How do you intend to use the four areas of the media theoretical framework to communicate meaning and meet the requirements of your chosen brief?
Statement of Intent - Reality Magazine
My goal is to produce a real-life story magazine for 16-25 year olds. My magazine fits into Bauer's portfolio which I believe is beneficial as it will open them up to a newer and younger audience who like their style. I recognise that my audience would engage more with models their age and a mixed representation of social groups, which I will do my best to include, however the models won't be the main focus of the cover. These social groups will also be quite stereotypical so my audience will find it easier to identify with them. Because this is a 'gossip' magazine, the main focus of the front covers will be the text (headlines) which will dominate the page, in large, bold fonts and bright colours, in order to catch readers' attention. The text will be colloquial to form a casual, easy going relationship with the reader. Although I found, when researching, that these magazines generally use bright and loud colours, I think my target audience would see this as more 'childish' and not respond well to it, so I will tone down the colours to make them pastel so it doesn’t look childish and it will stand out from the other magazines of this genre. My contents pages include 'win' and normal advertisements that my audiences would be interested in e.g. festivals and streaming services. Issue 1 and 2 will be set out similarly (both contents and covers) because this is a new magazine so this will allow my new readers to become familiar with the magazine. My focus group, suggested a more text heavy approach to the cover but to include familiar representations of teenagers and young adults, to help create a familiar feeling to the magazine.
Statement of Intent - Website
After doing research for my chosen magazines, I found that quite a few websites for magazines have a welcome paragraph/mission statement on the home page as an introduction for new readers, which I think my audience would react well to, as this age group doesn’t generally read real life magazines, so by having an introduction it would be beneficial for my audience. The website will use colloquial language similar to the magazine, to further help to create a friendly relationship between reader and product. I also found that the websites I have looked at include the masthead on their websites which I will include because this will create and reinforce the idea of brand identity. Latest issues can sometimes be found on the homepage of these websites, which I will include in columns, and my website will have the opportunity for readers to view a previous issues of the magazine along with the hottest stories of the week. My navigation bar will include a 'subscribe' tab making it easier for my readers to be included in a weekly subscription of my magazine. My website will also include advertising to relate to the content the magazine produces, e.g. more competitions and prizes to maintain engagement.
How do you intend to link your media products to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the digitally convergent nature of your media production?
To encourage my audience to refer to my magazines website after reading the magazine, I will have competitions advertised on the magazine to enter via the website (which they also have to subscribe to the magazine to enter to increase this convergence), a 'scan to upload your story' QR code advertised on the contents page, to encourage my audience to visit the website to find details on how they can upload their stories. The subscription needed to enter competitions will offer magazines delivered to your door weekly and an automatic entry into future competitions, again advertised on the magazine but to sign up on the website (which can be accessed via a QR code on my cover to make this easier, also increasing existing media convergence). The same ads will be used on my contents and website to increase convergence. My website features my team so it feels like they know them and will help to further strengthen a healthy reader between reader and product.
