Product 1- magazine cover and content page
My brief is to produce a real-life story magazine with a mass primary target audience of 16-25-year old's that expect to be engaged. Bauer publishes a wide scope of genre magazines including multiple real-life ones such as That's life and Take a Break. These magazines are similar to those which I have researched (Chat, Real People and Love it). From my research, the existing real-life magazines do not suit the primary target audience of 16-25-year olds. This is clearly distinctive from features like the main image being women who are above this demographic, advertisements for sweaters and competitions with prizes like a bag of goodies including home items. It is also clear that the magazine shows no diversity as it only features white females. Therefore, I am planning to ensure that the main image on both of my covers show diversity within my given age range, the articles and advertisements are ones which would engage the target audience and have competitions with prizes that my audience would enjoy. I think that by doing these things, it will allow the reader to connect and engage with the cover as it is specific to their needs. The research that I have completed shows mese en scene that focuses on the main image, the masthead and sell lines. Cohesively, these three factors show a common theme of being bold which is done in order to grab the initial attention of the reader. All the magazines that I looked at have very similar layouts with the main image as the initial focus, taking up roughly 1/4 of the page; the masthead is in a basic font with block letter and contrasting colours in order to stand out when on the shelves; sell lines which are in either a complementary or contrasting colour. I am going to make sure that I am incorporate these factors into my magazines whilst following my brief. From my research on the content pages of various real-life magazines, there is a clear pattern within the layouts with slight variations. Approximately 3/4 of the page is taken up by other content with the last 1/4 for the actual contents page which is clearly divided from the rest of the page. All of them also make sure that they are promoting their social media accounts as well as encouraging readers to send in stories. These factors make it clear that the magazines main aim is to get readers to engage. Due to these magazines not matching my target audience, I am going to make sure that even though I follow the characteristics of these content pages, the actual content will adapt in order to suit my target audience.
Product 2- Website
When conducting my research for the websites that correspond to the magazines I have looked at, the magazine cover and contents pages closely correlate with the website. The Love it! and Real People websites are both very informal looking with busy pages (like the magazine covers) whereas, the Chat website is more formal looking with a structured format and everything split into specific sections. All the magazines include the same attributes as shown on their magazine covers which (articles, competitions, adverts and feature some of their recent magazine covers). When you first open most of the websites, the magazine name is displayed at the top of the page and to see the main design, you need to scroll down which again is something I intend to do. Additionally, all the magazines make sure that they are using cross convergence by having their social media stamps shown, as well as having a page where the readers can subscribe on the front page. This is important as you not only want people to read through your websites but sign up to get magazines and follow your social media accounts. For the writing on my homepage (captions and titles), I am going to make sure that it is using techniques such as colloquium and alliteration for it to be informal and interesting to read.
Convergence
My products will use a variety of methods to be linked in order to encourage the reader to visit the other product. The contents page of my magazine will have various calls to action such as teasers, QR codes (which will take them to the website) and invitations to share their stories. On the top of the home page of my website will be the magazines latest cover with a sneak peek to encourage the reader to buy it. Lastly, the website will have lots of self-promo for the readers to subscribe and send their stories in.
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