School Magazine Questionnaire
Name: __________________
Age:
Under 10 years
11- 15
16 – 20
20 +
Gender:
Male
Female
What type of school do you attend?
Primary school
Middle school
Secondary school
6th form
College
University
None
If your school had a magazine created by students, would you read it and why?
No because it doesn’t interest me
No because I don't like reading
Yes because it’s free
Yes because it interests me
Other: ____________
What sized magazine do you prefer to read?
A4
A5
In a school magazine what type of articles and features are you more interested in?
Educational school magazine Gardening
Celebrity gossip Fashion
Music Cooking
Home/ living magazine Games/ Technology
Real life stories Posters/ celeb snaps
Advertisements Horoscopes
Competitions News
Discount offers on products e.g. clothes
What type of people would you like to see in a school magazine?
Teachers Celebrity’s
Students Music artists
Actors People from the general public
Footballers Young people
Other __________
After I had created the questionnaire, I gave it out to a number of people within the same age who attend a school, participants of different genders and people from different cultures as well as lifestyles. This particular group of people, resemble my target audience for my magazine which also helps as I can find out what my specific audience will be interested in. This would enable me to gain results from a wide range of people who would be interested in different things. This would then help me into deciding what type of things I will include throughout my school magazine. Below is the results tallyed up which I received from the questionnaire:
RESULTS from 11 people: (Red numbers symbolise the number of tally's per answer)
Name: __________________
Age:
Under 10 years 0
11- 15 3
16 – 20 8
20 + 1
Gender:
Male 5
Female 6
What type of school do you attend?
Primary school 0
Middle school 0
Secondary school 2
6th form 6
College 1
University 2
None 0
If your school had a magazine created by students, would you read it and why?
No because it doesn’t interest me 1
No because I don't like reading 2
Yes because it’s free 6
Yes because it interests me 2
Other : ______________
What sized magazine do you prefer to read?
A4 9
A5 2
In a school magazine what type of articles and features are you more interested in? (tick more than one if necessary)
Educational/ exam revision help 4
Gardening 2
Celebrity gossip 7
Fashion 8
Music 9
Cooking 3
Home/ living magazine 2
Games/ Technology 4
Real life stories 5
Posters/ celeb snaps 5
Advertisements 4
Horoscopes 7
Competitions 5
News 7
Discount offers on products e.g. clothes 6
Other: __________ *Crosswords
What type of people would you like to see in a school magazine?
Teachers 3
Celebrity’s 6
Students 9
Music artists 4
Actors 4
People from the general public 2
Footballers 5
Young people 7
Other: _______ *Professional gardeners
Analysis
From the results of the questionnaire I created, I have discovered a variety of different factors which I will relate to my own school magazine. We can see that the results from this survey are reliable and unbiased as the participants who took the questionnaire are both male and female, and are all students who can relate to a school magazine equally- the participants are also those of whom my magazine will be targeted at.
From the questionnaire, I discovered that maybe I could include a free gift with my magazine as it seems fairly popular from the results. We can see that 6 out of 11 participants had said that they enjoy the free gift because it’s free (however this may not be appropriate for a school magazine as the magazine is free itself).
I also know that the age group that my target audience will be aimed at will be varied between 16- 20 year olds, as I am creating my magazine for 6th form students. This will enable me to capture the audience in particular interests as I can relate to the audience as I am a similar age and attend a 6th form myself. I can then look at the magazine ideas from a student’s point of view and think about what I- as a student would enjoy reading too.
Furthermore, from the results I can see that the majority of participants who took the questionnaire, prefer reading an A4 sized magazine, rather than an A3 which is smaller. 9 out of 11 students preferred the A4 sized magazine which helps me into deciding what size I will develop my magazine, with information on what is more popular.
Another aspect from the questionnaire results which helps me in creating my magazine is the type of features and articles which is more interesting for my target audience. For example, I can see that Music is a very popular category, as well as Fashion, Celebrity gossip and more. This then helps me again, into deciding what feature I will include in my magazine as I have found out what type of aspects are most popular for my targeted audience.
One last important factor which I found out through my questionnaire was the type of people I will be including throughout my magazine. From the results, I can see that the participants are most interested in seeing students involved in the magazine. This maybe because it relates to the audience more and the magazine could seem more informal, welcoming and fun- seeing fellow peers in the magazine. On the other hand, I can see that including “people from the general public” was the least popular, which makes me think about whether my magazine will include members of the public as I can see it isn’t popular.
Overall, from researching the results of my questionnaire, it enables me to create a magazine which will be interesting and worth reading for my target audience. It gives me a better, clearer understanding of what a particular audience would like to read, which will really help me to entice the audience into the school magazine.
Thursday 22 October 2009
Thursday 1 October 2009
Evaluating school magazine- "Evolve"
“Evolve” Front Cover
I have researched a student magazine from George Stephenson High School which I was able to find on the internet via Google.
Forms and conventions
The front cover of the magazine “Evolve” doesn’t really follow the traditional conventions of a magazine. For example, the cover does not include any teasers or sell lines, prizes, or give any indication of what the magazine includes which could entice the audience into reading the magazine. However, the cover does include an issue number (Spring 2009 Issue 8), imagery and large text for the font, which are original conventions of magazine covers. The issue number implies to us that the magazine is produced quite frequently. Whether it is created by students or teachers, we are not definitely sure.
Title and connotations
The title, “Evolve” suggests growing into something new. This could symbolise the students reading the magazine developing into successful adults, after their education. Also, no capital letter has been used in the title “evolve”, this could resemble the rebellious students, as the cover doesn’t follow the correct punctuation or original criteria and conventions for a magazine.
