Below are three examples of table of contents that I analyzed to showcase their unique approaches to content. These three example are very different from one another which is why I chose them so that variations of table of contents can be seen vividly.Table Of Contents Analysis
Thursday, December 31, 2020
Research - Table Of Contents Analysis
Research - Two Page Spread Analysis
Two Page Spread Analysis
Above are three examples of two page spreads. I analyzed the pages to showcase their Images can be found on google search of two page spread
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
What I Have Learned From Conventions
What have I gathered and will use in my magazine project from conventions ?
History, types, genres, design, content, layout, anatomy of page design, demographics, production, and market research are the conventions discussed in the previous 10 blogs. From these blogs research I have determined some information to be quite fascinating and useful towards the progression of my magazine project. I have learned much but the information that I have gathered from them that I plan to utilize in my magazine project is the art of the unordinary. Out of all 10 conventions, 5 of them stood out most that I will be concentrating on with my magazine project.
Genre - A genre is not a limitation but a framework to the direction of your magazine. The direction that the genre takes you is all up to you. My magazine: The genre of my magazine will be family based. I intend to enter into the world of youth and how everyone's childhood is different from others.
Content - The content of a magazine is truly the meat of the magazine that is most appreciated and interpreted. Whether the content is structured in properly the content itself is what matters most. Content should be factual being that it would be highly appreciated by subscribers. Content is not limited to paragraphs of information but can be questionnaires, interviews, illustrations, images, comments from celebrities and more. Content is especially important if the information is medically, spiritually, or financially related topics. My magazine: The content I wish to produce with my magazine includes quality stories that symbolize what family life is about, something that is organized while remaining easy to read and enjoyable for the audience.
Anatomy of Page design - The anatomy of page designs are extremely important to the attention that pages will receive. Despite the content being of quality, if the layout is not structured accordingly the information will be easily dismissed by readers. If I want my content to truly be analyzed I must structure my pages that appear both amusing, unique, expressive, and interactive. My magazine: The fluidity of my magazine is important to me which is why I plan to design my magazine with simplicity meaning not too much text that takes away from the images but enough images to tell what text couldn't. I will utilize colors to provide the flair and beauty needed to congregate a balanced page design.
Demographics - Along with the tools of content and genre, my targeted demographic will be easily expressed. Being that my demographic can only be determined through my design and content it's important that I congregate those well so that I can cater to my demographic properly also. My magazine: The demographic I wish to target include youth (10-18) and young adults (19-29). I believe that my content can extend to those age levels being that those generations are either in the midst of childhood or are ending /ended their childhood and are headed to adulthood.
Market Research - The entirely of my magazine receiving the attention that I wish tp receive involves receiving feedback from my audience. Without this I can continuously put out information that won't be relevant or entirely pleasing. I will utilize questionnaires so that I can , somewhat, communicate with "subscribers".
My magazine: To gain insight from my audience I plan to exercise questionnaires through forms and interviews to receive market feedback.
Evaluation of Preliminary Task
Evaluation of Preliminary Task
Evaluation
The creation process of my preliminary task was absolutely amazing to experience being that it allowed me to gain access into the magazine world. I was able to easily come up with a concept and utilize the Canva tools to illustrate that concept as best I could.
Design
The design of my magazine began with my pictures but more so which pictures I would chose. Once I found those images, I began to think of ways I would illustrate those images to portray babies personality and what colors I would utilize to enhance those images. I decided on the "Superstar" template from Canva and changed the colors to a minty green color and "Bebas Neue" font; The pair of these two allowed text to be seen clearly and more vibrant. Additionally, changing the filter of the pictures to "street". The "Superstar" template allowed me to have a large image of my topic and have a close-up shot of my model. Furthermore, this template showed the most professionalism and looked like an actual magazine cover page and table of contents. The subheadings were placed on the left bottom of the image so that the image can be seen but the text was still visible based on its color. As far as the table of contents, the style of this correlated with the cover page and continued with the hints of mint green, black and grey on a white background. With 11 pages and 2 images on the table of contents page, I wanted to make sure that it was a minimalistic view.
