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:
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:
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!
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 19th 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.
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.
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