Article

Today i finished off my article on a real life story. As you can see the image that i have chosen to use is relevant to the text as it suggests that the celebrity cannot cope due to the problematic situations surrounding her.

The choice of colour for the headline was based upon, what would suit the article best and what colour would stand out, given thought to the image as well.

I chose to use (Bononi MT Black) because it adds more effect to the story, as the font is bold and dominant, making the article appealing, in order for the target audience to stop and read the article.

Advert

I had to re take my photos a few times, in order to gain a good quality photo, where the lighting was appropriate and the position of the product was angled suitable for the decisions made about how the layout of this was going to look.

My choice of photo for my advert is between the two selected below:

Decisions made about what my Advert have consist of:
The underlining of the http://www.healthy-eating.com/, suggests the idea that the product can also be viewed on the internet, hence that there is a website link available.

Looking back at my research I discovered that most notorious product based adverts usually consists of simple text, and the style and font of the text however are kept to a less graphical and bold approach.

Font & Style:
(Think healthy, Drink healthy)
For the USP I chose to use Script MT Bold, then overlapping it with Italic. Personally I think it plays on the idea that the drink itself it quite neutral, which creates a sense of a smooth effect in relation the what the drink should be.

(http://www.healthy-eating.com)

For the hyperlink i have used a clear and readable font (Arial) due to the fact that i am trying to suggest a possible and relevant link to my audience.

(Made from only the freshest strawberries blended together with a glass of milk )

Again Arial has been used to direct the information to the audience however using the Italic style differs it from the hyperlink, adding importance to the information provided.

Bold:
(Includes ONE of your five a day)

Bold has been purposely used to point out what the drink consist of, however it is also suggesting in some way that other fruits could be a possibility due to their choice.

Colour of text: I have chosen to use black for the USP of the product, following the same use of colour for the other information about the product. However my choice of blue for the hyperlink, is so that it stands out from the other text and therefore the use of blue is a common colour amoungst many ads.

11/12/08

At CLC, i spent the day's lesson extracting the images from the mask and placing them onto new individual pages. My next stage would be to adjust the hue to the images and make any changes necessary.

Today's lessons were spent finishing off the masking of my photos, as later on in the day i moved on to considering and producing my ideal layout of where the placement of my images and text will be placed, which was therefore conducted on in design.

10/12/08

I spent yesterday making my milkshake drink as part of my advertisement. I then i took a few photos, which are presented below. OUt of the variety of photos which i have presented below, i will then chose from the selection, making decisions about what angle, position of the item and lighting.

Over the recent week my time was spent masking my photos, therefore ready for CLC, where i will then extract the image and place it on my choice of page for my magazine

Male Model Photoshoot

Out of all the images i took today, these are a few that i selected as a choice of images that i should be including in my magazine.

Location Shot For Male Model Photoshoot

Today i conducted my male model photoshoot in the meeting room on the very top floor of the upper teaching block. I chose to use this specific location in relation to the room having exclusive lighting and therefore i could adjust thel ighting on photoshop is nessessary, which would not affect the original lighting.

I also chose this location due to the background colour. Aiming to have a white backdrop turned out to be useful, as for when i edit my images, i could easily blend the image in with the background colour of the page of my magazine.

Schedule

My scedule for the upcoming week

Editing My Images

Yesterday at CLC i spent the lesson leraning how to mask my images, therefore removing the background. This up coming week i will continue to edit all the photos that i have previously chosen to be issued in my magazine.On Monday, i will conduct my male model photo shoot, as well as proceed with taking an image of myself for my contents page. I will also try to reconstruct the editorial photo of my celebrity, by finding a model who can help me to recreate this image. The decision of recapturing and reconstructing the image of the celebrity was based on the concept that the internet version that i was going to use was far too small to edit out the background precisely and accurately.

This is the image of the celebrity that i was previously going to use before i made changes to my final decision.

