2. My T.A:
My T.A is indie pop fans. My research revealed that this
consists of more men then women. My audience is
middle class teens and young adults. I also know that
my target audience tend to have either been through
higher education or are currently attending and those
who are employed (though there is a large percentage
of students in my T.A) tend to have good jobs and be a
of a decent social grade. I have appealed to my T.A in
various ways.
4. Front Cover
- Red colour scheme
- Price correlates to audience
- Action shot
- Exciting fonts
- Model who appeals to target audience
- Relevant costume
- Relevant gifts
- Relevant cover stories
- Language and register
5. Front Cover – Colour Scheme
Though I have a majority male audience, the divide between men and women is so
small that I don’t want to alienate my female audience by using gendered colours.
Whilst blue appeals to men and pink applies to women, red is not a gendered
colour. It would appeal to men and women. I made sure to avoid using washed out
reds that would look pink because that could put off my male audience.
The red would attract attention for teenagers and keep their attention because it is
a powerful colour (and younger people tend to have shorter attention spans)
without alienating an older target audience or bombarding them with subimages.
This way I could appeal to a range of ages.
Red is also a colour associated with rebellion because of its strong nature. This fits in
with the indie personality. Indie fans tend to have rebellious personalities.
6. Front Cover – Price
I knew that because my audience came from a middle class
background that I could get away with pricing my magazine a fair
amount as my T.A is not poor.
However, because of the high proportion of students in higher
education, I did not want to make my price too high as students
generally do not have too much money.
Taking into account my T.A consists of middle class young
adults/students, £2.50 is a fair price as it is affordable but not cheap.
7. Front Cover –Shot/Pose
The action shot on the front cover would appeal to men as they are
stereotyped to like action and excitement and this shot is very exciting.
It would also attract the attention of a younger audience (young adults
and teens) because they prefer over-excitement more than their older
peers. If you compare younger peoples magazines to those targeted at
older people, you can see the clear difference.
8. Front Cover –Shot/Pose
The pose also shows confidence. Her body is loose and relaxed which is what shows
off self-assurance. This appeals to the indie personality of which confidence is a
common trait. Her lacks of concern and wildness (shown by the way she’s tossing
her hair) portrays her rebelliousness which, again, is a trait in the indie personality.)
Having the model interact with props can show them as being very fun. This
combined with the excitement of the pose shows her as someone know knows how
to have fun. This links with the wildness of the indie personality.
Having her head slightly to the side and her eyes closed can also be associated with
someone deep in thought - someone intelligent. My T.A have either gone through
education or are in higher education so we can assume that they’re intelligent.
The model is very slightly facing one way or the other, this can be used to
emphasize attractiveness. This appeals to the heterosexual male audience.
9. Front Cover – Fonts
I used exciting non-standard fonts that I knew would appeal to a younger T.A. I
made sure not to overuse ‘unusual’ fonts because I didn’t want to completely
infantilise my audience and alienate the older portion of my readers. I did use
standards fonts in some places.
The fonts, especially the font for the text reading Platinum City, fit in with the
rebellious indie personality. I also outlined by fonts in black to make them look more
dynamic and so they’d stand out more. These factors combined fit in with a grunge
look that would appeal to an indie fan audience.
I can confirm that the font I used for my masthead is successful with my target
audience as a magazine with the same target audience as my own has a masthead
with a similar font. They’re both straight, professional
fonts.
10. Front Cover – Model
Leia was picked to go on the front cover because she appeals to an audience. She
appeals to the general audience because she has a friendly face.
The majority of the heterosexual male population are drawn to images of attractive
women and would be more likely to pick up a magazine with an attractive girl on
the front cover. Thus, I made sure that my models were attractive in my final
product.
My model is slightly younger than the average age as she is 17. This would appeal
to teenagers as they would see someone like them on the cover.
Leia looks like the average person. She’d appeal to a middle class audience as she
blends in with average people unlike uber made-up celebrities that you see on
some covers.
