Initial Conclusions

After collating my results from my research, both questionnaire and focus group I was able to come to some initial conclusions as to what I need to include in creating a successful product. My research has helped me to come to some general conclusions as to what would attract the audience on the front cover, and the content that should be included inside the final product.

I found from both focus group ideas and questionnaire results that my target audience regularly read weekly gossip magazines, which allowed me to gain a huge pointer as to the layout of the magazine that will attract the reader and also the general content and language that I should use in my final product. This also helped me to decide the title of my magazine, as I found that 'inside' would be a relevant title as it is similar to the titles given to some of the countries most popular weekly gossip magazines. I feel that similarities will attract the reader.

I also found from both parts of my research that my target audience would not be attracted to read a school magazine based solely on school life, as this has previously been produced in this particular school and has proved to be quite unsuccessful. In conclusion to my general research that I carried out before creating my final product, I was pleased with the feedback that I received as it gave me pointers as to what content and what style to base my magazine on so that it caters for my target audiences needs.

Focus Group

Below is a small profile of three people that i have chosen to be in the focus group of my research into creating a school magazine. By conducting a focus group it will help me evaluate the composition and needs of my target audience, thereby enabling me to develop program objectives and a plan for there realization. I decided to ask all my participants in my focus group a question of which I felt was a key aspect in my questionnaire.

The first participant involved in my focus group is Olivia Gould. Olivia attends St. Thomas More Sixth form where she studies A Levels in French, Biology, Religious studies and physical education. Her main interests are in a variety of sports, shopping and socializing with her friends. 

'What would appeal most to you when reading a Sixth form magazine? 

School life/Social activities/Upcoming events'

" I feel that to create a successful school magazine which is going to involve the whole of a sixth form community it would be best to include social activities and upcoming events, as this is what people our age are interested in. I believe perhaps one page of the magazine could be left at the back dedicated to school life if any parents were interested in reading the magazine as well. As therefore it will cater for many different people. However I do feel the main focus should be on social activities and upcoming events as this will attract people to read the magazine, so that they don't feel they are missing out on any events etc. I look forward to seeing the outcome of the magazine."

The second participant involved in my focus group is Chloe Head. Chloe is currently at Southend East Essex College studying a beauty therapy course, which is what she plans to make a career out of. Chloe's main interests are horse-riding, going to the gym, shopping and traveling. 

'What would appeal most to you when reading a college/sixth form magazine?

School life/Social activities/upcoming events'

"I feel that in a college magazine it would be most appealing to feature social activities, as as the college caters for such a wide range of courses/subjects and students it would be hard to generalize college life and also upcoming events, as Southend East Essex College is such a large building there would be too many events/notices to cater for in one magazine. I also feel that social activities would  be most successful in the college as it is a very social place and the college are always looking for times to include everyone in social activities"

          

The next participant involved in my focus group is Alix Steggles. Alix is currently a Sixth Form student studying Chemistry, Maths, Psychology and Biology. Her main interests at the moment are learning to drive, shopping, running and attending her Sixth Form. 

'What would appeal most to you when reading a Sixth form magazine? 

School life/Social activities/upcoming events'

"In my opinion I would be more interested in reading a magazine combining social activities and upcoming events. My current school magazine is based on school life and that does not appeal to me at all, I don't even bother to read it anymore. I feel that by combining social activities and upcoming events it will attract more people as it is more useful for people to read, and a lot more enjoyable"

Questionnaire Results

After carrying out part of my research via a questionnaire, I came to a variety of conclusions that will help me in carrying out the task of creating a Sixth Form magazine. I collated the results so that I could come to some sort of generalized conclusion of what information needed to be taken on board when creating my magazine, so that it caters for the needs of the correct target audience.

One of the key results I found was that nearly 100% of the participants that carried out the questionnaire stated that they would not read the magazine if it was solely based on school life. Therefore this gave me great help when planning the information that would be held in the magazine, as obviously the audience I am targeting the magazine at will not find a school based magazine very appealing. I also found when collating my results that the audience all read similar styles of magazines, the most popular were weekly gossip magazines, therefore to cater for al the readers tastes I decided to include articles on fashion etc.  Another question that I asked in my questionnaire which came out with the same frequent answer was 'What would appeal to you  most in reading a Sixth Form magazine?' 'School life/Social activities/Upcoming events'. Again almost 100% of the participants answered Upcoming events. This inspired me to have some sort of ongoing diary running through each issue of the magazine, keep the audience up to date with relevant events that may be occurring.  Again another key question I felt was relevant to ask the participants was 'Who would you most like to see on the front cover of the magazine?', 'Students/Celebrities/Teachers' - every participant answered that they would most prefer to see students on the front cover of the magazine, this lead me to select a group of students and photograph them in what I feel is an appealing way, so that it catches the readers eye. For the price of the magazine I came to the conclusion that most participants were willing to pay £1 for the magazine, which I feel is a reasonable price. In my questionnaire I was disappointed with the result I received for suggestions for the title of the magazine, as I did not receive much feedback from the audience, therefore I came to a summery myself that I would title the magazine something that would fit in well with the titles of weekly gossip magazines, as I found that these were most popular with the target audience. Finally in my questionnaire I asked the participants if they had any other suggestions as to what the magazine should feature, I found that a frequent answer that kept occurring was UCAS tips, therefore I made a point of including this in my magazine as it seemed to be extremely popular.

