Research.
Introduction.
For my coursework I have decided to do brief 2 – Synopticity
Productions. As the brief is about lifestyle, I have decided to complete the
tasks on food. For this brief, I have decided to do the second print task, in
which I have to create a magazine front cover and a further two pages for the
inside. I have also decided to do the first e media task, in which I have to
create three pages from a lifestyle section of an existing magazines website.
Food Research:
(magazine)
For this section of
the research I am going to look at the lifestyle section of food. The lifestyle
section of food is very wide, as It has television programs, websites and
magazines all based around baking and cooking. For this part, I have decided to
look at food magazines and look at their styles, conventions they follow and
also how different food magazines are illustrated to suit their specific target
audience. I have researched two different food magazines both of which target
two different audiences, as one targets the higher end of the social scale and
the other targets the lower end.
I have looked at a
selection of food magazines and the first one that I have looked at was
“goodtoknow.co.uk recipes” . This magazine is part of a website which is called
goodtoknow.co.uk which bases their magazines around different lifestyle areas.
The food magazine is called “Recipes” and it follows a simple conventional food
magazine style and it is what you would expect from a magazine based around
food and baking. The magazine is illustrated in a straightforward design, as it
has a main image of a cake in the centre of the page with straplines to entice
the audience to read the articles inside the magazines around it. The masthead
is written in a bold white font and does not use text blocking. The title of
the magazine is clearly readable to the customers/audience of it as no image or
wording is placed over it. The main colour pallet of the front cover is a lot
of whites and pink’s and little use of black. The colour white is used on the
front cover for the main title and the straplines around the sides of the page,
the colour pink is used mainly for the straplines and for the price of the
magazine. It is also used for text blocking the straplines as some of them are
written in white and the pink is used to make the writing clearer to see to the
customer. The colour black is rarely used on the front cover as it is only used
to state which edition the magazine is (festive). The front cover also has two
smaller pictures on the bottom of the page. These are used as straplines for
the page, as they give the customers a sneak peek as to what other articles are
inside. Further more, the magazine’s barcode is not placed in any particular
way as it just put at the side of the page next to the main image. this makes the magazine not look very
professional. This is because many magazines tuck their barcode into a small
space on the page where as this magazine’s barcode is placed at the side of the
page and is clear to see.In the inside of the magazine, it has different chapters with different subjects in. These subjects include a kids section, money savers, cake corner and healthy kitchen. These titles for the magazine are at the top of every page of the magazine. These titles use text blocking and the writing is in white bold letters. These let the customers know what they will be reading about for that chapter. For a lifestyle magazine these are important, because the lifestyle area of food is wide and does not always have one specific target audience range, as many food magazines try to target both men and women of all ages and baking/cooking abilities. This is shown by the different variety of baking/cooking recipes within the book as the audience know which recipes are within their baking abilities and which ones aren’t. The recipes within the book use methods, timings and ingredients. This is very important for a food magazine to do, as the customers will obviously want to know how to make the recipe that they have seen. All of the recipe pages acts in a conventional way, as it has one big main central image with the method, ingredients and timings written around it. This is important, as it highlights to the audience what the finished food product should look like. Furthermore, the recipe pages also have a further image of the product being made however this is much smaller and is mainly placed in the bottom corners of the page. On every recipe page, there is also a “top tips section.” This gives the customer information and guidance when creating the food. The tips include how to decorate cakes/biscuits properly. As this magazine is a Christmas edition, the “top tips” section is in the shape of a Christmas pudding and is red in colour. There is no main colour pallet used throughout the magazine, however they do use contrasting colours and colours that go well together. These colours include light blue and white and pink and white. However they do use black throughout the magazine articles as the text is black and is the same colour and the same font all for articles. None of the text is written in blocked text boxes and the background for all the articles is white, so the writing is easy to read. There is an even mixture of texts and images as the text is big enough to read but still small enough to get an average amount of pictures on. the magazine is also useful for people who are on a budget or just like to buy cheaper items. In this edition of the magazine, it tells people where they can buy cheaper kitchen utensils such as blenders and cutters. It also has a chapter on “money savers.” This is unusual, as not many food magazines advertise cheaper products and how to cook on a budget. These sort of articles are normally found in fashion magazines and magazines for younger audience range. The inside of the magazine is also very informative to their customers, as in the inside they have columns for other readers to give their advice on certain ways of baking and their tips on baking/cooking. This can help other readers and can also help new bakers to experiment more with what they are doing.