Photography
The photography process was a lot easier than expected being that the model was in a "photoshoot mood". Working with babies can be difficult if the baby is cranky or not properly cared for but what better way to care for a baby if their cravings are in the image. The model was eating fresh juicy oranges in the photos that served as a great prop for the magazine and made the reactions all the more genuine and worthy of a magazine. All three images utilized in the pages portrayed three different reactions, showing just how diverse and expressive babies are.
Research - Magazine Models
Magazine Models
Parents, Baby Talk, and Baby are three magazine companies that I will utilize as models for my magazine project. These magazines have shown me not only how to design and structure my magazine project but the importance of content and resources needed in order to successfully educate parents about how to properly care for their loved ones especially without the guidance of an older guardian.
The reason I chose Parents magazine as one of my model magazine choices was the aesthetic of the magazine. This magazine company is known for utilizing celebrity parents who exploit their love and care for their children publicly. Along with the beautiful coloring and style this magazine presents the images are modern and up to date with generational trends. Parents Magazine is also a magazine that many regular civilians look upon to examine what makes them similar or unique from celebrities in the aspect of parenting.
Baby talk magazine is one of America's eldest parenting magazine companies. This magazine is known for helping new mothers trust their maternal instincts with "straight talk" from experts and real moms. This magazine company works alongside other companies such as Parenting, Working Mother Magazine, American Baby and more. I chose this magazine because I can utilize resources and information from reliable sources to obtain helpful information. Furthermore, I can get assistance from their partnered companies for more ideas and advice.
Baby magazine is a popular magazine company that is eccentric for catering to all the aspects of parenting life. This magazine is more like a catalog for parents providing access to different nurseries for specific babies, advice for dads, stroller information and much more. This baby magazine was also chosen by me because of how the babies are treated as the celebrities rather than their parents. ‘Baby of the week’ spreads are available as well as pregnancy tips and exercises. Overall, this magazine will be a great model for my magazine project allowing me to go beyond surface level of parenting.
Images can be found from google or parents and baby magazine website.
Monday, December 28, 2020
Market Research On Magazines
Market Research
Market research can be defined as the action or activity of gathering information about consumers' needs and preferences for a specific task. Market research has to be the most vital factor of the magazine industry in order to truly gain sales. Market research occurs quite often but can be disguised as a simple ad or commercial on television. In order to create many of the well known magazines we see today such as Apple News+ , market research was utilized to gain knowledge about customers' requests and suggestions. Apple is known for their unique phone features and products that have taken the technology industry by storm for 44 years. The product of market research within the Apple company can be found within the updating of their software better known as iOS updates; By making effective changes that are coherent to customers request, this shows that the company is truly dedicated to customers needs.
Market research strategies are important to receive the full capacity of desired recommendations from consumers. According to spyglass intel, market strategy research can be fulfilled in 5 steps.
1. 'Defining your objectives/ 2.What do you already know?'- learn the key objectives that will help focus on the research that you need. At times, content creators have progressively received a hunch about ways that they wish to travel with their content but clarification from customers is what solidifies that.
3. 'What gaps do you need to fulfill' - Gaps are simply missing information that has been received from either polls, market research, or previous reports for the advancements of the magazine. Gaps are also the information that you have received but are unclear about where to properly place them so that the initial theme of the magazine won't be altered or lost in any way.
4. Build a research plan based on your objectives and the gaps in your knowledge - build a framework for quantitative data for the magazine. This section revolves around data that should be received from individuals who aren't in your small group but are broader.
5. Rinse and repeat - Confirm and reconfirm information so that you can insure the information that subscribers have provided; This can be done through questionnaires, advertisement, or research studies.
5. Rinse and repeat - Confirm and reconfirm information so that you can insure the information that subscribers have provided; This can be done through questionnaires, advertisement, or research studies.
