Focus Group

Focus Group: Tayla, David, Saskia and Becca

I am going to be creating a small focus group so I can ask peoples personal opinions on my ideas for my magazine. I hope to use their criticisms and ideas to make improvements to my magazine so it can be successful.

Me: Hello, welcome to my focus group. Today I am going to be presenting my ideas to you and asking in what ways I could make improvements to them as well as what is good. My magazine is an indie magazine and to begin with I would like to discuss my star image; I’m going to be taking inspiration from the artist Lana Del Ray. Do you think my model, Grayce Durden, fits with her image?

Tayla: I think Grayce fits the image of Lana Del Ray perfectly because of her long hair and plump lips but I think you should try and avoid the generic look of an indie magazine where you dress Grayce in more modern clothing instead of retro.

David: Yeah I agree because putting your model in modern clothing doesn’t change the genre it just gives another outlook on the fashion of an indie magazine.

Saskia: I don’t love Lana Del Ray but if you take professional, good images I think it will look good.

Me: Ok, I will take that all on board. How do you think I should do the makeup of model?

Becca: I think you should ensure that you don’t put too much makeup on your model because she is very naturally pretty and you don’t want to influence young people that they need to wear makeup to look nice.

Saskia: Yes I definitely agree with Becca but I think it is okay to have bold eye makeup so she stands out more.

Tayla: I think a smoky eye would look nice.

Me: Yes I agree, I will definitely go for a more natural look. I can’t decide if I want to call my magazine Record or Sharp, What do you think?

David: I like ‘Record’ because I think you could really incorporate a retro theme in your magazine as it is an old way of playing music.

Becca: No I disagree, ‘Sharp’ is my favourite because I think it sounds edgy.

Tayla: I 100% agree with David because it sounds cool and fits the indie music magazine well.

Saskia: I like Record.

Me: Ok, next question. What do you expect from an indie music magazine?

Tayla: I expect a bold title that catches my eye.

Becca: I think you need a consistent colour scheme so it doesn’t look over crowded with different colours. When you have too many colours I think it can begin to look unprofessional.

David: I think that is important to have a cover photo which relates to an article in the magazine because it will make people want to look at the article.

Saskia: Yes, I agree with David and I also think cover lines that are bold and stand out to the possible reader are also important.

Me: Thank you; they are some really good ideas. Next, what type of question would you like me to ask Grayce for my double page spread?

David: I think you should ask lifestyle based question and how they got to where they are in there career.

Tayla: Maybe you could find out what her favourite songs are that she listens too.

Me: Ok. Finally, what is your opinion of the colour scheme, red, white and black?

Tayla: I love the colour scheme because it stands out to buyers.

Saskia: Yes I agree because the colours contrast each other.

David: I think it’s a very generic colour scheme but it works perfectly in an indie magazine!

Becca:  I also love the colour scheme.

Me: That’s great! Thank you so much for taking part in my focus group. It has been a great help to me and I will definitely be following some of your advice.