The main audience for this magazine would be both men and
women of all ages. This is because it does not specifically target a gender as
it targets anyone who enjoys baking or anyone who would like to start to bake.
However, this magazine does seem to target the lower end of the social class
demographic scale (C2 and D). This is because the price is only £2.40 which is
one of the cheapest prices for a food magazine. Also on the cover of the
magazine it has “budget bites.” This suggests that the magazine is aimed at
people who have semi skilled/not skilled jobs, as they are more likely to buy
the cheaper items and cheaper alternative. However the magazine could also
target first time bakers who want to get into baking but do not want to spend
£5 on a magazine as they are not as confident doing higher end skills which the
more expensive magazines are mainly based around.
Food research:
(website)
As I am doing both print
and e-media, I have chosen a selection of magazines based around food which
already has a website so that it will save me time later when it comes down to
my actual practical tasks. The first magazine I looked at was called
goodtoknow.co.uk recipes and this is also a website which also sells their magazine online as well as in
the shops. The website also generalises in a lot of different lifestyle areas
as well as food.
The home page of the website has the title of the website in
the top right hand corner and its main colours used are pinks and purples. The
title of the website does not use text blocking and it is not written inside a
text box, as it is simply put onto a white background and it is written in a
bold front which is the same on the magazine which is created by them. The date
is also put underneath the title in black letters. The main colour pallet of
the home page is pinks, greens, purples, whites and black. The pinks, greens
and purples are used as blocks for the subheadings of other categories where
the white is used for the title of the subheadings whereas black is only used
for the text of the website. There is a space bar in the centre of the page at
the top. This makes it easier for the customers to search for a specific recipe
that they want or to search for a particular food that they would like to base
their meal around. At the top of the page there are a number of subheadings for
the different lifestyle topics that the company bases their website and
magazines around. These subheading drop down when the mouse hovers over it. The
recipe subheading is grey in colour and has a mixture of light greys and dark
greys. It has information in a textbox which includes hyperlinks such as names
of some specific recipes and different names of foods.
One you click on the recipe subheading, it takes you onto a
new webpage with a completely different colour pallet. However the layout for
the recipe page is the same as the webpage. This is because it still has the different
subheadings at the top of the page and still has a search bar for the recipes.
The colour pallet for this section of the website is a mix of orange, purple,
green and black. In the main section of the webpage it has moving images of
different foods and recipes. The moving images stay there for 5 seconds and
then move on to another recipe. All the recipes that was moving was all in the
Christmas edition of the magazine. This shows that the magazine and the website
are all part of one company. The website has also thought about people with
ethical issues such as being vegetarian and having a gluten allergy as they can
search for only vegetarian and gluten free recipes. There are a lot of adverts
on the recipe page and these adverts are placed on the right hand side of the
page. The website also gives the readers a sneak peek into the edition of the
magazine and what is going to be inside.
Magazine.
The inside of the magazine is similar to the way that the
other magazine is set out, as this magazine has the subheadings from the
different chapters at the top of the page. However these subheadings are
written in white and do not use text blocking. For this edition of the magazine
(Christmas) it tells the readers where they can get last minute Christmas
presents from. The layout for the main articles in the magazine is that there
is one page that has a full big picture on it, and the text is on the page next
to it. However occasionally the magazine articles will put an extra image on
the page with the text. The magazine has a lot of adverts on most of the pages.
