Primary research is research you gather on your own from observations which could help my idea as I will be able to watch someone make a magazine so I can take some of there tips and try and add it to my magazine. Another example of primary research is online surveys which will help my idea as I will be able to ask my target audience what they would like to see in a cricket magazine.

Secondary research is research you gather information from other sources as it is less time consuming than primary research but I will have to fact check everything that I research as it could be wrong. Some examples of secondary research are books which would help me with my idea as I can read information that I could write about in my project. Another example is websites which is quick and easy to get information as other people have done it already this would also help as it is less time consuming and it gives good information.

Quantitative data and qualitative data are both very key for my idea as they both help my project better. Quantitative is data to do with numbers and statistics for example a survey which would help with my idea as I can use it as primary research as well. However qualitative is data that is words and articles which you could find from books and websites and can help my idea as this can help with secondary research.

Similar Products

I have done similar products as I can compare other products that are similar to mine but not exactly the same as my product is unique. The three products I am going to research and compare with each other are 442 and The Cricketer and the last one is Chelsea Football Official Annual 2025.

The first product is 442 which is the most popular football magazine in the UK it has loads of information about football with loads of interviews and player profiles which gets people talking about the magazine which is what I want with my magazine. The front cover is very appealing to the eye especially it has Scotland players on so It will only appeal to people that are Scotland fans but in my magazine I would like it to appeal to all people that are interested in cricket. The parts of this magazine I will be taking away is the layout of the magazine as it is like a newspaper and a magazine all together which would appeal to my audience. This very similar to the Cricketer as it is a magazine/newspaper and the pictures match what with the information on the same page. On the other hand the Chelsea annual and preview of the up and coming season is more like a book as it is a hard book unlike the magazine like paper. Although it has the same style of content and the layout is similar to the others. This product can help me develop my product as I can use some of the ideas they have in these products in mine to make it better and more entertaining for the reader to carry on reading.

The next similar product is the cricketer which is a magazine/newspaper as the layout is very formal and aimed at a more older audience. To the eye it is very good as the pictures are action shots which are interesting which I will also incorporate into my magazine. A good section I could add to my magazine is the news of the cricketing world while making the magazine. Also a big part of the magazine is the stats of the players that are performing well at the time. Even though it is a cricket magazine it has a section about all the sports around the world which would make my magazine appeal to everyone who likes sports which they can go to the back of the magazine. They also have adverts I will also put them into my magazine, and they have a history section which I will add as it will be a big area I will cover for the history of the ashes. There are a lot of similarities between this magazine and the other products as they all have a similar layouts and same action shots incorporated into the magazine which is a talking point for the readers. The difference between all three are the Chelsea magazine is informal as the others are aimed at a older audience. This product will help me develop my product as the same content is for both and it is a successful product so if I can make it look sort of like the cricketer it will be a successful product, but I do have to incorporate all three.

The final similar product is Chelsea annual 2025 which is the sort of style I would like to have my magazine as it is a preview of the season upcoming and the history of Chelsea football club. This annual has a lot of information about the season before and the upcoming season which I will be incorporating into my magazine all about the latest ashes stats and facts. In this product they have posters of football players which is a good idea I can add to my product for people to put on there walls. As well as the other two magazines they have a couple of pages about the women’s side of the sport, which this will help me attractive another audience. There is a difference between all these products as more are more formal than others such as the cricketer and 442 is formal and aimed at an adult audience and there is a lot more information than the Chelsea annual which its information is easy to digest for a younger audience which I have to come into the middle of both of them. This product will help me develop my project as I will take some of the Chelsea football annual ideas into my idea. The best part of this product is the player profiles which I will add to my project as it will make it better.

All these products will help my project be the best it can be as there will be similar parts of there magazines in my magazine. This research as helped as I have now seen what a professional magazine looks like so I can try and match the same quality. From these three products to help my product i will have to grab some of there ideas to make mine better. The cricketer has a newspaper feel when reading it with the columns and i really like the look of that idea and i will incorporate it into my magazine.  With the Chelsea preview book there is a section that reviews a player which is really cool and i will definitely need to do that with my magazine as i review the players that are available to play in the ashes this will develop my magazine a lot. Finally with the 442 magazine they have action pictures of people playing football and i will need to have that when i am talking about a specific topic which will elevate my product to the next level.

