2. My 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.
“
3. Limitations of my Client
Having The Northern Echo as a client will limit me in a number of ways. Therefore, I will
have to consider the following points when creating my magazine:
Secondary Audience- Will affect my content as they are likely to be older friends or
family members of my audience. Therefore, I will want my want them to see my
content as appropriate for my younger target audience.
Local Audience-I will aim to include local articles to suit my audience within the area
targeted by the Northern Echo.
Advertising-I will use local advertisers just as The Northern Echo do.
High standards-The Northern Echo has high standards-both editorially and morally. For
the editorial aspect I will ensure I empoly high quality staff so that my magazine is well
constructed. My magazine will have high morals as it will aim to serve and protect the
local community.
4. How will I meet this brief?
In order to meet this brief I will:
Ensure that my magazine appeals to
young people within the 16-25 age
group from socioeconomic groups
ABC1-the target audiences of The
Northern Echo
Ensure my publication is of a high
quality by employing high quality staff
Make my magazine beneficial to my
audience in some way as this is
something which is of importance to The
Northern Echo which acts to serve the
community with high moral values
Create a magazine supplement which is
both new and exciting but also suitable
for distribution alongside The Northern
Echo
5. Deciding on my Genre
Women's lifestyle was the obvious
choice when considering what
genre I would choose to follow.
Womens?
However…after conducting some
initial research I found that the
genre didn’t appeal to me at all
Instead I have decided to create a
magazine aimed at young wanting
to be independent. My magazine
wont lecture women on how to be
perfect and will focus more on being
comfortable in their own skin.
Articles within my magazine will
encourage women to get involved
with new hobbies and inform them
of new subjects.
Music?
Fitness?
6. Why Alternative Lifestyle?
Alternative lifestyle gives me the
freedom to create a magazine which
is just a bit different.
Creating a magazine which is new and
exciting really appeals to me and seems to
be lacking in this area
I have good knowledge of alternative subjects
and have planned my stories to suit this
genre
There is definitely a gap in the market for an
alternative lifestyle newspaper supplement
There are too many women’s lifestyle
magazines on the market and women looking
for something different struggle to find
something that interest them
7. Simple title related to the subject of the
magazine
Casual pose-doesn’t take herself
seriously-very different to women's
lifestyle magazines
Alternative article subjects-none focused
on fashion and beauty.
Warm colours and doesn’t follow three
colour rule-makes it bright and eye
catching
Overall encourages women to be happy
with how they are and not constantly
advising them on how to change
aspects of their life.
“
“
It’s about slowing down, enjoying
what you have, making the most
of where you live, enjoying the
company of friends and family.
Genre Research
8. Genre Research (Continued)
Snowboarding, Surfing, Style and
Offbeat Travel – Cooler is an
alternative lifestyle haven,
featuring the best videos, news,
interviews and features.
Playful pose, young model make the
cover feel young
Articles inside are focused around
being active and successful women
Mentions style but from an alternative
angle of more street style like skating
clothing
Uncluttered front cover-makes the
magazine look alternative and makes
the reader want to look inside to find
out more-cover only gives hints as to
what magazine is about.
9. Audience Profile
My target audience will be made up
of:
A mix of trendies, aspirants and
new alt’s.
Women from socioeconomic
groups A. B and C1.
Aged 18-24, around university
age so my articles will centre
around subjects appealing to
university students.
Students from higher class
groups so although they will be
on a budget they will have
greater disposable income than
those from lower socioeconomic
groups.
10. Targeting my Audience
1.
Lively tone to engage readers. Likely to have a shorter attention span than
older target audiences.
2.
Include articles which appeal to my target audience-keep them young and
relevant to women of around university age.
3.
Create strong imagery to ensure that pages catch the viewers eye and
reduce flickability. Make images interesting and convey a strong message
using models of a similar age.
4.
5.
Use alternative fonts that link to my article in some way to make pages look
interesting and bold. Colour is important in doing this too.
Use language which appeals to my audience. It doesn’t have to be simple
as I have chosen a well educated target audience but vocabulary
shouldn't’t be so complex that it puts readers off.