The adverts only advertise food from expensive shops such as marks and
spencer’s and Waitrose. As well as the magazine advertising more higher end
supermarkets, they also advertise more expensive products such as champagne and
kitchenaid’s. The magazine also uses a whole chapter based around a celebrity
and their Christmas recipes. In this edition, the celebrity used is Michel roux
jr. His recipe section is called the “exclusive menu.” And it is based around
his idea of a Christmas lunch. In his pages, he gives his opinions and views on
his starters, main courses and deserts. This is helpful to readers as they
would prefer to read a celebrity’s recipes in a magazine rather than buying
their cook book. Also as it is close to Christmas the readers may like to do
some research on how they can get the perfect Christmas dinner and as it comes
from an actual celebrity chef, they are more likely to be reliable and
trustworthy making the readers believe in the magazine’s advice more as it
comes from a known source. The recipes inside the magazine are more complex and
complicated than the previous magazine that I looked at. This may be because
the magazine is more expensive and is aimed at more experienced bakers/cooks
that are interested in challenging themselves. The magazine is always cohesive
and is always the same throughout the different issue’s which come out each
month. This is because all the magazines look the same and are always produced
to a high expensive standard.
The audience for this magazine would be a mix of both men
and women of all ages who like to cook/bake. The magazine does seem to target
the higher end of the social class scale which is A and B. This is because they
are the highest earners and they seem most likely to buy this magazine, because
of its price (£3.90). furthermore, this can be shown by the adverts in the
magazine as they only advertise the higher end supermarkets such as marks and
spencer’s which would be associated with the higher end of the social scale.
The audience could also be anybody who likes Michel Roux Jr or Mary berry as
these are the celebrity’s that are featured in this festive issue of the
magazine. The magazine is mainly based around more complicated recipes compared
to the previous magazine I researched this suggests that the audience could
also be any more experienced bakers who want to try something new and challenge
themselves.
I have researched a website which is the same as the
magazine that I have looked at. I have researched the website which is called
“delicious.”
The main homepage of the website uses the same colour pallet
as the magazine. These colours include white, red, blue and silver. The colours
used are Christmas colours as this is the festive edition of the magazine. The
audience would be able to associate the magazine with the website, as they look
the same and thy look they are part of the same company who designed them. This
is because they both use the same colour pallet and they both use the same
house style throughout. The website for this magazine uses drop down tabs so
that it will make it easier for the user to use. The drop down tabs are
subheadings; Recipes, Christmas, In season, better cook, magazine, entertaining
and promotion. The subheadings use text blocking in blue and are written in
white text with a simple capital letters font. Like the other magazine I
researched previously, this website also uses moving images of different
recipes. However the images do not move on their own as the user of the website
has on move the images by clicking on the arrows either side of the images. On
the homepage, there are images of what is going to be in the magazine. There are
also a variety of different adverts which include different kitchen utensil
brands and supermarkets. There is a subscription hyperlink at the bottom of the
homepage where the audience can subscribe to get the magazine every month.
Furthermore, the audience can also have a sneak peak into what is going to be
inside the magazine. Further down the homepage, there are images of different
recipes which have titles over them. These titles include things like ; top
cakes, how to make your own biscuit advent calendar and brunch recipes. These
can help the audience as they know exactly what the topic is going to be about
and it Is also easy to find.
My magazine:
From my research previously, I have decided to cut out parts
of the different magazine and create a mood board of all of the different
things that I want to be included in my magazine. In the mood board I have
included images of different recipes, Straplines, methods, ingredients and
timings, adverts, subheading and titles, all of which I would like to be
included in my magazine. I would like my magazine to be based around spring/summer. in my magazine, i would like there to be more elements of baking rather than cooking, as i feel tht there are more afternoon tea parties and BBQ's during in summer which means that there are more cupcakes and pastries rather than hot cooked meals. in my magazine, i will include recipes such as cupcakes, flans and biscuits.
For the front cover of the magazine, I will use one image of
a recipe that will be included in the main article of the magazine, I will also
have straplines about different articles within the magazine. This will entice my audience to buy and read
my magazine as they will want to make whatever is inside the magazines
articles.. Furthermore,
I will have the date, edition and the price of the magazine all included on the
front cover. This is important as the audience will want to know about the
edition of the magazine, price of it and the date that the magazine is sold
between.