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| This is an example of Apple News+ market researching steps 1 & 2. Titling information that can be either a hit or miss underneath "Special Issue" is a note for both the audience and the company to pay close attention to how well this is executed and exploited. Source - |
Producing A Magazine
Production of Magazine
Producing a magazine for some can come off as a simple concept of discovering a topic that would be both amusing yet education, diverse yet simplistic, common yet unique. For others, this task might take years to truly perfect and become the physical investment of their intellectual vision. Producing a magazine has many counterparts, one being content. The content of magazines is something that can get readers invested in conversation and interested in the same topics as the publisher.
Content is difficult to produce overnight especially without a focused point of view but that's what magazines are traditionally about and what makes them so enjoyable; The point of views from others and the view you'll have after reading the selection. Magazines provide an open path for readers to indulge deeply into a story providing all the factual and non factual information needed in order to further that view. An additional counterpart to producing a magazine is design. Titles, headings, illustrations, font, images, and more fall under that title.
Designing a magazine is actually the initial depictions that customers will receive before diving into the content of the magazine. Producing a magazine design appealing enough for people to buy takes research into the social likes and dislikes of human beings in your targeted demographic. Once you have established that, the journey ahead should be clearer.
Source - https://www.lucidpress.com/blog/how-to-make-a-magazine-in-twelve-steps
Demographics Of A Magazine
Demographics
Demographics can be expressed in 3 main categories; Gender, age, and race. These different elements carry their own categories but before we dive into that lets begin with why demographics are important to the sales of magazines. If we go back to the purpose of magazines themselves it’s a way to spread information to an audience that would want to hear it. A demographic which can be defined as study of a population caters to a specific group and what that group interest is in.
Although these allegations can lead to stereotyping, this is how society has categorized these 3 categories. The first is gender, typically women are into anything involving beauty such as makeup, jewelry, cosmetics and well-being. Men are usually into grooming themselves, auto mechanics, pets, and fashion. Age is quite versatile being that there is ,roughly, a magazine for everyone. What is trending most is young-adult to middle aged magazines. These magazines feature the latest fashion trends, social media influencers, and ways to become a better you. Race, however, is the bow that ties everything together. Race is the most dominant of all three being that race involves age and gender. Being updated with your culture is what is most important in society today, things that you might have never considered practicing before are now being brought to light and suddenly you are a part of the tribe.
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Odell Beckham, an inspiration to young athletes globally is on the cover of GQ Magazine as an example of their demographic but also a n attraction to genders being that he has been on display as an attractive male figure in other magazine articles. At times playing with the eyes of the audience attracts subscribers. |
An example of demographics is the highly credible GQ magazine. According to the magazine, “ a readership of intelligent, affluent, educated men who appreciate genuine quality in both fashion and journalism.” is their targeted demographic. Now although women might not fit this category, there will still be information in there that can be utilized by them. Demographics are also helpful for the customer as well because you are able to choose a magazine that caters to you and you alone, time won’t be wasted looking through a magazine that does not relate to you. But how can you know all this information before purchasing a magazine? The main factor that attracts a certain audience is the Masthead and the sell-line. These two factors are vital in magazine publishing because the title says a lot about the magazine and is usually what people will look at first. If the title involves a key word utilized or related to a demographic, that is that magazine's way of spotlighting it.
Jennifer Lopez, a female icon and inspiration to many is seen on the cover of a male target magazine. What message does this display about GQ? Demographics can be expressed in more than one way despite what it might look like. Yes men are the target but, men who like women will see the female close shot cover page and gravitate towards the magazine all the more just to explore all the magazine offers. Not to mention the subheadings are still featuring men related topics. Source -https://georgejturner.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/how-do-magazines-attract-their-audience-7/
Conventions - Cover Page Of A Magazine
Conventions
A magazine cover serves several purposes the main purpose being the ability to sell a brand. The cover page of a magazine must be visually appealing to readers attracting a new and inspiring issue that has never been previously seen; These elements make cover pages the most important page of the entire magazine.
