Research into target audiences - vibe magazine

Vibe Magazine:

Vibe magazine considers itself to be the central hip-hop magazine. The specific target audience for Vibe is for 18-34 years olds interested in topics such as hip-hop, lifestyle, celebrities and entertainment. The magazine was founded by Quincy Jones and launched in 1993 and in 2007 it reportedly had a circulation of 800,000.

This will help me planning my magazine because I know have a clear idea of who I need to target and this information would enable me to include features and articles which catch their interest.

Photo planning for main task

Photos: I am going to have a picture of Josh Watson as my main front cover picture, I will also have pictures of David Haslegrave, Ryan Howlett and Sam Stockbridge in my magazine as smaller pictures associated with certain articles in my magazine.

Dates: I will take my pictures during the last 2 weeks of the school term ready to be put straight into my final magazine.

Location: I will be taking my pictures in areas of the school and also at a local park; I feel this will be suitable because in these places there is scenery which could be associated with my grime genre. This will help to appeal to my target audience.

Equipment: I am going to need a handheld camera with a tripod so I can make my pictures as professional as possible.

Props: I will be putting my people being photographed in types of costumes which relate to my target audience; for e.g. hoodies, flat caps, jeans and joggers. This will make my photos seem more realistic and in touch with the grime genre and most importantly appeal to my target audience.

Shot types: I will mainly be doing low angle shots of the people being photographed because this shows that they are dominant and this is a typical trait of a grime musician. I will also be doing some long shots to show off what they are wearing which would gain maximum appeal to my target audience. I will also be doing close ups of the people being photographed because this will be able to show off their facial expressions; and I am aiming for the facial expressions to be ones which are typical of a grime musician, for e.g. a cocking grin or dominant stare. All of the above shot types and angles will successfully relate to my genre and appeal to my target audience.

Draft contents for my music magazine

Front cover: -

Masthead: My title ‘Grime Time’

Cover line 1: Josh Watson reveals all about his new album

Cover line 2: Skepta and his crib

Cover line 3: Who won what? Mobo time!

Cover line 4: Chipmunk exclusive

Pug: Win free Chipmunk gig tickets! Check out page 22

I have used articles like this because I believe they relate well to my grime genre and would successfully appeal to my target audience. And as they are on the front cover they will be the first things the potential reader looks at, and because the articles chosen will relate to the potential reader the readership of my magazine can only increase.

Contents page: -

Headline: Contents

Pull quote: JME “I just wanna be me”

Article details 1: Skepta gig review pg.32

Article details 2: BBK no more pg. 17

Article details 3: Up and coming grimers pg. 45

Article details 4: Whatever happened to rap? Pg. 60

Article details 5: Andre Marsh the real story pg. 12

Article details 6: Me and my life Wiley pg. 53

Article details 7: Chipmunk’s secret hobbies pg. 58

Offer on subscribing to magazine: Subscribe to Grime Time NOW to receive your free Chipmunk album! To subscribe check the website www. Grimetime.co.uk. Don’t miss out.

On my contents page I have also put articles relating to my grime genre, this will have the same effect as on my front cover; appealing to my target audience. The subscription offer will also be very effective as it can only increase the readership of my magazine.

Double Page Spread: -

Main headline of page: Josh Watson EXCLUSIVE

Quote from Josh Watson: “Believe achieve know what I’m saying”

Fact file: Josh Watson “Grime star”

Born 19/11/93    Age entered the game: 14   Age of first recorded song: 15

Biggest hit: ‘My angel’      Last recorded album: I am JW    Grime rankings: 1

Main text article:

Q. So JW how has the last year been for you?

“It’s been rare, best yet and I’m hoping it’s going to be even better next year!”

Q. So what are your plans for next year?

“Well blud I’ve got the album out mid March and then going to work on some tings with my cuz Andre Marsh.”

Q.  What actually went down with BBK?

“We had a disagreement, and I thought this isn’t even worth it I’m going solo and it aint gone that bad to be fair.”

Q. Where do you get your inspiration from for your songs?

“My inspiration... My life, my childhood and anything I come across really, it just comes to me.”

Q. What do you think of rising grime star Pete L?

“He has got bare skills, but still got a long way to before he gets up to where I am you get me?”

Q. What you get up too apart from griming?

“Well the answer to that is ... nothing, Griming is what I do”

Q. How’s the personal life?

“I’m with Harli init. Things are proper good with us at the moment”

Q. How do you feel about getting your MOBO award?

“Feels great init, quality to be recognised as the world’s greatest.”

Q. What are the chances of your little brother following in your footsteps?

“Well he got style, but he aint got his big bro’s rhythm you get me?”

It’s been a pleasure JW good luck with the next year

“No problem man, Cheers this one is going to be rareeee you get me!”