In conclusion for my collated results of my questionnaire, I received lots of useful feedback that helped me when creating my magazine, my results gave me lots of pointers as to what features of the magazine would appeal to my target audience for example types of articles, photographs and the general content of the magazine. 

Sixth form Questionnaire

I chose to construct a questionnaire for my target audience, so that through peoples responses I could gain an insight as to what Sixth form students are looking for in a school magazine. It is important that the magazine meets the needs of Sixth form students as I aim to create a successful and enjoyable magazine, for the students to look forward to reading each week/month. Therefore by creating this questionnaire, the feedback I will receive will hopefully leave me with strong guidelines as to what my target audience are looking for in their ideal school magazine.

1) What are your main interests/hobbies?

I chose to ask the participants this question as it will hopefully give me an insight as to what students in general at Sixth form enjoy doing. My aim is to spot a link between peoples interests and hobbies, and therefore come up with a solution to cater for everyones interests inside the magazine.

2) What magazines do you read on a weekly/monthly basis?

I asked this question so that I can hopefully spot a trend between what my target audience read in regards to magazines, and again I hope to be able to spot a trend in what magazines the participants read. So that I can then decide on the most popular magazine from my questionnaire results and research into that magazine and what it covers, and hopefully I will be able to process similarities through my own magazine.

3) Would you read the magazine if it was strictly based on school life?

I felt that this was a key question to ask in my questionnaire as from general knowledge and discussion I have discovered that students are not particularly interested in reading school magazines that are solely based on school life. Therefore I wanted to be certain that this was the case with my target audience.

4) What is most important to you as a consumer?

Price/Content/Images/Layout

Again I felt this was a key question to ask the participants as I would like to be able to generalize from my results what is most important to students our age in a magazine, so that therefore I can make sure my magazine caters for what the students are looking for. Whether it be price, content, images or layout.

5) What would appeal to you most in reading a Sixth form magazine?

School life/ Social activities/upcoming events

I asked this particular question to help me with what to include in my magazine, that will cater for my target audiences needs. Depending on the results I may include small bits on all three of these options in my magazine. However if one is particularly popular with the participants I will focus more on that aspect of the magazine.

6) Would you like the magazine to include general notices that relate to you for example University open days?

Again this question is to help me with what to feature in my magazine. For some students this will be a useful feature of the magazines, however for some this may not be something they are particularly looking to see in their school magazine. I hope that from my results I can come to a decision as to whether this will be a useful feature or not.

7) Who would you most like to see on the front cover of the magazine?

Students/Celebrities/Teachers/Other...................................

This is a key question to my research. As the person that I feature on the front cover of my magazine is a key decision for myself to make. As the person/people that are shown on the front cover play a big part in the advertisement of the magazine, and also catching peoples eye as to whether they decide to buy it or not.

8) What do you feel is a suitable price for the magazine?

£0.50/£1/£1.50

This question is to simply give me a general idea as to what people are willing to pay for the magazine.

9) Do you have any suggestions for the title of the magazine?

This question is enabling the participant to play a part in this Sixth form magazine. Giving me an insight as to what sort of names students feel would be suitable for the school magazine.

10) Do you have any suggestions towards what the magazine should feature?

This question again is enabling the participant to put any suggestions forward that they feel would be suitable in making this school magazine a successful one.

Audience Profile

For my preliminary task I intend to create a magazine aimed at female students currently at Sixth Form between the ages of 16 years - 18 years. Before carrying out my questionnaire research my assumption was the most teenage girls are interested mainly in reading about fashion, gossip, celebrities and social events rather than reading about education/school life. After carrying out my questionnaire research I found that what I stated was true and this also gained me to have more of an insight as to what to include in my magazine. Therefore I aimed to include aspects of fashion and social activities/ events in my magazine. However I was also careful not to just generalize these ideas, and kept in mind that there would be a wide range of tastes and interests that I would need for cater for. Therefore I decided that I would take into account that everyone is different and aim to cater for a wide range of different tastes/interests in my Sixth Form magazine, so that it is appealing to a wide range of teenage readers. 

Mood board for preliminary task

Here I have created a mood board linked to topics and activities I feel would appeal to my target audience for my sixth form magazine.  From my research I have found that students would  be more interested in reading a magazine covering more social and entertaining topics, rather than an academic based magazine. 

From my research I have picked at the most repeated ideas of what sixth form girls enjoy, and then added them to my mood board. For example a large amount of my mood board is covering the aspect of girls enjoying fashion, shopping and make-up. As  this was the most frequently repeated in my research, therefore key to include in my own sixth form magazine. This again links to the socializing aspect that sixth form girls would be more interested in reading, for example many suggested how they enjoy going to places like Starbucks to socialize and relax with their friends.

