Magazine Proposal

Here is my written Proposal, explaining my plans for my College Magazine.

Proposal– Samantha Ashman

I am planning to design and create a new college magazine. As I attend a college myself, I have chosen Southdowns College in particular. I have recorded my initial design and layout ideas and here is an explanation of my ideas and details about my magazine and its content.

Target Audience -   I plan to aim my magazine specifically at students in college education. This means an age demographic of teenagers, specifically aged 16 to 19 years old. Within this student group, I would particularly be aiming my magazine at new students to the college, in other words ‘freshers’. In order to create a strong sense of target audience, I have also decided to mostly aim my media product at a female audience, as from research, I have found that there are more female students at Southdowns College than males. However, some aspects of my magazine will suit both genders. This target audience is relatable to me, so I feel I will be able to create a magazine to suit it well. This age group are also typically interested in buying magazines regularly, so I will use this to my advantage when creating my magazine.

Decided Title -   Taking into consideration my target audience and the theme that my magazine will be an ‘academic journal’ consumer magazine, I needed to make a decision on which name I would title my magazine with. I have decided to name it ‘CHOICE’.
I think that this name was the most relevant, catchy and appropriate to the nature and target audience of my media product. The thoughts behind it include:

-          It reflects the ‘choices’ new college students have to make when they decide on which college to enrol in, how students choose to live their college lives and which paths they choose into their future careers.

-          Reflects the freedom of choice students of today have

-          It is easy to remember and short

-          It applies to all of the student target audience

-          Its catchy and memorable

-          It is a small word that can easily be edited in terms of font and style

-          No existing magazines are named this

When I first started planning magazine titles, I had a long list of possible names, however I disregarded names such as ‘The Lowdown’, ‘@College’,  ‘Voice’, ‘Future’, ‘Freedom’ and ‘Identity’. I felt that these names had less relevance to my target audience and magazine overall.  I think that ‘Choice’ is a versatile title and I will therefore include it in all my future designs.

Ideas for Taglines -   I have found from my research of existing magazines that tag lines are less popular today, however, if a magazine does have one, it can make it stand out from the rest. The tag line is an extra branding slogan that links to the magazine title. For my magazine, I think that a tag line would work well and be beneficial, as it helps to reinforce the audience’s memory of the magazine. Based on my chosen title of ‘Choice’, I have thought up some tag lines which link to the magazine name. For example; 'The College Lowdown' and 'Your college. Your choice.' I will decide on one of these slogans during the designing process of the masthead and the name logo.


Typical Content -  Considering the target audience my magazine designs will be aimed at, I have been able to list some ideas of what it will include typically in terms of content. I have many initial ideas of things it could include. Here is a list of the definite things I will include in every issue of ‘Choice’ magazine:

-          Pull out plan of College and local out-of-college events

-          News from around Southdowns College

-          Feature articles written by College students

-          Job Vacancy news

-          A Film Review (latest cinema releases)

-          Updated music chart

-          Note from the Editor

-          Student Shout-Outs

-          Advice about being new to the college (debut issue)

-          Sports Page

-          Arts Page

-          Photo Collage – promoting college successes

I think that all these aspects would be successful and suitable to my target audience, making them interested in reading the magazine. Based on my target audience, I have also thought up some other things to include as possibilities. For example, it could include a lecturer/teacher advice column, tips on driving lessons and theory tests, exam stress advice and a Student Voice/Union page spread. When I come to the designing stage, I will decide on definite content due to creating some cover lines.

Ideas for Cover Lines -  After listing some possibilities for content, I have decided on 6 possible coverlines, providing me with a good amount when I come to choose the final ones for my designs.
Nervous? Worried? Excited?  - Freshers, we have first-day tips for you!
Turn up that Volume – The top 10 you should have on your Ipod.
Get Active – Sports at College advice
Be Money Wise – Why money really matters
What’s Going On? - Get your pull out planner inside.
WIN! – Your chance to win Festival/Gig tickets inside!

These are some initial ideas for coverlines, which I may adapt when it comes to designing the front cover.

