Evaluation: (Question 3) How did you attract/address your audience?

One of the easiest ways to identify how I attracted my audience is by looking at my front cover. The front cover is the first thing my target audience will see so this will help to explain how I addressed them. I appealed to my target audience by using a combination of visual elements and written language. One aspect of this text that would draw a reader in and make them purchase my text is the main image on the cover. We could imagine that the image is of someone theoretically really popular in the indie rock industry. People who are big fans of this person may see this person on the cover and that alone would attract them to buy the magazine. It also reinforces this idea given that the model takes up half the cover. The image is the most important aspect of a cover that was why it was important that I made it so big. The model in the image is making direct eye contact with the audience. This helps the reader to feel a part of the magazine. An interesting idea about my image is that rather than just having a plain background there is a background image. This attracts the audience because it gives them something else to look at. By the way I used rule of thirds on this cover it gives the perspective that the red telephone is further back than the model. This creates the feel for the reader that the image is not just 2D. It draws the audience in because there is a 3D perspective. The red telephone box itself addresses my audience because of how bold it is. It is a red box on a black and white background. It alerts the readers attention right away. One reason I chose to include the red telephone box was to use the idea of iconography. A red telephone box is iconic of Britain. British readers of this magazine would be attracted to this cover particularly if they are patriotic of where they come from. I also know that sometimes singing about where they come from is popular with indie rock bands. Moving on from my main image the colours I have used also are a way of explaining how I addressed my audience. Red is a very important colour for my cover. Red is known as the colour of passion. It creates an interesting energy for my magazine. The colour red has been known to affect people's vision. It captures people's attention because it is the second most visible colour. For that reason it is used for fire engines and sirens. So for that reason I used it on my cover. I wanted to create a sense of urgency for people to read the magazine. Red is also known for its connotation of danger. I wanted to play on the idea that this magazine was an indie rock genre and attract an audience that appreciated this genre. Using the colour red was a way of achieving this.  Indie rock is a genre that takes risks because it is quite diverse and not what people are used to hearing.  The dangerous idea that colour red gives connotations of creates this idea.  As I said before the colour red is the second most visible colour. On this cover I have also used the colour yellow. Yellow is the first most visible colour so this means that scientifically it supposedly attracts our attention more than any other colour because the eye processes yellow first. I wanted to use yellow to capture the attention of my audience. Some signs use the colour yellow to alert someone of a danger for example toxic warning signs. Again this creates the idea the idea of danger. Yellow is often associated with the idea of creating light. I think for this reason it makes my magazine quite powerful which therefore attracts the audience.  Other than red and yellow I also used the colours black and white. Black and white attracts the audience because the colours are used everywhere in everyday life. When my audience sees my cover the colours black and white would address them because it is familiar to them. A further visual element of my cover is the layout of the text. The image would probably be the first thing that the audience looks at and then next their attention would probably be caught by the main cover line. I think after that they would then look at the logo and be attracted by a brand they like. They may then read the selling line which would then cause them to read the cover lines which are set out in a list so it is easy for them to read .  I think that because the layout of this text creates a path for the eye it attracts the audiences. It appeals the audience because of how easy  and quickly it was to know  what was in the magazine. I have used a font that I feel would appeal to my audience. This font is quite bold and simple. This makes it quite easy to read and attract the audience because they don't have to work to hard to read the text. All writing on my cover is in capital letters. Not only does this make my cover easy to read but it makes it seem bold and powerful. Capital letters are sometimes used to demonstrate anger and frustration. This is an effective way of appealing to my audience who like indie rock. Sometimes indie rock can be quite angry because it is influenced by rock. I have put specific words in different colours to make them stand out against the other words. This attracts the audience to those specific words and makes them want to read the whole media text .Other than visual elements I have also combined written language elements to attract my audience. My selling line is an example of this. My selling line is "See inside for exclusive interview" . By starting with the word "see" this is an imperative. It is instructing the reader to "see inside".  I would say that the word " exclusive" is effective because it attracts the audience because it suggests to them that there is no other media text that they could find this interview in. I thought this word was an effective way of attracting the audience so I actually repeated it. My selling line was not the only instance where I used imperative. In one of my cover lines I have said "Find out" . Again it forces the reader to read the magazine so they can 'find out'. Using an instruction makes them feel they need to follow it which then makes them want to read the media text.  I have also directly addressed my audience in one of my cover lines when I say "your perfect band name". This involves the audience and so makes them want to read it because they have been addressed directly.  I included the names of artists all over my front cover. This would hopefully attract audiences who like these artists. A reader would read the feature on the artist they like. I have left a lot of my cover lines leading the reader wanting to know more. For example "Kent Hughman admits everything". From this cover line the reader will be asking questions such as: What has Kent Hughman admitted? What is everything? I have used ambiguity in my cover lines on more than one occasion.  One of my cover lines is a quote. " Our new album has a classical feel" -the keys.  This is ambiguous because it does not give much details about the new album away. It does not describe how much of the new album is classical. It leads the reader to ask lots of questions. Using a quote as a cover line also attracts the audience because they feel like they need to buy the magazine to read the rest of the article. I have used specific words that would attract the audience to my media text. For example "new, free, perfect, exclusive." These are short exciting words that would intrigue a reader to read the media text.
In general I feel I have used a range of techniques some that are visual and some that are written language,  to appeal to my audience.