Q5 How did you attract/address your audience?

I tried to address my audience with a very simple but effective magazine. My front cover used a black and white image which would instantly attract someone’s eye because you would usually find a colour image on the front page. So with using a black and white image, it has made the font around it stand out more, especially using white as it is quite striking against a mono tone background. Sticking to 3 main colours, black, purple and white keeps it simple therefore focusing more on the image and the text around it much easier. Whereas if u have too many colours and text all over the place it makes it harder to focus on what you want to read. I used Standard English throughout my magazine, because it doesn’t need to be in slang and it’s inappropriate for my magazine. I mentioned bands which are featured in the magazine, to attract readers and to make them actually want to pick it up and find out what’s written about that certain band or artist. Keeping the information very brief on the front page is a way to make the reader want more, so I didn’t give too much away about what the different articles are actually about.
I used the font …. Because I thought it was very simple and not too stylised, I kept this font through out all my pages. The only time I changed the font was for the band name, this is because I wanted it to stand out from the rest and not blend in because they are the main feature. I chose two different fonts … and … and placed them together. I chose a slanted type font for the word AIR because I wanted to seem like it was a bit more flowing like air is, whereas LOCKE was more about being strong and bold.
The models I used for my main band, I chose because they look quite indie in the way they dress and have their hair, all with a sort of fringe. They are dressed very casual because I wanted to give a laid back look, and used the lamp post as a prop for them to lean on which gives the impression they are a relaxed band. The clothes they are wearing also coincide with the season the magazine is released in. This would all attract the audience because this ‘look’ is mainly how indie kids dress and behave, they acted chilled like they have no worries and this is the look I wanted to get across. Something they could relate to.

As for my contents page, I think using a female artist to take up the whole page will definitely attract a male audience but also females who like her music. here I followed through more with the purple because I thought it would stand out better against the natural background. I have also kept the same style font again to make it easy to read as there is more writing on this page than the front cover.
She is an attractive model therefore bringing maybe more attention than usual to a contents page. Like I said before I placed her in this way to make her look a bit shy and like she isn’t giving much away, this is to gain more interest for the reader. But also it might give the impression she is insecure about herself which might be easier to relate to for some girls, rather than someone who is very confident and in your face. This might be intimidating for some people especially girls. As for the clothes she is wearing, again I wanted to create a laid back look so leggings, a vest and an oversized cardigan defiantly gives that impression in my opinion as indie artists aren’t really glamorous. So to attract more people to actually looking and reading a contents page, I used quite a striking main image to take up the whole page.

The double page spread I feel attracts the audience because of the larger font at the top of the page introducing the article, then the slightly smaller font with some more information before going into the main article. This part in some way is important because it’s the first thing they read when they open on the page, so if it doesn’t sound that interesting or isn’t attractive then they will jus turn the page. As for the image, they in the same clothes but obviously in a different position which looks quite pensive as if looking into the future. I sat them on some steps with a type of sign you would use to block off a road behind them. I wanted to show that they aren’t glamorous at all and don’t live for that kind of lifestyle but live for their music. I think it comes across in this image, and again a laidback approach. In any of the pictures I didn’t ask them to stand in a certain way it was all very natural which I think contributes a lot to the magazine because it makes it more personal.