Photoshop Instructions

'click' on 'edit in quick mask mode'

Use the brush tool to highlight the image with a red hue. After finished, erase out the sections that are not needed, then 'click' on the 'edit standard mode' and then go to 'select' and 'save selection'.

Continuation with the previous photo shoot (what next?) 25/11/08

Another problem that i have come across is finding a replacement male model, due to the previous one backing out, however i have found a new replacement and therefore will arrange a time suitable for him to be able to help conduct my final photo shoot.

All photo shoot images will be used for my double spread of the 'fashion' section in my magazine.

The Photos (Female Model) 24/11/08

I particularly like the additional balloons added to the photo to give it more of a dramatic effect as well as exaggerate the colours of her outfit.

From all the photos taken today, i have chosen a few that i like and think would work best for my double spread. I still have a few more decisions to make, especially if i have chosen two similar photos containing the same outfit.

Model Profile 24/11/08

Today i conducted the photo shoot with my featured female model.

Malalika Carr

When conducting my photo shoot, originally i had thought about and made decisions on asking a friend to help me to create my photos, as she was going to be my main model, however a few changes occured during this process and i was forced to make changes towards my 'fashion' and 'front cover' pages.

At the moment i was able to get hold of my female model but due to a few problems faced, I was unable to gain a few photos of both the male and female models together; however this means that due to my front cover featuring both my male and female models, I will have to find a way of merging the two separate photos together.

Location Shot 24/11/08

Due to lack of spot lights and other equipment, i decided that it would be best to allocate my photo shoot at the top of the upper teaching block, where i had white walls as my backdrop and dimmed lighting to create a dark effective with the contribution to the bright light contrasting from beyond the windows.

Mock Up Advert Of Healthy Eating

I have reviewed other adverts that consists of a main product, and have discover that the use of a white background brings out the colour of the image and draws attention to the image more whereas a colourful background disrupts and distracts the attension of my audience, therefore loosing consentration of the product being suggested to them.

Planning My Next Stages

Mock Up Ideas Of Front Cover Of My Magazine

I have created my first mock up of the way in which i want my presentation of the front cover to appeal to my audience, however when analysing this particular mock up, i was given feedback on the layout of the title of my magazine, it cam to my attention that there was a reson behind why many magazine feature their titles at the top of the page, simply because when advertised on a shelf, the title is less visable to the audience, therefore forcing their eyes to skip the magazine and forcu at another.

Onee again another aspect that was brought to my attention was the 'Hottest Urban Fashion' as my selling line, i was given advice to change this due to the effect of what my magazine represents and is about, therefore i need to think about the following:

• using a more diversed selling line that suggests to the audience that it is a local, south London magazine, that differs from all other lifestyle magazines.

For this particular front cover i have changed the layout, therefore presenting the title at the bottom of my magazine, however once again, displaying the title at the bottom of my magazine prevents my audience from reviewing the titile, which would mean that i would have to improve the layout of this feature. Although the bold font i have used here for my title of my magazine, creates a straight forward impression.

I like the way in which i have created sections on the front cover for the different topics that will be covered in this magazine.

The black and white image that i have used here is one that i found on the internet specialised for this mock up to gain an idea of what i want my front cover to look like, however i will therefore carry out a photo shoot creating a similar image tothis one, but using teenagers instead, which suggests my target audience. The reason behind the idea of using a male and female model for my front cover, is to simply draw the attention to both genders.

The choice of using a black and white image for my front cover, is an idea that i am happy to continue with, for my final mock up. I think these colours blended together would work well as well as they aralso two colours of which no other magazine have used on their own front cover, which is what makes it all than more appealing because it is different.

Analysis Of an article featured in Look Magazine

Generic Convention of an Advert (Healthy Eating)

My Next Step?

The next stage that i will be proceeding with, it conducting a mock up photograph of the following aspects that will contribute to my photographs:

• Equipment that will help enhance the photos e.g. lighting, costume,makeup,hair
• Positions of my models

Institutional Research (IPC SouthBank)

The Production Company that I have chosen to base my lifestyle magazine on is therefore IPC. IPC have produced a wide range of lifestyle magazines, especially the main magazine of which I have chosen to focus and study on.

