"Euphoric” is a fashion and beauty magazine, with the target audience of adults. As I was choosing a genre, after I completed my research, I wanted to pick a genre that could have been easily followed when it came to meeting the codes and conventions of a magazine. I decided that I wanted something fashion-forward, yet simple. Firstly, I decided to research all the different brands and magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar etc.This helped me understand the codes and conventions of fashion magazines such as the main image model is always a woman wearing glamorous clothes and lots of makeup, smiling, looking at the camera, there is always a direct mode of address and celebrities are always on the front cover.
I then tried to create meaning through the mise-en-scene such as what clothing should be worn, location, setting etc. For clothing, I made sure that my model wore a fashionable blue dress, and as for the location, I picked my bedroom as i have fancy lights such as LED lights and ring lights that i can use. This made me realise that I wanted to make a high-class fashion magazine like Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, etc.
As I was conducting my research, I learnt what the clothing the models wore and how they worked with their appearance (makeup and hair), such as turtleneck dresses and silver jewellery and natural glam makeup. This helped me understand what the codes and conventions meant. Although I used myself as the model, I didn't care as much about facial features as most models are different when it comes to facial features and body type etc. As my magazine is based in the USA, I chose myself as the model, to create diversity and subvert stereotypes of white Caucasian models. My original idea was to use a plain white background and for the model to wear a fancy dress. I tried this idea out by making my magazine cover for the first time, using this idea.i received some feedback that my magazine looked a lot like a poster and was very basic. After I had received my feedback from my classmates and teachers, I had decided to change the layout and ideas so it did not meet the codes and conventions of a fashion magazine. After that, I decided that I wanted to improve my research by looking more deeply into the latest fashion trends. This helped me a lot as it gave me a chance to look at different trends and ideas which then convinced me to go along with a fancy/pastel theme. In terms of Psychometrics, my magazine would appeal to the aspirers and the succeeders the most. This is because aspirers want to be known and famous, and the succeeders want to have the best products, which are mainly expensive and heavily branded. This helps me understand what my target audience is interested in and what type of fashion they prefer. Psychographics are kind of like demographics. Based on socioeconomic status my audience will fall under AB in terms of their position.Psychographic information might be your buyer's habits, hobbies, spending habits and values. Demographics explain “who” your buyer is, while psychographics explains “why” they buy. Demographic information includes gender, age, income, marital status. For my magazine, the psychographics would be that my readers would be following top models and current affairs, hobbies would be makeup, hair styling etc. This tells me that my target audience enjoys and reads upon information and buys it for themselves to use it the same way the celebrities do. The target audience for magazines is usually females from the age of 18 to 25 years old. Due to the theme and colour scheme I have chosen for my magazine, my magazine will mostly be read by adults as the model’s clothing is demure..The content in my magazine is about fashion, beauty, and beauty products. The audience that will be most interested in my product will be females from 18-40 years old with the AB demographics . This is because this age group is most likely interested in technology and has knowledge about it. My magazine covers news about celebrities, interviews, and beauty products made by famous beauty bloggers and celebrities. My magazine is not available online, it can only be bought as a hard copy. I made this decision because I still want people to read magazines in their physical form, keeping it traditional and it appeals to an older adult audience over teens. It also creates a feeling of elite. My magazine takes a strong artistic and creative approach to fashion in the generation we are living in now. My magazine includes exclusive information and interviews with celebrities. An example would be “EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH FIZZA SALMAN’'', the article is based on a beauty blogger talking about her favourite foundation and her opinion on various assumptions about makeup. In terms of how this challenges the convention, my model ( which is me ) has dark tanned skin, with thick defined brows. After doing my research, I found out that most models in magazines have thin, defined brows and they are mostly light-skinned Caucasians. The model used for my magazine is encouraging the racers that it is okay to have thick brows and it is also showing diversity ( due to the model's skin tone and race). This model also has global appeal through subverting these stereotypes and establishing beauty as not race bound The reason why I used the fonts I did, was because they can easily be associated with the fashion genre, as most magazines have similar fonts. Although I did use a thinner font for my masthead. This was so I could differentiate from most fashion magazines.I chose a slim font to link to fashion ideals of slimness and elegance. I also chose similar fonts to other publications to meet audience expectations. Moreover, the colour scheme used is not dull, instead, it is bright and eye-catchy.
On the front cover, my model is wearing a full sleeve turtleneck dress. She is giving out the message that you don't have to wear revealing clothing to draw attention to yourself and that you should wear clothing that is in your comfort zone. This again subverts stereotypes and appeals to a wider demographic, This is also current as there is a notable rise is modest clothing globally. This also links to identity such as those who are modest for religious purposes or for values. In terms of my research on the codes and conventions of a woman’s fashion and lifestyle magazine, the main aspects that stand out are the colour schemes, costumes, sell lines etc. Magazines are also dependent on what season the magazine is being published in as this can also affect the portrayal the front cover is supposed to give to an audience. The shots that I mostly used were close up shots and headshots of the model and an establishing shot. This allowed me to focus on the model’s fashionable clothing and appearance, making her a spring season model. The font style I have used is considered formal, fancy yet simple and basic. I have used the Lorem Ipsum font for my masthead. Although the anchorage text is bold, to catch the reader's attention. In terms of mise-en-scene, it is largely reliant on the subject of the main article. As previously mentioned, in terms of conventions I believe that the theme of the front cover of a magazine should be similar to what the double-page spread article is based on and what the personality and image it is trying to portray of the front cover and the season of the year it is. Since my magazine was more based on the Spring looks in February, my colours were mainly pastel blues and golds. The dress I wore was a pastel blue and cream dress with creamy black flowers on the dress. The way the model was posing gave out the connotations that she is comfortable with what she is doing.This appealed to wider groups of women from those fashion forward young women to a more global audience through the use of ethnicity and power established from the exclusive being with a non-caucasian woman. The use of the modest clothing again appealed to wider groups who want more than the standard skimpy ideals and therefore offers a feminist perspective on fashion industries by rejecting the male gaze theory and instead focusing on power, knowledge and confidence.