Audience research

With my audience research I created a questionnaire and a survey which is primary research and I asked questions to see who are my target audience is and to see what they would like to read in a cricket magazine. My main target audience is under 18 to 25 years old, but there were some that answered that they were over 25 years old so there will be a older audience so I will have to think about them as well as the younger audience. This will help me structure my magazine to suit my target audience. Also in the questions I asked if people watched cricket and 58% said they didn’t watch cricket which I hope with this magazine if they read it will convince them to watch cricket which I am trying to aim for in my magazine. Furthermore I also asked if they read magazine and it was 50/50 so hopefully if one of the people who said no reads it and says to there friends to read it so it can grow even further and more people get involved in cricket. As the ashes are between England and Australia I wanted to know if my audience were English or Australia so I asked them and 90% said they were English and 10% said they were Australia so I will predominately aim it at English fans but also have a section for the Australia fans. Then I asked my audience what would they like to see in a cricket magazine and I got responses that will help me develop my idea so I can make  my magazine for my audience and make it interesting for them to read. The answers I got was player profiles which is a key part of my magazine so the people know who will be playing in the ashes and they can familiarise with the players and see similarities between them and the players to gain inspiration ton play cricket and be like there favourite players. Another thing that was mentioned was historical games which is a good idea as there has been some controversial games in the past that has even got political as the English prime minister got involved. Another question I asked was who is your favourite cricket player and I will be able to do in depth player profiles on them as some of them are retired and I can make a special segment for them. One of the big things as well in my magazine is the Ashes which is what the whole magazine is about I asked who do you think will win and I will able to have a section with who do fans think will win the ashes which I can get people talking about and interested in the ashes. In all the other magazines I was researching they had different sports section which I will also add and I ask my audience what sports they would like to see in my magazine and the most popular one was football,F1 and there were a couple different ones such as ice hockey, rugby, American football and Esport. This research has helped me understand what my audience want to see in a cricket magazine and who my target audience and my aim for this product is to get more people interested in cricket and for them to get involved.

Content of product/Historical research  

The main information for my product will be player based and team based which will get off the BBC bitesize which I have researched and there is loads of information on the website about the history of England cricket which it will be a big part of my project. As the ashes started in 1882 as the first ashes was won by Australia and that the ashes were from a bail used in the 3^rd match and was inside the urn that is still the trophy now one of the smallest trophies there is in sports. As the ashes have progressed through the years it is a symbol of rivalry between England and Australia and has had some controversial moments and some funny and iconic moments every year. It has become of the best competitions in the world every two years. There have been 70  Ashes series so far and it is nearly a 50/50 split between as Australia have won 34 and England have won 32 ashes. To look at the ashes coming up I have researched BBC sport which shows where each test is happening this year and I can further research the stadiums and have a full section of the magazine. I am going to have section for each stadium that are going to be played at so I can add some details of past games there. As most magazines have sections that different sports so I will look on Sky Sports so I will be able to see what sports is happening at the time so it will be relevant to the time. This research will help my product as it will add another aspect to my magazine for others who don’t like cricket. Another part of my magazine which is a big part is player profiles and i have used the EBC website for the player profiles for the England team and Cricket Australia for the player profiles. As this is very vital research for my project as the player profiles have to be perfect so I don’t give the wrong information to the readers. This has helped my project massively as it can help with with all my content for the whole magazine as I need to have the right information to make sure the readers can spread the information they learn to there friends so they can talk about and create conversations, which is the aim and for people to get involved cricket if they have never watched it. The ashes started in 1882 which started when Australia beat England which  then started when the ashes were made that went back to Australia and they play every two years to gain the ashes or re gain them. This competition is the pinnacle of cricket and is the best competition in cricket history there is always a controversial part of the ashes that gets the prime minters involved from each country. This research will help me as i will know what has been happening in the past of the ashes and i can create a section in my magazine about the past of the ashes as it will give different perspectives and i can compare the past to the present. There has been multiple times where there has been controversial decisions in the past of the ashes where some prime ministers got involved and even celebrities.

