P1: Explain different ideas for an original media product based on a client brief
Client Brief:
You have been asked by a publishing house Bauer Media to produce a new high end magazine for the ‘YouTube’ and ‘Instagram’ generation. They are keen that the magazine has the feel of an Independent Publication. The target market will be 18-30 year olds who tend not to engage with traditional printed publications.
The budget is open as the Publishing House want to reach this target market and are open to new ideas, this might also include how the idea could translate and integrate across other media.
Once you have created your ideas you will pitch them to the Publishing House.
You have been asked by a publishing house Bauer Media to produce a new high end magazine for the ‘YouTube’ and ‘Instagram’ generation. They are keen that the magazine has the feel of an Independent Publication. The target market will be 18-30 year olds who tend not to engage with traditional printed publications.
The budget is open as the Publishing House want to reach this target market and are open to new ideas, this might also include how the idea could translate and integrate across other media.
Once you have created your ideas you will pitch them to the Publishing House.
Section 1
By reading the brief carefully, I was able to highlight all of the key points needed to understand what the client requirements of the brief are. I know that the Target Audience is 18-30 year olds from the YouTube and Instagram generation that don’t engage with traditional printed publishing.
The term Demographics is defined as the number and characteristics of people who live in a particular area or from a particular group, especially in relation to their age, how much money they have and what they spend it on etc. Or, the study of people and society in a particular area or particular group, typically used in marketing to decide which products to sell there and how to advertise those products successfully. Using this definition I was able to identify which parts of the brief are demographics, and what demographic they are. For instance, the age demographic is 18-30.
I did some research onto the main magazine conventions to find out how i can use each one to help to build my ideas, the conventions I found are: masthead, menu, pugs, secondary lead, splash, spread, stand first, strapline, tag, feature, headline, kicker, lead story and lure. To help me form my ideas, I made sure I understood what each of the conventions meant so I can keep them in mind when designing my magazine.
I did research on on magazines and charted the research via moodboards. I looked at similar cover styles, Styles of photography and illustration, types of advertising, names and font styles, editorial page spread, and contents page spread. After I had looked at similar magazines, I began to consider what this would look like in my own magazine and created a moodboards, based on my ideas.
Section 2
I was able to come up with my idea and direction for my magazine because i watch a lot of YouTube so I already know a lot about the information my magazines would have and know exactly where to look if I needed to get more. Since the target audience don’t engage with normal publishing, but watch YouTube, they might like a magazine that is straight to the point and without ads that make you wait to watch a video. And if a watcher doesn’t have time to,or doesn’t want to watch the channel in focus, they can get the magazine which is straight to the point and more detailed than what the videos themselves would be.
The research in section one helped me to form ideas for the directions as I was able to look at other magazine styles to give myself ideas as well as seeing what else i liked so I could boost my ideas even further beyond that. It was also a help to the brief as i had to base my research around the unchangeable demographics which then helped me to memorise the brief which helped me to shape my ideas.
By reading the brief carefully, I was able to highlight all of the key points needed to understand what the client requirements of the brief are. I know that the Target Audience is 18-30 year olds from the YouTube and Instagram generation that don’t engage with traditional printed publishing.
The term Demographics is defined as the number and characteristics of people who live in a particular area or from a particular group, especially in relation to their age, how much money they have and what they spend it on etc. Or, the study of people and society in a particular area or particular group, typically used in marketing to decide which products to sell there and how to advertise those products successfully. Using this definition I was able to identify which parts of the brief are demographics, and what demographic they are. For instance, the age demographic is 18-30.
I did some research onto the main magazine conventions to find out how i can use each one to help to build my ideas, the conventions I found are: masthead, menu, pugs, secondary lead, splash, spread, stand first, strapline, tag, feature, headline, kicker, lead story and lure. To help me form my ideas, I made sure I understood what each of the conventions meant so I can keep them in mind when designing my magazine.
I did research on on magazines and charted the research via moodboards. I looked at similar cover styles, Styles of photography and illustration, types of advertising, names and font styles, editorial page spread, and contents page spread. After I had looked at similar magazines, I began to consider what this would look like in my own magazine and created a moodboards, based on my ideas.