For my magazine to be able to gain their audience, I would have to have to focus my magazine upon an institutional publisher that had produced successful magazines that already target an audience with aspirations of a glamorous lifestyle. IPC South Bank is suitable for my magazine, as it already produces a life style magazine’s alike Marie Claire which is very similar to the one in which I want to create. However the use of producing home interest and fashion aswell as women's lifestyle magazine all contribute to the way in which the magazine suggest our aspiration of life. Other products that IPC have been produced by IPC are, InStyle, Wedding Magazine, Ideal Home and Housetohome.

There are some key factors that can affect the type of adverts published in their magazine such as Gucci adverts featured in Marie Claire. The format of including seven pages of expensive priced luxuries, like adverts for Gucci, has been brought to IPC’s attention that their ‘fashion-conscious audience’, are likely to be able to afford to splash out on the more expensive price tags within the Gucci range due to the approaching recession. With a wide range to choose from (Clothes to sunglasses), it reminds the audience that an excessive amount of goods follow a wide range of the way in which the product is priced, although some consumers may be willing to pay the price for few items, but it is unlikely that they will spend a huge amount on just one item.

Due to my magazine being a similar version to Marie Claire yet having low production values, I have thought about advertising high street retails shop clothing, which connects to the idea of who my target audience is, therefore knowing that my audience are 16-25 year old, most of them are students, which as a matter of fact, expensive products like expensive brands like Gucci, will be not worth including in my magazine.

Product Research (Marie Claire)

Marie Claire receives over 15 million each month in total for every copy sold, where they aim to attract an audience between the ages of 25-39, however Marie Claire is known to provide their readers with the ‘finest fashion, beauty and food’ within the exclusive 380 pages.

What is common amongst readers is the fact that the contents of Marie Claire, especially the layout give space to the items of clothing, which does not clutter the pages, making it an obstacle for the readers. The size of the context simply makes it easy for readers with the medium sized fonts.

Readership: 1,019, 000
Circulation: 316, 765
Reader profile:

• Medium age 34
• 69%ABC1

High spending readers:

• Spend £35 million per visit at the hairdressers
• Spend £19 million every month on skin care/cosmetics
• 75% agree its worth paying extra for quality goods
• 83% treat themselves to things they don’t need

Fashion and beauty addicts:

• 73% agree ‘it’s important to me to look well dressed’
• 79% look after their image/appearance

Active readers:

• Spend nearly an hour reading Marie Claire
• Each page is looked at 2.1 time

The Age and percentage of Marie Claire readers:
14 - 17 years 34 3%
18 - 24 years 107 5.3%
25 - 34 years 117 4.1%
35 - 49 years 112 2.5%
50 - 64 years 64 1.7%
65 years and over 20 .7%

Occupation of Marie Claire’s target audience:
Work Full Time 202 2.9%
Work Part Time 132 4.1%
Not Employed 118 1.7%

Product Research (London Careers Magazine)

London career's magazine was chosen based on the idea that it was a low production free bee magazine, as its contents are similar to a higly priced lifestyle magazine such as 'Look' and 'Marie Claire', which contained exclusive real life celebritiy stories. Looking at these articles has given me idea in the way that i am going to present my article, and therefore considering, the storyline, the layout of the page and the colours chosen to represent the story.

Looking at a low production value magazine has given me an insight on what my magazine should look like, including the glossyness of the pages and the contents .

Product Research (LOOK MAGAZINE)

I decided that looking at a magazine that had the same values that my magazine would contain, would be very helpful, in a way that it would give me an idea of layout since my magazine will include only the first four pages (a front cover, advert on healty eating, Editorial /contents page,following with an article of a real life story, and opinion of the public on crime and a double spread of a fashion photo shoot.