Time of Year for Publishing -     Considering the idea that I have decided to publish my college magazine fortnightly, I think that the first debut issue should be released at the start of the academic year, therefore early September. I started college myself on the 19^th September, therefore this would be a good week to release my magazine’s first issue. This means that the college will be at a height of activity, with a new intake of ‘fresher’ students, which are all my target reading audience. This also means that it will be an Autumn issue, so this might affect my choice of content.

Frequency of Publishing -  As my magazine is college themed, I have decided to make it a fortnightly issuing magazine. I think this would be most appropriate, as it means that students can regularly get information about the college events and it may also make the magazine more popular, as it is available more often to them. I think that monthly issuing wouldn’t be frequent enough and weekly would be too frequent for a college environment.

Dimensions of the Cover -  Looking at today’s magazines, there are many different options for size formats and I have chosen the smaller, more compact format which has cover dimensions of around 22.5 cm by 17 cm. I have chosen this smaller format, as it would suit my target audience well, better than the typical bigger format magazines. The small size means that it easier for students to pick up off a shelf and carry out or put into one of their college folders. I think that this type of magazine would be more successful in this size, so I will base my designs and flat plans around this format.

Front Cover Imaging -  The criteria given to me states that the front cover main focus image needs to include a medium close-up photograph of a college student. Based on this, I have been able to decide on what sort of image I would like to be on the front cover. I have decided to take a photograph that links directly to the magazine title, as it is the debut issue cover that I will be designing. Based on the theme of ‘Choice’, I would like to include an image which shows a student in a relaxed environment, looking happy in their studying. For example, I could get this image by taking a photograph of a fellow student, either on the college campus or outside of college, depending on which background I would like. An image possibility would be a student reading from a book or folder, looking happy with the ‘choice’ they made to go to college. This could be in a place outside of college, in a relaxing atmosphere, showing the freedom and independence of college. Differently, I could take a photo of a similar nature, but within a college campus setting.

When it comes to the practical creation of my magazine front cover, I will decide which scenario photo to take, however they are both relevant and I think that they would be effective as a magazine focus image.

Contents Page Appearance -  In order to relate directly to the front cover coverlines and stories, I think that it may be effective to keep the appearance of the contents page relating to the front cover in some ways. For example, the masthead title/logo could be featured on the contents page in some way. Also, the colour theme will be continued from the front cover. I think I will keep the colour scheme simplistic, including the use of black and white, as this tends to be popular with modern magazine publishing.
When I come to designing the contents page, I will also decide on some relevant images to improve its appearance and to portray the nature of some of the page titles/coverlines.

Possible Fonts -  In order to create a professional looking contents page and front cover, I plan to use a series of fonts, but not too many, that all look professional and link directly to the college theme and student target audience. I have researched some fonts on Microsoft Word and online sites such as dafont.com to get some inspiration about which fonts I might like to use in my designs for the front cover, masthead and contents page. I have used the theme of teenage years to search for some appropriate fonts, and here a few ideas...

AR CENA     BLUE HIGHWAY     Maiandra GD   Showcard Gothic  Mufferaw 

These are some possibilities for my designs, but final decisions will be chosen nearer the designing stage.

Main Image Initial Ideas

After placing a main image into my flatplan drawings, I have been noting down some initial ideas as to what I would like my main focus image to include/look like.According to the brief, I need to include a medium close-up shot of a student to be the focus image of my magazine front cover. Based on this, I have been able to plan a few possible photograph ideas.

• 1.       Mid close-up of a student working in a college classroom or lab
• 2.       Student walking in one area of the college e.g. the walkway past the South building
• 3.       Student stood on stairs – upwards angle camera shot to place emphasis on the student
• 4.       Student in a quiet, relaxed environment e.g. in the LRC Library or on a computer
• 5.       Student giving a presentation to a college class
• 6.       Student interacting with a lecturer/another student
• 7.       Student studying outside of college
• 8.       Student outside of college, reading from a folder – looking happy in their choice of going into college education
• 9.       Student in cafe with friends – having lunch, or a conversation etc

I will decide on a final set up for an image at a later stage in my magazine planning. I have tried to make each scenario planned to photograph relatable to my target audience of college students, and in particular, first year students. I would like to link the image to my magazine title and the coverlines also, as most successful magazines use this technique, which I noticed from my prior research. The image I choose to take needs to attract students to the magazine and also fit my criteria.