Section 2
I was able to come up with my idea and direction for my magazine because i watch a lot of YouTube so I already know a lot about the information my magazines would have and know exactly where to look if I needed to get more. Since the target audience don’t engage with normal publishing, but watch YouTube, they might like a magazine that is straight to the point and without ads that make you wait to watch a video. And if a watcher doesn’t have time to,or doesn’t want to watch the channel in focus, they can get the magazine which is straight to the point and more detailed than what the videos themselves would be.
The research in section one helped me to form ideas for the directions as I was able to look at other magazine styles to give myself ideas as well as seeing what else i liked so I could boost my ideas even further beyond that. It was also a help to the brief as i had to base my research around the unchangeable demographics which then helped me to memorise the brief which helped me to shape my ideas.
I used a mind map to out all my ideas about all the possibilities of my magazine. I did this by thinking about how I would want my magazine to look, as well as the target audience stated in the brief. When it came to genre I had to make sure i explored it in depth to make sure i covered a variety until I found a topic and genre that most interested me and that I would find easy to do.
This helped me find the best topic to cover that would appeal to the target audience and myself, something that could be built on to add more depth and detail and pages to the magazine without looking too messy or silly, as well as looking at the different layout possibilities helping me to expand my ideas on what the magazine could look like.
When I presented moodboards to the group, I got feedback on things such as, including contents page spread, considering a usp for my product, and making sure all directions the magazine could take are fully considered. Going back on this feedback, I made a usp for both directions the magazine could take, even though at first I was unsure, but talking to fellow classmates and our teacher, I was able to come up with good ideas for my usp, and a more depth idea for both directions the magazines could take.
By creating a survey I would be able to get the opinions of the target audience on a much wider scale. After they have seen the ideas, they can make their own opinions on it, what they would like to see as a part of it etc. this would then help to make my magazine better after hearing from the target audience themselves. A focus group can help me because I can directly talk to a few members of my target audience and discuss what is good and what could be better, or what they would like to see. Visiting an industry practitioner would allow me to get advice from a professional and make my idea seem more professional while learning new skills and techniques.
Section 3
When it comes to magazine production,I understand that distribution and shipping will cost the most and proofs will cost the least. Knowing how I will make the money earn money also important, for instance, it is important to know what allows you to make profit from the magazine, one way rather than just the price would be advertisers who pay you to include their adverts in the magazine. Another way would be through sponsors who provide you with money for a share of the profits.
This helped me find the best topic to cover that would appeal to the target audience and myself, something that could be built on to add more depth and detail and pages to the magazine without looking too messy or silly, as well as looking at the different layout possibilities helping me to expand my ideas on what the magazine could look like.
When I presented moodboards to the group, I got feedback on things such as, including contents page spread, considering a usp for my product, and making sure all directions the magazine could take are fully considered. Going back on this feedback, I made a usp for both directions the magazine could take, even though at first I was unsure, but talking to fellow classmates and our teacher, I was able to come up with good ideas for my usp, and a more depth idea for both directions the magazines could take.
By creating a survey I would be able to get the opinions of the target audience on a much wider scale. After they have seen the ideas, they can make their own opinions on it, what they would like to see as a part of it etc. this would then help to make my magazine better after hearing from the target audience themselves. A focus group can help me because I can directly talk to a few members of my target audience and discuss what is good and what could be better, or what they would like to see. Visiting an industry practitioner would allow me to get advice from a professional and make my idea seem more professional while learning new skills and techniques.
Section 3
When it comes to magazine production,I understand that distribution and shipping will cost the most and proofs will cost the least. Knowing how I will make the money earn money also important, for instance, it is important to know what allows you to make profit from the magazine, one way rather than just the price would be advertisers who pay you to include their adverts in the magazine. Another way would be through sponsors who provide you with money for a share of the profits.
There are a lot of things that need to be considered when creating a magazine in terms of the costs, A few examples would be: binding, shipping, photography, distribution etc. The biggest costs come from shipping and distribution. I will consider all these costs by researching the industry, the target audience and markets and try to reduce the costs in anyways that is possible. This could be finding the best but cheapest methods that is reasonable on the market. I will also research how other magazine companies went about their costs for a magazine and see if I can use any of those methods myself. I would also have to look at similar magazines in terms of money spent and budget to see how much money I would have to put into each category.