Market Research

The market of magazines has been up and down for years are most magazine companies have transitioned to making magazines online instead of printed. As I researched why they were not selling as much as online ones as NatWest had there own investigation as they said that since 2011 magazines have gone down 65%. As most have stopped publishing there magazines or have switched to online magazines. On the other hand NatWest asked adults in the UK if they would pick up a print magazine and half said they would, but niche and specialist titles have become more popular. As this research as shown that to get people to read there magazines they need to balance there delivery of content as some people still like to read print magazines and others like online magazines. This research has helped me develop my product as I will be able to choose if I would like to have a print magazine or an online magazine which I can ask my target audience so it would be tailored to them. As time goes on cricket has been progressing as the audience become less patient and want to have shorter games with more excitement. Which is t20 and one day games which lasts for 50 overs a side, as most cricket pundits say it is the modern saviour of the game. As I have researched how cricket has become more popular as there is no point in writing a magazine that no one wants to read. I researched cricket world as they have the stats of the new fanbase that is happening in England as in 2019 at the cricket world cup final over 4 million people in Britain watched it which is the most it has had before then. This shows the ‘the old boring game’ young people used to call cricket is becoming more popular as it is evolving with the modern generation as it is creating more superstars which children look up to and get more involved in. This research has helped me see how cricket is still evolving and that the sport is till popular to make a magazine and hopefully I can convince more people to watch cricket. The history of magazines has a long history as the first magazine was created by a German publisher in 1663. Then it was spread all around Europe which contained political matters then there were reviews treating literacy. Then in the 1900s there were magazines for entertainment and family entertainment. Then suddenly there was a magazine for everybody, whatever they were interested in. The growth of the public's interest of political matters and social affairs by both classes. In the late 1900s and early 2000s magazines have been benefiting as the production of inexpensive paper and the invention of rotary press and the halftone block. As magazines get more popular it means that people can get advertisements in the magazine so they can get more business and hopefully make more money. This is how mainly the magazine publisher makes money or by selling the product as monthly issues. As time goes on there have been more developments in magazines such as colour photographs and there is a decline in power and popularity of critical review. As technology has advanced magazines are online now and most people buy it online so they don't must waste paper. This researched has helped me as i can see how far magazines have come from when they were just writing and i am trying to create a new trend of paper magazines. In my product i will be talking about the history of the  ashes which will help me in my product as i will have to get the information right in my magazine so i am not misleading my readers. This researched is going to help me develop my project to become the best it can as I would like my magazine to be the best I can make as I have to make sure what I am talking about is still relevant to todays climate.

Theories

The agenda theory is a big part of the 21^st century as it can have a massive impact on social media and what people believe what they see on social media. Although it can be harmful if used the wrong way it can be a positive as long as you are telling people harmless and true news there will be no harm. As I have researched the agenda setting theory on helpful professor which it says that the agenda setting theory sets what people think about what is happening in the world and the media can shape social discourse. As this can help my project so I don’t fall down the rabbit hole of telling people the wrong information and they talk to their friends about it so they will spread information that isn’t true. Another theory I will use in my project will be uses and gratification theory which is how different people take the same information in which this has become more popular as the modern era has advanced as during WW2 the hypodermic needle theory was used in the propaganda which people thought this was happening but on the other hand it wasn’t. I have been researching ThoughtCo. All about the uses of gratification as different people have consumed media for different reasons such as habit, companionship, relaxation, passing the time, escape and lastly information. Which this shows lots of people process information differently and I will have to tailor that to my magazine. As this research has helped me develop my idea as I have seen how people see different information, so I have to make sure I make it all of them points for people to find it interesting. To create a magazine, I will have to think about the colour scheme that I would like to have in my magazine. To create a successful magazine I will have to create a magazine that is appealing to my audience so I created a questionnaire to get primary research to see what my audience want my magazine to look like and they choose competitive spirit which is assertive and bold and sure to get the blood pumping. With this being my colour scheme, it will hopefully be appealing for people to read. This has helped my research as I now know what colour my magazine will be as it was choose by my target audience. To go along with the colour scheme I have to research front theory which is a key part of any project as it can make the mediocre design look amazing and the and a beautiful design look horrible. Different fonts are suitable for different ages as different readers perceive text differently as I researched designmodo which has helped me understand that I need to make sure the front I use is the one my audience would want to read as it is them who is going read it. To see what font my target audience would like to see in a magazine i have asked them which font they like best between Aptos black, Amasis MT pro black, Arial Black. The one they picked was Aptos black which will help me with my project as I know what my target audience want my font to be in my magazine. This research has developed my project as I know what colour and font I will put in my magazine and I also have to make sure my information can be taken in by anyone who reads it for however they want to take the information in.

