Dan Thompson proposes creating a gaming magazine called "Total Gamer" focused on the Total War game franchise. The target audience would be male teenagers aged 16-19. The magazine would provide in-depth guides, tactics, and news to help readers improve at the games. It would cover the different Total War games released so far. The cover design concept features a character looking over a battlefield with troops from different Total War eras. The magazine aims to attract new younger gamers to the series while not boring more experienced players.

1. Idea Generation
Dan Thompson

2. Idea 1: Gaming Magazine
‘Total Gamer’
Audience
My audience will be mostly of the younger generation as the idea is to bring more
younger gamers to ’Total War’ This will broaden the game’s audience and create
more interest around the series. It will be directly aimed at mid to late male
teenagers (16-19) by showing things such as gritty screenshots, slang and in-depth
guides to parts of the game and will appeal to males more by using darker, intense
colours and gaming terminology as stereotypically, males are more likely to be
gamers. My magazine will be aimed at middle-class people who are determined to
learn aspects of the game and find out tactics, unit descriptions, etc to improve
their experience with the game. Due to my magazine not being for young teens and
kids, I will be able to discuss and show more graphical parts of the game such as in
battle screenshots and death of characters which could potentially scare or upset a
younger person.

3. Idea 1: Gaming Magazine
‘Total Gamer’
Rationale
Throughout the past year and a bit of studying creative media (lvl2+3), I have
gained many skills that I feel would be perfect for such a project as this. I have
discovered new software such as Photoshop and developed my understanding of
its tools available to me. I personally believe that the freedom the software gives to
the user is just what is needed to design my magazine in an extremely specific and
in-depth manner. Earlier on in my course, I designed another magazine cover for a
gaming brand I had made up and received great feedback on it. Using the
knowledge from this early project and the research I have conducted on covers of
magazines recently, I believe that I can create an even better quality piece of work
for my blog. At home, I have watched various videos and read many tutorials on
how to use the tools on Photoshop create more professional looking work. I have
also taken plenty of advice from my tutors past and present on how to improve my
already finished products.

4. Idea 1: Gaming Magazine
‘Total Gamer’
Project Concept
My project is going to be a gaming magazine which focuses on just one game franchise: Total War. It will explain in depth many
aspects of the game and will act as a guide for any beginners to the game. The objective of the whole magazine is to draw in a fresh
audience for the game franchise which is younger than the current one (mid age) yet still mature. The idea is to persuade the
audience to try out and buy the game while trying not to get boring or unattractive and help them get started with the basic concept
of the game. The magazine will cover rumours, news, reviews, communities, and play-styles/tactics and will feature cover lines
hinting at said subjects. The magazine, as stated many times above, will talk not just about one Total War game but all of them
released so far. The cover will be rather busy with many stories and enticing rumours surrounding a main picture (not yet decided the
position of main picture) of a character from the game looking down on a battlefield with soldiers fighting. Dark skies will be
contrasting with bright sparks from thunder and lightning and one or two blobs and stars will be springing out from them. The main
character will be intruding over the header to show his importance and to create a 3d effect of him looking down on the troops. The
troops might or might not be from all total war games (depending on time spent on creating) and will show to the reader that the
magazine is not just tunneling itself on one Total War. The first double page spread will be more based on pictures and photography. It
will be split up into 11 parts (possibly 9), each showing an aspect of one Total War within it (most likely a character/soldier) in order
from the first Total War to the most modern. At the bottom of the page it will say in big bold, Strong looking font: “The time has come
for total war”. On the right page, there will be an timeline on every Total War game to date (oldest at the top, newest at the bottom)
and it will show the release date of each and the name of each game. The next double page spread will be focused on more article
based content surrounding mini pictures which are there to accompany and give more context to the section.

5. Fonts/Style Type
Header & Article text – Trajan Pro
Bottom Line –
Cover Lines –
The Header’s font is chosen after the official font used by the Total War
franchise. It will help older fans realize the game easier and could pull in a
bigger audience. The bottom line will be the font I have chosen because it
will be among a horde of Huns next to it. It symbolizes the destruction and
war that they are going to bring to Rome in the game. The cover lines will be
a less formed, more all over variation of the stereotypical Roman font. This
symbolizes the sacking of Roman territory during Attila’s time.

6. Potential Fonts

7. Colour Schemes
I will be using a darker colour scheme. The colours
used in said colour scheme are mostly used by the
Roman Empire. This will be extremely fitting for
my magazine as it will be covering a game set
during the Romans’ time – ‘Attila: Total War’. As
you can see from the name, the game also
features the historical character ‘Attila the Hun’
who rampaged through the world destroying
empires. For this reason, I will also be using
browns and oranges to symbolize their brown
outfits and the fire and destruction they left on
their paths. The roman colours (purple and red)
will be used on broken and ripped standards and
flags strewn across the cover. This will show that
the game is set near the fall of Rome. The specific
colours will be stated on the next slide.

10. Magazine Cover
Mind-Map

11. Website Flow Chart //
Mind Map