Tuesday, 24 July 2018

Research of instituition


Bauer research

“Bauer Media UK is an entertainment network of iconic, multi-platform brands. The business became part of the Bauer Media Group, Europe’s largest privately-owned media group, in 2008. Founded in Hamburg in 1875 and now in its fifth generation of family ownership, the Bauer Media Group operates in 19 countries including the UK, Germany, Poland, Australia, New Zealand and the USA and has 11,000 employees worldwide.”

Bauer is very clearly a large, successful, influential brand therefore it is implied that what they
produce will easily reach a large range of consumers from different groups in societies and largely different demographics.




“In the UK we reach over 25 million consumers. Our portfolio includes heat, KISS, Grazia, Empire, Motor Cycle News, Parkers, TV Choice, Take a Break, Bella, Magic and Absolute Radio. Our scale, coupled with the breadth of our portfolio, gives us an advantage over pure play magazine or radio competitors.”








The suggestion that their products reach a variety of people is emphasised by the diversity of products and genres that they cover, from “Bird Watching” to “Mother & Baby". Instead of only
producing products that target the mainstream society and the stereotypical family/stereotypical figures in society, they cover many different aspects of society and target a much wider audience in doing so.





“In an era where audiences are ever harder to categorise, we build strong cultural connections, drawing people together with the things that they really care about. Our brands become the lens through which our audiences see the world. Our focus is on deep consumer insight and instinct, and when they collide, the sparks fly!”




Furthermore, instead of strictly categorising the audiences they target and trying to isolate them/keep them away from each other the company is clearly trying to draw different types of people together through the variety of niche markets they target. This contrasts the stereotypical representation of an older brand such as Bauer, as they would be expected to be very traditional in the way they create their media products. Despite this, as they are clearly taking a more modern approach it highlights how as a brand they
are able to successfully move with the times and stay up to date with what modern audiences want and create relevant content to keep them engaged with the brand.




“Today we are Britain’s biggest magazine publisher. Our magazine heritage stretches back to 1953 with the launch of Angling Times and the acquisition in 1956 of Motor Cycle News, both still iconic brands within our portfolio. More recently, Closer was launched in 2002 and Britain’s first weekly glossy, Grazia, was launched in 2005. Our Women’s Weekly magazines include Take A Break, which has long been the UK’s best-selling women’s weekly title, and TV Choice, the UK’s biggest selling magazine.  In 2015, we created a new niche within the growing gardening market, with the launch of Modern Gardens, for an audience who want to enjoy their outdoor living space, without having to become expert gardeners.”





In terms of magazine genres, Bauer cover a very wide range of categories with their ever-expanding range of brands that they own. As they target a mass and niche market with their products it allows them to be more successful than brands that only target mass audiences. Trying to target niche audiences can be much more difficult as they have to specifically address a certain field of consumers and therefore can be less successful than if they were to target a mass market. However, as Bauer have a variety of niche
products it shows the sheer variety of groups of people that they are able to target as a large and fruitful brand.




Fashion Magazine: 
I also decided to research into how Bauer as a company address the needs and wants of their consumers when it comes to fashion, specifically through fashion magazines. However, when i tried to research into what fashion magazines they owned i was surprised to find that Grazia is the only Fashion orientated magazine that they offer.


“Grazia continues to be the only weekly magazine within the market to offer a breadth of need-to-know news, whether in the world of celebrity, fashion, beauty or culture, throughout our reader’s week, every week.”


The magazine as a whole is categorised as a “Women’s magazine”, rather than as a fashion or beauty
magazine, allowing the product to contain a variety of different elements that a stereotypical woman would be interested in and target a range of women. This does allow Bauer to report on a variety of news stories and events that may be of importance to a stereotypical woman, however as it includes such a vague range of topics it only specifically targets the kind of woman that they are reaching out towards, rather than a variety of women.


“Grazia has a highly targeted demographic of 25-45 year old women and more AB profile readers than Vogue and Elle. She’s a savvy, affluent, confident, busy and modern woman who actively participates in the world around her.”