Equipment and resources

To create my magazine I will need to have a program that will help me progress with my project which is indesign and photoshop. I have choose to research these two as they are the ones where most people use to make a magazine as I used it to make a magazine in year 1 and it was successful so I will continue to use them programs. Indesign is a great program to create a magazine as you can create what ever you imagine your magazine to look like. As I researched help.adobe which has shown me the basics of how to use the program again as it has been a long time since I used it last time I used it and it would help getting refresh as I have also watched a video on the basics of indesign to get me prepared to use it for my FEP. The video was very helpful as I now know what I need to do when I go on production to make my magazine. Another programme I will use for my project is photoshop which can help me make my adverts that can go in my magazine and make it look like a proper industry magazine. To help me research photoshop I have watched a video on how to get the basics of how to use the program to edit photos. This will help my project as I will be able to develop my project to the best of my ability to make sure I get a high grade. To take pictures for my magazine will be using my phone which is a 14 pro max which will help me get the best quality pictures and I will also use the help of other photographers and I will credit them in the picture. This research has helped me develop my project as I now know how to use the software to make my product and later on I will create a front cover to show I have understood the videos I have watched and how it has helped my project.

Skills and abilities

I have researched skills and abilities because I will need some skills for creating my magazine and I will hopefully develop some skills while creating my magazine, the website I have researched is indeed career guide which is a helpful website for skills and abilities. The main skill I will need while creating my magazine is writing which is a soft skill and the biggest part of creating a magazine as I will need to have the right grammar and proofread my articles to make sure they make sense. The next skill I will need to make a magazine is subject knowledge as if I don’t know what I am talking about the readers won’t know what I am talking and if I’m not passionate about what I’m talking about I won’t put 100% effort into the magazine which will show at the end if it is a terrible product. A key part of this FEP is to time management which is a soft skill when on production as I won’t be able to get an extension as if I manage my time perfectly, I will come out with a good product. This will help me in my product as I will be able to have time to evaluate if I want to change anything as if I do it at the end I wont be able to change anything as it will be last minute. As I create my product I will also learn skills while on production such of IT skills which I will be able to learn as I have to use InDesign and photoshop which will test my creativity. This will help me as I create my product as I will have to spend most of my time on a computer and hopefully create an amazing product. Another skill I will learn while on production is a hard skill which is adaptability as I have to adapt to anything that changes especially if an interview cancels on me and if I have to change to design of my magazine when my photos don’t fit on the page. This research has helped me develop and make me focus on my product and what I need to do to make a great product.

Types of planning

Planning is one of the most important parts of creating a magazine as the readers can tell if you didn’t put time in to plan out the magazine as planning takes a weight of your shoulder as you already know where your going to place your pictures and articles on the pages. I researched the different types of planning and one that stood out was flatplan which is a a easier version of how to plan your magazine. As it makes constructing a magazine easier and provides a birds eye view of all the pages for you to see what information is going where. It also makes sure you don’t put the same information twice on different pages as you can see on the same page all of the pages to see what goes where. It is a brief explanation of each page which is easy to read and doesn’t take up much storage as you can create one on a a4 piece of paper. This has really helped my product as this can be one of the ways I can plan my magazine and for it to be successful as it makes it more simple for me to read and understand. Another way of planning is to create each page on a A4 sheet of paper and draw where each segment of the page is going to go but this planning will take longer than flatplan. On the other hand you can add all the little details to the page that you cant with the flatplan which overall will make it a better option for planning but it will take for too long to do. In the end this research has identified which research is available and which I am going to and I will plan with flatplan and for some of the pages I will draw the page out on a A4 sheet of paper to physically see what I am going to create.

