Article Planning

I have decided that my article featured in my Double Page Spread is going to be structured as an interview with my model and it will be a feature story. As I have already decided in my Flat plan that my Double Page Spread will have a higher image to text ratio, as it was evident in my focus group that my "Target Audience" would prefer to see more image in a Double Page Spread as they feel it is more important. I therefore need to make sure that the article featured in my Double Page Spread needs to be not too long in length, but long enough to be still detailed and informative enough to make my target audience feel a personal connection with the artist featured, leaving them longing to know more about her.

Below is my plan for my article:


Article: 


What is your article about?

As mentioned above my article is going to be structured as an interview with my artist and it will be a "Feature Story"

Style:


What type of language will you use in order to suit your target audience?

I will use language that will obviously appeal to my target audience, as my target audience are teenagers the language used will be formal with colloquial terms added. The reason why I feel that it is important for my article to include colloquialism is because the general age of my target audience do not speak formal all of the time. Therefore if the article is wrote in the style of how my target audience talk, it is likely that the reader will feel a personal connection with the artist featured in the article because they can relate to them.

What sort of words are used by people featured in the article and magazine? 

After reading interviews from Kerrang! magazine for inspiration, I found that most of the artists do in fact use informal language and colloquialism such as:"Yeah", "Cool" "Stuff like that". They also use words relating to their music and performances such as: "Heavier. The artists featured also use personal pronouns to address the reader such as: "We want you". Again this makes the reader feel more personally connected with the artist featured in the magazine.

Are there any other words that relate to the music industry? 

Most of the interviews I've researched tend to either be about live performances or their upcoming albums, for example in an interview with Muse for Kerrang! magazine, they talk about what the audience should expect in their live shows: "It's going to be a lot heavier, with some pyrotechnics. Oh, and some inflateables too. Other interviews also include words relating to their instruments, venues and managers.

Numbers:


How many words are there in a similar published article? 

Generally, the articles on the double page spreads don't have more text than image (A higher text to image ratio). In terms of the word count there are generally no more than 150-200 words. If there were more words than image, then it's highly likely that the reader would lose interest in reading the article.

Before the start:


How can you make your article title grab attention?

In order to grab the reader's attention, The title is going to contain a quote from the article. This is so that the double page spread literally "Grabs" the reader's attention, As the quote will make the artist featured sound intriguing, then it's likely that the reader will be feeling obliged to read the rest of the article.

Will it play on words? 

As the title works as a quote it's likely that there wont be any play on words. But I may use alliteration on the subheading. For example "Symphony Ancient's Superstar speaks exclusively to Rock Out!"

Introductory Paragraph: 

The beginning of my article will work as an introductory paragraph that will be dramatic and appear as though the article is something that must be read. First of all, the first letter of the article will be in caps in a large font, to emphasize the importance of the article. Then the article will use language such as "The Rock industry's next biggest thing" "As I chat exclusively" and so forth.

Structure:

I aim to make sure that my article works very similar to a Newspaper in the sense that the most important content will be at the start. However the article may appear as though the the text featured is becoming of less importance. Therefore I should make sure that the text is "To the point" to ensure that the reader doesn't lose interest.

Ending:

The reader should feel as though what they have read is going to have a long term impact on them and that they will remember the story for years to come. Therefore in the ending of my article I am to sum up the article and say what the future holds for the band. I may also add something along the lines of "Symphony Ancient's new album is released on 14/03/11 and will be available to download on iTunes" as this tends to be a common feature in rock magazines such as Kerrang! and Rock Sound.

Extra Text: 

Although I did not include this in my flat plan I have decided that I am going to include a banner on the bottom right of my page that will include tour dates and the "Rock Out!" website so that the reader can access more information about the band if they feel the desire to do so. This is also a common feature in magazines of a Rock genre such as Kerrang! and Rock Sound as: articles are intended to make the reader feel longing to find out more about the specific person(s) featured. Therefore by adding a banner at the end which allows the reader to find out more about the artist featured if they wish to, this therefore satisfies the reader's desire and in the long term it means that they have enjoyed the magazine.