Link to website

This is the link to my website:

https://stepsfashion.wixsite.com/steps

Please note video in the fashion tab of website.

Audience research

My magazine is to be aimed at a culturally sophisticated, 16–25 class AB demographic. More specifically I intend to aim my magazine at a more diverse, but of the lower end of the AB demographic.
To further understand what appeals to my target audience I took a small group and used them as a focus group to help research and ensure my magazine would be suited to the specific audience.

I asked my focus group a series of questions and collected and used their responses to develop my magazine from.

Here are the questions and the responses:

1) Do you prefer to see models whom look like everyday people or high end fashion models?
-95% voted for models who look like everyday people.

2)Give reasons for your previous answer.
- For this I took the reasons for the people who voted for everyday people models in the previous question. Their reason for choosing this was because they said it's appealing to see models that are like themselves because then they could try the look themselves and believe it's more representative of them, so the looks and outfits shown could be fitting in with their style.

3) What is your favourite style of fashion magazine? Why?
-83% voted street/urban, because it's their style so therefore they can use looks from the magazine to try themselves.

4)Do you think a certain gender is more appealing in fashion magazines and why? What about Urban magazines? Would you still read the magazine if it just featured one gender?
- 91% said that they don't particularly find a certain gender more appealing however they feel certain genders can "pull off" certain styles/trends off better. For urban fashion magazines they suggested males are their preferred gender, but also highlighted they thought a lot of urban fashion is unisex or can be made unisex so for example if an outfit is modelled on a male, then females could still wear the outfit or make a female version of the outfit. 18/20 of the target group said they still read a fashion if it featured one gender even if it wasn't their gender, because as previously mentioned they believe fashion can be a lot more unisex nowadays or made into something suitable for the alternate gender, due to brands becoming popular as oppose to a certain style of t-shirt etc.

5) When looking at fashion magazine websites what would you like to see featured?
- The front covers of already released additions
-Photos of models- already featured in the magazine or new exclusive ones or both
-Lookbook videos
-Links to other social media accounts
- A way to subscribe to get exclusive content

6) What location/ setting do you think links the most to urban style?
-Outside
-Run down area- possibly dirty or featuring graffiti
- Edgy street or location- uniqueness to it

7) Why do you read fashion magazines? (This will be features on my contents pages)
-Interest- in the style/ choice of model
- To get an idea of what's on trend and what to wear
- Because a specific/favourite brand is featured
- To gain a sense of own style
-Outfit inspiration for events/ seasons/ certain weathers

My final products

      

Influences

Links to websites and pictures of websites that have been most influential to my final website:

https://www.elle.com/
https://www.vogue.co.uk/
https://www.look.co.uk/
https://www.wavelengthmag.com/










Magazines which have influenced my final product:

Research- Codes and Conventions

 Front covers:

-The magazine names are in black,white, pink, dark blue or red.
-Fonts are block or swirly and bold.
-Masthead at the top.
-Most use direct mode of address.
-Surrounding fonts are mostly down the sides of the models.
-Only two of the models are smiling, the rest are pouting.
- Most are medium close up.
-Majority have a lot of writing to draw in people to read the inside features.
-Most of the models are lit from one side
-High key lighting or a source of natural light (if outside) is used in most
-Barcode at the bottom
-Most of the mastheads go over the models
- If taken in a studio the backgrounds feature one colour however if outside location used then obviously the location is the background
- They all feature a variety of colours within typography but all the colours are from a similar colour palette within each issue.

Links to fashion magazine websites:
https://fashionmagazine.com/beauty/
https://www.elle.com/
http://www.vogue.co.uk/
https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/?international
https://www.look.co.uk/
https://www.stylist.co.uk/
https://nylon.com/
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/
https://www.wavelengthmag.com/

They all have tabs along the top taking you to different sections on the website. Most of them have tabs called 'Fashion', 'Beauty', and 'Subscribe'. The tab font is in black and is similar to the masthead font of the magazine. The backgrounds of the websites are white and have lots of photos. Most of the colour on the websites is from the photos and not the backgrounds/ fonts. A common element on the home page is a slide of photos reinforcing the style of the magazine. A lot feature issues of previous magazines. Font used is similar or the same to the magazine to create convergence and branding. Have news features relating to their target audience.

Contents pages:
-Masthead centralised at the top.
-Masthead can be a different colour to that of the masthead on the front, but is the same font.
-Most have one big main picture.
-Date of the issue and contents is on the page but in a smaller and different colour font.
-Text mostly displayed in columns.
-Contents is lots of text in a small black font.
-Feature headings of whats inside then has more detail explaining the story underneath.
-Lots more outside locations
-More full or wide shots, but also medium close ups
-Focus more on iconography than typography however typography is still a key aspect it just occupies less space or is split 50/50  with iconography.

Planning

From my research where I have found a list of codes and conventions I have made 2 mock ups from which I will use elements to base my final product from. The two front covers are very similar as I like the idea of a white border making the magazine seem like a polaroid picture which would link to the urban style I am trying to create in my magazine, due to polaroids being quite vintage and edgy linking in with the urban/ street style. This is similar to the wavelength magazine seen in my research. The contents pages however are very different. For mock up one if I were to base my magazine off of this I would need to add photos too as contents pages feature images as well as writing, but this gives me a rough idea of how I could arrange the typography. I also really like the font in mock up one contents page so this could be something I take further and use in my final product. With mock up two I prefer the iconography as oppose to the writing layout. I really like how the images are related to each other and demonstrate a street style with an outside setting, which as seen from my audience research my target audience think creates the most urban/ street style. For my final products I will mix elements from both, as there are aspects of both I prefer, but I will also add some new elements to ensure a more professional look is created.

Mock up idea 1: 

 

Mock up idea 2:

Choosing a Brief

Link to the briefs:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/465770-unit-h409-03-04-a-level-media-studies-making-media-nea-briefs.pdf

Rank order of the briefs:
1. Brief 3 Magazines and online
2.Brief 4 Music Video and online
3.Brief 1 Television and online
4.Brief 2 Radio and online

I have chosen to do brief 3 Magazines and online.