Images/ visual
From the cover, we can see that the imagery is quite un-organised and is scattered all over the page. This could link into the disorganisation of some students, particularly through exam periods which therefore relates to the magazines target audience. The images involved are from; books, pencils, photography of teachers in costume, the school building in a surreal affect, and television programme logos and props, E.g. the Deal or No Deal box. The photography of the teachers could also give some indication that the magazine has been created by a teacher. All the images which are scrambled together making the cover seem quite surreal and childish, which could relate to the particular audience for this magazine.
Colour codes/ connotations
The creator of “evolve” has chosen to use very bright colours for the cover. This is quite affective for the target audience to catch their eye, especially as they’re a young generation. A purple cloudy background has been used, with white and black font on top of it. This creates contrast and really lets the audience focus their attention towards the imagery rather than the text as it’s quite simple.
Articles/ features
Unfortunately for the magazine, the front cover gives no initial indication of what features are inside it, which is quite ineffective. This immediately looses focus from the target audience as they aren’t as enticed as they would be if they knew what they would be reading- whether it’s to their interests.
Type faces and graphics
Overall, the font on the front cover is very basic. It’s not very exciting and it especially doesn’t entice the audience to flick straight to the text and read it. Black and white basic font has been used and the title is very bold, yet still basic. However, the black and white does contrast with the bright background and other images on the cover which makes the imagery seem more outstanding over the text. The basic fonts used on the front cover could again, show that a teacher has created the magazine as the graphical creativity could be improved.
Audience
The Evolve front cover gives quite a good indication that the magazine is directed at young people- preferably students from Stephenson High School. This is quite clear to us from the features used, such as; the type of imagery and original photography, the bright colours and disorganized structure of the cover. Which implies the magazine is targeted at a youthful generation rather than an elderly person, for example.
Issues raised
No particular issues have been raised by the representation of people shown on the front cover, as the cover doesn’t have a direct approach of what the magazine is about. However, the cover does try to be quite comical. We can see this from the photography taken of teachers dressed up in costume/ wearing wigs etc.
Improvement
The front cover of this school magazine could be improved by showing a better indication of the type of magazine it is and who it’s particularly targeted at- gender for example. It should also give a preview about what the magazine holds inside (such as teasers) to engage their particular audience into the magazine. Furthermore, through researching the magazine, I noticed that each issue has the exact same front cover with just a different colour/ background image. I think this makes the magazine seem quite plain, and wouldn’t entice many students as they may think they’re re-reading the same issue, for example.
I have researched a student magazine from George Stephenson High School which I was able to find on the internet via Google.
Forms and conventions
The front cover of the magazine “Evolve” doesn’t really follow the traditional conventions of a magazine. For example, the cover does not include any teasers or sell lines, prizes, or give any indication of what the magazine includes which could entice the audience into reading the magazine. However, the cover does include an issue number (Spring 2009 Issue 8), imagery and large text for the font, which are original conventions of magazine covers. The issue number implies to us that the magazine is produced quite frequently. Whether it is created by students or teachers, we are not definitely sure.
Title and connotations
The title, “Evolve” suggests growing into something new. This could symbolise the students reading the magazine developing into successful adults, after their education. Also, no capital letter has been used in the title “evolve”, this could resemble the rebellious students, as the cover doesn’t follow the correct punctuation or original criteria and conventions for a magazine.
Images/ visual
From the cover, we can see that the imagery is quite un-organised and is scattered all over the page. This could link into the disorganisation of some students, particularly through exam periods which therefore relates to the magazines target audience. The images involved are from; books, pencils, photography of teachers in costume, the school building in a surreal affect, and television programme logos and props, E.g. the Deal or No Deal box. The photography of the teachers could also give some indication that the magazine has been created by a teacher. All the images which are scrambled together making the cover seem quite surreal and childish, which could relate to the particular audience for this magazine.
Colour codes/ connotations
The creator of “evolve” has chosen to use very bright colours for the cover. This is quite affective for the target audience to catch their eye, especially as they’re a young generation. A purple cloudy background has been used, with white and black font on top of it. This creates contrast and really lets the audience focus their attention towards the imagery rather than the text as it’s quite simple.
Articles/ features
Unfortunately for the magazine, the front cover gives no initial indication of what features are inside it, which is quite ineffective. This immediately looses focus from the target audience as they aren’t as enticed as they would be if they knew what they would be reading- whether it’s to their interests.
Type faces and graphics
Overall, the font on the front cover is very basic. It’s not very exciting and it especially doesn’t entice the audience to flick straight to the text and read it. Black and white basic font has been used and the title is very bold, yet still basic. However, the black and white does contrast with the bright background and other images on the cover which makes the imagery seem more outstanding over the text. The basic fonts used on the front cover could again, show that a teacher has created the magazine as the graphical creativity could be improved.
Audience
The Evolve front cover gives quite a good indication that the magazine is directed at young people- preferably students from Stephenson High School. This is quite clear to us from the features used, such as; the type of imagery and original photography, the bright colours and disorganized structure of the cover. Which implies the magazine is targeted at a youthful generation rather than an elderly person, for example.
Issues raised
No particular issues have been raised by the representation of people shown on the front cover, as the cover doesn’t have a direct approach of what the magazine is about. However, the cover does try to be quite comical. We can see this from the photography taken of teachers dressed up in costume/ wearing wigs etc.
Improvement
The front cover of this school magazine could be improved by showing a better indication of the type of magazine it is and who it’s particularly targeted at- gender for example. It should also give a preview about what the magazine holds inside (such as teasers) to engage their particular audience into the magazine. Furthermore, through researching the magazine, I noticed that each issue has the exact same front cover with just a different colour/ background image. I think this makes the magazine seem quite plain, and wouldn’t entice many students as they may think they’re re-reading the same issue, for example.
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