Flatplan Scan 2

This is a scan of my second designs for flat plans. This design uses a different layout and design for the masthead. I will also consider this design when I come to decide on my final layout.

This design is a little more detailed than my first design. I have used an ongoing theme of speech bubbles and square images to create a design that carries on from the front cover into the contents page, which creates a more corporate image.

Flatplan Scan 1

After deciding on which size magazine format I wanted to use for my designs, and the magazine name, I have been able to draw out some rough designs for the contents page and front cover layouts.

Left:
I have used some rough sketches to map out a possibility of a layout for my magazine's front cover and contents page. I have used features from successful magazines and knowledge from my research to do this.

I will consider this design for my final front cover flat plans.

Magazine Format Research

In the current magazine market, there are variations in the sizes of magazines and how many pages they contain. After looking at some existing magazines, I can see that certain types have different cover dimensions.
For example, a normal, bigger size magazine generally measures 26.5 x 21cm.
I have also found that there is now a 'compact' format of magazine, which makes it a smaller size with dimensions of around 22.5 cm x 17 cm. 

I have decided that my college magazine should be the compact format, to make it easier for students to pick up off a shelf and carry around or put into one of their folders. I think the magazine would be more successful in this format, so I will base all my designs and flatplans around this smaller format.

Final Choice on Magazine Name

Definite Magazine Name and Reasons Why I Chose It:

After taking into account all the existing magazine names and the target audience which I aiming my magazine product at, I have decided that the magazine name will be ‘CHOICE’. I feel that this is the most relevant, catchy and memorable name out of the list of names that I came up with. 

It also reflects the 'choices' new college students make when they decide on which college, which subjects they enrol in and what career path they choose. It also relates to how students choose to live their college lives and which 'paths' they choose into their future profession. I think it also has appeal, as it is easy to remember, is a short word and has multiple meanings. Also, from prior research, I know that there aren't any existing magazines of this name, so I have chosen it for my designs. 

My Target Audience Decision

After taking into account all the possible target audiences I could aim my magazine at, I have decided to aim it at the interests of students in college education. So this means teenagers aged 16 to 19 years old. The particular group of students that I am targeting my magazine at however are new students to the college, in other words ‘freshers’. I have also decided that this magazine would be mostly aimed at a female audience, as there are more female students at Southdowns college than males, however, a male could read my magazine, as I will include topics/content to suit both genders. I have chosen this target audience as I feel I can relate to it and this age group also tend to be interested in buying and reading magazines regularly.

Initial Ideas - Magazine Names

In order to create an effective magazine name to be featured in the masthead, I need to think of a name that is catchy, simplistic and would appeal directly to my target demographic of (Southdowns) College students. I have been listing a series of ideas and words that could create an effective magazine title and logo.
For example, I have thought of the following initial ideas for names:
The Buzz
Noise
Loud
Vibes
YourChoice
Freedom
Future.
@College
Direction.
Studentz
Voice
BeHeard
YourWorld
The Lowdown
College 24/7
YourChoice
Choice.

I think that all of these name ideas have relevance to college life and students, therefore they may help me to decide on my magazine name in the future, for the final designs and flat plans.

Initial Ideas - Content

Considering the idea that my magazine will be classed as an 'academic journal consumer' magazine, here is an extensive list of all the ideas for my magazine's content that could be considered for the final designs:

- Pull out plan of college events

- Student offers - NUS card discounts

- Articles written by students

- Advice columns from lecturers and students

- Job vacancy news

- Advice/tips for driving lessons/theory

- News on past events around college

- 'Arts' Showcase section

- Music Charts of that month

- Film reviews 

- 'Student Shout Outs' - Messages from students themselves

- Student Voice/Union page

- Sports page

- Photo collage page - people's photography and art work

- Student calendar for each month - pull outs

- Events outside college 

- Advice on bars, clubs etc outside college campus

These are most of my brainstormed ideas for my magazine's content and I may consider some of them for coverlines and the contents page listings.

