How did you attract/address your audience?

Logo

First of all, to attract my audience, I created a logo that appealed to that specific demographic. By using graffiti font this would appeal to them and therefore attract them. If that wasn’t enough to attract them, I used a purple font that stands out from the rest of the entire magazine, so it would shout out at the reader.

Front pageAs for my front page, the biggest aspect of attracting audience on this is the main image. It is shown as the most important aspect of the page as it overlays the whole magazine logo, therefore outlaying to the reader that the story or article is important. This also shows readers that ‘Lockdown’ is a known magazine so it doesn’t have to show the whole logo or masthead for the reader to know what magazine it is. The main image also attracts the audience as the model is a good looking young man and is wearing clothes that suit the current trend among my demographic. As I wanted to focus on his clothes and emotion, I made sure the photography had a plain background so it could focus more on the model. The image in the bottom left corner also attracts my audience in a grime fashion. The photography is emphatic in this photo as it shows two figures almost hiding their identity in front of an urban setting, suggesting grime connotations. The typography is also very important in attracting my audience. Involving the main cover line in the same font as the logo helped the audience identify consistency through my magazine. This attracts the audience as both these fonts are graffiti which is a popular font among my demographic. Also, by using black and red fonts on the front attracts the average magazine buyers as this is a formality of various magazines in publishing at this moment in time.

Front pageAnother aspect I used to attract my audience was using a QR code allowing them to be directed to my blog once using it. Once on my blog, they would be addressed formally and be shown all of the work I have done so far. Using taglines was very important in my idea of attracting my demographic. ‘Lockdown the streets’ is a play on words which uses the name of the magazine and appeals to youths of today by almost challenging them. Challenging them to ‘Lockdown the streets’ acts as a challenge for them to buy the magazine and take part in doing so. The other tagline I used was ‘the UK’s no.1 music magazine’. A lot of magazines nowadays use a tagline like this as it would sub-consciously attract readers as they believe it is the best magazine they could possibly purchase. Buzzwords were equally important. These attract the viewer’s attention as they offer free stuff or main attractions of the issue. I used two of these like the taglines. One was accompanied by a poster that read ‘free poster’, attracting people as they are offered free stuff. The buzz word went against my colour scheme and instead used the colours in the ‘free poster’. This shows consistency and then my poster wouldn’t look out of place. The other buzz word I used was ‘top 100 artists voted by you’. This attracts the audience as it seems like the person reading it has had an input in the magazine, therefore using it as a hook to attract them. This addresses the audience directly by acting as if they are talking to the public directly.

Front pageThe skyline I used on the left of the page attracts my audience as it shows popular artists that will be involved in the magazine. This addressed my demographic directly as all of these artists appeal to a younger audience. Also, appealing to a younger audience as well as a formal audience is the website I used in front of the barcode. This allows the audience that has easy access to the internet to see the website of the magazine. Using cover lines other than the main one was crucial too. Using a plus sign would attract attention, then using short, snappy sentences to explain the stories that will be inside.

ContentsI believe the most important factor of attracting my audience on my contents page is the layout I used. This addresses the audience formally and allows them to be easily directed to the page they want. It attracts the audience by using a lot of photos and various colours; this is proven to attract my audience. Using a variation of shots and numbers of people in the shots shows diversity and will interest the readers. Furthermore, using different articles such as merchandise and featured articles also shows diversity and will attract every reader. Also, I believe that my colour scheme was a key aspect in attracting my audience. As shown on the right, the contents page is not busy like the front cover, therefore, there is no need for as much colour. Excluding the pictures, there are only 3 colours used – and this is to show formality. By using a website next to the page number would involve my demographic through new media, so, attracting their interest. As well as the layout, the involvement of two larger images than the others stands out and attracts my audience. As they are bigger than the other photo’s, it shows they are more important and it is more what the reader would want to look at first. This is why these to articles are top on the right hand side.

ContentsAnother important factor of my contents page is the text used. This font is also used on the front cover of the magazine, therefore proving consistency. The font is easy to read and stands out by the two different colours I have used for it. Using headings (such as featured article) on the articles details would help too as I am addressing the audience that specifically want to see that article. By using the website of the magazine next to the page number is also effective in attracting my demographic. A younger audience would be the audience most likely to use the internet, therefore, including a website (like the QR code on the front cover) would attract them. As a lot of magazine buyers purchase magazines for the images involved, I have decided to insert the page number of the articles on the right to the corresponding picture on the left. This would appeal to the demographic that buy magazines for the imagery used.

Double pageIn my opinion, the most important aspect of my article for attracting or addressing my demographic is the main image. Even though most of it is in black and white it stands extremely bold and covers the whole of what would be one page. This image provides an insight into the character and the body language contradicts that this is an article explaining about the artist as he is conventionally concealed. Using graffiti font in the masthead is really effective in attracting my younger demographic. I made sure it linked in with a unique colour scheme (compared to the magazine) so it would stand out, and in this case it links very nicely with the colour in the image. The other form of typography I used was important too. I needed font that was formal, yet bold at the same time and I found one that perfectly fit that description. The font was called ‘impact’ and I used it for the main article text.

After attracting my audience, I had to address them. Firstly, I used a letter larger than all the other characters in the article to start the text. Also, I used an introductory paragraph and in this it explains what is going to happen in the interview and how the interviewer confronts the interviewee. It shows an introduction to the character ‘Squashie’. “a figure walked in, in baggy jeans, air maxes and a Ralph Lauren hoodie”. This straight away gives the readers something to imagine.

Double pageWhen starting the interview, the article shows speech marks. This is to indicate to the audience that this is the interviewee speaking. Also, as you can see, it starts with a rhetorical question, implying that the interviewer had asked a related question. Following this followed “ha-ha” which acts as a sort of sarcastic laugh. A lot of the left column addresses the audience sympathetically, implying that the artist knows what it is like to live in the rough parts of England today. It carries on to be inspirational, offering advice to people who want to take the same career choice and gives them tips on how to do so. The end of the first column involves a final sentence that acts as a summary. It links back to the title of the article, therefore it has been colour coded to show the importance and relevance of the sentence. “This in as many words is Squashie, my life” almost indicates that the whole of the column is a summary of the struggle this artist has over come.

The second column is completely different to the first, in the form that the first column is very open, whereas the second column occupies the picture as very conserved and unrevealing. Squashie asks his fans to keep patient, therefore insisting that there will be a lot to come in the future, this will interest readers. The last bit of text of the article explains the interviewers experience of interviewing the star. As any fan would be, it shows that he is overwhelmed to be talking to a star. The second column ends on a cliff-hanger, very different to the first, this creates interest.

As I identified my audience would be a younger generation, I decided to use social networking to promote my product. Below shows a picture from the picture sharing application ‘Instagram’. It shows the feedback I received when posting my products. Within 24 hours of uploading my contents page, it achieved 44 likes from other Instagram users. Using hash tags on these photos were extremely important when attracting the audience. A lot of new media now use hash tags to allow their audience to comment on their products. For example, new TV shows use hash tags, and then allow them to comment about the show on twitter. I did this too.

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