Designers of a magazine spend an immense amount of time congregating new ideas and details that can be added into the magazine cover page to create a feel that has never been felt before. At times, companies will hire a designer to simply do the cover page because they understand the importance of its first impression. Cover page design can be divided in four major categories. Image based, illustration based, type based and as I like to call them concept based cover pages.
According to the source, looking at the camera, preferably smiling. almost all celebrity magazines, almost all fashion magazines and men’s magazines utilize this tactic for cover pages. In many cases the person featured on the cover sells that issue. This is why some celebrities sell more covers than the other.
Some magazines go for a different approach and that is to present the cover person in an unusual way. Not looking at the camera and appearing to be more intricate and peculiar than reality. It all depends on the nature of the publication.
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| Type based cover pages tend to be striking and even shocking. There is a beauty and simplicity in type and can present the message that is trying to be expressed much better than an image. A well known typography based cover is Esquire’s “Oh My God, We Hit a Little Girl!” |
Masthead is another essential section of magazines. Mastheads lists editorial staff, publisher, subscription details, and contact information. Members of the advisory board, readers, interns, proofreaders, and designers are also often listed.
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The entire concept is to truly captivate the audience and what must be achieved in order to completely express yourself and make the message you wish to present as crystal clear as possible without going overboard. Below are a few example of TIME magazine covers interpretations of events through history. Each representing a different time of artistry and history. |
Thursday, December 24, 2020
Layout Of A Magazine
Conventions
Diversity. The simplicity of diversity is something that can not always be captured with every layout of a magazine. At times readers will find themselves captivated by one page and horrific but the next. The layout of a story should not be the same length and organized the same way. Magazines are meant to be fun and creative, not remind people of a novel. The layout of the magazine should be something original and trendy, a spread about the new Instagram models should include maybe a frame of the app rather than an uncut image of that individual. Or if there is a recipe for a new meal the ingredients should be animated with descriptions on the quantity of that specific ingredient. Layout is the initial of a page spread the information may be credible and provide great results but that page can easily be flipped if the layout does not look appealing.
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| The following example showcases the versatility that can occur with each page layout. Whether it be quotations on top of a natural background or images being displayed across the page, designing your spread takes time to truly enhance a plain white paper. |
Popular elements utilized in articles are sidebars, break up text that draws readers eyes to the content, an unstructured template or highlighted areas; Bold coloring is also a great choice when lay outing pages. The more dramatic the layout is the better but the complexity must also contain simplicity in the slightest. Too much of something good is not always good!
Anatomy Of Page Design
Conventions
"Caslon", "Jenson", "Chronicle", "Miller", "Palatino", "Garmond" and "Goudy" are a few fonts that are
common in magazine design. The font of a magazine might not seem important to readers but it actually
is important to creators and the overall page design. The theme on the page involves a font that can
correlate well with it and enhance the design of the page. Body text size is also another detail about
page design that seems unusual when you initially think of it but the size of the body paragraphs can
determine how much information is truly incorporated in the story. If the text holds a lot of information a
size under 12 is common so that all the information can fit within a single page, box, or caption.
The font would be bigger if information is limited but wants to appear full based on the lack of information;
It's all in how you wish to design your information.
When focusing on camera angles and taglines it's important that you're catching the eye
of your readers. The way words are utilized are important and should not take too much attention
from the image. The actual words should be clear but still contain a bit of wordplay;
Wordplay provides that thrill and suspension that ,typically, captures readers.
If questions are in the tagline it's important that an answer can be directly found after.
Yes you want your audience to read the magazine, but prolonging the answer is not a good way to
do that. Also, the cover line of the page should appeal to the biggest section of the target. So if it's
about eating well then include diets, fitness routines, nutritionists and things of that nature.
Furthermore, descriptive words are important to spark readers' curiosity making them more
likely to pick up the magazine
Models should look into the camera directly or indirectly depending on the content of the magazine. Indirectly would usually be utilized to show off wardrobe but even then eye contact can still be found. There are three common camera angle shots that are used for magazines.