11. Things to consider
The Press Complaints Commission
(PCC)Regulates the rules that journalists
must follow to protect the welfare of those
involved. This includes things such as:
Harassment, accuracy and discrimination.
I must ensure I do not break any of these codes set by the PCC so that my magazine does not face legal issues.
To do this I will:
Ensure I have permission to use
any material which I have not
produced myself in my magazine.
I will record interviews to ensure that
accuracy is kept high and this level of
accuracy will be followed throughout
my product.
I will ensure I have the permission of all
individuals involved to include content
which is linked to them in any way.
I will protect the welfare of anyone
involved and have high morals just
as The Northern Echo does.
I will not publish any inaccurate
information as this could cause legal
issues.
12. Aims of my Magazine
I feel that it is important for my magazine to have a number of key aims as I
am creating an alternative product and it needs to have a solid base on
which to create a brand upon. Below are the 6 key points I aim to meet:
Imagery will be a strong element in my product as this is something I am really interested in.
Inform my audience of new hobbies and places to visit
While also including local issues/real life stories.
It will promote self confidence along with independence.
It will fill a gap in the market for a alternative young women's magazine provided as a newspaper
supplement.
It will follow alternative layouts and use interesting stylistics.
15. Mock Up Feedback-The Positives
Mock up 1
Mock up 2
Blue looks better as it isn’t too girly
The first page of mock up 2 is really
well laid out, maybe put the sub
headings from it into mock up 1
I like the blue lace on mock up 1 but not the
grey on the 3rd page
The space has been filled more in mock up 1
Mock up 1’s image is better but if you had
more time you could include the images from
mock up 2 in some way
The decorative font used looks really good
and handwritten
Its interesting and I didn’t know you could
earn money from blogging and from people
clicking on your ads
The headings of mock up 2 make the
article better laid out and easier to read
The imagery idea is really good but
could be included in mock up 1 in
some way as the page is a bit bare
The two fonts look really good together
16. Mock Up Feedback-The Negatives
Mock up 1
I like the blue lace on mock up 1 but
not the grey on the 3rd page
Really good image on mock up 1 but
needs to be edited better
Don’t like the font on the breakout
boxes but like the title font of it
The logo collage on mock up 1
doesn’t really go with the first 2 pages
as the rest is all neat while the
collage is too messy
Mock up 2
Mock up 2 is a bit bare on the second
page, not enough going on around the
images’
The colour scheme of the images in
mock up 2 don’t fit with the pink colour
scheme as she is wearing blue
Only use 2 colours in your breakout box
text
The pink of the breakout box on mock
up 2 is too hard to read on, the grey is
hard to read
17. The Name-Mirror
Why?
Short and catchy
Memorable
Simple
Follows idea of only using a single word like other magazines e.g
Glamour, Company, Living etc.
Connotations
I wanted to follow a similar theme to The Northern Echo in that my
name would link to this title in some way.
I decided on the name ‘Mirror’ as it links to the word ‘Echo’ in that it
suggests that something is being reflected or repeated in some way.
18. The Cover
Colour scheme:
Imagery:
Girl in a street in York
Striding confidently towards the camera
Model will be member of my target audience
Black and white image-Bags she will be
carrying will link to colour of masthead
Cell lines:
Blogging article and house fire will be most
prominent and biggest in page
Young farming article in a box to make it
stand out
Base line cell will feature an article
interesting to cash-strapped students
19. Colour scheme:
Imagery:
Strong feature of contents page as each circle
will be an image from each article
Alternative layout will set theme of magazine
as the whole magazine will use alternative
layouts not usually found in womens
magazines
Keeping images in circles will keep the page
looking clean and modern
Content:
Contents title along top
Underneath will be welcome letter to keep
magazine friendly and explain magazine
slightly
Images underneath in circles with short
description and page number for each one
Bottom of page will be a simple credits section
featuring everyone involved with the magazinekeeps it professional
Contents
20. Colour scheme
Imagery:
2 polaroid images to the right hand side
of the page
1 main image likely to feature a female
model on a tractor
Other images will feature scenes of what
Young Farmers do
Content:
Gives information about Young
Farmers clubs
Say why girls should get involved with
Young Farming
Very positive article encouraging girls
to try a new hobby
Article Details
21. Colour scheme:
Imagery:
Very similar to my mock up imagery
Pg 2 will feature image filling whole page of
a girl thinking about make up
I will take shots of the girl and the make up
separately and insert the thought bubbles in
photoshop
The 3rd page will be 2 images of my model.
