Questionnaire Analysis

Analysis of questionnaire

For my initial target audience research I created a questionnaire to find out about the target audience for an indie music magazine, what content they would most like for the magazine and what aesthetic they want the magazine to have. I chose to survey 10 people as I think that it is enough people for my answers to have a wide range. The results of my questionnaire will be very helpful for my planning and creating the drafts for my magazine as they have given me the information to make decisions more quickly and with consideration for what my target audience likes. I will be using the first 6 questions of my magazine to decide the details of my magazine and its place in the market. My age range will be 14-17 as it was the most popular age bracket selected, my target audience has also helped me decided that the magazine will be released once a month and that it will cost within the price bracket of £3-£5. I think that the pricing of my magazine is suitable for my target audience as they are teenagers who do not necessarily have much spending money and do not wish to spend too much on a magazine, I think that the chosen circulation of monthly issues is suited as well as music tastes in younger people change rapidly due to an increase in Web 2.0 and its ability to share information on new music faster than ever before. This information can be used when creating my final product as the price and release date are often displayed on the front cover of magazines.

When asked which music magazines had been bought in the past, the three most popular magazines were Rolling Stone, The Wire and Spin magazine; this will help me with my product placement as I can figure out where my magazine will fit into the market. I can also take inspiration from these magazines for content, layouts and appearance of my front cover, contents page and double page spread.

When asking about the content of my magazine I found that the most popular type of articles are exclusive interviews, up and coming artists and a concert and gig finder. It is important to understand what features of a magazine are most popular so you make sure they are included in your magazine so that your target audience are getting what they want. For this reason I will include an exclusive interview with my artist (who will be on the front cover) on my double page spread and I will have a section on my contents page for up and coming artists and a concert and gig guide, this way I will be reaching my target audience, giving them what they want and ensuring that they choose to buy my magazine over the many others on the market.

The feedback from my questionnaire told me that the two most popular colours were black and white, so I will use them as my main ‘house style’ colours throughout the magazine. The third most popular colour was green so I can experiment with different shades and tones, colour combinations and styles when I look at colour scheming in the planning stage. I think that the monotone will give the magazine a mature look and draw in perhaps an older audience but the pop of colour will help grab the attention of anyone looking at a range of magazines in a shop.

In my questionnaire I had three questions regarding my font choice for my magazine; one asked for the preferred font for the masthead and main headings of my magazine, one for the font for the subheadings and one for the main body of text. I think that a continuation of the same fonts throughout the magazine completes the house style and makes the magazine look professional and smart. In my questions I gave my audience a choice of 5/6 fonts and asked them to select one. From my results I know that ‘Unknown Caller’ was the most popular choice for my masthead and headings, ‘Castellar’ is the choice for my subheadings and ‘Zolano Serif’ is the choice for my body. The results of my questionnaire have helped me fit my magazine to suit my target audience’s preferences and make decisions on the appearance of my magazine more easily. I also think that the fonts that have been decided for my magazine fit the style I want my magazine to have as they suit the ‘vintage’ and alternative look I want my indie music magazine to have.

For the decision on what layouts I wanted for the front cover, contents page and double page spread I only asked questions on the layout for the cover and contents as I want to have more creative control over the layout for my double page spread. The results of my questionnaire told me that the most popular layout for the front cover was one where the masthead was in the top left corner, the artist image was slightly left of the centre, the main article title was at the bottom of the page and the subheadings were down the right hand side. I think that this layout is fitting for the style I want for my magazine as it means that I can create a clean look that will reflect the kind of magazine I am creating and will show readers instantly whether it is the right type of magazine they want to be purchasing. For the subheadings on the cover I will include plugs of the content of my magazine as it will help people want to buy the magazine as it will draw them in and intrigue them.

For the contents page I plan to have a layout where the title is centred with many images scattered left and right of the page with captions and brief descriptions of the corresponding articles. This layout was the most popular result from my questionnaire where I asked which one the audience preferred out of three possible layouts. This result can help me move onto my planning with a clear idea of what my audience wants and make sure that my ideas fit around their preferences; it also means that further down the line in the construction stage of my planning I have a better idea of what direction the drafts of the contents page need to take. 

Finally, I asked what the most preferred name for my magazine was; the options were ‘Rewind’, ‘Amped’, ‘Blurred’, ’Vinyl’, ‘Asylum’, ‘Underground’ and ‘Remaster’ and the most popular answer was ‘Vinyl’. I think that the name of my magazine is one of the most important elements to decide as it is usually the first thing that people notice when looking at a magazine cover in a selection of other magazines in a shop. This means that I need a name that will draw in my target audience and help me shape the theme of my magazine and know that I want it to have a vintage edge to it as that style is a popular trend amongst teenagers at the moment