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| The first is long shots which are full body images that provide a head to toe visual to perceive a fierce, dominant, and powerful effect to that individual. |
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| Medium Shots are typically knees to waist up and are usually zoomed in; This shot depicts facial expressions or an item of fashion that wants to be focused on such as makeup or jewelry. |
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| Lastly, close up shots are self explanatory, close up shots of a person starting from the neck up. These shots capture a crystal clear effect and surprisingly provide initial on the subject face that many might have not noticed previously.
Once the image has been taken the way that the image is handled can make the magazine more suitable for the creator's vision. Exaggerating the image or understating it is completely up to the designer but it's more favorable if the image is upfront and bold; This is the initial interaction with the magazine which is why it's common in magazines today. |
Content Of Magazines
Content of Magazines
Although magazines can quickly be skimmed through from cover to cover, the content of the magazine is what customers truly look forward to. The content of magazines can be referred through various areas. The first area of content would be the cover page, cover pages provide the descriptions needed by customers in order to decipher if they decide to purchase the magazine. The next area would be the table of contents which involves more detailed explanations about the stories in the magazine to further clarify headings.
Now that the preliminaries of a magazine are out of the way, the stories within the magazine should be original. The content of a magazine can “make or break” the magazine's reliability. If information from a specific magazine continues to share false or inconclusive content, buyers will soon refrain from purchasing, placing the magazine at risk. Getting in contact with someone close to the source is a magazine creator's best option for information being that the information can be trusted. Magazines involving fashion, teen gossip, or celebrity scandals usually meet with someone close to that individual to receive details about the story. Interviews or "Q&A's" are a popular source of information gatherer that many utilize to get details about a story. In the example provided a series of questions are asked that can be seen in the black print with the response in red. Those customers truly interested in this topic will find this useful being that questions that they might have wanted to ask are easily seen on paper. Words can only take a magazine so far, the images within the magazine should be original and not taken from the internet. Photographers, paparazzi, can sell their pictures to magazines or magazines depending on their status and how much they offer will schedule photoshoots so that no plagiarism is found.
Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Designs of Magazines
Designs of a Magazine
Designing a magazine is one of the more crucial aspects of magazine building that can make or break sales. The A B C rule, is a common rule utilized by the designers of the most creative magazine covers. Begin with A-heading (the magazine title), one strong (B) sub-heading (pulling out one article to be the main focus), and a larger selection of smaller (C) sub-headings. These headings should be paired with a strong, simple photograph and areas of white space so you can have a both pleasant and bold look to the spread. Photos must almost ‘interact’ with typography creating a cool magazine cover that appears more 3D, and gives the impression that the photo is jumping out at you.
Teaming a single strong color with black-and-white photography and monochrome text looks fantastic for men’s magazines and technology titles. This color is usually bright like a red or yellow with bright typography, banners, and dividers to layouts. These simple splashes can achieve a whole design of the magazine together with elegance and spunk. If content is massive it's best to spread this onto more than one page—branch out into a full two-page spread. A table of contents magazine spreads will be structured on some sort of grid layout, but it certainly doesn’t need to be dull or limited from creativity.
National Geographic and Esquire utilize infographics to illustrate articles in a more exciting, tech-forward way. Many magazines don’t utilize traditional text-heavy article layouts but a more interactive and engaging print layout.
https://design.tutsplus.com/articles/10-tips-for-designing-high-impact-magazines--cms-25956
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Types Of Magazines
Conventions
With over 44 genres and roughly 7 types the origin of these magazines stem from the variations of interests people have. Sports, Auto, Business and Finance, Children, computer and electronics, cooking, food and beverage, craft and hobbies, entertainment and tv magazines are the seven types of magazines. Each type of magazine is filled with information regarding that type of magazine and the information is centered around the title or image of the magazine cover.
This example would be under food and beverage. Although the title says “Better Homes and Gardens” the picture and descriptions on the page can clearly be seen as food related. A citrus treat that can be clarified by the “bring on the zest” title.
This example is of an auto magazine and can be vividly seen by the image and text. This type of magazine can include vehicle information, certain car parts and their latest updates, or new cars coming out in future years.
