Target Audience Research 3 - Slam Magazine

Slam's primary way of getting their audience is on the popular social media app, Instagram.

Combined between their Slam Online, Slam High School, and Slam Kicks, pages, they have 2.5 million followers. Their audience is primarily teenagers and adults under 35. Their appeal is really universal for people who like or follow basketball. Their magazines feature professional players the majority of the time, so that is a universal appeal. Also, they have these Instagram pages who film high school basketball players to put out their highlights which gets theme exposure as well as draws people to their pages to watch these players.

Target Audience Research 2 - Esquire

Esquire's product is similar to GQ, so it makes sense that they have similar audiences.

Esquire and GQ both revolve their articles at least partially around men's clothing and things that generally tend to appeal to men. This make sense as their audience is 65% men. However, they are also a pop culture magazine, meaning they appeal to everyone. Even though a lot of things in the magazine as "for men," there are a great of non-gender influenced articles that draw many more readers. With almost 20 million viewers, 35% of them being women with he kind of magazine is great use of their articles. These people also tend to be young adults to people in their 30's for the majority. They are cashing in with their universal appeal to these social groups to maximize their viewers and their profits.

Target Audience Research 1 - GQ

What I found in my research is that GQ's audience is primarily under 35 years old and is male. This makes sense because GQ is a men's magazine and I feel that younger people would relate and find the articles more interesting than older people. I believe this is due to older people resonating with the older style they grew up wearing where this is the style this generation is wearing. 73% of people who read GQ are 34 years old or under and 63% who read are male. 75% of these people are employed and 38% of the readers buy products featured in GQ.

GQ realizes that their audience is young and how much influence they have. Since they recognize this, they can use their specific social group to make all of their sales. Also, what's interesting is that over 1/3 (37%) of their readers are women. They can appeal to women trying to buy things for their male friends or if they are interested in some clothing. GQ's influence is so great that even while being a men's magazine, they are still appealing to women readers.

Feedback/Revisions

I received both positive and construction feedback when I first showed my magazine.

A positive I received a lot was the quality and placement of my pictures. They said my pictures accurately displayed the meat of my article, but they recommended I get a wider variety of pictures. Another strong point I received was the layout of my magazine. The people who reviewed it said it was very cohesive and resembled a magazine they had seen before. The placement of the pictures complimented the bulk of the text in the middle and made a very smooth feeling.

Where I need to revise was getting a wider variety of pictures of more people in more outfits. Also, some text on the cover and in the article was hard to read, so I'll put an effect behind the cover text to have it stand out I'll most likely have to put a different background to my TOC to have my words stand out more. For the article, I'm unsure if I'll change the color of the text or if I'll go with a total;ly different color background. I like the light blue that is the background already, so I'll first try to experiment with text colors to see if gets an easier to read.

Use of Conventions

Fleur Sombre uses the aspects of traditional men's magazines today, including GQ and Men's Health. It strives to appeal to men, but can have a universal draw to anyone interested in it. Fleur Sombre combines health, style, sports, and pop culture into a melting pot of literary enjoyment. The magazine doesn't challenge any of the norms but rather accentuates the highlights of these kind of magazines. The articles in the magazine and targeted to people who can afford popular and some upscale brands. While this might limit the audience, the appeal for looking at these nice brands is still prevalent in the general population. The magazine can be viewed by people of all ages as it is not only a sales oriented magazine. There are stories about sports and pop culture that discuss topics and don't have style in the spotlight. These articles can be for the casual reader looking for different opinions and an entertaining read. Fleur Sombre is an entertaining read targeted for men and encouraged for all ages.

ToC Template

For my Table of Contents, I wanted the title of the magazine to be at the top and the top stories to hug the right side. I put my model, Ethan, on the background and had him gazing at the stories. If the background contrasts with the picture too much, then I will change the color of the text and possibly add a shadow behind it. I will keep the blue theme going on in the table of contents and keep the same font of Garamond.

Contribution Post

I designed my flat plan, cover, TOC, and articles myself and I wrote them myself, as well. I did every part of the product and got every idea from myself. All of the pictures I used were taken and edited by me in the way I felt that they fit best. I formatted everything in either Adobe Lightroom or Microsoft Publisher. All final decisions were made by me and I am the sole creator of the magazine. I give thanks to Ethan for allowing me to take pictures of him for my magazine and appearing on the latest edition of Fleur Sombre.