There are many different social groups which the magazine media groups target. They do this by seeing what appeals most to the individuals as a whole in the groups in terms of advertising, content and pricing. In general as these people are set inside these different social groups, they obviously have the same interests and mentality. By catering to the needs and these interests of the social groups, the media companies can create a product which is topical as well as vitally relevant.
This psychographic method of classifying offers a wide range of options for the media groups to aim at. For example the consumer personality types show that 'succeeders' have more money to spend but don't feel the need to. These can then be cross referenced with the socio-economic groups which is the way that these media groups find out the spending habits of their target audience in association with their income thus their professions. The demographic groups also are aknowledged which I observed in detail when researching prior to the construction of my own music magazine. IPC Ignite Media show on their website the intentional target audience and provides evidence and an image of the average consumer.
- 65% Male*
- 50% 16-24*
- 23% 25-34*
- 79% ABC1*
The source from IPC also states :'Our readers are passionate about music and as a result of their close relationship with the site content they are far more responsive to advertising'.
In my magazine I could note the general trends of the NME consumers as my magazine followed a similar alternative/indie rock genre as mentioned in my initial planning. The definition of alternative rock being : "a broad category of popular rock music typically regarded as somewhat out of the mainstream and variously including elements of punk rock, heavy metal, folk music etc."
Using 'Channel 4 Tribes' I was able to specify my target audience to a number of groups and then from here establish a direction in which to head in. 'Tribes' showed me the specification of these complex social groups and also allowed me to research these general trends in their lifestyle as mentioned. Clothing was very important to look at as this essentially is a high focus point for the younger audience I would be targeting. By looking at several alternative magazines I noted the general style was unique to each artist throughout. Indie style is stereotypically scruffy etc. which can be said. I needed to provide the balance between casual and stylish at the same time. By making my model wear the lumberjack-esque shirt the audience can appreciate the casual appearance for example as already explained in Question 1. 
In my research, I first looked at Florence from Florence and the Machine in NME. Her feature was classic with a retro feel which gave the story some sort of character and independence. With the double page spread with Teddy Flint I used the coat which was smart and resembled also the season. This was noted from a 'NME' front page with Alex Turner and Miles Kane both wearing a similar style of outdoorwear as well as a previous front cover of 'Mojo' magazine (right). I then took the retro theme to a similar stage by placing a Fred Perry polo in the frame which has reference all the way back to the 80s and is also currently popular in the fashion world especially to the psycho-graphic group of 'aspirers' and the 'mainstreamers'. The snapback cap is easily identifiable as a growing trend in the alternative/indie scene as well as hip hop.
My shot types were mostly mid shots (waist upwards). It can be said that most of the magazines I looked at are slightly more zoomed in although there are many in a similar stance to mine. My model looks confident in his own skin and shows presence not only on the front page but also on the double page spread. His pose is one that resembles the arrogant personality that he is trying to portray. This is then balanced out by the cheeky shot of the contents image of Jimmy Daniels just to make it not too seriously taken. I do think it is majorly important that the front image is in fact the strongest throughout as it provides the key to the whole magazine. By adding the drop shadows it became far more distinctive and also gave the feeling that he was standing against a clean backdrop. Like this Kasabian cover on Q the darker colours are made more bold by enhancing them which subsequently makes the two main musicians stand out more than the two girls next to them. The drop shadows than be seen effectively working on the girls' legs. The lighting is high key almost always as well on the front and feature pages which shows my reference to current magazines of similar genres. The layouts are very similar too with a column style in my own work and add touches which were inspired by other magazines. It is the smaller things that appeal and relate to the current alternative audience which I was aiming my magazine at. You can see these trends throughout my work. 
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