WIX Template Research

I will be designing my magazine website on WIX.com. The website provides a World class building platform to over 90 million users in 190 countries. It has something for everyone, and provides all the tools and features you need to build an amazing online presence for free. You can easily drag and drop website building platform with HTML5, with the help of 500+ designer- made templates. I may need to get use to this website, but hopefully I can create a professional site that reflects my other products.

Time Management #12

In this lesson, I am going to research into costume, hair, make up and props ideas for my photoshoot. If I finish that, I will then review how all of my inspirations have helped me develop my ideas.

Update: I started the Powerpoint in the session, however did not finish it in the time given, so I have completed it and uploaded it at home. I also didn't get a chance to look at reviewing my inspiration posts, therefore I will start this in my next media lesson.

Time Management #11

In this session, I want to research WIX templates, so I can decide how I want my website to be designed.

Update: I have managed to research WIX.com, I have found out that you can select which website template you like, and then edit it to suit your own company/ product. I am looking forward to experimenting with it, as I have never used WIX before. However it might take me some time to get accustomed to how it works, but I am positive I will be able to create a professional website that reflects my magazine and its design.

Billboard Inspirations

Billboards really stand out if they are unique and individual. I have found some below that have been successful and creative advertisements. Although they aren't magazine related, you can see how interactive and impressionable they are purely because of the creative nature of them. I feel this type of billboard can be appreciated very well amongst both young and old members of an audience, from my background, as long as my advertisement related back to my magazine in some way. This would definitely be the kind of unique technique used by small, regional magazines in terms of advertisement, as it ensures they stand out amongst their competition, and is something to consider when designing my own billboard. From both of the billboards, I will take inspiration for the simplistic image and minimal text, as I think this has an effective, long lasting impression on the viewer.

GAP Billboard

Gucci Billboard

Website Inspirations

Vogue Magazine

At first glance of a website, I think you instantly decide whether or not they are successful. If it looks dull and boring as well as complex, audience members are less likely going to try to navigate through the pages. I feel like a fashion website such as Vogue.com (although an international magazine) is much more effective, as it is simple, modern and easy to navigate your way around. Similar features like the masthead are featured, creating a sense of professionalism, then underneath a clean, basic, yet varied choice of topics and categories can lead the user off too other parts of the website. The hyperlinked images that are placed simply provide a modern and visually engaging way to also find ideal pics and articles for he audience of this fashion magazine. The minimal use of text on this homepage definitely works to its advantage, carrying on the professional and niche international target audience that the magazine was initially aimed at. This layout is definitely one I want to use as it will engage with my modern audience and follow the minimalistic trend that is current right now.

Fashion North Website

This professional website is then juxtaposed with a regional fashion website that is based here in the North East. I feel like this is a real let down, as it is the only fashion orientated product here, and doesn't do a great job of showcasing new, trendy fashion and gossip. Besides the masthead being unprofessional and a bit boring, the website has tried to imitate similar popular websites but has failed miserably. The CGI Multimedia Image is too large and takes up most of the page at first glance. The image is also too large and becomes blurred and pixellated. This makes the page look unprofessional. I need to take this into mind when designing my own website, as I want it to look as professional as possible.


Below I have created a video with some more websites that have inspired me.

Time Management #10

Today, I plan on looking at website and billboard inspirations, as I haven't really looked into these products much yet.

Update: I have found that for both my website and billboard, I am most inspired by the simplistic design, and feel like this will fit my genre very well. I want my products to reflect something trendy and in fashion, therefore I think making a layout and design that is easy on the eye, and quick to navigate around would provide the best for my content to be displayed on.

Colour Scheme Ideas

Coolors Logo

For my magazine, website and billboard, I need to follow a strict colour scheme, to add consistency and professionalism throughout. I used the free website coolors.co, which offers a whole selection of colour schemes and palettes which are programmed together. It allows you to visualise and order colours together, so you can see whether they compliment and contrast effectively.

Colour Scheme 1

The first house theme involved 5 very strong colours. I liked how it included a grey/ brown, which I think adds a sense of nature and calmness to the scheme, as the other colours are quite bright and vibrant. One colour I am not keen on using is the middle fuchsia, this is because it looks tacky, and reminds me of a little girls magazine, using bright colours to attract the younger audience.

Colour Scheme 2

This is my second colour scheme, and I chose these as I thought they were completely different and unlike any of my competition. I loved the sharpness of the teal greens, and the brightness of the purples, and I thought these two primary colours, really contrasted together well. I think the teal shades remind me of a computing/ technology magazine, as old school text on a computer would be green. Therefore, this is a negative to this scheme.

Colour Scheme 3

I wanted the next house theme that I created to be a little more girly and associate with a females fashion/ lifestyle magazine. Therefore I chose more stereotypical women colours, as they connote pretty things like flowers and makeup. I went for more calming colours, as I thought this would add a natural vibe to my products. I chose the warm yellow as I thought it adds a pop of colour, away from the similar shades, but still blends in nicely with the scheme. I thought I could use this colour for things that need to stand out on the page.