I have also included symbols like a calendar, a memo board and a prefect badge. I have included these in my mood board as also through my research I feel it would be a good idea, to set specific pages for notices and upcoming events that would appeal to my target audience. This could be a major attraction to the audience as it will be like their very own social calendar whilst at the same time including academic fixtures that need to be attended.

As you can also see on my mood board I have included a drivers learner plate, as in sixth form driving is one of the main things out of school life that students are working towards. I felt that perhaps in my magazine I could include a tips page that other students could give to each other, and also to congratulate the people that have passed there driving tests etc. There fore giving the readers of the magazines a chance to interact with each other.

Overall my mood board represents what I feel will interest and be most enjoyable for my target audience to read. I do not want to create another magazine that will straight away be glanced at and never seen again. I aim to achieve a  magazine that students will look forward to reading each week/month and also to create a way for students to interact with everyone else in the sixth form as a whole.

School Magazine Textual Analysis

DAVE is a magazine for Southend East Essex College packed with features, interviews, reviews and the magazine is completely free. With an estimated readership of 15,000, distribution across Southend-on-Sea, and plenty of media coverage in the local press, DAVE is beginning to make a big impact on Southend. The magazine is available at Southend East Essex College, Southend Libararies, Sainsburys, Tescos, Asda, Waitrose and HMV.

In general each page of DAVE comprises at least 50% photos, this represents the idea that the magazine is targetted at teenagers, as most teenagers prefer to look at photos rather than read the articles in magazines.

DAVE features upcoming events/films. A fun upbeat, inspiring and positive message, articles primarily of student interest whilst remembering the supermarket readership. A young voice i.e. non-patronising, however, bearing in mind DAVE's moral standpoint as DAVE reflects the college. It is informative (e.g. events, further reading, links)

DAVE is a magazine aimed at students however it is not based on college life it features articles on music/gig/film book reviews, articles on beauty and fashion and puzzle pages.

The layout of the magazine is very eye catching through the use of bright and bold fonts, contrasting onto a black background. The language that has been used on the front cover of the magazine is slang 'can you gig it?' this is suitable for a student life magazine as the reader will feel as if it is more related to them, rather than using formal language which would suggest to the reader more it is aimed at an older generation - perhaps parents. Out of the three school/college magazines I have researched into DAVE has given me the most inspiration in creating a successful school magazine as it is the type of magazine I aim to achieve. It is more for the students entertainment to read rather than a chore in reading a magazine solely based on school life. I aim to achieve what DAVE has in catering for a wide range of different needs and including a variety of articles so that there is something to benefit everyone.

School Magazine Textual Analysis

This product of Strathad school/college appears a very simple front cover. The use of blue suggests to us as the audience that perhaps blue is the symbolistic colour associated with the school, for example the uniform etc. The use of colour and size of the font of the school logo attracts the readers attention and is very eye catching. Bright colours have purposely been used here to contrast with the block blue background that has been used.

The images used on the front cover are off the front of the school/college appearing to us as very educational and formal. From the images used we can automatically presume that this front cover is most probably meant for the perspective students and parents, as the readers aren't directly addressed nor is there any clips of articles etc. giving the reader an insight into what is inside the magazine. 

The front cover reflects the idea to us from the images that the school is very educational yet at the same time very team orientated. As there is an image of a girl sitting at a computer studying which not only reflects the academia side of the school but also that the school is modernized and has up to date expensive equipment. It also shows an image of some students working together at a team activity which creates warmth between the outside students and the school as it is very welcoming to them in that they will be able to be part of this team work.

All the images that have been used in my opinion are to represent how the school is ran, and what their ideal students are. To summerise how they want their school to come across to the parents.

School Magazine Textual Analysis

As part of my school magazine research I have looked at a selection of school magazine covers so that I can gain a better knowledge on the market my magazine is targeted at, and the best ways in which I can achieve a successful school magazine. 

The first product I have decided to look at is 'Southend High School for Girls Magazine' where the cover simply shows the schools logo, and the name of the school is presented in a simple white font which creates a contrast between the text and the background image.

The photograph is of a student from the school holding up a mask over her face, which is perhaps from a school production. The front cover of the magazine in my opinion is very simple, and does not advertise very much about the school at all. I don't particularly feel this magazine is sold very well from looking at the front cover. It is not very eye catching, the use of colour is very dull and it does not give the reader any idea about what the magazine caters for. 

From looking at the front page, I believe that the magazine is targeted at the parents of the students as the front cover is not trying to interact with the reader in any way, it does not show any clips of articles, it is not selling the magazine very well by simply relying completely on the front cover photograph. 

I have learnt from studying this front cover of a school magazine, that my front cover for sixth form will be more interactive with the reader than this one is, although I want to use a photograph that is very eye catching and appealing to the reader I also want it to represent what the magazine is about, using language that relates to the target audience and showing previews of what articles are inside. As in my opinion the front cover is very important in the successfulness of a magazine, because if the front cover does not appeal to the reader they are most likely not to bother to read it or even open it.