1. Preliminary
Task
Our task was to produce a school/sixth form magazine. Aswell as a target audience profile, mission
statement and mock-ups.
2. Target Audience Profile
The target audience for my magazine will be female from the age of 16-19 as the magazine itself will be for sixth form students. As they are students, this
indicates that they are in full time education. However, this doesn’t rule out the idea that they could potentially have part time jobs or being interested in
finding one.
Personality wise the audience will be fun, quirky and ambitious, therefore having a good sense of humour is key. Additionally, the audience will be sociable
and up for a laugh. On top of this and more importantly they have to be hard working, focused and self-motivated, in order to do well in their two years of
studying. Evidently, they are intellectual individuals otherwise they would not be attending the sixth form in order to pursue their education further, their A
levels and continue onto higher levels of education and exceed their knowledge at university. As further/higher education is what they strive for, they
embrace their education.
It is impossible to generalise every single individual girl in the sixth form and place them into one category, as everyone is different and has different interests
and hobbies. However, the magazine will discuss various topics such as music, film, fashion and sport. Other interests the audience could have is hanging
out with friends or using social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, the sixth form magazine could eventually create brand extensions and make
use of other uses of media such as Twitter or Facebook pages.
The students that read the magazine will value their education and see sixth form as a key to achievement and success and arriving at where they want to go
in life. They would therefore read the magazine in order to look for some sort of guidance and reassurance. By looking at articles such as ‘tips on how to
‘survive school’, written by previous students, they will know how to survive and achieve in school. By reading the magazine students will learn how to do
well and excel.
3. Mission Statement
My magazine will be called ‘Cla*ss’ which can be defined as ‘showing stylish excellence’ as well as being another word for ‘lesson’. It is aimed at a female
audience who are out-going but hard working sixth form students at the Douay Martyrs School, who are looking for information about the sixth form and tips on
how to ‘survive school’ as well as to have a laugh. The magazine is perfect for this readership as it aims to provide the reader with entertainment and
information.
‘Cla*ss’ magazine will be quite basic in its style. It will be fun and entertaining, but at the same time will contain important information. The mode of address
will be colloquial, like the magazine is a friend guiding the reader through the next two school years. The colour scheme will include the colours red and blue
highlighting the fact it is for the Douay Martyrs students as these are the main colours featured on the school badge.
The magazine will strive to present the students with information that they need in order to be successful in their years at sixth form. It aims to be as
informative as it can possibly be, but at the same time not to be dull and boring. It therefore has an even importance between education and entertainment.
Cla*ss promises to be a regular weekly fixture in the lives of its audience, highlighting the most important issues at the current time of publishing. Examples of
this would be when specific uni open days are taking place, UCAS deadlines are looming and will include timetables and many more similar articles. It also
promises to be fun as well as to discuss important matters. It will also offer articles that will provide the students with entertainment. By doing this it follows
Blumer and Katz uses and gratification theory. In like with this, it provides escapism because the audience will be able to forget about their work they could
potentially be stressing about, while they will be providing social interaction as it will cause discussion within the common room/throughout the sixth form.
Featured topics would come under give main categories: school survival, jobs/university, outside school, extracurricular and fun and games. Examples of
topics that’ would come under these categories would be “tips on how to settle into sixth form life”, “trips and events”, “ideas on how to celebrate your 18th
birthday”, “CV and job interview tips”, “upcoming uni open days” and “selfie of the week”.
In general, the magazine will benefit the audience as it specifically relates to them and gives them a fun way to receive the information they need rather than
sitting in assembly, or being given a various number of letters/handouts. It also gives them a chance to interpret the information in the way they would like, by
taking what they need from it and cutting out parts that are not relevant to them specifically.
Overall, my magazine will be fun, entertaining and informative, based towards and around the female students who attend the Douay Martyrs Sixth Form.
