Survey Analysis.

To research what people my age want in a general interest website, I formulated a survey with 28 questions. I had 16 responses which all helped me further my ideas for content and design. Here is a link to my questionnaire: http://www.kwiksurveys.com?s=OJMHOF_a226b205

(I made a small spelling mistake which could not be rectified. On question 3 - interests it is LEARNING, not LEARING!)

Results

1. Age

8 people I asked were aged 16-18. 2 were 10-15. 3 were 19-25. 1 was 25-30 and 2 were over 30. This shows that my main audience would be aged 16-18 with possible 10-15 year olds. This makes it easier for me as I am in that age category. 

2. Gender

11 were female, 5 were male. This doesn't make a difference to my choice in website as I intend to make it uni-sex.

3. Interests

9 people chose socialising, 7 chose both Art and Sport, 6 chose music, 4 chose Learning and Television, 1 chose Gaming. Other answers were keeping fit, dance, drama and theatre.

4. How often do you listen to music?

10 said they listen to it nearly every day, 3 chose everyday, 3 chose whenever the radio is on. No one chose hardly ever. From these results I will include a heavy emphasis on music as it seems to be a popular topic for every age range.

5. What genre of music do you like?

8 people chose Indie Bands, Rock and Singer/Songwriters. 5 people chose R'n'B and Acoustic and 3 people chose Screamo and I don't like any particular genre. From this result, my music section on my site will be very diverse to suit a wide range of tastes.

6. Whats your favourite genre of music?

4 people chose rock as their favourite genre, 3 chose Acoustic, 3 chose R'n'B, 3 chose Indie Bands. 1 chose Screamo, 2 chose I don't have a favourite and no one chose Singer-Songwritters.

7. Please suggest your favourite music channel?

4 chose MTV, 3 chose Kiss, 4 chose Channel4, 2 chose Viva, 3 chose The Box, VH1 and I don't watch music channels.

8. What would you want to read most about music?

10 chose that they would like to read about the charts, 7 chose collaborations within the industry, 8 chose new-upcoming artists, 6 chose tour dates and 5 chose gossip. From these results I will include a wide range of music-related information.

9. How often do you watch TV?

7 chose everyday, 5 said hardly ever, 4 said whenever my favourite programs are on and none said never. I will include a page dedicated to television.

10. What TV channels do you watch the most?

7 chose General Interest, 7 chose Teen, 6 chose Film, 6 chose Music, 3 chose Sport, 3 chose Documentary, 4 chose Geography and other answers were BBC1.

11. Whats your favourite genre to watch?

4 said Thriller, 4 said TV Drama, 4 chose Teen, 3 chose reality and 1 chose Period Drama.

12. What content would you want to read online about TV?

8 said Gossip, 7 said spoilers, 6 said new upcoming shows, 4 chose listings, 3 said trailers and 2 chose links to older shows.

13. Question 13 was a accidental duplicate of Question 12 and when I realised, my questionnaire was already published :(

14. What types of websites do you visit most? 

9 chose Social Networking sites, 9 chose TV/Music, 5 chose shopping, 4 chose gossip and 2 chose sport. This is helpful as TV/Music is one of the most popular choices!

15. What specific elements would you like to see on a general interest website?

as this was such a large question I have copied the table of results. Same for the following Q's.

Celebrity Gossip	2	3.28%
Catch Up shows	7	11.48%
Music Gossip	7	11.48%
Competitions	6	9.84%
TV Schedule	7	11.48%
Film Information	6	9.84%
Articles/Interviews	4	6.56%
Games	3	4.92%
News	3	4.92%
Forums	2	3.28%
Adverts	4	6.56%
Downloads	4	6.56%
Galleries	5	8.20%
Options to listen to music	1	1.64%

I will try and include all of these chosen elements.

16. What features do you enjoy most on a website?

Photos	7	21.88%
Information/gossip	5	15.63%
Music	8	25.00%
Links to other sites	2	6.25%
Games	3	9.38%
Videos	6	18.75%
Forums	1	3.13%

17. What features don't you like/annoy you?

I will take all of this into consideration.

18. How often do you read magazines?

I chose to include a magazine question due to the amount of advertising and photographs included in them, I wanted to see what people liked about these elements, and disliked.

19. What types of magazines do you read?

20. What magazine genre is your favourite?

21. What attracts you to buying a magazine?

22. When buying a magazine, what do you most like to see included?

23. Do you take notice of advertisements?

24. What do you like in advertisements?

25. What is most important in an advertisement, in your opinion?

26. Do you read newspapers?

27. If yes, how often?

28. Would you visit a teen channel?

These results really helped my planning. Using these closely I will now decide what sections to include and what info, photos etc. 

