Research reflection

After taking on my primary and secondary research as well as receiving feedback from my FMP, i realised there were many things i didnt take into consideration which i should have. I have now realised i need to include things such as recce's and excessive amounts of research, thinking about every possible aspect of my magazine. However, it is all necessary.  Beginning my primary research i found my interview with a local magazine specialist most helpful, it gave me the confidence confirming that the age range i am aiming for my magazine to reach still read magazines, my questionnaire also helped however on reflection i believe that my questions were too vague and therefore next time i ask more in depth questions which will benefit me more. My primary research also pushed my confidence as my questionnaire stated that majority of those who answered it were more likely to prefer print based magazines over digital which also concludes that i have made the correct choice with my FMP, overall i believe that from my primary research both my questionnaire and interview really benefited me, helping me to understand what was popular in with the age range i am aiming for my magazine to reach as well as understanding that print is still in the mainstream.

Reflecting on my secondary research i believe that this part helped me the most when it came to the content of my magazine such as the layout i will be using, taking influence from other published magazines which had both text based articles and image based publications it helped me to understand and find a balance between the two which i will use for my own magazine, i will also use the magazines as influence when it comes to other aspects such as the fonts used and how they reflected on the style of publication it was. For example; a more formal magazine such as Vanity Fair uses a more formal font like Serif font where as a publication like Paper magazine uses a Regal Pro type face. My secondary research also helped me in the types of articles i plan to do, i wanted to mix things up by stretching my writing abilities to three different styles of writing, which i briefly spoke about in my secondary research blog, in pre planning the amount of articles i will be doing and a rough length of each size as well as how many image based pages i will have it can give me an understanding of the time frame i need to shoot, write and edit before sending to print. Another part of my secondary research was to look at inspiration for potential photography shoots, in doing this my creativity started to show, the inspiration i found i created into two moodboards to show my influence for both my front cover and page spreads. After looking at my photography research i have decided to go with a colour theme in contrast to previous plans to have a black and white cover followed by a bold coloured content inside however for my magazine to remain consistent i have gone with a colour theme instead.

All of the research i have done has been worth my time as i believe without out, it would not have been as thorough when it came to the consideration of my magazine. Without my research i believe i wouldn't have the influence to come up with my photography aspect as well as the content i want to include when it comes to my article writing. Alot of the influence for my article writing came from other bloggers who i enjoy but also from online websites and forums which those across the world can add an input and if i choose to add opinions or quotes from those websites i have found, i will ensure to quote them, adding all of the information of the website i used to ensure that i have not stolen any of the information, i will give credit where it is due. The research i have done is my finale push to be considerate of what needs to be thought of in my magazine, it has allowed me to expand my ideas in ways i wouldnt have thought of before thanks to the influence of my internet research, i was able to pin point ideas i really liked and consider ways i could incorporate ideas into my own magazine such as layout and new ways of filling pages without advertising which i believe will relate back to my target audience well.