Steel City Scene is a local event magazine that shows events for each season. I will be making a winter edition for this quarterly released magazine.
Purpose
I am making a local events magazine that has multiple purposes, to inform, educate and entertain. The magazine will focus on family-friendly activities in Sheffield, from markets to craft classes and shows. The primary target audience of this magazine is parents with teenagers, in the ABC1C2 socio-economic group (PAMCO gradings). However, it will also ensure to be family friendly and appeal to teenagers, therefore reflect activities both groups would like to participate in. By engaging both groups' interests, I aim to encourage social interaction between the family and aid them in reconnecting.
The magazine will inform readers by providing reliable and accurate information about events happening across Sheffield. This will make readers aware of opportunities in Sheffield and make informed choices about how they want to spend their time. Additionally, the magazine will educate the audience by offering context about community spaces and Sheffield’s culture. This helps readers who are new to the cities to better understand the social and economic environment of Sheffield.
I will be making a Winter edition. It will loosely connect to the Christmas period, with events that follow the festive season, such as the Christmas market, and ones that don’t at all, such as the panto. By not focusing exclusively on Christmas, the magazine is inclusive and accessible to all audiences from different cultural and religious backgrounds.The magazine will also entertain its audience, this is important as it ensures readability. This will be done through engaging articles and a visually appealing design. The use of a professional and interesting but accessible tone will ensure that the content is suitable for a wide range of reading abilities and disabilities.
The overall combination of informative, educational and entertaining content will allow the magazine to target a wide audience and fulfil its purpose of encouraging an improved relationship between parents and teenagers.
Form and Genre
My product is a local events magazine that follows the lifestyle and events genre. Rather than just listing events, it shows Sheffield as an active space where there are multiple activities that can bring your family together.
The magazine will focus on showing events and experiences that are relevant to its audience in the winter season. By doing this, it becomes a reliable guide to Sheffield’s social life and encourages readers to return for each seasonal issue (winter, spring, summer and autumn) for updates on events and content. As my magazine is for a certain group, maintain a regular readership is important. This is because repeated engagement will help strengthen the magazine’s identity and success.
Content
Front Cover
The front cover wireframe of my magazine follows conventions of a local lifestyle and events magazine as it focuses on community and shared experiences. It is also designed to appeal to my target audience of parents with teenagers living in Sheffield, directly meeting my brief of producing a magazine for a Sheffield-Based audience.
The main cover image is a dominant feature on the front cover. It has a family in a wide shot, which reflects everyday life and quickly communicates the genre and content of the magazine. By using a family rather than a celebrity nor model, the cover challenges traditional magazine representations whilst avoiding sexualised imagery. This challenges Mulvey’s Male Gaze (1975). Instead, it engages successfully with my audience by showing a realistic family, which allows parents to view them as ideal self (Carl Rogers). This establishes relatability and pushes the audience to engage with the magazine.
The masthead is another large feature on the page and follows magazine conventions. To ensure it creates instant brand recognition it uses a blue colour palette and winter iconography from the magazines house style to connote the seasonal theme. There will be a slight overlap between the masthead and cover image which is a common convention of lifestyle magazines and creates depth in the design. This makes the page engaging and eye-catching to readers.
The cover lines reference specific Sheffield events and locations reflecting conventional coverlines for event magazines. They are: ‘The Christmas Market is Back!’, ‘20+ events to choose from’ and ‘Unmissable Annual Panto Returns’. This is an effective feature because it highlights the magazines local focus and shows the value for money the events will be-letting my target audience connect to it fast. The use of bold numbers and different coloured key words help my audience navigate the page and attracts attention towards important information. This also encourages the audience to pick up and read the magazine.
The front cover employs a hierarchy that guides the reader’s eye from the main image towards the masthead and then to the coverlines. This allows important information to be seen first. By using a clear layout, the cover is accessible to both parents and teenagers as its simple to read. These design choices follow magazine conventions and encourage the reader to pick up and use the magazine, which supports the purpose of my magazine and meets the brief.