Pre-Production Research

In order to gain some useful background knowledge about existing Student/college magazines, I have saved some images of the front covers of the magazines, and I have analysed them. This has helped me gain some inspiration for my magazine, in terms of cover lines, mastheads, images and layouts.

Right, the 'Student Magazine' front cover. Looking at this cover, I can take some useful inspiration from it. For example, I like the layout of the cover lines, it sticks to the idea of the cover being split into thirds, with the central mid-shot image being central and the cover lines scattered left and right. The font used for the masthead is emphasised by being white in colour and is placed in the foreground, on top of the image. The sans serif font is also effective, as it is the stereotypical font associated with American College varsity and student life in general. I may consider this font for my designs, as it is impacting and effective. In terms of colour, this cover uses two bold and impacting colours of red and green, bringing the clothes from the picture to tie in with the font and 'St Patrick's Day' theme. This is an effective professional tool. I can see how it appeals to a teenage audience, as it is vibrant and the cover lines would interest them, for example, 'what to do when you're 20' as this is relevant to them. The model used for the photo looks a little old to be a college student and I don't like the pose, however, it suits this particular cover.

Left, The National Student Magazine cover. This cover has a more simplistic layout, which is effective as it draws attention with a white background, placing emphasis on the image. I personally don't like the lack of cover lines, as it doesn't make the magazine issue seem that interesting or exciting. However, I like the use of two different contrasting fonts and colours for the masthead. This is effectively eye catching. I also like the use of image editing, which I plan to use on my central image, along with the use of shadowing, like in this picture.
The use of graphic design is effective with the bottom central cover line also. I intend to experiment with different fonts for my cover lines too, as it draws attention and gives the cover depth.

After researching this covers, I can see stark differences and I will use this background knowledge as design inspiration.

Preliminary Task Brief

Here is the brief I have been given to base my Preliminary Task product around:

Preliminary Task:

• Produce the front page of a new college magazine, featuring a photograph of a student in medium close-up plus some appropriately laid out text and a masthead
• Produce a mock-up of the layout of the contents page
• Include some relevant pre-production exercises

Music Genre Magazines

As part of pre-task research, I have listed some typical music genres of magazines and listed all the conventions, features and audiences that those genres tend to attract or use. Also, I thought about all the representations of social groups and music genres that the magazine industry uses, in order to help me understand how magazines are constructed and why they are successful. Here are the lists I made about music genres such as Dance music, Hip Hop and Metal music.

Music Magazine Cover Representations

Music magazines are widely popular today and have many different genres, which have to be portrayed to the audience instantly, from the cover, in order to attract them to buy and read it. The following ideas show how I would represent some common music genres on magazine front covers.

Dance Music

Intended audience: Stereotypically, young adults and teenagers of both genders. They are usually old enough to go to nightclubs and drink alcohol, too. Overall, the younger generation who are thrill-seeking, young and adrenaline filled.

Colour Schemes:

·         Brightly coloured, neons, in order to portray the fast-paced and uplifting nature of club music.

·         Yellows, pinks, greens and blues would be best, to be eye-catching and draw attention. This would go well with bold, black typography to make them stand out against warm/ intense background colours.

·         A rule of three colours would be best to be effective but not over the top.  E.g. neon yellow, blue and green – appeal to both genders.

Images:

·         Young people dancing in nightclub scenes and cocktail bars

·         Strobe/coloured lighting

·         Dancefloors and DJ’s

·         Youthful images that give good vibes and show ‘clubbing’ music ethics

Coverlines and Stars/Celebrities Featured:

·         Famous dance music artists/ interviews with them

·         Latest chart tracks/news and chart updates

·         Gossip about dance music videos

·         Latest ‘hot’ nightclubs

·         Best selling dance albums

·         Competitions for nights-out with friends etc.

·         The likes of Lady Gaga, Basshunter, 3OH3!, Roll Deep, Cascada etc. – Famous dance music icons/artists

·         Famous dancers and owners of world-famous nightclubs.

Fonts:

·         Sans serif fonts – bold and impacting – reflects outrageous/loud nature of dance

·         Black and white – neutral to stand out against loud background colours/schemes – draw attention and place emphasis on coverlines to attract readers to it on the shelf.