This limits the number of women that Bauer are targeting with their magazine as, for example, women who are solely interested in fashion may choose not to buy this product but to instead buy a competitor’s product if it contains what it is they are looking for. Furthermore, there is also no product to cater for men’s fashion alone as well as women’s. This depicts a large gap in the market that Bauer could potentially fill.


“Adding to our curated charts of the week's hottest drops, Grazia brings an added usefulness to its unrivalled fashion offering.”

Although the magazine does offer a look into fashion for their targeted reader, it could be argued that
they offer as limited view on fashion as it only caters for a small proportion of fashion as a whole, especially as it is a “women’s magazine”, it does not consider any other genders and their fashion concerns.


“Our best-in-the-business beauty editors are going further than ever before to test and try the products that truly deserve your money, time and trust. We also bring mental health with new troubleshooting franchise School for Thought.”



Instead they offer a large range of topics that are not fully developed to try and target a wider audience, however instead of this, to increase the successfulness of the business, they could create a new magazine(s) that targets the niche audiences of alternative fashion, men’s fashion and alternative beauty, for example.

Friday, 20 July 2018

Research of websites: Elle


To develop my knowledge of fashion websites before I started to plan my own, I researched various fashion magazine websites and analysed them to identify and repeated conventions or codes.



Elle:




The first website I researched was Elle. Along the top of the page there is a large grey banner with the masthead inside of it. This is the first thing that draws the audience’s attention on this page and it does so on purpose to remind the audience of the brand and create a strong sense of brand identity. However, the grey colour used is not a stereotypical feminine colour, suggesting they are not a brand that follows stereotypes. The masthead itself is very simple and elegant using a serif font with capital letters in white, making the masthead stand out against the darker background. At the right side of the banner is an image of a model with dramatic, blown out hair. This sets the theme for the magazines website immediately as revolving around beauty, style and women. The model used represents the stereotypical woman as she is slim, pretty and has long hair. This portrays Elle as a more traditional brand.



Below the masthead there is a navigation bar which allows the user to find what they are looking for quickly and conveniently. Here the brand name is repeated, reinforcing brand identity. The first tab that the user can click on is “Fashion” clearly demonstrating that Fashion is the most important aspect of this brand. Alongside this is “Beauty”, “Culture”, “Life & Love” and “Horoscopes”. All of these options are subjects that are stereotypically feminine and cliché in women’s magazines, displaying how the brand adheres to traditional conventions. At the right of the navigation bar there is an option to “subscribe” or “follow” or search. All of these encourage the audience to engage with the website and be interactive with the brand.



Underneath the navigation bar there is a variety of articles that the user can click on to read that change continuously, further encouraging the reader to use the website fully. Each article has a small image that relates to it making the website more colourful and more entertaining to look at. As they are all different colours it implies that there is no strict colour theme used. Furthermore, as the articles relate to celebrities and makeup it shows the key interests of young women.






The next subject of the website is a large advert across the middle of the page advertising another brand, “Morgan”, a women’s fashion brand, reinforcing the idea that fashion is the main aspect of this brand. This links to Curran and Seatons theory as the magazine will "respond to the concerns of the readers" and as it is a fashion magazine the readers concerns will be fashion and buying clothes.




Down the rest of the page are links to various different articles relating to fashion, beauty, celebrities and more serious news such as politics. This contrasts the earlier theme that was set as it portrays that women too are interested in politics and not just in fashion and beauty, as the magazine will respond to the concerns of the readers, therefore these hard hitting issues are clearly important to young women of today.


Thursday, 19 July 2018

Name for my magazine

After some research into magazine names I concluded that I would like to use ether Acacia or Dalia, both of which are flower names. I have chosen these names because i think it will contrast the representations i am creating in my magazine as i will be representing women as strong rather than weak and portraying both men and women as free and able to dress and be whoever they want to be. Stereotypically, people think of women as flowers who are weak and unable do do things themselves therefore i think that using a flower name for the name of my magazine will be controversial in a way but also very interesting.

Target Audience Research

To carry out Target Audience Research i chose to create a questionnaire in which i have included questions that will develop my understanding of my Target Audience and what they are looking for in a Fashion magazine.


By carrying out this research i have been able to simplify who my target audeince are and what they would expect from a fahsion magazine .