Colour Scheme 4

This is my finalized colour scheme, I have adapted the 3rd scheme, so it adds more depth to my products. I didn't want the whole magazine to be pink, with dots of a brighter colour, therefore, I have adapted that colour so its warmer, then added a light blue and grey to follow with the natural theme. I also wanted to include a dark colour, so I have different shades of light and dark, therefore chose a deep burgundy. I really liked this colour, as it will compliment light parts of my page, and its really autumn colour, therefore will connect with my natural look.

Masthead Ideas

For my magazine, I need a masthead name, and in order to select the best, I have chosen some of my favourite, and weighed out the positive and negative attributes of each one. I also asked my Facebook group which was their favourite, so I have a good idea, of what people from my region would like.

Model Poses- Ferguson & Millum

Marjorie Ferguson: Female Poses
I have learned about model poses on a magazine front cover, and the effect they have on the audience. This has given me an enhanced understanding of them and has given me ideas of how I want my model to pose for my front cover. I also understand that the different poses can have several connotations which can then fit specific genres of magazine.

Trevor Millum: Male Poses
I decided to do some independent research and have a look at different male poses. I found some work by Trevor Millum, who studied various advertisements featuring males, within women's magazines. He found five variations of poses:

• Carefree: within the carefree pose, the models appeared healthy and active looking, and also looked happy as they were normally smiling
• Practical: the practical pose embraced a serious, engaged look, in which the models had their mouths closed and often maintained a small frown in order to portray a look of concentration
• Seductive: the seductive pose portrayed confidence, with a slight smile and eyes that were never quite fully open
• Comic: these poses were centralised around humour and were obviously deliberately funny and slightly exaggerated.
• Catalogue: within the catalogue pose, the model was vacant looking, with an artificial appearance, blank expression portraying elements of emptiness and lack of personality.

As the model I am planning is female, I have taker a larger focus on the female area of model poses, but I found it important to consider both sexes within model poses.

Time Management #9

Today, I am going to look at different masthead ideas, so I know what my magazine is going to be called. I also want to research Ferguson & Millum model poses, so I know which ones to use when it comes to taking the photographs for my magazine.

Update: I looked into different male and female poses, and found that my favourite is the chocolate box pose. I will try and use this for my front cover, as I think it is very inviting but sexy at the same time. Additionally, I decided that my magazine is going to be called Belle, as I thought the connotations of this would fit in great with my genre, and it was also the favourite from my Facebook group.

Feedback on Fonts

Facebook Question

Facebook Feedback

I asked my Facebook friends on their opinion of some fonts I had chosen. I wanted to ask their opinion as they live in the North East and some will probably be likely readers.

I found out that 79% voted for number 1, this was Dubiel. I was very happy with this result as it was initially my favourite font, and I thought this would fit in well with my genre of magazine.

Number 2 on the pie chart was actually number 3 on the question and it only had a couple of votes. This tells me that it would not be a great choice to pick this one. I think it wasn't as popular because it is not quite as girly as number 1, and is too thin for a lifestyle magazine.

Font number 4 had 1 vote, therefore I won't be considering this font, again, I don't think it was popular due to it being too thin and basic.

Font Feedback Chart

The font that had no votes was number 2. I think this was because it doesn't particularly follow the genre of fashion and lifestyle. I also haven't seen a familiar font when researching other magazines, therefore I won't be using this one.

Overall, I will probably use number 1, as this was very popular, and I do think it fits well into the genre of the magazine, and will definitely attract the target audience.

Font Ideas

I have deconstructed and had a look at different magazine fonts, to understand what type of font would fit my genre of magazine. I have picked four, that I think will be great for the main font for my products.

Font Ideas

1. This font is called Dubiel and is one of my favourites. I really like it because its bold in some places and elegant in others. This connotes great with females, as we are strong but at the same time elegant and girly. It also reminds me of other professional fonts for magazines like Vogue and ELLE.

2. This font is called Just Old Fashion, and does remind me of an older era. It is rather bold, which can again connote with women, however I think may be a little bit too bold for a females lifestyle magazine.

3. Another font I do like is called Fashionism, and I think would really suit a lifestyle magazine as it looks elegant and professional. The font itself is really thin and curly, and I think it would look delicate on a front cover page.

4. Again, another font I really like and think would suit my genre is called Fashion Love. This is similar to number 3, however the lettering is a bit wider. I think I might like this more, as it looks modern and simplistic, and think this will work well if I have a busy front image.

After picking 4 fonts that I think would work well for my magazines main font, I am going to ask my Facebook friends on their favourite and see what they suggest.

Similar Products Review

I have looked into similar products to help develop my ideas and give me some insight on how a magazine should be designed and what it should include for my genre and region.

First of all, I looked at the difference between national and regional magazines. I came to the conclusion that there are many more lifestyle magazines that are for the nation, rather than based in the North East. I discovered that there was none in the genre that I want to focus my magazine on, therefore decided to take inspiration from national magazines but use content about my chosen region. Many national magazines were also a lot more professional and designed in a suitable way to attract my target audience, therefore I need to take this into consideration when beginning to design my front cover, contents and double page spread. Furthermore, national magazines tend to include a lot of information so everyone is interested and has something to read, however my magazine will be area specific, therefore probably a lot more interesting for my readers. Comparing national and regional magazines has really helped me develop my ideas for my own products.