11. Front Cover – Costumes
The costume Leia wore was a plain black shirt and plain black jeans. This look
appeals to teenagers and young adults alike as this is the sort of outfit that young
people would wear regularly.
The clothes fit in with the indie personality as the black fits in with the non-
conformity element and the rebellious introverted look that’s common within the
genre.
These were both found in the Google
search for Indie fan which further
reinforces my point. My shirt did not
have anything on it because I had to
overlay text and that wouldn’t look
good with patterns or other text on
the shirt. However I kept the same
blackness that’s seen here.
12. Front Cover – Gifts
Initially, I was going to give away wristbands or posters as they were most popular
with survey takers, however, my one on one interview revealed that my T.A
preferred free song downloads and this seemed to be more popular in similar
magazines of the same genre. You can watch my one on one interview here:
If this doesn’t work then use this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDWzTH63HU0
13. Front Cover - Stories
When I wrote my coverlines I specifically chose bands that my survey
had told me were popular. This especially accounts for teenagers. The
fanbases of these groups also contain a high saturation of young adults.
Bands like The 1975 were universally recognised, thus running a story
on them would be worthwhile and my target audience would like that
sort of thing. Other notable mentions from my survey were Vampire
Weekend (who I included in my strip) and Twenty One Pilots who also
coverline.
14. Front Cover – Language
I made sure that I used these sort of power words to appeal to an
audience. I used the word ‘discover in my 21P headline and I also
referenced their personal lives. I used a direct mode of address with ‘your’
chance to win. I used New and I used Best when describing the best new
music. I also used Free to describe the downloads. I used Plus! when
referencing the competition to make it feel as if I were offering something
extra.
15. Contents Page
- Red colour scheme
- Price of subscription correlates to audience
- Poses
- Exciting fonts
- Relevant costumes
- Relevant stories
- Editors note
- Layout
16. Contents Page - Colours
Again, I chose red because it’s not a gendered colour like pink or blue and also
because it was such a powerful colour, because it can keep the attention of young
people without alienating an older T.A and because it’s a colour associated with
rebellion.
However, this time around, I ended up with some more washed out reds that looked
very pink. This is more feminine and not ideal for my mostly male T.A. To
accommodate for the lighter portions of the image, I added in yellows and oranges
so that there was a more full spectrum of colours to outweigh the pink.
The yellow is also a very powerful colour and would appeal to a young audience for
the same reason that the red would – it can attract and keep their attention.
17. Contents Page - Price
£25 a year is a fair price that is suited for my middle class audience. The way I
decided my price was that £2.50 x 12 (for each month of the year) which is £30 and
then I added a discount of £5. This appeals to my T.A as it consists of young middle
class people who are average financially and can therefore afford a decent priced
magazine but also appeals to students and those just starting their career (young
people) by offering a discount and giving them the chance to save money.
My price for the magazine is also relevant to the amount of content inside. My price
was £2.50 and my magazine has 79+ pages (not every page is accounted for in the
contents page) which is enough to warrant a price of £2.50.
18. Contents Page - Poses
I made sure that I embodied the indie personality here with the confidence in the
stance. Hands on hips shows confidence and dominance in one of the most obvious
and emphasized ways possible. Becky having her hands by her sides shows open
body language – she seems relaxed and casual – which portrays her as confident.
Eve has her hand below her chin, which makes her look more intelligent, as if she’s
thinking. This would appeal to my audience as they have mostly either completed
higher education or are attending higher education.
If the model is very slightly facing one way or the other, this can be used to
emphasize attractiveness. Their facial expressions mirror the invitational face that I
researched on my blog. This alluring expression and this pose appeal to the
heterosexual male audience. If the models head is tilted upwards, this is a pose of
superiority. It can also show defiance, portraying my model as quite rebellious,
which matches the indie personality.
19. Contents Page - Fonts
The font reading contents and the font reading features is the ‘Stale
Marker’ font. This is very grunge and matches an indie theme whilst
also appealing to a younger generation as it is non-standard and
exciting. Once again, I have not used too many non-standard fonts as I
did not want to alienate any older readers.
The contrast between the grunge Stale Marker font and the more
refined editors note font separates the page into sections more clearly,
making it more functional. This clear difference creates a sense of non-
conformity which appeals to the indie personality and appeals to my
target audience.
20. Contents Page - Costumes
The flannel would appeal to a middle/upper middle class audience
because it’s casual and they look like the average middle-class person.
It looks like the sort of outfit a teen or a young adult would wear on a
day to day basis, thus they’d be able to relate to what’s being shown.
The flannel also fits in with the indie personality as it is a staple of indie
fashion and would appeal to fans of the genre. It fits in with the
‘hipster’ stereotype that is most commonly associated with indie fans.
21. Contents Page - Stories
The bands chosen that are real are all tied in with
the indie genre, thus they would appeal to an indie
fan. I also included some made-up bands that
would represent new and upcoming groups that
are still under the radar and haven’t been
discovered yet. This would appeal to teens and
young adults who want to try something new.
22. Contents Page – Editors note
The addition of an editors note appeals to teens and young
adults because it adds a personal touch to the magazine
that is found in many young peoples magazines but not
found in older peoples magazines as frequently.
Also, because the language used is semi-informal, yet not
so informal that it would alienate an older audience, which
is best tied to that age group.
23. Contents Page - Layout
On this page, I separated things into sections.
This makes the page look more full and exciting
to appeal to a younger T.A. Wanting an exciting
layout made me make use of different shapes,
such as with the shape behind features and the
crossing rectangles at the top of the page.
25. Contents Page - Language
Throughout my magazine, I paid attention to
language and register. I used a direct mode of
address to talk to an audience directly and make it
seem more personal. This is especially effective with
teenagers who enjoy this personal feel. As your T.A
gets older, they expect a more formal magazine so I
monitored my use of language formality.
Whilst I was relatively chatty and informal, I made
sure that I never sounded like a kids magazine. To do
this, I avoided acronyms and immure slang – which
can be seen used in kids magazines. I also looked at
language and register on other magazines (different
and similar to my own) to see what appealed to
audiences.
26. Contents Page - Poses
These poses showcase the casual, relaxed
confidence of the indie personality and also
the rebellious nature. Their arms are all very
casual and are not across their bodies
which is open body language and look at
home.
I also wanted to maintain the alluring
invitational look. There is less of a smile
here but the alluring look is still capture in
the eyes. This, again, appeals to the
heterosexual male.
27. Contents Page - Props
The use of props was done to add a
sense of excitement, sweets raining
down from the sky, to an image that
could have potentially ended up bland.
This appeals to teens and young adults.
The use of an umbrella connects with
the average, middle class audience as
it’s a common household item that is
seen everyday and everyone owns.
28. Contents Page - Story
The article talks about how the girls formed
their band in secondary school, which is
relatable for young, teenage musicians
especially. Talking about their school experience
is relevant to those in education or recently out
and this appeals to teenagers and young adults
specifically.
My story also appeals to an audience as it
references them and the role they’ve had,
making them feel important and special.
29. Contents Page - Costumes
These dresses appeal to young people and I
know this because young people picked these
dresses to wear. They could be seen on any
young adult or teenager as they are young look
and fashionable dresses.
They could be worn by anyone in my T.A as
they are well within price range for a upper-
middle class or a middle class person – which
makes the girls more relatable.
30. How I know I appealed:
To make sure that I was really appealing to my target audience. I interviewed my cousin, a twenty year old man
who likes indie pop music, through the course of designing my drafts and asked for his opinion. He had no
complaints with any of my final products and it seemed to be a product he would buy.
31. How I know I appealed:
I also did a final focus group where a range of people told me they’d enjoy my magazine.