For the brief I have been asked to create a front cover and
at least two other pages of a specialist magazine. Therefore I am going to make
a front page and a souble page spread. For the
double page spread, I want to create something easy and simple, soo that it can appeal to all audience ranges. this may include something like differnt varieties of cupcakes or normal cakes. for the double page spread, i will include the list of ingerdients, the method, equipment needed and maybe some top tips for baking.
The audience for my magazine will be aimed at both men and
women of all ages but it will be aimed at the middle of the social scale. This includes
BC1 and C2. I wanted to do this as there isn’t a magazine in the lifestyle area
of food aimed at the middle of the scale as they are either targeted at the
lower end or the higher end and I wanted my magazine to be different and eye-catching
to both audiences.
Website.
As the brief says that I have to create at least three pages from my chosen lifestyle area. Therefore I have decided to create three
pages based on cupcakes, this month and favourites. The colour pallete for my website will be the same as my magazine which is golden brown and bright redish pink. i have chosen these colours, because it will attract alot of different audience ranges because it is eye catching and different.
Logo research and my logo:
More 4:
More 4 is a
TV channel that is run by the British TV production company Channel 4. More 4
was launched in 2005 and is available on Freeview, sky and cable TV. The Logo
for more 4 has changed twice and the current one (which is shown above) has
been the logo for the channel since 2012. More 4 has been focussing on
lifestyle TV since 2012, to compete with rival TV production companies like the
BBC. The target audience for more 4 is both men and women from late teens to
mid 30’s, as when the channel first aired it wanted to focus on “adult
entertainment”. The logo is effective as it is in the shape of the number 4.
This shows that More 4 is related to the channel 4 family. All of channel
4’s family have similar logo’s including the number 4. This makes the production
company easy to remember as it is simplistic and under complicated. Furthermore
the colours on the logo are supposed to represent a “scrapbook technology”.
This shows that the channel wanted to reinforce its change in TV shows from
dramas and reality TV to lifestyle. The colours of the logo make the logo more
effective as it makes it unique and stand out more than others. However, the
font choice and the font colour also make the logo effective as it is not too
bold or over powering. The white colour of the font makes the words stand out
more as it is on multi-coloured backgrounds which makes the word “MORE” easy to
read.
BBC:
The BBC is a
TV production company which stands for the “British broadcasting corporation.”
The BBC was aired in 1922 and its products are television, radio and online.
The logo for the BBC has changed many times but the current logo (shown above)
has been the face of the BBC since 1997 and is the longest used logo in BBC
history. The BBC has a wide range of TV programs which makes it difficult to
establish a certain target audience range, as it can vary from the very young
to the elderly. The BBC’s logo is simplistic to all ages, as the font colours
and the block capital letting has not changed. This makes the logo original and
shows that it does not have a fixed TV program guide and a fixed target
audience as it can appeal to men, women and children of all ages. The fact that
the logo has not changed for a while makes it easy for the public to trust the
channel and the TV programs that it provides for them to watch. This is because
it shows that its morals and reliability will never change. The red background
makes it easier for the colours of the BBC to stand out and grab peoples
attention as it is bright and striking.
Food Network.
This logo is taken from the food network channel, this
channel is based around the lifestyle area of food. This channel is an American
based channel but is aired in the UK on cable TV. The channel was created on
the 19th April 1993. Most of the channels tv programs feature
celebrities such as Jamie Oliver. The channels tv shows are divided into different
categories which are; primetime and night time. Primetime tv is shown during
the day and the programs mainly focus on celebrity’s making recipes. Whereas primetime
tv is dedicated to more entertaining programs such as cooking challenges and
cooking reality shows. The logo is clear to the audience what the channel is
going to be about as it has the company name written within the logo itself. From
2003-2013, the logo above was used, however in 2013 the logo had changed fonts.
I think that the logo is simple but effective as it works with the audience as
it is clear and simple and there is not too much going on. The logo also doesn’t
give a clear understanding of the audience as it can be for both males and
females of all ages. However with the programs that it shows on the channel,
the audience may be older men and women as teenagers and young adults aren’t as
likely to watch cookery programs on the tv.
Some of the logos
that I created
