Front cover

Overall I am very pleased with the feedback I got for the front cover of ‘UP BEAT’ magazine. One thing I found that all the people liked was the actual name of the magazine. They said it was ‘ironic’ and ‘appropriate’ for a music magazine. I think this is good because the title of a magazine draws you in. Another thing that was said was the use of colour, they liked the purple because it was dramatic and bold, this is good because it shows the colour attracts them to the magazine. Another part they said that they liked was the graffiti style text of ‘Katie’. They said it ‘instantly grabs my attention’ this is a good thing because I want my target audience to be attracted to the magazine. They also liked the use of cell lines because it gave them a ‘visual insight’ into the magazine. I think this is good because I want my audience to know what is inside so it attracts them to buying the magazine. They also liked the image of ‘Katie’ because she looked professional and like an artist. One person liked the fact it took up the whole page. They liked her pose because she looked important and domineering, something I was aiming for. However they did pick out a couple of not so good points. One was the size of the price text. They said it was too small and hard to read. One person said this was the part that determines if they want to buy the magazine so needs to be visible. If I was to improve the magazine I would defiantly make the price a larger text so it is more visible for the target audience and fits their needs.

Double Page Spread

Overall I got good feedback from my target audience for the double page spread. One thing they liked was the way the title was spread across two pages, they said it grabs their attention and creates a ‘dramatic impact’. This is good feedback because it shows my target audience are attracted to the article just from the title. They also liked the way the article was split up by bold and normal text separating the interviewer and interviewee. When creating the article I found most professional magazines do this so I am glad they liked it too. The way the article is set on purple boxes was an aspect they also liked, they said it looks ‘interesting’ and ‘stands out’, this is good feedback because I was aiming for this impression. They liked the images because the background has been cut away which makes them stand out. They particularly like the one where Katie is sitting down looking straight at the camera. However they picked out that the pull quote was a not so good point. They said it was not positioned well because it didn’t stand out. If I was to improve the magazine I would take into consideration what they said and make the pull quote more visible by changing the colour of the text or placing it on top of a purple box.

Contents Page

I also think I got good comments from the contents page feedback. Most of them said they liked the way the actual contents is split into sections such as ‘Features, interviews, features and competitions’. They said it was easy to find certain article which was what I was aiming for. They liked the images because it gives a ‘visual insight’ into what is in the magazine. I think this is a good point because I wanted to portray what is in the magazine through images and looks like I have succeeded. All three of them really liked the editor’s note because it personalises the magazine and makes it look more fun. One person said it makes it look less formal which I was aiming for. One person said they like the fact it looks consistent by this the colour and text used. I am glad someone picked up on this because it is a professional aspect in magazines – consistency. However all three people said that there were no page numbers on the images to indicate the corresponding article. They said it was needed. Therefore if I was to improve the magazine I would insert page numbers on the images to clearly show what page the article is on.