I will be able to create a more boisterous, action
based design. However it would be wise to appeal to the female audience in some way or form too.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I will use dominantly male games as feature games
and include excitable, fun articles. To keep the gender neutrality however, I will include games
aimed at females such as casual types of games.

Audience
research
• Observation: the majority of my audience
are above 18 however a sizable group of
them are in their early/mid teens.
• What this says about my audience: This
means that my audience will prefer to see
games aimed at adults with adult
properties such as blood, swearing, etc.
• How will your product appeal to this
audience: To appeal to my audience, I will
be sure to add in reviews and such of adult
based games but I will still not add any
swearing or vulgar content to appeal to
the slightly younger people in my
audience.

Audience research
• Observation: From this screenshot of survey monkey question, I can gather that the same amount
of people like to see a higher image to writing ratio and an equal mix of images and writing in their
favourite magazines.
• What this says about my audience: This says that my audience are not as bothered about long
winded reviews and pieces of information. Instead, they may prefer all the information they wanted
straight up and to the point instead of going into detail of every little thing.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: To appeal to my audience better and to stay safe, I
am going to use an equal amount of images and writing so that there are plenty of images for the
blue group (on the graph) and also there is definitely enough information and reviewing given out
to the audience.

Audience research
• Observation: From this survey question, I am able to gather that my audience are
more orientated towards reading article based reviews in magazines as opposed to
watching a video review or a review from the community. This has cleared up for
me what medias and products would have actually worked best.
• What this says about my audience: This says that they prefer to be more hands on
with the review and read and register things at their own pace with their own
views rather than either being rushed by a video or following a group of people
that either worship or hate a game all together.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I will make my product appeal to
my audience by creating a magazine with unbiased views on games (for example
any games I personally played as a child, etc) and clearly moving on from section
to section of each game.

Audience research
• Observation: The majority of people in my audience prefer their reviews to be more funny and
comedic as opposed to being serious or potentially harmful in using sarcasm.
• What this says about my audience: this says that my audience are younger at heart and will not
want too much serious writing. They will most likely get bored otherwise and not want to carry on
reading.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will appeal to my audience by using
jokes and humour and less serious and sarcastic tones. Due to the younger nature of my audience, I
will also try to balance out the ratio of imagery and articles because of the stereotype that younger
people don't like to read as much.

Audience research
• Observation: From this response to my question on survey monkey, I can gather that the majority of
my audience prefers reviews of games over anything else with the next favourite feature being tips
and cheats for video games.
• What this says about my audience: From this information, it is safe to say that my audience will
most likely be buying their favourite magazines to look at the reviews for the games they are
following. They will be looking for helpful answers to the questions that everybody in the
community are asking.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: Due to this, I am going to appeal to my audience by
including a game review in the double page spread for an upcoming game that people may be
unsure of. I will also do some more research to find out what questions people are asking about the
potential game(s). I could also potentially add in a small section dedicated to giving out some cheat
codes or cool facts for a game.

Audience research
• Observation: the two top scored genres for games in my survey question above are survival and adventure. The
next most popular is the action genre.
• What this says about my audience: This tells me that my audience would prefer to hear more about their favourite
survival or adventure games or maybe even action if there are no new games of the first two genres on their way. I
can also gather that I seem to have a mix of hardcore and casual players for my audience so cannot necessarily
bias the magazine towards one of the two types of gamers if I am hoping to maximize my audience.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will appeal to my audience by featuring game reviews
and cheats for the newest possible adventure and survival games. I will also use the games' logos and base my
colour schemes off of the games' colours to give the audience a sense of familiarity and relatability.

Audience research
• Observation: From this answer to my survey monkey question, I can gather that retro themes are
preferred over the new, modern look.
• What this says about my audience: This tells me that my audience, along with the newer, upcoming
games, would like to see at least one nostalgia based review on an old game. It could also tell me
that they miss the old style of games and magazines.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: I will make sure to add any information about old
games that are being remastered. I will also be sure to try using the style of retro gaming magazine
covers and dps'.

