1. Evaluation
Before startingmyproject,Ihad a clearideaof the type of audience thatIwas cateringmyproduct
to. Inmy research,I explainedindetail whatmytargetaudience wasandwhy.I alsoexplainedwhat
differenttechniquesanddifferentthemesIwouldincludeinmyworkto successfullyapproachmy
audience.Mytargetaudience wasformale and female youngadultsfromthe ages16 – 24, thiswas
a set targetaudience thatI didn’tgettochoose but I waspleasedwiththe age categorybecause
usuallyformyprojectsI woulduse the same audience asbecause Ifitintothe same categoryI am
aware of currentsocial trendsand differenteventshappeningthatyoungadultswouldbe interested
in.Therefore,thisgivesme anadvantage because Icanapplymy ownknowledgeintomywork
knowingwhatwill attractyoungadults.My magazine wasmeanttoattract youngadultsbutit was
alsomade to attract people withaninterestincharitiesorpeople whoare lookingforpotential
charitiesforfamiliesandfriends.Inspite of thisIresearchedwhatwouldattractpeople tocharities,
I alsoresearcheddifferentcharitypagesandlookedoutforthingsthatall the pageshad incommon.
I discoveredthatall charitieshave brightcoloursontheirpagesanda lightbouncyfont.Thisis
because the charitieswantthe pagestobe invitingsothatyouare drawnin,and people are more
likelytodonate if theysee positive resultsfromthe charityshowingthatyourdonationsdoreally
make a difference.So,inmyprojectI decided toinclude brightcolours,Iusedalotof greensinthe
magazine because bothcharitieslogosandtitlesfeature the colourgreen,sothismade ita nice
theme forthe magazine.However,Ididn’tcopythe stereotype of havingabubblyandlightfont,I
includedarange of different,interestingfonts.Idecidedtouse sharper,uniquefontsbecause to
entice mytargetaudience,youngadults,Ithinkmore moderntitleswouldbe more likelytoattract
them.
Also,tofilterthe projecttoattract the targetaudience Imade sure my articlesweren’ttoolong,and
made sure that I kepttheminterestingtoadaptto the fact thatyoungpeople won’twanttoread
long,blockyarticlesandwouldbe more engagedif the article wasshort,andpairedwithinteresting
photosso the readercan stay engagedandfocussed.
As well asthis,atthe beginningof myprojectI createda surveyfor16 – 24-year oldsaskingmultiple
questionsaboutcharity,Ididthisso I couldgage a clearerunderstandingof mytargetaudience’s
opinionsandthenfromtheiranswersIadaptedmymagazine accordingto the resultsIfound,
makingmymagazine as appealingfor16-24 year oldsas possible.
To conclude IthinkI have successfullycateredtomytargetaudience andIthinkthat 16-24 young
adultswouldbe interestedinmymagazine.
The designelementwasthe mostimportantfactorof myproject,mymagazine revolvedaround
includinginterestingdesignsonthe pagestomake themmore interesting.
The colour scheme thatI designedformymagazine isentirelylinkedwithmyaudience
characteristics,because asIexplainedearlierIchose the specificcoloursbecause theywere
associatedwiththe charities,Ithoughtthiswouldbe the mostsensible waytoproduce the pages
because itmade the coloursmore colour coordinatedandprofessional.The SASHpages
2. predominatelyfeature the colourgreen;thisisbecause SASH’slogofeature the colour.Throughthe
double page spreadii made sure thatI was usingthe same shade of greenfor continualityand
consistency.Then,forthe SNAPPYpagesIusedthe colouryellow,forthe same reasonIusedthe
green.Ialso usedthe colourwhite alot,for textboxesandborders,andforsome writing,thisis
because Ithinkthe white againstthe brightcolourscomplimentedthe coloursverywell,italso
makesthe page easiertoread. I originallydecidedonthe coloursgreenandyellow because of the
relationtothe charitybut I alsopickedthese coloursbecause theyare unisex,theydon’thave any
female ormale connotationsattachedtothem.Ithoughtthiswas veryimportantbecause these
charitiescanhelpanyone of anygenderso I didn’twantthe readerto subconsciouslyattachany
genderstereotypesontothe pages,whichIthinkisveryimportantbecause itmakesthe magazine
more welcomingandencouragesbothgenderstobe readit. Also,bothcoloursare verybrightwhich
connoteshappiness,the meaningforthe colouryellow isoptimism, andpositivity,andthe colour
yellowbringsenergytothe page and grabsthe reader’sattention.The meaningof greenissimilar,it
isgrowth andsafety,Ithinkthese adjectivesperfectlyfitinwiththe ideaof charityandtherefore
suitthe magazine.