I have decided to do an interview in my double page spread because this was the most sought after feature in a magazine according to my questionnaire results. I have used language associated with the grime genre so the interview will successfully appeal to my target audience; for e.g. words like “init”, “rare” and “Griming” all appeal to a certain type of people; my target audience.

Double Page spread drafts/explanations

Double page spread draft 1:

Double Page spread draft 2:

Double page spread draft 3:

Double page spread draft explanations:

Draft: - 1

Main picture: This is a picture of ‘Skepta’, this is to advertise the article on the left, and its aim is to make the article more appealing to my specific target audience.

Pull Quote: This is too give the reader a bit of a taste of the main article, which will ultimately make the article more appealing. It is written in an elephant font to catch the reader’s eye, this is achieved because elephant is a quite bold and large font.

Main headline: The headline is written in a wide Latin font to give it more emphasis and make it stand out on the page. The possible headline could be ‘Skepta exclusive’.

Main article text: This will be in a Rockwell font because this is a suitable font to fit in with my grime genre.

Draft: - 2

Main picture: This is a picture of ‘Chipmunk’; this successfully introduces the entire double page spread well and would catch the reader’s eye easily.

Fact file: This will give the reader an insight into Chipmunk’s life, it will give the reader a sense of familiarity with him. The font for this will be Calibri because I felt this section in my double page spread just required a normal font which will display the information efficiently.

Main headline: This will be a title which will introduce the article well; it could possibly be ‘Chipmunk exclusive’. It will be written in a wide Latin font so it stands out on the page and catches the reader’s eye.

Main text: This will be the interview with ‘Chipmunk’, it will be written in a ‘Palatino’ font because I felt this is a suitable font to represent my genre. The questions asked will be written in bold and the answers Chipmunk gives will be written in a non-bold font.

The quote: This will be written in a ‘Stencil’ font because this font stands out on a page, I feel this font is suitable because the quote is quite important as it builds up a sense of familiarity with Chipmunk by the reader.

Draft: - 3

Main picture: This is a picture of Chipmunk, it helps to introduce the article and is quite unique as conventionally the main picture is on the right hand side and the text on the left; I have done this to emphasise the fact that the grime genre is in fact an unconventional type of music.

Main headline: This is written in a wide Latin font because this font stands out on a page and is quite large, this will have the effect of catching the reader’s eye and making the entire double page spread more appealing.

Main text: This will be the interview of Chipmunk, it will be written in a Franklin gothic medium font, I have chosen this font because I believe it stands out on the page and would successfully draw the reader’s eye to the text.

Fact file: This is written in a Calibri font because I do not feel the fact file to be the most important thing on the page; this is why it is not written in a bold or large font. The fact file will have the effect of familiarising the audience with Chipmunk and ultimately making the article more appealing.

Contents page drafts/explanations

Contents draft 1:

Contents draft 2:

Contents draft 3:

Contents draft explanations:

Draft: - 1  

Pictures 1: These pictures will possibly show insights into the magazines articles and entice the reader to read on into my magazine.

Various cover lines: These show some featured articles in the magazine and generally have the same effect as what the pictures do. These are in a bold times new roman font to emphasise them and give them maximum appeal.

Headline:  It is at a canted angle to catch the reader’s eye. It does this by being so unconventional and unique. It is in a wide Latin font to catch the reader’s eye.

Background: I have put the background as yellow because it goes with the colour scheme used in my front cover and also has associations with my genre; grime.

Draft: - 2

Main picture: This picture is used to promote the main article, the picture would draw the reader’s eye and the bold text will also do the same.

Less important articles: These articles will be written in smaller font because they are less important, they are also put in the smaller box because they are not meant to be emphasised. These are in the times new roman font because they aren’t as important, but this font will still give them some advertisement, it could also help to emphasise my main articles.

Main important articles: These are written in the larger font because they are supposed to be emphasised, they are also placed in the larger box because I want them to attract the reader’s eye more. It is in a ‘stencil’ font because this is an impact font which would successfully advertise my main articles efficiently.

Information on subscribing to magazine: This is used to increase profits; this is placed in the dead area so it will be the last thing the reader sees and therefore they are more likely to remember it.  it is in a ‘Ravie’ font because it is a unique font and would catch the reader’s eye successfully, this is important because it is trying to get my readers to subscribe to my magazine which would ultimately increase readership.

Draft: - 3

Main headline: This is written horizontally down the page and separated into separate boxes and each box either has the colour yellow or black, this style of main headline is very unique and will help me in my aim to make it appeal to my specific target audience,. I have used the colours yellow and black because they both have associations with my genre and will therefore appeal to my target audience. The title is written in wide Latin because this font stands out on a page and this is the effect I am looking for with my headline.

Articles: These are written over a black background in white font to make them stand out on the page, they are also written in a stencil font because that font is quite bold and will emphasise them more.

