This document analyzes the survey and focus group that Alex Marshall conducted for his music magazine. He asked 16-year-olds questions about design preferences like font, price, and frequency in order to tailor the magazine to their interests. Key findings were that pictures should be prioritized on the cover and interviews with artists featured prominently inside. Audience feedback allows the creator to understand what their target market wants and avoid unpopular design choices that could hurt sales.

1. ANALYSIS
OF SURVEY
ALEX MARSHALL
Alex Marshall

2. FOCUS GROUP
My target audience for my Survey, was mainly 16 year olds;
this was down to my target audience for my music magazine
being in this age range. There was a mix of girls and boys
who I had asked to take part in my survey, by doing this I am
appealing to all both genders.
Alex Marshall

3. WHY DID I ASK
CERTAIN QUESTIONS
In many ways, each question I had posed to my focus group
had been of some relevance; some more so than others. The
questions with more significance, which would benefit the
construction stage of my magazine had a clear focus in
order; i.e. the least important ones were predominantly at the
start and end of the questionnaire, leaving the more
significant questions in the middle.
All will pose some relevance and constructive improvements
to my magazine. By this I mean I will manipulate specific
answers I had received, to which I feel would best suit my
magazine, others will have a clear impact and alter my
decisions in some ways.
Alex Marshall

4. HOW I WILL
INCORPORATE THE
FEEDBACK.
In terms of adapting the feedback into my design, the most
significant question I had asked was “when reading a magazine,
what is your eye immediately drawn too” this would mould my front
cover into a finished draft. The response was overwhelmingly in
favour of picture – this feedback will be taken in, as it is the main
selling point in magazines, and my front cover will be based around
the main picture, which is also the headline.
The double page spread is of huge significance in my magazine, so
it is only right that the audience would have a say in what will
feature; therefore I posed this question to the focus group. The
favourite was a topic which suggested „hottest right now‟ – this was
closely followed by „Interviews with artists‟ – I will incorporate both
suggestions, by having the main article on the double page spread
being interview with artists, but with a side bar coming off one of
the pages with a section called „hottest right now‟ in order to
incorporate both suggestions
Alex Marshall

5. IN DEPTH ANALYSIS
1) What is a respectable price you would pay for a pop magazine?
- The feedback I had gathered from this question was very split between £2 and £2.50. However, I may
change this as those on the market retail at around £3/4 pound, therefore in order to compete the prize
may be risen. Despite the high price in professional music magazines, this allows my magazine to be
cheaper and of a high quality.
2) What fonts would you like to be in the magazine?
- This question had little impact, as this was only a selection of fonts which I have been able to see. I may
find other fonts which are better suited to the genre and audience. Although the little impact, font styles are
a selling point and attraction for the audience.
3) How often would you like the magazine to be circulated?
- The overwhelming majority of the focus group chose weekly, so I will take this into consideration. However,
if the magazine is circulated monthly it creates a demand and need in for the audience, as well as there
being more information/news to feature in the magazine.
4) Out of the following colour schemes, which do you prefer?
- The favoured colour scheme was blue and white, which is pretty normal for this style and genre of music
magazine. It’s light and mainstream so will appeal to many different audience .
5) Which audience would be best suited to this style of magazine?
- The clear favourites were young adult female (16-29) and young adult male (16-29). This is very good for
the construction of the magazine as it allows a wider and larger appeal to both male and females, but of the
same age.
Alex Marshall

6. IN DEPTH ANALYSIS
6) When reading a magazine, what is your eye immediately drawn to?
-By asking this question to the focus group, it allows me to focus on what they want to see first, in which is a
selling point when looking at the front cover. The clear favourite amongst the group was pictures/images. By
placing an emphasis on the images, it allows a clear focus and appeals to the audience.
7) In terms of the double page spread, what would you prefer on it?
-This question, again, allowed me to try and appeal to the audience in more depth. I had asked them which
they would prefer, this included: Interview with artists, Album reviews, newcomers section and hottest right
now. The popular choice was hottest right now and interview with artists. I am going to manipulate this
response, by having a double page spread based around an interview with an artists, but off that a side bar
around album reviews.
8) What would you like to consist in magazine? (Tick the ones you like)
-This question was a multiple choice one, which allows me to get an overall of what the target audience
wanted to be in the magazine. The two most popular answers were artists and most current. This whole
question was based around the contents – meaning I can now split that into categories.
9) What text to image ratio do you prefer? (T:I
-From research I carried out, I noticed different magazines use a different text to ratio proportion on the double
page spread. The popular answer was 30:70, which means a larger amount of text than ratio. This can be
changed, but I think too much text would put off the audience.
10) Out of the following, which magazine do you prefer?
- I decided to ask this question at the end, as it would allow me to research more into that magazine, and if
that's the popular choice, my magazine could be similar in terms of content and layout.
Alex Marshall

7. WHY IS AUDIENCE
FEEDBACK USEFUL?
Audience feedback is very useful, as it allows you to get an insight
into your target audiences requirements for a magazine. For
instance if you were considering putting something in your
magazine and you didn‟t ask for audience feedback, they may not
purchase it; however, if you did ask for audience feedback and they
gave you a way to alter that decision and make it better, it makes the
magazine better.
Audience feedback is useful for any media product. It helps narrow
down the target audience for any media product, instead of trying to
appeal to anyone and get awful reviews from the majority and good
ones from the minority. In addition, the same reasons it has a big
impact on the success of the product, as I said some decisions you
may make can be improved with the help of audience feedback.
Alex Marshall