1.
In the first question, 6 people would rather see everyday clothes whereas 7 people would rather see high end fashion. This shows me that my TA would prefer to see high fashion, however would not bwe opposed to seeing everyday clothes either. This helps me make the decision to include a variety of styles of clothes in my magazine.


2.
For the second question, two people preferred darker clothing, one preferred bright and everyone else preffered a mixture. This means i do not have to limit the colours that i am able to use as my audience are accepting of almost all colours, allowing me to be creative in many ways. One person who answered the questionnaire suggested that i include seasonal colours, which would make the magazine more relevant to the audience.



3.
In the third question, when asking abot what type of shot my target audeince would prefer, two people answered Long Shot, seven people answered Close Up Shot and four answered both. As more people would like to see Close shots or a mixture i will try to include less Long Shiots to satisfy my target audience, however i will still include some Long Shots to keep the focus on the Fashion.




4.
The answers for the fourth question suggest that my target audience would prefer to see models with a more natural style of makeup, as 10 people said they would prefer it to heavy makeup. Out of the 13 people i asked, only two said they would prefer heavy makeup and one said they would like to see both. This implies that as it is a fashion magazine they would rather the focus be on the clothes and fashion overall rather than on beauty and makeup.




5.
In the fifth question i asked my target audience specifically about the style of the clothes that they would like to see in a fashion magazine. Two people said they would like to see girly clothes, one person said they would like to see professional clothes, four said everyday clothes but six said they would prefer dramatic clothes. This again is a very varied answer as they were a wider variety of answers to choose from, however i think it does not limit me in any way. Instead i think that it portrays that my TA want me to include a variety of styles of clothes.



6.
For the sixth question i asked my TA what hairstyle they would prefer, as although it is a fashion magazine i think that beauty and fashion link together very clearly. The results for this question was that one person would like to see extreme hairstyles, one person would like to see both and everyone else would like natural hairstyles. I think that my magazine will be better if i use natural hairstyles as it will keep the focus on the fashion and also will be less time consuming in preparations for a photoshoot.



7.
After some research into magazine names I concluded that I would like to use ether Acacia or Dalia, both of which are flower names.I included these in a question on my questionnaire so that i would have more insight into the type of magazine that my TA are drawn to and whether or not tha is influenced by its name. Five people said they would rather a magazine be called Acacia and Eight people said they would rather a magazine be called Dalia. I therefore will msot likely call my magazine Dalia to target a wider audeince.




8. For the last question that i aksed my TA i wanted to know what kind of location they would like to see the photographs in. Five people said they would like to see a Rural area, four people said that they would like to see an Urban location and four people said they would prefer both of them. This demonstrates that my TA would be more attracted to a rural location therefore i will most likely try to take my photographs in scenic and rural location.


At the end of the questionnaire i asked my TA their age, gender and favourite fashion magazine.
Eleven of the people that i asked were 17, which is at the bottom of my age range, one was 18 and one was 19. This means that all of the people i asked were in my audience target range, ensuring that all of the infromation i gathered was relevant. Out of all of the people i asked to answer my questionnaire, three of them were male and the rest were female. Unfortunately these were the only people available in my target range, therefore it limited the amount of men i could ask to fill it in. However, as i am trying to target men and women with my magazine i am glad that i was able to ask some men for their opinion. Luckily, their opinions were very similar to the opinions of the women i asked to answer the questionnaire which means i will not have to change my magazine dramatically to target a male audeince as well as a female audience. Lastly, when i asked about their favourite fashion magazine, everyone apart from one person answered Vogue. This means i will be able to follow Vogues style to ensure that i am targeting my audience properly.


Overall i think that my questionnaire worked very successfully as i now have a much better understanding of what my TA wants to see and expect of a magazine, therefore i will be able to confidently create a magazine that my TA will enjoy.



Tuesday, 17 July 2018

Initial Photography Feedback


I uploaded this photograph to my Flickr account along with others as it is one of my favourites from a recent photoshoot. In this particular photograph the fpcus is on the models outfit, specifically her multicoloured coat. As her arms are positioned towards her head it shows the coat in more detail in this medium long shot. Also, as her hands are next to her face it draws attention towards her face. This would be classed as high end fashion as it is not something that you would see everyday. The black dress and hat that the model is wearing allows all of the attention to be on the coat and its colour and texture.