Target audience Of Look:

Look is aimed for a younger generation, possibly age 27. Many of the women in this magazine, modelling trendy clothes are under the age of 30.

Gender: This magazine is aimed at women.

Lifestyle: Look is aimed at women who take interest in glamorous, glossy high street fashion and celebrity weekly updates.

Demographics: The demographics for Look’s audience would be working class, who would be hard working and focus but on the other hand still have time to socialise with her friends.

Psychographics: The target audience aspirers to strive for a better lifestyle buy gaining ideas from Look

Ø    The publisher of my magazine is: Tammi Iley

        and…Julie Lavington: Publishing Director

Ø    The audience that read Look usually have an annual income of £20.6k.

Ø    Employment Status: Full Time

Ø    Each Month they would spend at least £251 on shopping.

Ø    Each Month they would spend at least £85 on make up and skin care.

Feedback form look readers:

Look" The magazine is jam packed with fashion ideas, that are better than any their fashion magazine I’ve read!”

“ love the fact that it has everything a fashionable girl needs to know and would enjoy reading about. There’s no other magazine like it”

Appearance is everything!

83%agree  that “Looking good is really important to them

She loves fashion and shopping

87% women agree that “Shopping is one of their favourite pastimes”

Charts Of Results

Price is a very important issue when it comes to consumers purchasing a magazine, if it’s a good read then they are more likely to want to pay the little bit extra. Reviewing my results, I can see that the average yet most popular price consumers are willing to pay is £1.50-2.50, however from the results i have come to a conclusion on my pricing strategy, therefore pricing it between the figures of £1.50-£2.50, hence the face that due to my magazine being a low production valued magazine i have given thought about pricing it slightly lower than £1.50 and therefore making it £1.

From the results presented in the pie chart shown above, I can see that 80% of females read magazines than the remaining of 20% males. From my results the idea of combining a male magazine and female magazine has crossed my mind. This implication will benefit my magazine especially if I was producing a product to gain more readerships.

The next stage I will proceed with is to analysis the layout of which fashion is presented. I will also review the content of the magazine, to further my mock up of the ‘fashion pages’ as well as the more serious issues such as real life stories and the way in which the editor has chosen to present these stories to a male audience. This will generate my ideas when creating my own stories aimed at a wider audience.

The graph above shows that not many people follow a healthy diet, but selecting this question to ask my target audience has given more information about consumer needs. I think that if my magazine promoted healthy eating in a more precise yet straight forward way then more people will feel the need to eat healthy whereas from my research I have noticed that a lot of magazine seems to promote healthy eating in a reluctant way, which in fact not everyone follows due to having the time. I will therefore introduce a routine diet where consumers can still follow these trends to gain the body that they aspire to have.

Many of my audience find crime a 'very important' issue therefore form my results i realised that not many magazines are able to contain this type of topic and if some do, it is usually briefing. Due to the fact that consumers thrive to hear about crime, my decision has been concluded to include the topic of crime in my magazine, using the audience to give feedback so i could therefore create sections of different opinions on how crime is viewed by the public, which i will then later go on to discuss.

The out numbering figures of 60% of my audience found fashion important, which says a lot out consumers needs to continue to follow trends. Since fashion was found ‘quite important’ to my audience, i have decided that my magazine will feature the latest trends carried out by teenagers. Due to my magazine being a high street fashion collection, i have deicded to carry out the high street look, where i will use brands such as topman, river island etc, only thing is i will mix and match the collection that i am combining together. When it comes to fashion, the people that i will be using to model, will present a casual yet rough/street look.

Looking back at the results that I had conducted, I noticed that not many people purchase magazines weekly, and if so, this would not be on a regular basis, probably once a month so this has made me think very carefully about what to add in my magazine, hence the fact that not many students cannot afford to buy a magazine weekly, therefore i have decided to make my magazine a monthly issue, where it will consist of in depth stories, as well as the magazine will contain in depth stories, that will be enduring content. My stories will be related to real life events, with a few small structured celebrity articles.