Audience Research - WhatsApp

I used WhatsApp to communicate with some of my friends so I could conduct some audience research. I was able to talk to them easily. In contrast to the questionnaire only contained closed questions, I was able to use open questions. I was able to gather my friends' opinions more accurately which I wouldn't have been able to by using a questionnaire. By doing this, I was further able to understand the things my audience wanted and I was able to ask their opinions about things that I have already planned such as the colour scheme.

                                               

                                            

Questionnaire/Survey and Analysis

Font Research and Analysis

For my masthead, I wanted a font that was simple yet looked a bit a sketchy. There were many fonts that looked sketchy but they didn't look like they were drawn or sketched by hand. I wanted that effect to make I look more playful, fun and different rather than having the typical simple serif or san-serif font; I wanted to subvert this typical font style because I wanted my magazine to look unique and I got this inspiration from the KPOP magazine because they used block letters as their fonts which I used for my headline and many other texts on the contents page. As K-Pop magazine usually have a colour scheme which is present throughout the rest of the magazine many time, I also decided to make my masthead in a different colour rather than just black (which is quite typical of magazines) as it will stand out a lot more which will help attract attention. The star at the bottom of some of the fonts I explored was something I originally wanted to have, however with my final font, the way it was written/sketched, the star didn't fit it well, so I left it as an exclamation mark. The exclamation mark suits it much better as the connotation of "Omona!" is "oh my god/gosh" and by adding the exclamation mark, it makes it appear as if something big is happening or is going to happen. The relates to my headline on my front cover which states "The Return Of Queen MRC" (changed from "Queen MRC is BACK") which emphasises that it's a return of a very famous band/duo after a long time. 

Colour Scheme (Updated/Edited)

My first colour scheme

My first colour scheme was associated with 'blue'. I wanted to create a sort of melancholy effect for a mysterious and dark concept by using shades of blue such as tiffany blue and robin egg.  I wanted this because in K-Pop magazines, a concept or colour theme follows on through out the magazine. This scheme was my original scheme.The blue colour represents the concept of the album of my model's debut which I also plan to use for my front cover. 

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However, when I tried to reflect this through my double-spread page (DPS), the effect didn't come out as I wanted it to; no matter how many times I tried to change the hue and saturation of blue of the image, it didn't portray the melancholy effect that I had wanted. So, I had to change my colour scheme to something which would suit the rest of the magazine. The theme of orange along with white and black went extremely well with all my images for front cover, contents page and DPS. So I decided to use a mixture of the 'burnt orange' and 'tangerine' to make it look more colourful and bright so that it would look appealing to my audience.

Double Page Spread (DPS) Analysis - my genre 2

Double Page Spread (DPS) Analysis - my genre

Double Page Spread (DPS) Analysis 1 (different genre)

Main Task - Music Magazine - Planning

Music Magazine Planning

What is the genre of the music magazine?

The genre of my music magazine is K-Pop. I chose this genre because although it main consists of mainstream pop music of South Korea, it gives me a chance to explore the other sub-genres of this genre, allowing me be more creative with the style and concept of my music magazine. 

Who is the target audience? How old are they? Where do they live? What are their interests?

My target audience are mainly teenage females and males of the age of 15-19 (maybe more) that are interested in K-Pop. K-Pop fans reside world-wide, from Korea and Japan to UK and France to India and Africa; they are everywhere. Their interests are mainly music - K-Pop but also include things such as Korean fashion, language and culture. 

What is the name of your magazine? Why? Connotations?

I have decided on 3 names.

1) Whut's Poppin'? - I chose this because it's an slang term of asking 'what's going on?/what's up?' which is mainly used in America. In context to K-Pop, I chose it to connote 'What's the latest news/releases?'. It's also short/intro song by a K-Pop boy-band called B.A.P.

2) Spectrum - I chose this because a spectrum is a condition that is not limited to specific set of values but it can vary infinitely within a continuum (measurement). In scientific terms, it's also a range of characteristic series of electromagnetic radiation. The first connotation is that it doesn't limit fans to just one artist or sub-genre; there are many genres they can explore and listen to - fans are not restricted from anything. The second connotation is that it symbolises the 'magnetic' connection with the fans. Fans and their favourite type of music (most likely to be K-Pop) have a 'magnetic' connection of attraction. 

3) Omona! - I chose this because it's slight cute way of saying the English equivalent of 'Oh my gosh!'. Generally, it's 'Omo' but 'Omona' is expressed in a cute way. Sometimes it can also be used when it's a severe situation and people generally saying 'Omona'. It's also a famous line from world famous girl group Wonder Girl's song Tell Me.

For my final title of my magazine, I'm most likely to choose Omona! because it's a really common word in Korean and almost every fan has heard of it or even has used it. Although there's a slight confusion due to Spectrum.

What will be the focal image for your front cover and why?
My focal image will be of a girl-group consisting of 3 girls - either a full shot or a mid-long shot. It's to show that a new girl-group is debuting. The type of shots I've chosen are to put emphasis on their arrival into the K-Pop industry.

What photography will be required? Give details of shot type, angle and composition.
For my main image, it'll be either a long shot or a mid-long group shot at eye level. There will also be close ups and mid-shots that will be included on my contents page and double spread page. The angle's will vary between eye level, high angle and a mid-low angle.

What mise-en-scene will be required? Location? Clothing? Make Up? Lighting? Use of colour?
Location:
Front Image - the models will be standing in either a white room or black/dark grey room/setting depending on the colour of their costumes. The location will help reflect the meaning that is expressed through the colour of the costumes of my models.
Double-spread page - my model (portrayed as a solo artist) will either be in a dark room, that sort of looks vintage or just have a black/gray back-ground.
             
Clothing: My front cover models will be wearing dresses that slightly show their figure. The colour of the dresses is most likely to be either red or white, depicting seduction yet innocence. My double spread page model is most likely to be wearing a black dress which expresses the concept of a strong and fierce yet feminine look.

Make-up: The make-up is most likely to be normal make-up consisting of eye-liner (liquid and pencil), lip gloss or lipstick, and eye-shadow and the colour of the lipstick and eye-shadow will depend on the colour of the clothing to make everything match well together.

Lighting: For my front cover, it'll be slightly front lighting, showing everything in the frame. For my double spread, the lighting wouldn't show everything but just illuminate the model - resembling the low key chiaroscuro lighting. For other images, it will vary between back lighting, front lighting, natural ambient lighting and low key chiaroscuro lighting (maybe).

Colour: The colour scheme will mainly depend on the colour of the clothing because I want the colour to match together and blend in with each other. The colour scheme is mainly focused on three colours - red, white and black. However, this is subject to change depending on the colour of clothing and also maybe due to the location.

What would be your sell-lines? How will your entice your target audience?
My sell-line will mention latest releases, teasers of comebacks, reviews and giveaways/free poster or CD. I will entice them by the giveaways and also by talking about the more famous artists and comebacks of artists in that certain month.

What items and feature articles would you need on your contents page?
My feature articles will consist of interview, possibly the profile of the newly debuted group and achievements such as winning a grand award on a prestigious music awards. One of my feature articles would be reunion of the 5 TVXQ members.

What is the focus of your double spread page?
The focus of my double spread page in an interview with a solo artist (either a new artist or a comeback  - not decided yet) which is also one of the feature articles.

What photography will be required for the double spread page?
As mentioned above, the photography for the double spread page will either be a long shot or a mid-long shot at mostly likely eye level or mid-low angle. There's a possibility of a close up as well. 

Music Magazine Analysis - Video

Contents Page Analysis