Drafting and planning

I have researched "billboards in Birmingham" on Google images. 
Billboards in Birmingham
I found out that billboards are not one size but can alter in their size. This is going to be useful information for me to have as it may change the way i which I will create my own magazine based on the size I am going to be able to make it or chose to have it.

The image below shows the different billboards found in the region of Birmingham, where my magazine is based on:

Target audience/ Drafting and planning

I asked my target audience to answer a new survey.

This was based only on what images they'd like to see on the front of a magazine or on a billboard, and what type of font would be appropriate. 

Q1: What type of image would you like to see on a billboard?

• One dominant image
• A collage of images

Q2: If this billboard is promoting a regional magazine about Birmingham, what would you expect the main image to be?

Q3: For the front page of a magazine or the billboard, should the main image be of the day time or night time in Birmingham?

Q4: What would you expect the main font on this magazine to look like? (If it is aimed at male and females)

Here is a link to my survey:

Survey

Research into similar products/ Drafting and planning

One website that is influencing my choice of news is: Visit Birmingham

It has all the key news about Birmingham appropriate to the time of year. It covers all of my choices of what I'm covering. Music is shown through "Birmingham Festival Planner", Leisure through "The Mailbox". Elements of travel can be identified through "Birmingham New Street Station". When thinking of extra articles to add into my magazine, I can refer to this website for a great guideline. 

Further down the home page, sport is addressed as it talks about the "Rugby World Cup 2015" and Leisure is further emphasised through "National Sea Life Centre" and "Cadbury World". I can use all of these subjects within my magazine as they are all suitable for students through: days out, passions for sport, longing for new clothes, attending music festivals and gigs, and finding easy ways to travel around England through the new and improved New Street Station. These stories will be highly relevant in a student regional magazine.

Looking closely at this website all of the different sections that will be included in my magazine are evident. This reassures me that I'm on the right lines, and I am successfully including the right information that a regional magazine should hold. 

However, it is not only the information that has captured my attention on this page, I have been intrigued by the use of images to represent Solihull, the Black Country, Herefordshire etc. This has made me rethink my ideas for my billboard. I think that I should use a dynamic dominant shot of one particular places as this may be eyecatching to my target audience. This is important because my age is within my targeted demographic and if this has captured my attention then surely it would capture the attention of others. To find out whether this is relevant, I am going to conduct another survey on Survey Monkey, I will publish the link in a later blog post. 

Research into similar products

I researched into other Birmingham magazines. This will be helpful because it's the same region, therefore I can use the content of the magazine to my advantage.

I like the way this magazine is straight to the point and is called "Birmingham Living" this is appealing as readers will know it's all about Birmingham. It's also important that Lenny Henry is the cover star; he's a famous Birmingham face - this will intrigue readers and make them feel at home. The cover line "Brum's Business Boom" is effective as the alliteration emphasises that business is doing well. This inspires me to use alliteration on my front page to engage readers. I like the way the different cover lines address different aspects of the magazine, ranging from business. to style to leisure. I will use this within my own magazine to show that it's packed full of relevant, exciting information about various areas. The plain bright font is great on this magazine as it contrasts with the dark background, I like the choice of font because it's not too curly or bold. making this magazine appeal to males and females.This will immediately catch the attention of readers.

Ultimately, I think the way the same font has been carried through from the front page to the contents page gives the magazine a neat edge. I like the way that the darkness of the front page contrasts with the contents page as it goes from a black background to a white background. The way that there are secondary images in the contents page makes the magazine seem busy and interesting. I like the way numbers have been used on the pictures to link them to the article pages. It's highly appealing that the cover star has been used to centre the two pages, this shows he is the key focus throughout the magazine. The articles shown in the contents page cover all of the topics I will cover in my own magazine: nightlife, restaurants, entertainment etc. This immediately shows that this magazine is clearly targeted at the Birmingham Region. 

I am impressed with this magazine and I will use many of these conventions in my own magazine. One key thing I have picked up on is the fact that the masthead isn't influenced by the left third rule, I will also abolish the left third rule in my own front page. In the same way, I think the contrast of the fonts and background is highly effective and this is inspiring me to carefully photograph certain places, so that I can use complimentary colours effectively. The front page is not too busy but it's fantastic and informative, this is the message I'd like to give off in my own magazine. With regards to the contents page, I like the way the stories are spread over two pages, but I think that in my magazine, I will stick to the one page with one dominant image at the centre, and secondary images surrounding it: I will keep the idea of the page numbers on the images in mind and use this in my own magazine. 