Pictures: These are situated next to my article page numbers; they will help to introduce and advertise my articles well which will ultimately make them appeal more.

Main picture: This is at the bottom of the page and will help to introduce a special feature in my magazine on ‘Boy Better Know’. It is also situated in the terminal area which will give the effect of sticking in the readers more and therefore make it appeal more.

Cover line: This advertises the ‘Boy Better Know’ feature in the magazine, it is written in a times new roman font because I believe this stands out well over the ‘Boy Better Know’ picture.

Front Cover Draft Ideas/explanations

Draft Idea 1:

Draft Idea 2:

Draft Idea 3:

Front cover draft explanations:

Draft 1:-

Cover line 1: This part of the front cover will be dedicated to advertising and promoting the double page spread in the magazine. By possibly giving pull quotes. This is in the ‘Elephant’ font because it is advertising my main article and this font successfully gives it as much advertisement as possible.

Cover line 2: This box will include a cover line using this font Bauhaus 93, this font is very eye catching and would help to draw the audience to my magazine. It will also include a small picture which introduces the feature.

Cover line 3: This will include information on additional articles my magazine has to offer. This is in Times new Roman because I want to clearly show what my cover lines are and this font successfully shows them in a simplistic way.

Pug: This area of the front cover could possibly include an incentive to the read the magazine, for e.g. competition or a poster offer. This is Bauhaus 93 because this is an eye catching font and would successfully draw a potential reader in.

Large picture: The whole page will follow the conventions of a music magazine and will have a large picture covering the whole page. It also advertises some of the main articles in the magazine.

Masthead: The masthead will be placed in the top left hand corner of my magazine to make it more eye catching and to make it differ from the normal convention of it stretching across the whole of the top of the page. It is in a wide Latin font because this helps to catch the reader’s eye.

Draft 2:-

Masthead: I have used an orange colour for my masthead in this draft because even though it doesn’t fit in with the grime genre specifically I believe it is very effective in catching the reader’s eye. I have also put some little circles adjacent to my masthead which I feel can only help in drawing in my target audience. The font is ‘Constantia’ because this font successfully catches the reader’s eye.

Cover line 1: This advertises the main article about JME; it would possibly include a pull quote from his interview and the page numbers on which the interview is. This in the font stencil because this cover line is trying to advertise my main article and this font helps to catch the readers eye and possibly entice them into reading my magazine because of the main article.

Main picture: This really is a tool to try and draw the readers in; it also helps to advertise the main article more and possibly increase the appeal of it. The pose of ‘JME’ in the picture could also appeal to my specific target audience because the way he dresses and the ‘swagger’ is something typical of someone interested in that type of music.

Cover line 2: These cover lines will list the less important articles, but also give them good advertisement because they are placed along the route of the eye.  This is put in a Times new Roman font because these cover lines aren’t that important but I still believe this font helps to advertise my articles well.

Pug: This will include a competition offer or possibly an extra incentive to read the magazine. it is in the font ‘Bauhaus 93’ because the pug is offering reasons on why to read my magazine and I believe the font successfully maximises the importance of this pug.

Draft 3:-

Main picture: This is a picture of Wiley, this helps to advertise the main article and also catch the reader’s eye. The pose he is taking could also appeal to my specific target audience as this type of pose is typical of someone who is interested in or sings grime music.

Main headline: This is my magazine title ‘Grime Time’ with ‘Original’ written underneath it; the ‘Original’ word helps to emphasise how different the grime genre is to different music genres. The whole main headline is written in Wide Latin because this font is large and bold and would stand out on my front cover. The text ‘Grime time’ is written in an orange colour because this stands out on the page and clearly shows this is the title of my magazine.

Cover line 1: This is advertising the main article with Wiley, it is written in an ‘Elephant’ font, this is to catch the reader’s eye and ultimately make the article more appealing.

Cover line 2: This will show some of the other articles inside my magazine, this is written in an Arial black font because it stands out but also doesn’t over shadow my cover line 1.

Cover line 3: In this cover line there could be text like ‘Special awards edition’, this will help to give my magazine uniqueness to other magazines and make it more appealing. It will be written in a Stencil font because this will stand out on the page and draw the reader’s attention.

Magazine Draft Ideas

Title Ideas:-

Grime time

Grime UK

Grime Weekly

Grime station

Holla

Old skool

I asked 10 people to decide which title would be the most suitable:

Grime Time	||||  ||	7
Grime UK
Grime Weekly
Grime Station
Holla	|	1
Old Skool	||	2

The clear favourite was Grime Time and this is now the most probable title name I will use. I believe this title with have the effect of being quite simplistic and successfully introducing the magazine well. I also believe this title will be one which will be easily remembered and therefore it would make my magazine more popular.