Newspaper Advertisement Analysis for new TV Channel/Program

E4 Skins Advertisement. 

This is advertising a new TV program coming to the Teen Channel E4. I found this on the internet and found it appropriate to analysis as it fits in with the criteria of the teen age group. The advertisement is bright and catches your eye straight away. I had bright pinks, oranges and yellows overlaying the photo, making the character and logo stick out even more. Freddie, the boy in the advertisement, is the main character of Skins, therefore as soon as you see this in a magazine you know it means new series of Skins! The advertisement is simple and clean, a photo of one of the characters that is widely associated and often the favourite of the show, and a small section of the bottom is taken up with the logo, name and times. It's not too busy and gets straight to the point. The photo gets you excited for the new series, as they write "brand new series, so you would be a fan already. Freddie is jumping, looks excited and happy making us want to tune in to see what happens to make him this way. Plus, as its taken during the night we know more action and mischief will happen when the sun goes down, just like the previous series. The big purple '4' stands out, we immediately know its on E4 as the conventions of this channel is the colour purple and white. Next to it is the name of the channel in large, simple font that jumps out to us. 

In all, all the conventions of E4 are there - the purple, the white, the 4, the interesting photos etc. Every bit of information is there, in a clear straight-to-the-point, entertaining way. I like this advertisement and will look at techniques to make my own in a similar, eye-catching way. 

The Inbetweeners Movie Advertisement.

Again, I found this off the internet. This was a all over advertisement, included in newspapers, magazines, internet, billboards and more. This is an advert for The Inbetweeners movie, following on from the series. This is a synergy and convergence between the TV company that made the series and the Film company that decided to make the movie after the very last series. The poster is split into 3, known as the Rule of Thirds. On the bottom section is the photograph of the 4 characters. They're all portrayed in the conventional way that we all see them in the series. They're the centre of the poster, as they're right in the forefront. In the middle section is the name of the movie. Its large and in a neon effect, making it look like a sign you'd see somewhere like Las Vagas or Magaluf (where they actually went.) We're instantly drawn to the title, and for most people thats all you need to see - you know what it is as soon as you read it. Below the title is all the details, including the line "in cinemas everywhere", showing that is widely sort after and will be a great success, as many films don's make it to the majority of cinema screens. The very top section holds "This summer 4 boys become men." We're instantly intrigued, as we see the 4 boys grow through their 2 years of Sixth Form, and we want to see them grow into men.

The background is bright and eye-catching, showing they're in a bar area on holiday. From this we know the film will be action packed and hilarious. The poster includes all the details needed, its bright and over the top but it works, as the 4 characters are over the top as are their antics. It draws you in and gets you excited for the film, i like the colours used. 

Harry Potter advertisement. 

Agan I found this in a newspaper. It is the advertisement for the new Harry Potter film, Half-Blood Prince. This is a great advertisement in many ways as it displays so many conventions of the Potter series. Firstly you have the main character of Harry, half in shadow suggesting the film will be full of mischief, drama, mystery and suspense. It's an extreme close up so we focus on him. His glasses are also convention and in them is a image of Albus Dumbledore, one of the characters. Below is a quote that only fans of the books would understand. This reaches out to them in a way, as they already know what happens and are looking forward to seeing it transformed onto the screen. This and the HP6 is in the Harry Potter font, widely recognised all over the world.

The colours are dark, suggesting pain, anguish, suffering etc. There are hints of blue suggesting sadness and tragedy. The rain is also a convention of miserable moods and shadows are eerie. This is a great advertisement as it draws your eye, although it is a dark advertisement you're still drawn to the colour. 

Double Page Advertisements

To understand advertisement on certain products better, I've studied 3 advertisements from 3 completely different magazines for diversity.

Pirates of the Caribbean.

This advertisement is from the July 2011 edition of Empire Magazine, one of the leading film magazines. As it's situated on the very first two pages, this advertisement catches your eye immediately, if not because of the content and colours.

Firstly, the choice of colour catches my eye first (in life, the colours are much more vibrant). Although it is a photoshoped photograph, it's made to look like a watercolour painting by using waters colours that blend - using bright yellows, dull blues and greens. The use of greens and blues signify the sea, which is the main base of the film as it's about pirates. All the colours blend in together, and although you have the fire on the boat, the massive crashing wave in the forground and the dark looking clouds, the advertisement is quite peacefull.

There is a lot of symbolism towards the film in the details included; the boat, sea, mermaids and beach. This gives the reader a chance to work out what the film is about. They've also included the DVD cover in the foreground, making in a part of the picture as its slightly buried in sand and casts a shadow.

