Statement of Intent

Product 1:

My magazine is going to be called 'Ardour' as it means "great enthusiasm or passion". This represents what my lifestyle magazine will be about and what its values and beliefs are - a place for people to discover and explore their passions and hobbies whilst being entertained by topics ranging from fashion and literature to film and music. My two products will be somewhat unconventional of standard magazine cover layouts and styles, and will be inspired by Garage magazine. Although that is a fashion magazine, I have adapted my products to suit being a lifestyle magazine, that has a unique twist to it and playful personality. For my first product I will use an image of a male teenager to portray a popstar who grew up with religious parents playing in church who worked hard to become a famous singer and guitarist. His story will portray the passion and motivation to pursue your passions and achieve your dreams, which will reflect what 'Ardour' is about as a magazine. The image will be a cut-out of the model on top of a plain background, with stars and the globe on it to present the 'popstar on top of the world'. For the masthead, I will use a playful and 'quirky' font that is modern yet reflective of the magazine's identity, and that appeals to the target audience of 16-25-year-olds, without being too childish. This will also be the case for the fonts I will use on my cover, contents page, and website in order to create consistency and an apparent magazine house style. Both the cover and contents page will maintain the same house style and colour scheme in order to match and be recognisable as the same magazine. I will use two or three main colours (pink and purple), rather than black, white, and greys, with a couple of statement colours (green) in order to reflect the lively and enthusiastic nature of the magazine and its audience, and the fact that it is 'full of life'. Being a lifestyle magazine, I will include content/stories relating to fitness, fashion, celebrities, and music (due to the cover being a singer), such as "When TV Meets Music: How Stranger Things pushed Kate Bush "Up that hill"". For my contents page I will use a collage of images within the main image as intertextual 'pop culture' references to famous singers and musicians in order to attract and appeal to audiences who may recognise some of these celebrities, whilst also conveying the cover stars status as a famous popstar.

Product 2:

For my second product I will a different representation in my image than my first product, which will be of a teenage girl who became a famous author after writing a book as part of a college project and deciding to publish it. Again, this will represent the importance of embracing your hobbies and passions, whilst also presenting different representations as the first product to show that anyone can achieve their goals. My content/stories will be on topics such as films, fashion, health & beauty, diversity, and literature, such as "These writing tips will save your novel", which will reflect both the magazine's position as a lifestyle magazine as well as the cover star being an author. The image will be a studio shot edited to look like the model is on a cartoonish background full of book pages, in order to reflect the theme of the cover star and magazine as well as further the playful and creative nature of the magazine. Like my first product, the background of the cover will consist of two or three main colours (white and teal) with some statement colours (yellow and pink). The pattern will be different, however, to create a consistent style between the two products whilst still being unique and clearly a different issue. This will also be apparent through the contents page, which will use the same colours and patterns as the cover, and the same format as product 1’s content page. For the main image, I will use an edited cut out of the cover star to look like she’s lying on a pile of books, which will all be used as intertextual references to famous greek mythology fiction books/authors, as well as to link to the fact that the cover star wrote a greek mythology book.

I intend to create synergy between my two products and my website by using the same masthead, fonts, colours, and overall creative and playful personality, as well as the type of content, stories, and images used. Stories featured on my covers and contents pages will be apparent on my website, in addition to extra stories and content in order to make my website an extension of my print products. My website articles will have the same style of editing and 'doodles'/drawings as seen on my covers and contents pages to make it clear that the two are connected, showcasing the digitally convergent nature of my media product. To showcase this even further, I will include images/a link to my two magazine covers on the website, with an option to purchase the print editions. Both my print products and website will also have an emphasis on social media, prompting audiences to follow Ardour's socials and get involved.