Font style:-

Masthead: - The font for the masthead should be one which catches the reader’s eye and draws them towards the magazine.

1. MastHead    2.MASTHEAD 3.Masthead 4.MASTHEAD

5. Masthead 6.MASTHEAD

These are a few ideas which I believe will successfully catch the readers eye and my masthead font will most likely be chosen from this set of fonts.

I asked 10 people to decide which font would be most suitable:

‘1’	|	1
‘2’	|||| ||	7
‘3’
‘4’
‘5’
‘6’	||	2

The favourite was number 2 and therefore this font will be the most likely one I will use. I believe this will be a good font because it is quite unique

Cover line text:-

Cover line fonts should catch the reader’s eye and successfully advertise a certain article or feature within the magazine.

1. Cover line   2.COVER LINE   3.COVERLINE   4.COVER LINE   5.COVER LINE 6. COVER LINE

I asked 10 people which font they thought was most suitable to achieve the aim of a cover line:

‘1’	|	1
‘2’
‘3’
‘4’	||	2
‘5’	|||| ||	7
‘6’

The most popular choice was ‘5’; this therefore will probably be the cover line font I will use in my magazine. This font will give the effect of grabbing the reader’s eye as it is quite bold and would stand out on a shelf. I believe some of the other fonts would achieve this effect but this is the font most popular with my target audience.

Font Colour:-

Masthead colour:-

1.       GRIME TIME   2. GRIME TIME 3. GRIME TIME 4. GRIME TIME 5. GRIME TIME 6. GRIME TIME

I asked 10 people which font colour they would prefer for the masthead and the results were as follows:

‘1’	||	2
‘2’	|||||	6
‘3’
‘4’
‘5’
‘6’	||	2

 The most popular choice was number 2. This colour is probably the best choice because it is slightly gold and this colour has associations with the grime genre. So therefore this colour will make my magazine more recognizable and also gold is quite eye catching so it will have this effect too.

Cover line colour:-

1.       Cover line 2. Cover line 3. Cover line 4. Cover line 5. Cover line 6. Cover line

I asked 10 people which one they would prefer and the results are as follows:

‘1’
‘2’
‘3’
‘4’	|||| ||	7
‘5’	|	1
‘6’	||	2

The most popular choicer was red. This is most likely because it has associations with the grime genre. It also catches the reader’s eye well which is why I believe it will be a good choice for my cover line font.

Colour scheme for front cover:

As I have shown above I have already contemplated the font colours for the masthead and the cover line’s. I have also decided to have a picture covering the whole page which follows the conventions of a normal music magazine.

                                            Masthead = Orange

                                            Cover line = Red

                                            Background = Filled with a picture

Colour scheme for contents page and double page spread:

I will attempt to keep the same colour scheme throughout my magazine to maintain continuity and a sense of familiarity throughout the magazine.

Summary of questionnaire results

My questionnaire was filled out by 10 people aged 16-17, of this sample 6 were male and 4 were female and they were all in education studying A-Levels. I asked in my questionnaire how often the participants read a music magazine, of the sample 6 of them read a music magazine weekly whilst 4 of them read one monthly; this gives me the information that it would be better to publish my magazine weekly as this is more popular with most of my participants. I also asked the question, what interests do my participants have, the majority came back with answers such as sport and music itself; this gives me the idea to somehow relate sport back to music as this will increase the popularity of my magazine. I also asked the participants what they would want to find in their ideal magazine, this was to get a picture of what features people want in music magazines in general, answers for this were mainly interviews and reviews of artists. My next question was what the participants would expect to find in a grime magazine in particular, answers for this led on from the previous answers but tended to focus on grime artists in particular, for example one of the answers was “an interview with an upcoming grime artist. I then asked the question whether I should use interviews or reviews of grime acts; this is to get an idea of what I should use for my double page spread, the majority of the participants wanted interviews in the magazine. my penultimate question was what sort of articles would you like to see in my magazine, again the answers for this were mainly reviews or interviews; this definitely tells me that one of these two should be the feature for my double page spread because they seem to be the main two things in a magazine which the audience are interested in. My final question is whether the participants would prefer my magazine to be published weekly or monthly; the majority answer was weekly and so this gives me a clear idea of when I should release my magazine.

The results gained from my questionnaire will help me extremely in deciding what sort of things to include in my magazine. I feel the 16-17 year olds who took my magazine were the correct people to take it because they are included in the target audience I wish to target. From the answers from this questionnaire I will definitely be using either an interview or a review because these were the most popular answers given by my participants. As a result of this questionnaire I have also decided to publish my magazine weekly because this seems to be the most popular answer with the participants. Overall I believe the results gained from my questionnaire will help me hugely in attracting my specific target audience which is youngsters aged between 14-25 interested in grime music and other related music genres.