Content Page
The contents page wireframe follows the codes and conventions of a local lifestyle and events magazine by prioritising a simple layout that provides clarity. The word ‘Contents’ is shown as the largest most noticeable element, displayed in a bold sans serif font. This creates a clean appearance and makes the page easy to identify for both the parents and teenagers in my target audience.
The information on the page is organised into separate sections based on if it’s a ‘Christmas’ or purely ‘Winter’ event. This layout follows Uses and Gratifications theory (Bluhmer and Katz), as it lets readers to quickly connect to their personal identity, as they can identify efficiently events that match their own interests. It also provides surveillance on local events.
The photograph of the family in a wide shot will reinforce the magazines community focus and allow the audience to relate to the page. This relation to the nuclear family shown will create ideal self (Carl Rogers 1980) and follows conventions of a content page. It will also create consistency in images across the magazine and support the family genre.
Finally, a QR code will be included to connect the printed magazine to its online content, showing technological convergence. This will provide digitally literate parents and digital native teenagers access to additional content and events, which ensures the magazine is useful and up to date throughout the winter season.
Double Page Spread
My DPS focuses on the Sheffield Christmas Market- linking to my cover lines. The design follows the conventions of a local lifestyle and events magazine as it balances imagery with informative text. The layout employs a clear structure, with images and body text that is separated into columns to ensure readability. The columns also work to not overwhelm the audience and make it appropriate for both teenagers and adults. This follows my brief, as I am presenting Sheffield-based content in a professional and engaging way.
The first image is a wide shot of the market, this establishes the location and scale of the event. It allows the reader to gain a quick understanding of the atmosphere, which helps them visualise the experience and decide if they are interested. This is particularly effective for my family-focused audience, as parents can judge individually if this event is suitable, without committing time or money. There is a second image of a close-up person interacting with a customer, this shows the human and independent focus of the event. By contrasting the establishing shot, the image balances the overall spread and creates a personal experience. Additionally, the interaction creates warmth and social connection, reinforcing that the market is a community experience. This emotional element encourages readers to imagine themselves participation. Both images are extremely conventional for an event magazine’s DPS.
The headline ‘Sheffield Christmas Market’ is clear and direct and will have an article split into separate collums with a drop capital. This follows conventions of an event-based magazine article and headline- linking to Patrick Phillips’ theory of genre and comfortable reassurance (1996), as the clear title, familiar layout and structured information meets the audiences’ expectations of an event DPS. By using such predictable conventions, the article is easy to navigate and reassuring, which helps parents trust the magazine and therefore use it.
To further add this credibility, a pull quote from the Sheffield City Council will be included –“The market celebrates Sheffield’s great independent traders, with over 80% based locally” . By using an official local source, the article is placed as trustworthy and well-researched, strengthening the magazines identity as being a reliable guide to Sheffield events scene. This also makes the market seem significance to the city’s community, encouraging people to attend it and see it as a worthwhile experience.
Finally, the hierarchy of the DPS is purposely designed to prioritise navigation for my audience. Important information such as ‘Key dates’ is placed in a separate and clearly defined section. This lets readers immediately see if they can even attend the event. This is split by the images in the middle of the page to allow parents to quickly access essential details without reading the full article.
Resources and Personnel
To produce my magazine, I will be the photographer, editor and designer. This means I am responsible for planning the content, taking images and constructing the final layout of the magazine. To do these roles, I will use the digital software Photoshop to edit photographs, design page layouts and make a professional identity for the magazine. I will use online search tools during preproduction to further research events and organise my content.
My models will be members of my own family and friends, with two parents (Hugh and Alyson Blunkett) and two children (Rowan Blunkett and Blake Mills). I selected them because they reflect the magazines target audience and represent a stereotypical family structure that viewers can relate to. Using realistic models helps strengthen the magazines impact, as readers can connect with people who reflect their own experiences.