Anotherimportantfeature of the magazine wasthe fontsIusedfor
the differentpages.Ithinkincludedawide range of fontsisimportant
because itkeepsthe magazine flowingandgivesitsome variety
insteadof havingitrepetitive.Iusedthe website DafontswhichIuse
for all myprojectsdue to itsreliability.Forthe interview page,I
decidedtouse an Americanfootball font,Ithoughtthatalthough
thiswas a weirdchoice Ilikeditbecause itgave the page
importance,andmade itlooklike anannouncement.Idecidedto
make the fontblack witha white textbox because the yellow
backgroundand boldfontwasalreadyquite overpoweringandI
didn’twantto make the page lookoverthe top.For all the articles,I
keptthe same type writerfontbecause Ithinkthe magazine wouldlookmore professional andput
togetherwithaconsistentfontforthe writing.Ichose the typewriterfontbecause Ilike the
traditional style itgivesthe pages.Also,the frontcoverof the magazine isanold,retro televisionset
so the oldtypewritingfontmatchesthe subtleold-fashionedtheme.Myfavourite title isthe
‘Snappy’title onthe firstpage,thistookme the most time because Iuseda mixture of different
fontsand putthemtogether.Ireallylike thisbecause Ithinkitlooksveryabstractandunique
makingthe page seemmodern.Idecidedtodoa mix of text/photos/animations.The ratioof articles
– photos/animationisequal,Ididthisonpurpose because the magazine ismeanttobe more of a
fanzine,whichusuallyinclude alessformal layout.That’swhythe designof my pagesdoesn’tfollow
a strict, stereotypical magazineformat.Insteadtheyfollow amore relaxed,youthful formatwhere
the textdoesn’thave toalignwiththe photositcan be freer.Idecidedtotake thisroute because I
knowthat myaudience,16 – 24, will be more interestedinthistype of magazine insteadof aformal
double page spread.Ialsofinditeasiertodesignfanzine pagesbecausetheydon’tfollow astructure
and itgivesme freedomtodesignthe page how Ilike.
I am happywiththe work I createdonPhotoshopforthe ages,especiallypage 4.I like the
backgroundwiththe sunsetandthe neighbourhood.The photoismeanttorepresentthe charity
SASHhelpinghome arange of differentyoungpeople,pairingthemwithahouse.Thispage tookme
the longesttocreate because I hadto create itall in Photoshopfromscratch,I had an ideabefore
creatingthe page of howI wanteditto look.Atthe beginningof the projectIdecidedonwhetherto
3. create a seriousandemotional fanzinepreyingonpeople’ssympatheticside orwhethertogofor a
light-heartedthemeencouragingpeople todonate.Iobviouslydecidedtotake the optimisticroute
and thiswasa theme throughoutmymagazine andthispage especiallysupportsit.Iuseda
stereotypical happy scene,apinkskywithgreengrassand brightflowerstoentice the readers.So,
theyassociate the charitywithhappinessinsteadof the usual sadconnotationsthatfollow charity
work.
Writingmyarticleswasdifficultatthe beginningbecause Ifound itdifficulttofindaplace to start, I
dida lot of researchon the charitiesandpeople whohadbeenhelpedbythem/volunteeredthere.
Thishelpedshape myarticlesalotbecause I feltlike Iknew whatIwas talkingabout.Also,
researchingthe charitiesandfindingoutmore aboutthemmade mywritingflow more because the
more I foundout the more interestingIfounditmakingthe writingmore natural.Conductingthe
interview wasaveryimportantpartof myfanzine because withoutthe interview Ithinkthe pages
wouldof all beentosimilartherefore makingthe magazine repetitive andboring.The interview
meantthat I had inside knowledge aboutthe charity,butitalsomeantthat I couldtalkaboutthe
charitiesfroma first-handperspective anditgivesthe readerstosee the charityfroma more
personal viewinsteadof justreadingfactsaboutthe charity.Before the interview Idecidedto
change some of myquestionslastminute becausethroughresearchingthe charityIthoughtof a
range of differentquestionsthatIwantedanswersto.I’mgladI changedsome questionsbecauseI
thinkthe adaptedversionshave some veryinterestinganswersandthe questionsbeforewould
beenslightlyboringandformulaic. Butthe interview practicallywrote itself, Ionlyhadto choose
whichparts to include.Andthenhowtodesignthemonthe page.