Interview 1
• Would you consider buying a gaming magazine featuring Spyro Reignited as the cover
game? Please give a reason for your answer.
I think I would as we haven't seen a remake of a classic video game series in a long time,
and magazine that has possible information on this would be an interesting read.
• What is your opinion on magazines that give hints and cheats for games?
I think that in the 90's these sorts of articles were more useful but if I want a cheat or hint
for games now I generally just use the internet.
• Would you be more interested in a game review magazine or video review and why?
Video review, mainly because I find a review in video format easier to pay attention to.
• What is your favourite retro game and what is your favourite aspect of it?
XIII on the game cube, this is because the gameplay was in the form of a moving cartoon
and the art style was unique.

Interview 1
• Observation:
this reader would be happy with older game remasters making a comeback to magazines as he misses
the nostalgic feeling and he would enjoy reading about it more. He also believes that there would be no
point in a tips and cheats section as it would simply make more sense for him to quickly search the
internet for any cheats. This reader would prefer to watch a video review rather than read a magazine
as he finds it a lot easier to pay attention to them. Finally, this reader prefers older games with more of
a cartoony, unrealistic style.
• What this says about my audience:
This tells me that this particular reader is hoping for a comeback of his favourite childhood games
remastered for the point of nostalgia. I also gathered that my audience does not necessarily need as tips
and cheats section due to the high availability on the internet nowadays. This would be useful for my
website design I am planning to create alongside my magazine. Finally, I have found that the type of
game that this reader wants to get reviewed is any old (retro) game with a cartoony or unrealistic,
fantasized style.
• How will your product appeal to this audience:
Due to finding the above information out, I will be sure to pick out some good old remastered games
such as 'Crash Bandicoot' and 'Spyro the Dragon'. I will also make sure to put a hints and cheats section
in my website when I get round to creating it, and to not put it in my magazine anywhere. Lastly, I will
try to give the magazine's cover and double page spreads more of a vintage feel to them by closely
following ideas and designs of other magazines from the early 2000's.

Interview 2
• Would you consider buying a gaming magazine featuring Spyro Reignited
as the cover game? Please give a reason for your answer.
Maybe, because I remember the original version.
• What is your opinion on magazines that give hints and cheats for games?
As long as there are no spoilers I don't mind them.
Would you be more interested in a game review magazine or video review
and why?
Games, because there's less snobbery surrounding them.
• What is your favourite retro game and what is your favourite aspect of it?
Persona 3, because of the overall style of the game.

Interview 2
• Observation: This reader would like to see a Spyro game feature the cover of my
magazine because he remembers the game and its memories it gave him. Also, the
reader wouldn't mind hints and cheats being put into either the magazine or the
website design because it would help him but as long as there are no spoilers for
his games which is common among those types of websites.
• What this says about my audience: He would most likely buy the magazine I am
making for the sake of nostalgia and the games he used to play in his childhood.
This means that the coverage of the game I have chosen will have a bigger impact
on this person as he will have the biggest opinion of it.
• How will your product appeal to this audience: My product will appeal to this type
of reader by creating my product extremely similarly to an original Spyro magazine
from around the late 90s when they were released. I will use a similar colour
scheme and use the same 90's style of layout and features. I will not feature any
spoilers for the game but will maybe add in a few of the original hints and cheats
in case the game releases with the same cheat codes, etc.

Bibliography
1. Daniel Thompson. (2018) Target Audience Research Survey (conducted
on 11th April)
2. Will Stewart, Kieran Beal. (2018) Target Audience Interviews (conducted
on 10th April)
3. Spyro – Skylanders on Game-Collection – Deviantart
4. pcgamer. 2018. PC Gamer. [ONLINE] Available
at: https://www.pcgamer.com/. [Accessed 04 May 2018].
5. Wallace, Mitch (April 5, 2018). "'Spyro Reignited Trilogy' Officially Glides
Onto PS4 And Xbox One This September". Forbes. April 5, 2018
6. McWhertor, Michael. "Spyro the Dragon remastered trilogy coming to
PS4, Xbox One". Polygon. April 5, 2018
7. Dayus, Oscar (June 12, 2018). "E3 2018: Spyro Reignited Trilogy's First
Gameplay Revealed, And It Looks Gorgeous". GameSpot. June 13, 2018

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