I then recieved some feedback and agreed with their comments completely, as one of them states "Unique and edgy". This is the atmosphere that i was going for with this look, as i wanted it to revolve purely around her costume and the fashion, not the model herself. I also thing that having a plain white background does not distract the audience away from her fashion. The feedback i recieved was from my TA meaning that they support these images and would be willing to buy a magazine for content like this. The models position represents her as strong and powerful, contrasting the stereotypical representation of women being weak and powerless.







In this photograph I have used a different model wearing a very different style of clothes. She is positioned on the floor sideways looking at the camera conventionally, in a long studio shot. The models costume is something that would be classed as every day wear rather than high fashion however this shot shows how you can be stylish yet comfortable. The ripped jeans that she is wearing will target a younger audience as it is only younger people stereotypically that wear ripped jeans
as it is now condiered fashionable, whereas older people would not be targeted as they usually are not as interested in them. All of the items of clothing, such as the white and red top, are very basic however when put together they create a simple statement. The models makeup is more dramatic than the other models i have used but this also portrays a more modern young woman as more and more young women are wearing heavy makeup. Here the background is also plain and white however i think this image may have been better if she was positioned in a natral, scenic or urban location as her simple clothes and simple background almost blend together, however the use of primary colours helps to keep the photograph colourful.






I uploaded this photograph to Flickr as i like the way that the model is positioned in a causual, stylish way and has a very carefree yet strong expression on her face. The background here again is plain however as the model is wearing bold colours if she was in a ore colourful backgrounds, for example a natural background with green/blue tones, it may confuse the photograph and make it look clustered with contrasting colours next to each other. As the models head is positioned so that her chin is tilted upwards it represents the model as bold and confident, not like a tereotypical women. This is what i am going for in my magazine as i want to represent a range of modern women who do not necessarily adhere to stereotypical beauty and fashion standards but instread as individuals who step outside of the box and are not afraid of being daring and different. The feedback i recieved was again positive and highlighted some of my favourite aspects of the photograph as mentioned by Becca, "her chin being lifted makes her look powerful and independant". The overall atmosphere of this photograph is slightly sultry yet stylish,as the clothes in my opinion are the key focus of this photograph whoch worls to my Brief as it is a fashion magazine.

Research of similar media products


In this front cover the model, Victoria Beckham, is looking directly into the camera which is a convention of Fashion magazines. She is wearing natural makeup with slight emphasis on the eyes and her hair is also in a natural style. She is wearing a blue jumper which opposes the stereotype of blue being a more masculine colour than a feminine colour. Furthermore, she is not wearing it in a revealing or provocative way or is being posed in a sexualised position. This close up shot portrays that she is a respectful and naturally beautiful woman who does not need to show off her body to be attractive, linking to Halls theory of representation as she is represented as feminine and beautiful. Overall the front cover is very simplistic and gentle, using pale colours that stand out against each other. The “Vogue” logo is in a pink colour and the other text on the cover is matching pink or white, standing out against the background image. However, as pink is a stereotypical girly colour it does make the magazine target women more directly and make it more feminine, whilst enhancing the engaging nature of the cover by making it more colourful and therefore eye catching. The text on the cover is placed carefully around the models face to draw focus to her face directly and not distract from the key area of the cover.



This magazine front cover uses bold contrasting colours throughout. As the model is wearing a bright red, dramatic outfit against a blue background it makes her stand out even more and draw the reader’s attention to her in this medium shot. The background seems to be a natural, real background such as the ocean that has been blurred out to keep the focus on the fashion. The font throughout is a bold, serif font in Black and White. The monotone colour of the text also stands out against the colourful image. Due to the colour and font of the text it portrays the theme of the magazine as being very full on and dramatic opposed to other magazines who tend to go for more subtle styles. The mise en scene of the models makeup is still quite plain for a magazine, although it is slightly heavier than the previous models makeup on the eyes as she is clearly wearing eyeshadow and eyeliner. Her costume is very high fashion as it is not something you would see someone wearing on the street, implying they are a high fashion magazine. The models hair is very natural and simplistic, being pulled away from her face to keep the focus on the models outfit. This again reinforces that it is a fashion magazine rather than a beauty magazine. Despite this the model, Emilia Clarke, is a well-known celebrity which the magazine have most likely used to draw in a wider audience. The masthead goes behind the models head where her head meets the text, implying that she is more important than the brand name itself.

