The Brief

 

As part of Solent University's advertising agency, "Solent Creatives" a brief was set to design, create and execute a magazine from scratch. This involved, writing the content, creating the titles for each section and piece, finding appropriate advertisement for the magazine, upselling the magazine, defining a brand and designing standard layouts for each page and section. 

 

 

Approach

 

In order to execute the magazine, each person from the team of students studying on various courses, for example Advertising, Journalism and Film was given a role. Through applying online via the "Solent Creatives" website, I gained the role of contributor. This position required me to write content for print and online for the student magazine. The content would need to be relevant to the needs of students, interesting yet informative and also readable. An informal tone was adopted in order to address and target the audience which were students aged eighteen to twenty-one (excluding mature students who may be studying at an older age.) The magazine's initial target audience was students aged sixteen to twenty-one however many of the writers found that it was difficult writing content for this range of audience as some of subject content, (for example bar reviews),  was not appropriate for the younger readers. Furthermore, as the magazine is a new brand, it was decided that the first issue should be released to a smaller, niche market in comparison to a larger market that may harder to attract, thus decreasing readership levels.

 

As a group, we brainstormed a list of names which we thought may be intriguing and suitable for the magazine title. Some of the names included, On The Sole, The Hangover and South Central, however, after a vote and a consideration of excluding a future audience were the magazine to extend to other cities other than Southampton, the magazine was named, "On The Scene." It was felt that this name suggested that the magazine was current, trendy and forward thinking. The intention of the magazine was to inform and entertain students in regards to upcoming events, money worries, stress management, travel, fashion, sport, gaming and other subjects that would appeal to the target audience.

 

Although a contributor, I also had an input to the lifestyle section titles. I worked with a partner during the creative process, which involved looking at language and phrases that would appeal to students. The original lifestyle section titles included, Art, Technology, Travel, Food, Drinks, Student Life and Health and Fitness. My partner and I changed the titles to the following; Flash Art, Geek Peek, Backpacker, Top Nosh, Barred, Skint and Step Up. We felt these titles added personality to the sections and kept in line with the brand of the magazine. Furthermore, my partner and I also developed ideas for features for example a piece on alternative ways to travel to university including space-hopping and sack-racing. We also had an idea for a feature for the Health and fitness/Step Up section, which was a piece on alternative running routes. The piece would feature a diagram of the route which would be shaped in the form of a humorous image for example a donut. We felt this would add humor to the piece and would also add an element of motivation for the reader as they run, in comparison to a standard route which may not appeal to them.

 

 

In order to gain information and research for future magazine articles, I conducted thorough research using primary and secondary methods for example, an interview with the manager of 'Asgards Tattoo and Piercing' and also online background research on local nightclubs and events.

 

The Results

 

As I am in contact with a local gym, I wrote a review which I hoped in turn would increase memberships as the center is currently unknown and hidden away behind student halls. The review was written informally and I tried to use a humorous tone in order to appeal to the audience. I felt a gym review may not appeal to the average student reader and so I titled the piece as, "A Hidden Gem" as a play on words to the phrase "A Hidden Gym." The review covered the facilities at the gym, the classes, and the spa and also mentioned the onsite beauty therapist. I used rhetorical questions throughout the text in order to entice and direct the content to the reader. I also limited the use of exclamation marks throughout as I felt this could suggest the article was sales like and also may suggest that the language was to be read loudly or be shouty.

 

I also wrote a piece which shall be featured on the, "On The Scene" website to run alongside the magazine. The content aims to inform students about nightclubs and bars that are outside of Bedford Place, which from primary research, was seen as too mainstream and dated. I researched alternative nights out in order to gather a range of locations and also gave information in regards to travel options and prices of trains and buses. The article also gave information on locations that can be entertaining in the day, for example shopping centers, bowling, adult play areas and restaurants. The article was three-hundred words in length which conformed to the word limit of the other pieces throughout the magazine.

 

Furthermore, I also created a three-hundred worded piece about the best bars in Bedford Place. The article focuses on six different clubs and aims to inform the reader in regards to the price of drinks, entry fees, music and capacity of the nightclub. The tone adopted for the article is informal and jokey. I felt this would appeal to a student target audience more in comparison with a formal paragraph. The article has six sub sections to allow the reader to pick and read information quickly rather than read a block of text which may cause te reader to lose interest. The piece is titled; "You're Barred" which I felt was catchier than "Bar Of The Month." Furthermore, the bars are listed in order of how good they are in regards to atmosphere and price. The lowest ranking bar will receive the status of, "Barred" to signify its place in last. When writing the reviews, I was careful not to write content that may offend the owners of the bars as this could affect advertising opportunities in the future.

 

The magazine shall be published and ready for release in January. The expected results are that students in Southampton will find the content, theme and branding appealing and in line with current trends and issues.

 

Please find below a slideshow of the documents that are to be published for the magazine, both print and online. Furthermore, please click on the image in order to read details regarding the work, for example details of planning and meetingd. Due to circumstances beyond my control, the articles have not yet been placed on to the magazine's standard page design layout and so have been uploaded in the form that was sent to the Indesign team. As soon as the Indesign team for On The Scene have had time to place the articles on to the magazine page design, they shall be uploaded to give a clearer view of the finished product.