For the production, I will use professional hardware. Including a canon DSLR camera that ensure high-quality images. This is important because it helps the magazine meet the professional conventions of a lifestyle and events magazine. This ensures the final product feels polished and credible.
Marketing and Distribution
To promote my magazine, I will target parents with teenagers who live in Sheffield using local marketing methods. As the magazine is niche, mass advertising isn’t appropriate. Therefore, I will promote my magazine in local spaces and platforms that my target audience already engage with.
Print posters will be shown in locations like the Birdhouse Tea Bar and Tamper Coffee. Whilst digital posters will be shown near venues like the Crucible Theatre and Sheffield City Hall. These locations are purposely chosen. They reflect the type of activities featured in the magazine- such as plays and local events- to cater towards my audience who are already interested in and partake in these activities.
To target parents who are less aware of Sheffield’s event scene, I will also place advertisements in general spaces for people commuting. For example, digital posters will be placed at Sheffield Train Station to target people new to the city and searching for activities in the winter season. Billboards on main roads, such as Penistone Road, will target parents driving or walking by. Another way I will target them is through radio stations, such as BBC Radio Sheffield and Heart South Yorkshire. These radio station listeners reflect my target audience and promotes my magazine during everyday tasks- such as working doing chores or driving. This is an effective way to advertise.
Finally, I will employ below-the-line advertising, through posts on Facebook. These platforms are commonly used by my target audience and will allow for regular updates and reminders to encourage repeated engagement with each seasonal issue.
The combination of all these marketing methods (print and audio) creates horizontal integration. I will ensure across all the platforms, my magazine is advertised in the same house style, colours and logo to create synergy. This consistency will also help build brand recognition.
My magazine will be distributed locally. This will directly connect to families based in Sheffield with teenagers. Rather than mass distribution, done by brands like Vogue, my copies will be placed in local locations across Sheffield that my target audience often visits. This increases the likelihood of the magazine being picked up and read.
The first place I will distribute my magazine is in cultural hubs, such as independent cafes. This is effective as independent cafes often serve adults and families in the ABC1 socio-economic group and provide relaxed environments where people would have the time to engage with the magazine. Therefore, copies will be available in places such as Chapter One Coffee, The Birdhouse Tea Bar and Hygge.
The magazine will also be distributed in local libraries, including Hillsborough Library. These places are visited by adults who enjoy reading often and families looking for new content. Therefore, by placing magazines here it encourages readership and connects to an audience interested in engaging with magazines. Copies will also be available at the Sheffield Train Station. This is an effective technique as it will connect to families who may be new to the city and are looking for local activities and events.
The magazine will also be sold online through its own website- ‘Steel City Scene’. This will allow readers find and purchase the magazine easily if they saw it through the marketing. By employing horizontal integration in the distribution of my magazine, I am ensuring it is accessible.
I will release it on a quarterly basis (as it is a seasonal product that focuses on events in winter, spring, summer and autumn) for £5.99. By being released every 3 months, this high price is reasonable and is feasible to my ABC1 socio economic audience. The frequency ensures that the content is relevant and realistic for a local magazine with a niche audience.
Every issue will have a circulation of 4,000 copies across Sheffield. This is a feasible number for a locally distributed and focused magazine. I am expecting the readership to be higher than the circulation, with around 7,000 readers per issue. This is because copies might be shared across households, such as to teenagers or husbands. Additionally, this is due to it being placed is cafes where a magazine may be picked up and left by groups.
The magazine will be produced in an A4 format. This is an appropriate size as the large format allows for the large amount of content included in my DPS’s. An A4 format also allows for a clear layout that can be read by multiple people at once whilst maintaining a professional appearance and transportable size.
Specification
Full Page | 210mm x 297mm | £350 |
DPS | 420mm x 297mm | £900 |
Half page vertical | 105mm x 297mm | £190 |
Half page horizontal | 210mm x 148mm | £200 |
