2. After creating my drafts for all three pages of my magazine and
acting upon small bits of feedback, it was time to hold a focus
group with the target audience of my magazine. I had created
my magazine pages to the best of my ability, and worked off
audience research to suite and attract my aimed audience. Yet
now it was time to get feedback straight from my audience on
what they liked and what they could improve on. Using
Facebook as a way to attract my target audience, I created an
event and chose a location for it to take place in so I could have
a wide selection of people that would give me more valid
results.
3. When holding my focus group, questions I planned to ask
were:
Front Cover:
Is it very eye catching? Would you pick this up on a shelf
Do you like the masthead/is the mast head appropriate –could it be improved- specify improvements
Is the house design colour scheme appropriate- do the colours work with the image?
Are the cover lines positioned clearly and visible to read- could they be improved in any way?
Are the fonts used practical for the front cover? Is there enough variation that doesn’t make it look too complicated? Is the
size of the main cover line practical?
Image- do you like the image- does it work with the front cover- does it look professional? What does the image ‘say’ to
you? Can you tell it relates to the main cover line
Is the barcode in the right place? Is the pricing visible as well as the date and issue number
Is the price acceptable as something you would pay?
Overall opinion do you think this looks like an indie music magazine- including image, colours, fonts, articles etc
What generally do you think could be improved on- general or specific – including image, colour, fonts, articles,
design/arrangement?
4. Contents page
What do you like about the contents page?
Is it laid out clearly?
Is the font an appropriate size? Could this be improved to make it easier to read?
Does the selection of fonts make it more interesting to look at?
Do you like the colour scheme? Does it work with the image and relate to the
colours on the contents page?
Do you like the images chosen? Do they relate to the genre of the magazine?
Are the articles interesting and relating to the genre of the magazine?
Does it look like a professional contents page? Could it be improved in any way?
5. Double page spread
What do you like about the double page spread?
Do you like the band logo? Does it look creative and reflect the
personality of the singer?
Is the image a strong image? How does it represent the artist to you?
Does the colouring of the page relate to the artist, as well as keep in with
a house design of the magazine?
Is the text easy to read in white? Is the pull quote visible and relevant?
Is there a visible house design throughout all three pages?
6. I then held the focus group. I asked all the previous questions with
anA3 print of each page so they could each pass it round and see it
properly. This way they could study it in depth, talking about what they
liked and what could be improved on.
7. I listened to their discussion of each page, writing down specific
comments about the improvement of it to make it adress my
target audience and fit the genre. I also gave them an A3 piece
of paper to write down any other thoughts and comments along
the way which gave me a lot to work on.
From this I drew up flat plans of each of my pages, with the
comments of each of the pages in the associating area. This
way when working back on them in Photoshop I could quickly
address the area that needed to be changed.
11. From my feedback I then went back to my
different pages to readjust parts to make it
more preferable and suitable to my target
audience. This focus group was the first proper
feedback collecting event I had ever done
before, and this gave me the preference to do
this in the future as it was very helpful to
discuss with my audience why they think it
should be changed.
