For my media project I
selected brief 2 which was about the niche lifestyle area. I chose to
do the magazine and website. I chose these two because I have been
given a fashion shoot as a project once before and I quite enjoyed
the challenge and experience so why not transfer this enjoyment over
in to a magazine.
I had no previous
experience making a website but I was up for the challenge so I could
test my own abilities to see what I am capable of. My target audience
was a mature young-adult demographic so between the ages of about 18
and 25.
With my magazine I
hoped to make them more aware of the issues to do with the
environment and inspire them to make a difference for the better. The
fashion magazine I created both followed and defied convention. I
followed convention through my use of cover with the use of the title
being underneath the main subject of the image, the price somewhere
on the page and a bar code. However this same cover defies convention
through my use of image. As the cover image I used a model's hand in
the shape of a heart against a tree. This was to show the mutual love
between man and nature. There is little display of clothing on the
cover with only the model's coat sleeves visible however I found this
to be appropriate as I wanted the image to be as natural as possible,
without over-saturating it with clothes or anything else man made.
This is also a special edition of my magazine so it is different to
the other magazines which means that it is going to be more
anomalous. I increased the saturation of the tree in the cover image
because I wanted to show how bright and beautiful something as
ordinary as a tree can be. Initially I did not do this as I wanted to
have a completely natural cover and show nature for what it is,
however, the cover was not eye-catching and now I believe it is more
aesthetically pleasing. I also defied convention with my use of
colour. Instead of using bright colours like you might expect, I used
green and brown in my magazine because of it being a special nature
edition and I feel that these two colours best represent nature and
give the connotation of nature. The pictures I used were also very
brown and green which is coherent with the style of my magazine. The
background I use has increased transparency because some constructive
criticism I received was to make the background more transparent so
text of a similar colour to the background could be used. Before this
I used boxes which were distracting and to be honest, not very
aesthetically pleasing. The image on the first page of the magazine
shows a model observing some blossom on a tree and you can see by his
face that he is truly fascinated by the tree and I want this image to
have the same influence on the reader. I want them to go outside and
see the world and see it for how beautiful it is so they can see that
there really is something worth saving. A large factor in why I made
the magazine a nature edition is because the majority of my target
audience (young-adult males) spend most of their time indoors when
there is literally a whole world outside of their house that is
imploring them to explore it and discover new things. Not everything
can be taught through books, or screens or even by words but through
observation. I have an image of shoes on the second page of my
magazine that have dirt on them which shows that nature isn't perfect
and airbrushed, like you usually see in magazines, but regardless, it
is still worth fighting for to save because it is beautiful and the
world would be completely different without it. The image
specifically is shoes that are slightly dirty standing on a rock
which promotes a proactive lifestyle which like I said I want to
encourage because of how my target audience usually behaves.
The website I created
was more conventional than the magazine with it's use of buttons at
the top of the screen. However I yet again defy convention with the
home screen not taking you to a list of articles but actually talking
about the magazine itself with articles available on other screens.
In my opinion the lack of mention of the magazine itself in fashion
websites is not something to be desired. I also added a messages
button for subscribers so that they could socialise with other
subscribers and create that interaction between my audience so that
they can share ideas and discuss articles in my magazine or anything
else for that matter. I wanted my website to be quick and easy to
navigate which is why I didn't make the pages clustered full of
articles and buttons. I added a trending tab so that the user could
keep track of trending topics which keeps the user informed and also
shows them that there is a wide variety of things to do on my
website. I aimed to make my website meet a multitude of aspects; it
has a social aspect with the messaging and social network buttons, a
news aspect with the trending tab and a part that clearly describes
the product itself. Unfortunately the trial that I used expired
before I could make any final changes to the site but if I could I
would change the image of my magazine cover to the updated one and I
would change the trending tab to be more relevant to fashion because
it is a fashion magazine website.
I wanted my audience to
be inspired by the issues I raise in my products to make a change
toward the environment for the better. In my media products I talk in
support for saving the environment and in push the view that we need
to not only improve the environment for ourselves but also the future
generations.
If I were to extend my
production to a third platform I would create trailers for a series
based on my niche lifestyle area. I would do this so that my audience
would be able to see how we can use the contents of my magazine
practically so they can trust that what's in the magazine can
actually be put to good use and it's not just just use making up
stories to get attention. This would also be a fantastic opportunity
to capture some footage of nature to show how beautiful it can be not
only in an image. This could perhaps be portrayed through a use of
time lapses to show something like a flower growing for an
aesthetically pleasing look. I could also have some facts and figures
in the trailers about nature in an attempt to encourage the viewer to
make a change.