Periodicals are magazines, newspapers, and journals published at intervals (daily, weekly, monthly) with the content controlled by the editor. Some examples of these periodicals include Newspapers (Arizona Republic, New York Times), Popular (Rolling Stone, People, Sports Illustrated) Scholarly and Research (New England Journal of Medicine, Bioscience) Trade and Professional (Arizona Nurse, Automotive News) Periodicals provide the most recent information in the most in depth way possible. This content is more focused but a more prolonged throughout version will follow in a book later on.
Source - https://yc.libguides.com/infobits/types-of-magazines-newspapers
Genre of Magazines
Genre
Every author has a specific audience that they are deemed to attract despite their competition. People magazine caters to celebrity news, human-interest and gossip; Providing insight about news to the everyday individual. Teen Vogue covers the elite social sciences of American pop-culture and social etiquette while reviewing books, music, and films. Essence is a magazine covering fashion, beauty, entertainment, and culture for African-American women.
All these magazines share a common denominator which is a passion to bring forth information that targets their demographic inviting them to enjoy their content. Genres can alter within magazines depending on the response received from that genre. For instance, a magazine can change it's genre of format to cater to a more recent template to keep up with the trends. Playboy began as a magazine, shifted into a show entitled "The girl next door", and then into a famous clothing line that can still be purchased today by millions.
Genres aren't limited to content but the entire fluidity of that content; Whether it be a simple font change, format alternation, illustration or platform change, genres are unique and can make or break the entirety of your magazine audience.
History Of Magazine's
History
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| Magazine Example |
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| Magazine Example |
Although the earliest of Magazines were created by men, in 1770 The "Lady's Magazine" was published and ignited the way for women to publish more magazines. The Lady's Magazine included literary contributions, fashion notes, and gave away embroidery patterns and sheet music. In 1852, a market of other female driven magazines began to be tapped by The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine, a issued by Samuel Beeton which was also the first women’s periodical in home management and offer practical advice to women rather than provide amusement. Other examples of women's magazines include Myra’s Journal of Dress and Fashion (1875–1912) The Lady (founded 1885) and The Gentlewoman (1890–1926) each basing their content on information useful for women improvement and empowerment along with skills to further their careers.
Sources
https://www.britannica.com/topic/publishing/Womens-magazines
A Bit About Me
A Bit About Me
Storge love, a love that naturally occurs between family and friends alike that are built constantly from memories. Till this day my family has shown an immense amount of love and care for one another. This is where I first learned about love, seeing my family unite from places like Georgia to the Bahamas to simply greet one another in a warm hug and kiss. I love to make people feel the warmth that my family brought me and I thought that I could do that by giving them the best version of me each time I saw them; I was a people pleaser searching for attention from others so they could see the good that I had within me. I learned quickly from this practice that life would not always provide me with the result I imagined, I learned that I couldn't always make people happy and warm but I knew that everyone needed that happiness and warmth. This is where my plans for the future arose.
As I recognized the patterns of people and grasped the idea that everyone in life isn't always placed in position to feel that warmth and happiness, I did what I could to contribute to that by attending community service events to spread love and kindness throughout communities. This hobby soon became something that I truly enjoyed and would ask myself, “How could I possibly be of any good to them?”. A profession involving the guidance for families, groups, and individuals to enhance their individual and collective well-being. A social worker fulfilled that void of warmth and happiness I so eagerly desired to spread. I acquired more research on social work and decided that this profession was the one for me because I could help people be a better them despite their status, circumstances, or beliefs. The passion I have will only take my career so far everything else must come from my education.
As a student in AICE media studies, a class that influences research and quality content I have learned from students how the reaction of the story is more important than knowing the full story. The skill sets that this course will equip me with is needed in order to further my studies in social work. Social work requires stamina, research on dilemmas and world events, and the reactions from these events. This course is an advantage for myself and others who are pursuing a career that focuses on the outcome and framework of others. Although my time in this course has not been long, I already have a great form of preparation that will be utilized for my success.
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