models

 

Name: Robbie Key

Age: 17

Hobbies: Playing guitar

Race: White

Location: Southend on sea

Name: Lexie Bushnell

Age: 19

Hobbies: Sport, Musical theatre

Race: White

Location: Southend on sea/ Canterbury

practice shots

 

flat plan

 

Pitch

For my magazine I wish to make the main focus be on Fashion for one and Beauty for the other as after doing some research on magazines by Hearst these topics are the ones which I find most engaging as well as seeming to be most aesthetically pleasing and reaching a wider audience. Making sure to follow the brief, I aim to include images of models in different social groups which will provide diversity to the magazine with a wider range of representation. I believe this will appeal to the target audience who are of an age and social status where diversity and such is celebrated meaning this will be appealing to them. As stated in the requirement I will use the photoshop skills which I have acquired as a media student to provide a well edited and aesthetically captivating cover with the text elements that cab be found on all magazines. Alongside this, a variety of bold and enthralling images will be included to grab the attention of the audience and make them buy the magazine. On the front cover i aim to incorporate a direct made of address as well as conventions such as a main bold masthead at the top for of the page. 

As part of the content of these magazines, I hope to include more intellectual topics such as current affairs and pressing issues in society as well as the generic beauty and fashion which follows their genre. The variety will be refreshing for readers, allowing them to read about more lighthearted, materialistic topics  with the beauty and fashion and more cognitive, socially relevant topics allowing them to gain information. With this I aim to use the relevant front covers that are bright and would be most likely to entice an aspirational audience, but still including topics of substance which will engage them as well and allow them to use the brains differently. This adheres to the target audience as their age as well as being middle market and aspirational means they likely desire the knowledge and awareness on top of the appearance that most magazines produce.

For the website, I intend to follow the general house style and aesthetic which will be seen in the print copies of the magazine. This sense of formality will help to form a brand identity and make it all fairly recognisable. The website will have a simple look, making it appear somewhat sleek and easy to navigate. Images of the magazine as well as photos not included in the print copy will be available as well as links, logos and other conventions of websites. The website will include drop down menus that allow audiences to visit other parts of the website and learn more about the magazine.

research 2

 

mood board: Hearst

After looking at a variety of front covers for the magazine Hearst, I have selected some that caught my eye as some of the most aesthetic ones which I will take as inspiration for my coursework. In this mood board of covers, there are a range of different races, genders, ages and shot types. The variety in representation is something which I aim to emulate in my own work, as well as including less generic appearing individuals. I have found that Hearst newspapers tend to include a lot of writing on the front cover, something I will consider for my magazine but not an approach I am likely to take. Researching the magazine, I have been more attracted to the covers that took a more simplistic approach to the layout, like the ones in my mood board. This I think provides a more sleek appearance which popular magazines that the target audience is likely to include. 

 

Industrial context

The history of Hearst

On March 4, 1887, William Randolph Hearst places his name on the masthead of the San Francisco Examineras "Proprietor" for the first time, marking the beginning of Hearst Corporation. In 1896 with William Randolph Hearst’s encouragement, Richard Outcault developed The Yellow Kid,” transforming a simple gag panel into the first true example of the comic strip. “The Yellow Kid” leads the charge in Hearst’s trailblazing American Humourist comic supplement. The next year, Hearst introduced “The Katzenjammer Kids” in the New York Journal. King Features still distributed the strip, making it the longest-running newspaper comic in history. Then in 1900 The Good Housekeeping Institute, a precursor to the FDA, was founded 15 years after its namesake magazine to improve the lives of consumers and their families through education and product evaluation. In 1912 and 1913 Hearst’s New York Journal introduces the first full page of weekday daily comics and Hearst’s New York Journal introduced the first full page of weekday daily comics. By 1933 Harper’s BAZAAR was one of the first fashion magazines to do a shoot on location and show a model in motion and in 1940 Harper’s BAZAAR’s Editor-in-Chief Carmel Snow famously featured a photograph on the cover, until then covers featured art and illustrations. Harper’s BAZAAR became the first women’s fashion magazine to feature a man, actor Steve McQueen, on the cover in February 1965. Esquire became a Hearst publication in 86 and at the end of the century O, The Oprah Magazine, a venture with Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Entertainment Group, was published. It is regarded as one of the most successful magazine start-ups in industry history. The October issue of Esquire in 2008 featured a flexible electronic "paper" cover that allowed words and images to scroll across it, a first for magazines, in celebration of the magazine’s 75th anniversary. In 2010 and 2011 Hearst was the first magazine publisher to make all its titles available to read on every major tablet device and Hearst acquired almost 100 magazines in 14 countries from Lagardère, making it one of the largest monthly magazine publishers in the world and the largest monthly publisher in the U.S.