The fonts used are simple and easy to read but does give the feeling of olden day pirates. The words chose are also very significant. "Jack's back!" and "Re-live the Trilogy. Now at a price you'll treasure!". Both draw your attention and they've also included the logo on the bottom.

I like this advetisement as its got all the details needed, the colours and font go with the subject matter and its very eye-catching.

Balenciaga.

This double page spread is from the March 2011 issue of Vogue. I chose this as it could relate more to my website than any other subject matter; advertisement of clothes/accessories. I chose this advert as it stood out to me; its very artistic and clean, it isn't over run with quotes, fonts or too much colour. It's subtle, pretty and easy too look at, it also gets straight to the point.

Firstly, on the left they've included many random objects standing around a perfume bottle with 'Balenciaga Paris' written on it - this is clear that the advertisement is about this new perfume. The objects around the perfume are simular colours, and although that can sometimes take the attention of the sole object, it compliments and draws the eye. On the opposite page is a model, wearing a simple elegant outfit sitting on the edge of a pool, where the perfume bottle is placed on a lilipad off-centre. They've used the same font throughout, only using words that a nessecery and even though it is large, it doesn't dominate the whole advertisement. I also like the use of the white boarder around the photos.

Jamie Oliver.

Lastly, I chose this advertisement from Jamie Olivers magazine, from September 2011. What caught my eye was the vibrant colours that stand out straight away. Although people may say its a article, I think the set up of the whole thing is great. I like the font at the top which is made to look like part of the talbe cloth, and how it blends in well. I love the colours from the sardine tins and the way the photograph was set up. It all looks very vintage, running with the 'vintage sardines' theme. There is a varitety of colours and shades, shapes and fonts but its not over-whelming as they're all mainly simple. I reall like the set up and techniques used and will look at this for ideas when it comes to my own advertisement.

Analysis of TV Listings

1.

The first TV listings I looked at was from 'TV & Satellite Week', the weekly magazine that gives you details about whats on and where.The main channels are included on the first page of the day - this day is Friday. Each channel has its own separate column, spreading down the page where its seperated into hourly slots after 7pm as this is when TV becomes more popular to watch. To make things easier to read, 8pm and 10pm is shaded in a light blue, so the listings don't get mixed up with 7pm and 9pm.

Below the channels name, they have included the channels TV number for either Sky, Virgin, Freeview or Freesat, very helpful as you're not flicking through channels trying to find it. They also include a column named 'Local Variations'. This is, for example, when the local news is on or perhaps a local program for Wales which wouldn't be shown in Scottland. This is helpful and becomes more specific to certain areas.

Where the magazine layout is concerned, the days are organised by colours along the side of the magazine. Saturday is blue, Sunday is pink, Monday is a teal blue, Tuesday is purple, Wednesday is red, Thuesday is purple and Friday is green. This is a much quicker way to find the day you want, and seperates the days from one-another.

Although a lot of organisation and information is included in this magazine spread, its far to busy for me and it lacks colour and entusiasmn, something I hope to include in my own TV lisiting/magazine spread.

2.

This double-page spread again is from 'TV & Satellite Week', but this time its advertsiting the 28 best shows on TV. Just like the days of the week down the side, the boxes are in matching colours - showing a running theme throughout the magazine creating continuity and familiarity from the readers. The layout is simple, 7 coloums running down the page making it easy to follow. They include pictures of the shows advertised, so the reader is drawn to a certain show if they like the look of the photo, or recognising a familiar face. Below the photos they include the same, TV channel, time and a quick description on the show. They've also included many new shows, showing they support new up-coming TV programmes making them very up to date. I like the layout, the colour scheme, the use of photos and the simplicity of the fonts used.

3.



Lastly, this is from the same magazine but a completely different double-page spread. Where as the other 2 were focused on a variation of channels and TV shows, this is dedicated to the new Strictly Come Dancing shown every Friday on BBC1 at 9pms. On the bottom left they've included a little bit of information about SCD, including lines like "So who's hot to trot, and who's got two left feet" to get viewers to tune in.

They're use of the main header "Ballroom glitz" is really good and effective. It makes the show sound glamourous, especially with the use of bold to empasise 'glitz', people will watch to see the glitzy outfits which will be over the top. To acompany the interessting title, they've included a photo which dominates most of the page, including the stars taking part dressed up in their over the top, glitzy costumes creating an exciting feel as it looks like something you cant miss. Next to the people, they include numbers which you follow to the bottom white box where details and quotes are included. All this information and photos make you feel very into the show before it starts. The layout is clean, the font is easy to read, the colours aren't OTT and the information is very interessting.