By Anna Foxabbott

The Brief“You have been commissioned by the

Northern Echo to produce a new magazine or newspaper product. Your product could be in any style or genre but it must be self financed through sales or advertising. You

must also produce your magazine for a specified audience segment within the 16

to 25 age group.”

How will I meet the brief?I have made my magazine fit the brief by doing the following:

Making a high quality product

Having an ABC1 audience

Making a “Women’s Fashion” magazine for 16-24 year olds

Filling a gap in the market

Making my product self financed through sales and advertising

Reader Profile

Female- 91%

Male- 9%

Average Age- 17

Age Group- 16-24

ABC1-72%

Aspirants

My readers may be quite brand orientated and trust the companies that they know. They may shop at places such as Adidas and own products from Apple.

My readers spend £50-£100 on clothing each month.

They typically shop at ASOS, Topshop and Zara.

Secondary Target AudienceMy secondary target audience are the Northern Echo readers.

Age 65+

I will accommodate to them by using no taboo language or slang, as this would be inappropriate for this audience.

I will include local links too, so that it appeals to the local readers and they feel although they can relate more to the articles.

I will ensure that the writing is clear and easier to read for the elderly.

Unique Selling PointThe Unique Selling Points of my magazine are:

A fashion magazine aimed for younger people

Containing affordable clothing that is accessible to students

A magazine which they feel although they can achieve the looks shown to them rather than it being something for them to aspire to.

Client ConstraintsThe IPSO is the Independent Press Standards Organisation and they work to ensure that the editors’ code of practice is being followed by journalists. They have a number of codes which must be followed by all journalists and editors, so I will ensure that I am following them all when making my magazine.

I must consider these codes:

Defamation

Slander/Libel

Contempt of Court

Copyright

“We are able to impose new sanctions, including the ability to determine the nature, extent and placement of corrections, when they are necessary in order to remedy a breach of the Editors' Code.”

www.ipso.co.uk/IPSO/

Genre ResearchI wanted to find out what magazines my audience liked to read.

I asked some people who were my target audience why they thought that Vogue was unsuitable for them.

“The clothes shown in the photoshoots are always so expensive and unwearable which makes it hard to get inspiration from the magazine.”

This tells me that there is a gap in the market as the audience are reading a magazine which is actually helpful for them in terms of fashion and style.

Genre Research

Genre ConventionI noticed many conventions and repeating features of my magazine’s genre.

Because of the topic of women’s lifestyle, the writing is more casual and more like a chat between friends than a formal informative article.

The models are generally young women

There is lots of alliteration used in the headlines of articles.

There are generally a lot of minimalist layouts which have quite a lot of white space to keep the articles looking clean.

Audience ResearchImagery

I will use models who are in the age group of my audience so that they feel although they can relate to them and wear the clothes themselves.

Colours

I will use a restricted colour scheme so that my magazine is more minimalist with a good aesthetic. But I will use bright colours as a feature to keep it interesting.

Language

I will use language which is interesting and keeps the attention of my readers with the use of jokes and alliteration.

Layout

I will have a 70:30 image to text ratio as I think that the images will be important for my articles as it will catch the audience’s eye and keep their attention whilst reading.

Mock UpsI created two mock ups to try out ideas that I had for a double page

spread. I then research to find out which one is most successful with my audience.

Mock Up 1“There are some gaps that could be

filled by a breakout box.”

“It doesn’t look like too much to read which I appreciate with articles.”

“The images link to the article which gives an explanation of them.”

“The voice of the narrator is very friendly and also chatty. It makes it more personal and makes you feel like you can recreate it yourself.”

“I think that the colours are very 70s and fitting with the subject of the dps. Although some of the colours clash sometimes.”

Mock Up 2“The colour scheme draws focus

to the pictures because there’s no colour anywhere else”

“There is a good balance of 50/50 text to image ratio”

“The fonts may look too sophisticated for the target audience. The main body text should be more sans serif and modern”

“You made some great points about simple things that everyday people can do to change their style to be a bit more 70s.”

Flat Plan- Front CoverBold mast-head which is eye-catching and

easy to notice on the stands.

Photo of model which is clear and bright. Model is in the age group of the reader so it is more appealing and relatable to them.

White background makes the image and sell lines stand out and gives a minimalistic feel to the cover.

Minimum amount of sell lines to make the cover look minimalist and not crowded.

Restricted colour scheme that fits in with the content of the magazine.

Same fonts used as the mast-head in the magazine which gives it continuity throughout.

Flat Plan- The Real Life of a Model Big title that is eye-catching

to the audience.

Interesting font used to make it stand out.

Photographs in polaroids to fit with popular trends and also fit with the theme of the article.

Minimalist colours in the fonts so that the focus is on the imagery.

Flat Plan- Top 5 Wardrobe EssentialsEasy to read article split up

into 5 simple steps.

Photo of a model in the age group of my audience so that they can relate to the photograph.

Interesting layout with bursts of colours to make it eye-catching and appealing.

Border around the article to give some dimension.

Flat Plan- Get the 70s Style50/50 image to text ratio

with them separated on each page so that it is easy to read.

Breakout quotes to make the article easily readable.

9 photos to keep the audience’s attention.

Interesting flowery font as the title so that it links in with the theme of the article.

Flat Plans- ContentsTitle features the logo so that there is

continuation throughout the magazine.

Images from the articles are features to make it all link in but to also direct the readers to those pages.

Article 1- Get the 70s Style This will be an easy to follow guide of how

to get the 70s style and make it wearable and affordable for my audience.

It will be easy to understand for all audiences whether they know much about fashion or not, so jargon will not be used to exclude anybody.

It will be in a low register and seem chatty with the audience as it will be direct to the reader so they feel like the journalist is talking directly to them.

I will use bright colours in the imagery so that the article is eye-catching and appealing to the reader.

Article 2- The Real Life of a Model This article is an interview with a young

model where she answers questions about the real life of a model.

She reveals information about her work and controversial current topics which will draw readers into reading the magazine.

As she is 18 years old, the readers will be able to identify with her more as she is within their age group.

The personality of Lara (the interviewee) comes through more as there are lots of direct quotes used so the reader can get an idea of her personality.

Article 3- Top 5 Wardrobe EssentialsUsing information I have gathered from first

and second hand research, I have created a list of 5 wardrobe essentials.

This will be a quick and easy to read article seperated into 5 sections which makes it quick to skim read it.

The imagery will be very clean and high quality so that the items of clothing can be seen well.

There will also be a breakout box to give more information and advise the reader how to shop each piece on a budget.

Rate Card for Advertisements

ExpenditureThis is the total expenditure of my product. By using local models, photographers and journalists, I have been able to keep the costs down for these people. The printing is the biggest cost on my product because it is a premium magazine so I have ensured to use a high quality of paper so that it is a premium product.

IncomeThe majority of my magazine’s income comes from sales as my magazine is premium so that price is quite high at £4.50. I worked out that there would be around 10,000 sales per issue due to the amount of people from The Northern Echo’s audience that mine would appeal to.

There is also a large income from advertisements as my magazine is a high percentage of these.

Commercial ViabilityPages: 32 pages

Adverts: 17 pages

Quality of my Magazine: Premium Quality

Paper Quality: 250 gsm for the cover and 135 gsm for the contents

Size of magazine: A4

DistributionI will sell my magazine in places such as:

Corner Shops

Supermarkets

Clothing stores

Total Profit

£30,230.89This is the total amount that my magazine makes after the expenditure costs and the distributors costs have been taken off of the income.

Any Questions?