In one she will be holding a make up object
while in the other she will be holding a bag of
money
Content
Article will be same one used in my mock
up with a few additions
It will outline how and why to get involved
with beauty blogging
Emphasis will be on how to make money
as this will interest students and my female
target audience
My most feminine article but is an
alternative take on beauty
Article Details
22. Colour scheme:
Imagery:
5 bold images showing the different places I
include in my article and well known landmarks
Putting them in circles will keep the page
looking clean and the layout will link to that of
the contents page
Content:
I will visit York and speak to student friends
who live in the city to find out the best hidden
cafes and best places to go out
The article will be all about encouraging
readers to visit a new local city and not just stick
to the well known tourist attractions
This piece will keep my magazine local to my
target audience and I think this will really appeal
to them as well as finding out the best places for
students to visit in the city.
Article Details
23. Colours and Fonts
Masthead font
Front cover
Contents
Headline Font
Down on the Farm
Dare to Blog
Article font
House Fire
York City Guide
24. I will be following a supplement strategy meaning that
my magazine will be provided free with The Northern
Echo. My publication will reach all members of the
newspapers target audience as I will print around
45000 copies to provide with each copy of The
Northern Echo.
Advantages
My Strategy
Disdvantages
Attractive to advertisers as
publication will reach large audiencecan charge more for advertising.
Print a lot more copies than if I was
following sales strategy-provide a
copy for every copy of The Northern
Echo
Publication will be seen by very wide
audience so is more likely to reach
my target audience.
Some copies may not be read as
wont appeal to entire audience of
the newspaper-wasted money.
A free publication will appeal to my
student based target audience.
I will have to rely of advertising sales
alone-no income from sales.
29. Advertising Rates
Rates roughly based on Living magazine advertising rates
Advert type
Rate
Number of Slots
Back Cover
£1000
1
Inside Front Cover
£900
1
Half Inside Back
£600
2
Full Inside Back
£900
1
DPS
£1500
0
Full Page
£840
1
Half Page
£560
3
Quarter Page
£200
2
Total Income: £6020
30. Advertising Income
1 Back Cover
£400
£1000
1 Inside Cover
£1680
£900
2 Half inside back
0 inside back
£840
£1200
£0
£0
0 DPS
1 Full Page
3 Half Page
These advertising sales are based on the bible
I created to help me determine where my
advertising slots would go and how many of
each type I would include.
2 Quarter Page
Having The Northern Echo has a client has meant that I have been subject to a number of limitations. This is mainly due to the audience of the newspaper, as I will have to ensure that my product is appropriate for all readers. Firstly, I will have ensure that my product is not inappropriate for my secondary audience. This is the people who actually buy the Northern Echo and are likely to be the ones who pass on my supplement to my actual target audience. My content will not be explicit so that the Northern Echo readers do not feel like it is not suitable for their younger friends and family to read. Secondly,
I chose to study this magazine as it seemed very different from any other womens magazine I had seen. It is more about enjoying the simple things and not worrying about superficial issues. Although this magazine is aimed at an older age group than what I will be targeting I will be aiming to re-create this style with my magazine as I want it to fill a gap in the market and be a magazine which provides something a bit different for young women. I feel that there is way too much pressure on women, created by the media, to look perfect and build the perfect life for themselves by loosing weight and meeting the perfect man. The simple things stands out as
Cooler magazine is also an alternative womens lifestyle magazine. I decided to study this magazine alongside The Simple Things as it is more aimed at my age group and this evident in a number of ways. However this magazine focuses around sport-mainly surfing and skateboarding but I thought it would help me to ensure my publication is appealing to a younger audience rather than just looking at The Simple Things. Overall I am aiming to create a mix of the two- a magazine featuring alternative articles in a different style which I will make appealing to young women.