Editing Techniques

While creating or just finished writing articles in my magazine I will have to look over my articles to make sure they make sense as I will have to ensure proper grammar and punctuation, so the readers are able to read and understand. This makes the product at a better standard and hopefully make me get a high grade in the end. Another way I can edit my project when I have completed my articles is with revising it with Clarity and Consistency which is trying to not use the same adverbs over and over again as it doesn’t relay the message to the reader and they might get bored when reading the articles. This will help my product as will be able to keep the audience engaged and want to carry on reading the whole magazine. Also I can Check for jargon which is trying to not use technical language unless I have to ensure the audience can understand the language used in the articles so they don’t give up reading it as they don’t understand some of the words they are reading. For the readers to understand what I am talking about I will have to use subheadings to organise content as if they don’t know if I have skipped topic they will be confused. If they get confused they might think cricket is confusing and going back to one of the goals of this whole project is to make more people interested in cricket and more people to watch the upcoming ashes. To go along with one of my theories I need to use easy fonts to read for my readers or they wont read my product as it could also appear unprofessional as this can engage my readers if they can read the font. This has helped me developed my product as it has put some clarity on what I will need to make my product a success and help me get the high grade.

Production techniques

To make my product I will have to research how to make it and in what order so I have researched The magazine production company which will help me develop my project. As to help me create my project is to plan out the magazine which the most common part of planning a magazine is flat planning which helps to see what will go in each magazine page. This will help as I know what I am doing for each page which will make me a step ahead which will help me in the future with time management. Magazine design and production is the next step of production and to see what design the whole magazine will look like and the design and colours as I have already researched the colour scheme and font style. As the front style I will be using is Aptos black and the colour scheme is competitive spirit which will be the main theme throughout the whole magazine. Also I will have to look for advertisements to go in my magazine as they are key to make my magazine more professional and to help businesses out and maybe get them more business but the adverts will have to be relevant to the magazine. Then I will have to prepare for output as I will have to have a pdf file with the whole magazine off to get it ready to send to the printer or online. I haven’t decided yet if it will be printed or online which is where most of magazines are now. This research has helped me with my product becoming the best it can as I now know what my production weeks will look like so I can make a successful magazine.

Inspirations / Industry professionals 

With my project being a magazine i have been inspired by the cricket magazine the cricketer which is what i am going to be basing most of my magazine as they have presented there magazine amazing and it really targets there audience which is what i am going to do with my product. As the columns of the magazine makes it look like a newspaper which is one of the main things i will be taking from there magazine. Another inspiration is the magazine 442 as it is the UK biggest sports magazine and it has player profiles and funny facts about players and just goes into really good detail about what ever topic they are talking about. Another magazine that has been inspiring me is The Chelsea Annual 2025 as it is a preview of the season which will help me as i am previewing the ashes so i base my magazine on there style of information and the player profiles. The last inspiration is Jo Kyte Sharp who is a teacher at Barnsley College and Jo is the head of our department and she is a creative genius and helped with the last magazine i made and really helped me pick this idea even if Jo hasn't said to make a magazine as last time i made it was awesome. Jo Kyte Sharp is also a industry professional as she is a freelance creative genius and has a lot of experience in the world of photojournalism which will help me take the right pictures and choose the right pictures for my magazine. This research has helped me with my project as this is where i started to think about doing the magazine and help me choose this idea.

Presentation of work

At the end of my project i will be presenting  my work off for family friends and UAL which i will try to show what i have been doing the whole time i have been creating my product and i will add some interactive element to the presentation. So i am able to make sure that my idea stands out and make sure people read the magazine and hopefully get a high grade as i have been researching how to present your work. As while i present my presentation i will have to make sure that i spread key messages while they are at my stand and hopefully as they look at my project they will be interested in cricket and want to to watch it and maybe even start playing cricket which is the aim of my project. Also i will need to make a impact to stand out from the others so people will go to my stand instead of others so i will also have to know my neighbours as i know where i need to be to stand out. This research has had an impact on my idea as i now now what i have to do to present my work after i have made it. We also went to a exhibition to see what an actual exhibition looks like so we can take inspiration and we took loads of pictures. 

Bibliography