Hip Hop

Intended audience:  Mostly teenagers, young adults and keen dancers or DJ’s. Hip hop is a big part of modern day chart music and so would appeal to a wide range of young people of both genders. It also has a ‘black music ethic’ and associated with rebellion - appeal in this way to audiences.

Colour Schemes:

·         Bold, bright colours, graffiti-style – black and white typography to emphasise it

·         Appeal to younger people in bright, impacting colours e.g. red, black and white together, or blue yellow and black for example.

Images:

·         Stereotypical street dancers, young people having a good time

·         ‘Street life’ pictures – raw talent in dancing, rapping and singing

·         Famous hip hop icons in the media today

·         Dancefloors, dance battles

·         ‘City life’ e.g. New York silhouettes etc.

Coverlines and Stars/Celebrities Featured:

·         Hip hop tracks in the charts

·         Interviews with hip hop icons/artists

·         History/background of hip hop music and dancing

·         Hip hop DJ interviews and information

·         Gossip about hip hop artists’ new songs/albums

·         Interviews with them and their music/dance advice

·         E.g. Flo Rida, Ne-yo, Lil Wayne etc.

Fonts:

·         Mostly sans serif fonts – bold, reflecting bravery of music genre and impact that hip hop can have – personality shown in music

·         Stylistic – graffiti style fonts – reflecting background of music and appealing to young people

Metal

Intended audience:  More mature adults, however also young people that are interested in metal music. Because of the heavy nature of the music, a lot of (mostly male) adults would be an intended/ideal audience.

Colour Schemes:

·         Dark, metal reflecting – e.g. black and silver, with hints of white and maybe powerful, impacting colours like red.

·         Dark backgrounds/plain to make text and images stand out – dark atmosphere

Images:                                Rock legends/metal bands to draw attention

·         Impressive musical instruments

·         Musical icons and their band images/logos (old and new)

·         Dark images/ large concerts etc.

Coverlines and Stars/Celebrities Featured:

·         Latest news about metal genre icons/interviews with them

·         Concert dates and information

·         New songs in charts and compare to old metal iconic songs

·         Guitar lessons/tips/advice inside and concert ticket discounts etc.

·         Iconic metal genre musicians from modern and the past

·         Metal genre artists and graphic designers for bands etc.

·         E.g. Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Green Day etc.

Fonts:       Metallic, dark, sharp, bold and impacting – heavy rock lifestyle

·         Sans serif – to the point – representing ‘rebellious’ nature of metal music and ‘no fear’ with dark colours – black, silver, grey, white, navy blue etc.

·         Stylised – lightning bolts, rough edges, graffiti etc.

Classical

Intended audience: Older audience, adults and some younger people who are interested in playing musical instruments. Typically a well-educated audience, with good musical knowledge.

Images:

·         Musical instruments, orchestras and famous musicians

·         Some classical singers

·         Sheet music themed images – notes, treble clef – relevant to genre

Colour Schemes:

·         Simplistic and sophisticated – black, white and blue for example

·         Elegant and clean looking, with simple graphics that are eye catching and calm – reflects nature of music

Coverlines and Stars/Celebrities Featured:

·         Information about orchestras, concerts, stage shows all using classical music

·         Interviews with musicians/singers

·         News about albums/recordings

·         Sheet music included and musical advice/tips

Fonts:           Serif fonts – stylised and sophisticated to blend with nature of adult intended audience, with more technical musical language.

·         Eye catching but not too bold or large and more old fashioned with theme of musical scores – appeal to older audiences.

More Experimental Photographs

These are other photographs that I took around the Southdowns College Site. I was taking photographs with the intention in mind that they would serve as a good background, central image to a College Magazine front cover, with the option of editing them once uploaded to a computer. I tried to use different camera angles and lighting to gather a range of different images, all focusing on the College activity and buildings, directly addressing the nature of a College magazine genre. For example, I took this photo of  (149) the view down the stairs of the Balcony Cafe at a downward angle, in order to give the image good, first-hand perspective of the college. It is also an image that uses the background of the College buildings to give different depths to the picture, making it seem realistic and eye-catching. The shadowing also gives the image an interesting perspective. If I was to edit and manipulate this photo, I would play around with the crop tool, making the central focus of the image the descending stairs and the building in the distance.