I also researched into national and regional institutions, to decide who the best publishing company would be for my magazine. I found out that many national institutions have large followings, sometimes having up to 3 million readers per month, they also publish many different genres, and types of media, such as films, posters etc. Finding regional institutions for the North East proved rather hard, as there was not many. The ones I did find mainly focused on publishing a couple of magazines, and normally in the same genre. Deciding which institution was also another task, as I realised that national (and international) companies would not have the time to focus on a small regional magazine when publishers like Conde Nast have clientele such as Vogue and Harpers Bazaar, which are some of the largest fashion magazines in the World. Again, I realised that the institutions in the North East, would not publish my magazine the way I wanted, as they only focused on sporting or cultural magazines. I thought it would be best to create my own institution as LAC Media. I think this would provide me with the best chance of publishing my magazine so it is highly popular in the North East.

Looking into conventions on similar products, again helped me develop my ideas. I first analysed a magazine front cover, contents and double page spread, and found that I must include all conventions as best as possible, to really create a realistic and professional magazine. Therefore, it is important to include things such as barcodes, prices and issue numbers on the front cover; page numbers and mastheads on the contents and double page spreads. I also looked at conventions of a website, and realised how important it is to include a simple web address, and multimedia to attract the audience. Finally, I researched conventions of a billboard, and this really helped me decide ideas for my own billboard and what I should include, as I have never really looked or analysed billboards before. I learned that it is key to keep it simple and effective with one main image and a prominent logo. I will keep this all in mind when designing my products.

In addition, I researched what competition I would have. I found that national magazines such as Vogue and Cosmopolitan, would be my main non region competitors as they include similar content and design. Although I don't have much regional competition, as there is no lifestyle/ fashion magazines that are aimed towards females. The only one likely to be similar is THE CRACK. This is because it may use some content I will be wanting to include.

Overall, looking at similar products and analysing the conventions of the products I will be designing, has definitely helped me understand what I need to do to stand out, and be a professional, regional magazine.

Magazine Inspirations

I am researching into inspirational magazines, that I can take notes from. I think it is a good idea to look at magazines that will be a similar genre (even though they are national/ international and my magazine is regionally based), as it will allow me to understand the layout and design of women's lifestyle magazines.

Front Cover

I have began looking at a lot of magazines that I researched when looking at institutions. I found that they all have a large image of a model or famous celebrity. I will take this into consideration however I will feature a fashion personality or up and coming artist to star in my magazine, as my product is only focused on the North East region.

Front Cover Inspirations

Another inspiration is the large masthead that goes behind the models body. I think this is a really effective way to showcase the main image, and accentuate their beauty. I still need to decide on the name of my magazine, but I will make sure that it goes behind the models head. I also think this portrays a sense of professionalism, which is how I want my magazine to look.

Finally, another convention that inspires me is the colour schemes and the way they have presented them. I can recognize that normally the masthead is a colour that is bold and then the cover lines follow the theme. The theme normally contrasts with the main image, and this provides something exciting for the reader to look at.

Contents Page

Contents Page Inspiration

I have also looked at some content pages, however haven't been able to find many that I find inspiration from online. Although I have seen some paper copies, that I will scan in at a later date. From the online contents pages I have viewed, I took inspiration from the large coloured masthead. I really like how it is the main focus point when you see the page, and helps the reader recognize what page they are on.

Another feature I am inspired by is the layout, I like how the contents is laid out in a column form, and it is easy to see what pages have what articles on. Additionally, I like the use of sub- headings for fashion, music, gossip etc, and hope to incorporate this into my own magazine.

Double Page Spread

Double Page Spread Inspiration

Online, I cannot find many examples of double page spreads, however have found a couple that I like. I will look further into this by purchasing paper copies.

One feature I am inspired by is the use of images. A lot of these double page spreads are really image- led, which I will try and take on board when designing my own article. I think an image - led double page spread is really interesting for the reader, as it is entertaining looking at the different images.

Looking at similar magazines, has helped me decide conventions and layouts that I have been inspired to use on my own product. I will keep these mind when designing my pages, as I want it to look as similar to a professional women's lifestyle magazine as possible.

Elle Contents Page

Elle Front Cover

Here is a contents page from a magazine with a similar genre to my own. I kept this magazine, as I liked the layout of the front cover, contents and double page spread. I then scanned it in, so it was available on my blog. I really love how the page is set out in columns, and I think this gives it a minimalistic/ fashionable feel. I hope for my magazine to give of this feel too, and I will use this is inspiration for my own contents page.

Time Management #8

In this lesson, I am planning on creating moodboards of magazines that inspire me.

Update: I have managed to look at magazines that inspire me. I have created moodboards for front covers, contents pages and double page spreads. It has allowed me to see what features I will use when creating my product.