Some legal requirements that should be considered are copyright; obtaining the authors, protecting magazine with a copyright code, etc. You will have to make sure you have all the paperwork to do with your magazine especially for copyright reasons, cause if you’re using someone else’s work, the papers are needed if they try to sue you. Liable must also be considered to make sure no false or offensive information is put in the magazine.
Some legal requirements that should be considered are copyright; obtaining the authors, protecting magazine with a copyright code, etc. You will have to make sure you have all the paperwork to do with your magazine especially for copyright reasons, cause if you’re using someone else’s work, the papers are needed if they try to sue you. Liable must also be considered to make sure no false or offensive information is put in the magazine.
Section 4
Here are my moodboards. I included a lot of images on each moodboard so when looking at them, I can take ideas from them to when designing the magazine, on some of the moodboards I included different varieties to cover different parts of the moodboards theme, this helps because I can focus on one aspect at a time, making sure I have all the content considered. I was able to think of new ideas and develop my ideas that I already had thanks to these moodboards.
Here are my moodboards. I included a lot of images on each moodboard so when looking at them, I can take ideas from them to when designing the magazine, on some of the moodboards I included different varieties to cover different parts of the moodboards theme, this helps because I can focus on one aspect at a time, making sure I have all the content considered. I was able to think of new ideas and develop my ideas that I already had thanks to these moodboards.
Who the magazine is for:
The magazine is for people aged 18-30, from the YouTube and Instagram generation who do not enjoy traditional printed publications.
What is the theme and idea:
The theme of magazine will be YouTube news and events etc, the main thing in focus is recent events and happenings on YouTube. It is an information and entertainment (entertainment is magazine 2 only) based magazine on new trending topics and events on YouTube.
How does it meet the brief:
My product meets the brief as it is appealing to 18-30 year olds who are a part of the Instagram and YouTube generation as they would have had YouTube in either there early or late childhood, and since they don’t get involved with traditional printed publishing, they might find this 1st of its kind magazine.
What is the magazine's USP:
USP1: Informative about new content on YouTube in a fast paced manner.
USP2: Connecting the YouTuber and the viewer beyond the videos, while informing of new content and events.
What is the magazine going to look like visually (stylistic values):
Magazine 1: The style I am planning for my first idea is a simplistic but effective layout with text talking about the article and event with the relevant images to go with it. While it is simple, it will also be a fun and engaging layout to keep the viewer engaged in the content.
Magazine 2: The style I am planning for my second idea is detailed, more elegant pages which are more engaging and interesting, yet still simplistic to keep the reader from being overwhelmed.
Does the frequency have an impact:
The frequency has an impact on the production quality and costs of a magazine. A less frequent magazine will be more expensive to make, but because it is less frequent, the deadlines have a larger margin which allows better production quality, and more content. A more frequent magazine has less time to prepare so it is a mad rush to finish so they are usually shorter, less detailed and have a lower production quality.
Magazine 1 would be weekly, while magazine 2 would be monthly.
What kinds of articles are going to be included?
Magazine 1: News of YouTube, event details/news/updates, channel reviews, occasional interviews, latest trending content.
Magazine 2: News of YouTube, event details/news/updates, channel reviews, interviews with YouTubers, latest trending content, exclusive pages written by YouTubers.
Advertisers?
I am not short of advertisers I could include, I could have tech base adverts such as adverts from microsoft and apple, I could have adverts on new games such as Smash Ultimate, I can have any advertisers that link with content shown on YouTube.
The magazine is for people aged 18-30, from the YouTube and Instagram generation who do not enjoy traditional printed publications.
What is the theme and idea:
The theme of magazine will be YouTube news and events etc, the main thing in focus is recent events and happenings on YouTube. It is an information and entertainment (entertainment is magazine 2 only) based magazine on new trending topics and events on YouTube.