Analysing Existing Media (Textual)

After annotating the image of the front cover of 'Glamour Magazine', I decided to write an account of what I found from looking at the cover and the features that it uses. Each one is used for an effect, to draw intended audiences' attention and to sell the magazine successfully. Here is my written account of what I interpreted from the magazine cover.

The Connotations of:

The Title:

·         Masthead – Bold, vibrant sans serif large font

·         Catches attention easily – appeals to a younger target female audience

·         Partially covered by main central image – so well known and still recognisable – modernised feature

·         Vibrant blue – imitates the sea as it is an August/Summer issue

·         Catches attention – appeal s to all areas of target readers.

·         Become the magazine image’s logo and unique selling point

·         Main headline in centre of first-third – Most emphasis upon this coverline, as it the main focus of the issue.

Main Image:

·         A well known TV star and celebrity (Blake Lively) – draws attention to magazine

·         She is a role model for fashion – appealing to a young female audience, readers of the same age as the celebrity.

·         Attractive, glamorous image – readers can aspire to be like her.

·         Photo has direct eye contact with the audience – draws them to it

·         Women and teenage girls want to know the gossip about her and her TV show, Gossip Girl

·         She is dressed in a revealing, high-fashion and expensive dress – portrays focus on fashion of the magazine and directly links to magazine title and masthead; Glamour.

·         Image takes up whole of the centre-third – forming the main focal point of the cover

Colour Scheme:

·         Strict colour scheme – Rule of Three – black, vibrant yellow and blue

·         Reflects the idea of sun, sea and sand – Summer themed to suit issue date (August)

·         Vibrant, warm and cool colours that stand out and appeal by drawing attention

·         Slightly shadowed background – simplistic/professional and places emphasis on the model image and the vibrant text, giving it a sophisticated appeal to female readers

Font Types:

·         Same sans serif font used for all main story/cover lines

·         Stands out and can be read from afar – draws attention

·         Smaller and italic fonts are used for quotes and smaller strap lines alongside coverlines, to add information and engage potential readers

·         Drop shadowing used on some text to place emphasis upon it

Coverlines:

·         All relevant to a modern-day female audience – fashion, celebrity news, sex and love, dieting, real life stories and shopping

·         Numbers are used for main coverline to entice readers; ‘544 New Season Looks’

·         Famous names used to draw attention; ‘Katy Perry, Kylie’ etc.

·         Language/text used is casual, flirty and colloquial – all appeals to nature of female readers

·         Persuasive words used to draw attention; ‘all-new, real-life, new season looks, sexy stomach and bum plan’ etc.

·         Quotes used from real-life stories – catches attention with shock-tactics

Selling Points:

·         Plug/Puff: Number used to make it seem superior than other magazines of the same target audience and genre

·         E.g. ‘544 new looks’ and ‘glossy mag only £2’ – this draws attention and persuades readers as they can spend less money than some higher-rank fashion magazines e.g. Marie Claire, but still get a good quality and story-rich magazine, at an affordable price for a monthly issue.

·         Above masthead banner – ‘No 1 women’s magazine’ – This gives it status over other magazines and appeal to readers – persuasive selling point

·         Smaller, compact size magazine – ‘handbag’ size – convenient for female readers

·         Website featured with masthead- places attention to it – appeals to our modern-society and dependency on the internet and computers 

·         Barcode not on cover – gives more space for coverlines - appealing

Audience:

From analysing all the key features of the cover of this ‘Glamour’ magazine, I have inferred that the main target audience for this magazine is female and could range from teens (16,17,18 etc.) and range up to young women aged 20s for example. All the main features of this cover i have analysed seem to be aimed at appealing to a female audience, and it effectively does so as a result, as it is a widely popular magazine, and had been voted ‘Britain’s Number 1 Women’s magazine’. As a keen reader of this magazine myself, I can see how it appeals and why the editors have used the features in this particular cover example.