Fifth Evaluation Question

How did you attract your audience?

I attracted my audience by using designs, layouts and colours that would appeal to them. Which is why I used the blank/red/white colour scheme, as this was the option that was greatly favoured on my questionnaire.

These different conventions are more commonly known as 'codes', which represent most features throughout my media product, whether it's mise-en-scene, expressions or poses. With the code of clothing I used a Trilby and a pair of Shutter Shades, of which the artist on my front cover was wearing. I used these accessories because they are funky and hip, and are different to the sort of clothes that would be usually be shown on a punk magazine. These two accessories compliment the front page, which is one of the main reasons why I have used them. The hat ties in with the code of posture, and the glasses are a bright visual reference. However, in spite of them not following the typical clothing conventions, they fit the overall feel of the magazine. The costumes are continued through on the contents page and double page spread, but the main focus has been placed on the front cover, as this is the part of the magazine that the audience sees first, so is what their initial judgement will be based upon. The clothing is pretty much the same on the contents page and double page spread, as the images were taken at the same time and all share similarities. The Trilby is a constant theme throughout the magazine, because it keeps a theme flowing which tells the reader that the stories are related. This would be harder to notice if all the images used were completely different. The main change to the images are that the glasses are no longer present on the contents page and double page spread. They were purely chosen to be part of the costume on the front page so that their colour could be enhanced for a visual reference.

The code of posture is very closely related to the code of costume in attracting my specified audience for my media product. I used my models arms for producing a pose that will entice the reader into the buying the magazine in the first place. I figured out which pose to use after I reviewed the results from my questionnaire that showed that my audience preferred one main image, of which I decided to be a close-up, as many people buy magazines to look at the images. So by following the guidelines shown by the questionnaire and my own research, I make the media product more appealing to the target audience.

For the code of technique, I researched into what colour schemes attract the greater audience. The results showed that black red and white were the preferred colours, as many other magazines use this combination and the audience like consistency within products. Therefore they are more likely to purchase a product that shows similar conventions of another, like colour, purely because they are used to it. Therefore I used these three colours throughout my front cover, contents page and double page spread. This was to keep a constant theme throughout the magazine. I made sure that bright colours would be used throughout the media product, so on the front cover the red is a dominating feature which stands out from the black and the white. This is the first part of the magazine the audience see, therefore it has to positive and good impact. On the contents page the red has become a subtle theme, being present on one one image and the numbers going down the left hand side of the page. This was done to show a more variety of colours within the images present on the page. Which is why the red was toned down so it didn't overpower the other images on the page. Finally, on the double page spread the three colours were brought back into full use. I designed them this way so that the reader would see a continuous theme throughout the magazine, which makes it easier for them to read.