How does it meet the brief:
My product meets the brief as it is appealing to 18-30 year olds who are a part of the Instagram and YouTube generation as they would have had YouTube in either there early or late childhood, and since they don’t get involved with traditional printed publishing, they might find this 1st of its kind magazine.
What is the magazine's USP:
USP1: Informative about new content on YouTube in a fast paced manner.
USP2: Connecting the YouTuber and the viewer beyond the videos, while informing of new content and events.
What is the magazine going to look like visually (stylistic values):
Magazine 1: The style I am planning for my first idea is a simplistic but effective layout with text talking about the article and event with the relevant images to go with it. While it is simple, it will also be a fun and engaging layout to keep the viewer engaged in the content.
Magazine 2: The style I am planning for my second idea is detailed, more elegant pages which are more engaging and interesting, yet still simplistic to keep the reader from being overwhelmed.
Does the frequency have an impact:
The frequency has an impact on the production quality and costs of a magazine. A less frequent magazine will be more expensive to make, but because it is less frequent, the deadlines have a larger margin which allows better production quality, and more content. A more frequent magazine has less time to prepare so it is a mad rush to finish so they are usually shorter, less detailed and have a lower production quality.
Magazine 1 would be weekly, while magazine 2 would be monthly.
What kinds of articles are going to be included?
Magazine 1: News of YouTube, event details/news/updates, channel reviews, occasional interviews, latest trending content.
Magazine 2: News of YouTube, event details/news/updates, channel reviews, interviews with YouTubers, latest trending content, exclusive pages written by YouTubers.
Advertisers?
I am not short of advertisers I could include, I could have tech base adverts such as adverts from microsoft and apple, I could have adverts on new games such as Smash Ultimate, I can have any advertisers that link with content shown on YouTube.
Strengths of my first option:
One of the strengths of my first option is that it is straight to the point and covers recent topics and trends of YouTube that people may have missed, it is also cheaper to make and will be published more often.
Weaknesses of my first option:
The magazine would be brief and wouldn't be able to focus in detail with all the things that happen on YouTube and social medias around the platform, such as Instagram, Patreon etc. It wouldn't have much space for other forms of interest and entertainment such as interviews.
Strength of my second option:
More detail can be added, and more entertainment content such as interviews and competitions etc. It has more space to include details on different trending topics and events that are taking place or have recently took place. There is also more opportunity to look at topics to similar social medias and social medias that associate with YouTube, such as Instagram, Twitch, Patreon etc.
Weakness of my second option:
Less issues will be published and it will be a more expensive magazine to produce. Some of the information will also be on YouTube itself, just harder to get and less informal, however, more visual in the form of a video.
Conclusion:
Both issues have their flaws and both issues talk about content that can also be found online but in a less informative way, but taking a look at each magazine's unique selling point I have figured out that the best seller would be magazine 2, as it is more than just informing of recent events it has more things roped into it and has a larger point of interest, although the releases will be as often as option 1, the content and the magazine itself will be better looking and will have more detailed content as well as more things to look at in general.
One of the strengths of my first option is that it is straight to the point and covers recent topics and trends of YouTube that people may have missed, it is also cheaper to make and will be published more often.
Weaknesses of my first option:
The magazine would be brief and wouldn't be able to focus in detail with all the things that happen on YouTube and social medias around the platform, such as Instagram, Patreon etc. It wouldn't have much space for other forms of interest and entertainment such as interviews.
Strength of my second option:
More detail can be added, and more entertainment content such as interviews and competitions etc. It has more space to include details on different trending topics and events that are taking place or have recently took place. There is also more opportunity to look at topics to similar social medias and social medias that associate with YouTube, such as Instagram, Twitch, Patreon etc.
Weakness of my second option:
Less issues will be published and it will be a more expensive magazine to produce. Some of the information will also be on YouTube itself, just harder to get and less informal, however, more visual in the form of a video.
Conclusion:
Both issues have their flaws and both issues talk about content that can also be found online but in a less informative way, but taking a look at each magazine's unique selling point I have figured out that the best seller would be magazine 2, as it is more than just informing of recent events it has more things roped into it and has a larger point of interest, although the releases will be as often as option 1, the content and the magazine itself will be better looking and will have more detailed content as well as more things to look at in general.