RESPONSE TO THE BRIEF

WHAT BRIEF HAVE I CHOSEN AND WHY?For my A2 Media coursework I have chosen to create the first four pages of a regional magazine individually, alongside creating a billboard advertisement for the magazine and also two hyperlinked pages from the magazine’s website. I have chosen to do this because I enjoy working on print because as someone who reads magazines for leisure, I have more understanding and confidence when working in this area of media. Therefore, I feel my final piece will look and appear better as I have more experience. I also have the assurance of doing print as part of my AS media coursework on a rock music magazine and those skills can be developed further into a different topic and focusing on a different audience. This may also make the topic more challenging because I will also have to learn new ways of attracting, producing and creating a different house style. It will also be a new experience when creating the website and hyperlinks as my IT skills will need to be more advanced. Thus, meaning that I will become more knowledgeable about how to use different technologies. I have also never done a billboard poster so I will have to use my visual skills. As I am a creative person it will be more personable as I will be able to apply this knowledge as my billboard will need to be eye catching and attractive in order to gain maximum attention. Therefore, using this notion, I will be able to use literary skills too such as language that is inviting to the audience. The range of abilities that I will learn will hopefully be reflected in the progress of my production so that it is evident to see my strengths and weaknesses in order to learn.

GENRE The genre which I am going to focus my regional magazine is fashion. As these a topic of keen interest for me both intellectually and personally, it will be make my production more enjoyable as I will have to motivation and fulfilment of researching and planning an area which I am passionate about. I also hope to peruse a career in fashion so it will help me to become closer to my overall goal and the strong interest I have will hopefully allow me to focus on my production. I have also chosen it because I have a lot of knowledge on this topic already, for example, the latest trends which will make research a lot easier and more time consuming. This may mean I will have more time to make any final changes which is crucial to create work that is catered to the specific audience. Moreover, in the locality of my area ( Leicester) fashion is followed by many which will increase the popularity of my magazine as it is something that will connect to many people in my area. Focusing the magazine in my area is also more practical as I have better access to people to get ideas and also places where I would place a billboard. Therefore, this could be used as inspiration. However, there are no fashion local magazines so there may also be more interest because it may encourage groups to become more involved and create a larger hype about this topic. Therefore, as the topic is very universal it will influence more social solidarity so the theory: Uses and Gratifications will be followed. On the contrary, I want my magazine/webpage and billboard to promote individuality in order to encourage a variety which may make audiences build more confidence in their own personal style. This prevents a sameness in society where everyone follows the mainstream. However, I will do this by focusing on the latest trends which will still help me maintain a large target audience.

WHAT WILL BE MY TARGET AUDIENCE?The target audience which I will be focusing on is women in particularly as they have more interest in fashion, for example, statistics show that men get bored after only 26 minutes of shopping however women after 2 hours. Therefore, by catering my magazine to women it may have more popularity. As a women myself, I also have more knowledge on women's fashion too so it will again make my magazine more informed and personalized in order to make the consumer feel more valued. Also you can discuss a wider range of styles than men so it may appear more appealing and varied. The age range which I will focus on will be 18-25. This is because it is an age range where women feel most comfortable to express their own personal style and experiment so they may be a key target range to anchor. I also have more experience for this age range as I work in the popular highstreets store Topshop so I have a high level of knowledge about the styles and ranges that suit this particular age group and the colours that may attract them. As I am entering this age range soon myself, I am aware of the language and pop culture they follow too so again it is a better way of connecting with the audience. This means the Dyer Star Theory may be achieved because the language will meet their expectations. For example, using informal language such as ‘hot!’ which will be quick and catchy to gain their attention.

INSPIRATION Some magazines which will particularly influence my production will be the major fashion

magazines, for example, ‘VOGUE’ which is a higher market fashion magazine so I will be able to learn about the clientele they cater for. I will compare this with highstreets fashion magazines such as ‘LOOK’ to see how the language, form and structures of the magazine compare to see what style I want to adapt. At the moment, I am hoping for highstreets as it is available for a mass audience and is more likely to be followed by the younger generation as they will earn less than middle aged. However, as this is a regional fashion magazine, I will also look at regional magazines such as bridal magazines for local boutiques. Even housing regional magazines as this will revealthe price ranges people in Leicester would purchase a magazine from which will help me to conclude a reasonable price. This is becauseif most houses in Leicester promote working class areas, then I will price my Magazine at a lower cost. It may also help with the sociological dialectI should use to suit people from Leicester because it will feel more targeted and like a regional Magazine, instead of a national. Linking back to my genre, I may also look at fashion blogs such as ‘ThePixieCut’ – a British fashionblogger as her language and tone may give me an insight on the language I should use on my website pages. This will help me to identify what people like and dislike. Inspiration may also be found through sending out questionnaires or even observation to discover the trends people in Leicester are the most interested in to make my magazine feel more catered to their needs. This could then mean, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is reached to make the audience feel more valued.

INSPIRATION Even though there is little fashion promotion in Leicester in terms of regional magazines, in the local newspaper, ‘The Leicester Mercury’ they have a fashion section. They often stop locals in the town centre and ask them about their style and I think this is an excellent and effective way of interacting and involving the audience. This makes them feel part of the spread and could build excitement for their own personal feature. I have once been stopped and it was very complimentary and gave me an opportunity to express myself. Thus, this has inspired me to do a feature like this in my magazine in order to create the same buzz but instead of being in a newspaper, it would appear in a local magazine which is more specific.

WHERE WILL I SOURCE MY MATERIALS? During my production I will require a variety of different resources, many will involve clothes. This will be accessed from my own personal wardrobe and the help of my friends. As I am currently following the trends, my clothes should be appropriate for the genre. They are also age appropriate which means that they suit the expectations and are more appealing to the audience. I also plan to access many of my other resources such as cameras from my college and this reduces the costs. Similarly, I can do this with software and this can also be accessed from home. However, some props may need to be bought which could cause a financial barrier during my production stage. However, I will try to avoid this where possible.