This magazine features a male model instead of a female. The model portrays the stereotypical ideal of men’s bodies in this long shot and how society thinks that men should stereotypically look. He is also topless which sexualises the whole magazine front cover. The background of the front cover is very scenic and sets the scene/theme for the whole picture as naturally beautiful. The models makeup, if he is wearing any, is very minimal and natural to adhere to the standard that men do not wear makeup. His costume is simply a pair of dark jeans that are wet as he is walking out of a pool, sticking to his figure to emphasise how muscular and toned he is. This implies that the model is more important than the fashion that the magazine is all about. The models hair is short and slicked back, presumably from walking out of the pool, and his facial hair is clear but very precisely cut, again showing the beauty ideals for men today. The text on the front cover is a mixture of serif and sans serif font however all of it is in a slightly transparent, white font that does not draw too much attention, keeping the focus on the model. The amount of text on this magazine is much less than that on magazines that feature females, implying that the content of the magazine is less important. Furthermore, although the magazine features a male model it does not specifically target a male audience as the text states “easy to wear dresses, accessories and swimsuits” depicting that the magazine is still targeted towards women despite having a male on the cover. This also links to how a half-naked male would typically attract more women to buy the magazine rather than men.


Tuesday, 10 July 2018

Current inspiration for Fashion Magazine front cover







I like all of the above, female modeled magazine covers as they use very stereo typically feminine colours and are dressed in very womanly clothes, however because of their stances and the way they are positioned, looking conventionally into the camera, it shows that they are bold, confident and daring therefore contrasting their seemingly stereotypical representation. I think that the models are slightly sexualised however it is not in a demeaning way, i think it is in an empowering way as it is encouraging women to be who they want to be and act like/do what makes them happy and feel fulfilled.  






I also like these magazine covers using Male models instead of females. I think that mens fashion is not represented enough in magazines, especially in England, and the magazines for male fashion that do currently exist revolve around only stereo typically attractive, wealth males. All of the models here are conventionally looking into camera in a confident and dominant way. However, they are all positioned in similar ways with their faces and arms being the most focused area of the photographs. I do not think that these men are being sexualised in any ways as the women are being, but their attractive faces and stereo typically attractive bodies are clearly on show on purpose. Also, the colours used here are very stereo typically male as they are dark and dull rather than bright or colourful, again linking to the stereotypes of mens clothing. 

Thursday, 5 July 2018

My initial response to the brief



I have chosen to work with the Magazine and online brief (3). I think that this would be the best brief for me to choose because I think I know and understand more about Magazines rather than any of the other media forms mentioned in other briefs, such as Music Video. This knowledge, I believe, will help me to authentically create a realistic Fashion magazine and a website to match. Out of all the briefs it is the least time consuming and challenging, meaning that I will be able to spend more time making each aspect of the magazine more realistic and believable. I think it will still be a challenge to create however, as all of the briefs are challenging, but the others would be even harder to create as I have had no experience with them before, whereas creating magazine front covers I have experience with. I do not think that the genre will cause any issues as I have basic knowledge about fashion and can research further into the specific type of fashion that I would like to portray, whether that is high-end women’s fashion or everyday men’s fashion. I will research into different ends of the fashion industry and decide whether to produce a conventional women’s magazine or instead try and target a more niche audience, such as men’s fashion, that is not as common to see as women’s is. I think that choosing a men’s or women’s magazine will not affect my ability to create it as I know men and women who I could ask to model for the Magazine and Website. I think that my location would also not be an issue when it comes to photographing the model(s) as I live in a rural area therefore there are many natural backgrounds I could use. However, if I wanted a more urban-styled magazine I could travel to an urban area or edit a background into the image after taking photographs. I do not think I would have issues relating to reliability for my models as the people I am considering being a part of my magazine are my friends and therefore I believe will be very reliable.

Final website

Homepage: Link:  https://alyshaa261.wixsite.com/mysite      Fashion page: ...