Drafting and planning/ Organisation

For the photography element within my magazine, I have come up with some ideas.
As my magazine will be a regional magazine about Birmingham, I have decided to photograph certain places that will be relevant in a student issue e.g.

• Birmingham Central Library 
• Selfridges
• Bars/Clubs
• Music - concerts and festivals
• Brindley Place
• New Street Station
• Cannon Hill Park

Not only will I take photos of Birmingham, on one of my trips to London I have decided to photograph:

• London Eye
• Big Ben
• Underground

This may seem irrelevant, however, within my magazine I could display a competition, if you enter you may be able to win a trip to London.

Not only have I been thinking about photography, I have come up with some articles that could feature in my magazine:

• Student finance - offers from different banks
• "Bar of the week" - good places to go on a night out
• Birmingham Library - opening a new floor specifically for degree level books
• A job advertisement page 
• How to get your hands on tickets to football matches (AVFC, BCFC, WBA etc.) and when the new 50m pool in Selly Oak is opening
• Annie Mac Presents performing at Rainbow Birmingham and where to purchase tickets
• ^ Win a trip to London
• The X Factor comes to Barclay Card Arena
• £300 worth of shopping vouchers for the Bull Ring
• The "best bits" from Fusion Festival
• 200 students from Birmingham collecting their DofE Gold Awards from the palace
• The opening of new restaurants and supermarkets

I am confident that I have covered a wide range of topics that will all be appropriate for a city regional magazine that is aimed at students. I will keep these ideas in mind when producing my magazine.

Drafting and planning/ Research into similar products

I have decided it is time to have a look at why I need a successful billboard advertisement to promote my magazine.

Why outdoor advertising works

While some traditional advertising media are in decline, outdoor is growing. It works because it is seen by everyone who leaves their house.

Poster advertising is highly prominent and does not require the consumer to do anything to access it. You don't have to tune in or click onto it or turn a page. At the same time, most people regard it as less intrusive than other methods of advertising. Indeed, a lot of outdoor advertising engages the consumer, providing colour, humour and insight. In locations where it sits in front of a captive audience — on public transport or at waiting places, for instance — it can even be seen as a welcome distraction.

This information was found at: Billboard research

I understand that my billboard advertisement must mirror my magazine advertisement. Therefore I must use the same font and house colours. This will make my billboard exhibit the same message as my magazine. Furthermore, as you don’t have to pay to view a billboard advertisement, it is obvious that it must be extremely effective and eye catching because this is what people ultimately see by just going outdoors, as it is free to view from the public, it must advertise the magazine to a high standard, causing them to buy it.

From looking at other billboard advertisements, it has stood out that there must be an enormous, clear picture that captures the attention of my target audience. As my magazine is going to be a student issue, I feel it is necessary to make my billboard exciting and fun. Therefore, rather than just placing one image in the centre, I have creatively come up with the idea of a photo collage for my billboard advertisement, an image which will link to all of the topics found in my magazine.

Within my collage, there will be a sports photo, a music photo, something to do with the student news, and attractions in the city centre. 

Here are some examples of images I may think to include:

The German Market in Birmingham - great for students to experience.

Annie Mac Presents, an image from her gig in Birmingham - advertising music events.

A map of key places to visit in Birmingham if they are an EU/International student.

Key news they must look out for.

Selfridges!

Birmingham Central Library - a key place students will visit regularly and the key news about it.

Sports - an opportunity for students to see football/athletics results and chances to win tickets.

I will keep these pictures in mind when I go to take my pictures for my magazine/billboard.

Target audience

In connection to my earlier post on 10/09/15, I have collected 5 responses on Survey Monkey. I have identified that my target audience will be from 16-25 year olds.

I will appeal to them mostly through an effective main image and masthead, including news, sport, events and fashion and involving a colour scheme involving blue and yellow as they were the most popular answers when analysed.

Through my survey, I can now identify that my target audience are willing to pay on average £3.75. I think this price is justifiable as the issue is appealing to students who have strict budgets. Therefore I think this magazine should be sold at this price.

When asked what attracts them to this image:

... the most common answer was:
"main image and masthead".

The answers to my survey can be found in more detail: