COVER UP!

So after playing around on a few websites, I have decided which source I will use... Joomag.  This personally is my favorite because it is easy to manipulate and allows me to create my own 'masterpiece'. A few blog posts ago, I talked about colors. Theres three colors that will be used on the front cover of the May edition of "The Sophisticate"- red, black and white.

As Im sitting designing my cover, I remembered "MAGAZINES HAVE BARCODES, THEY COST MONEY" and freaked out (literally). I start scrambling the internet for information on how to create a barcode, without going to jail (I thought it was illegal, don't ask why) and came across the a barcode creator website. 

If you click here, you'll enter the wonderful world of barcode creating. Where you can design and label, your own barcode. 

I then created my masterpiece. 

Magazines such as Rolling Stone, Billboard, Forbes, etc, contain their barcode on the bottom in either the left or right corners of the magazines, while some others place their barcode on the top. 

*BARCODE:VIEW BOTTOM RIGHT OF BOTH*

After playing around on Joomag for a while, I got to work and started to design my cover.
I started with the masthead.  After doing research, the masthead is commonly what is used to attract the audience, that along with the cover photo(which has not yet been taken) is what attracts the viewers/consumers and makes them want to read your magazine. Mastheads are also consistent... even when there is a 'limited edition' issue. I wanted my masthead to be easily identified, sophisticated, and my target audience. I wanted my cover to stay away from being filled with cover lines, and let the image, masthead, and colors do the talking. 

"Free Online Barcode Generator." BarcodesInc. Barcodes, Inc., 1994. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

French, Nigel. "Understanding the Parts of a Magazine Cover from the Course Designing a Magazine Cover." Lynda.com. Lyna.com Inc., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

"Magazine Rolling Stone #770 January 2016 Australia Read Online Free Pdf." Magazine Rolling Stone #770 January 2016 Australia Online Read, Download Free Pdf. Rolling Stone, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

"Online Gist." Tony Elumelu Is the POWER BUILDER On Forbes Africa |. It All about Infortainment. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

"A Review of 6 Popular Business Magazines." HubPages. HubPages, 21 Nov. 2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

Williams, John. "Your Brand's True Colors." Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur Media Inc., 06 Mar. 2007. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

SAY MY NAME... SAY MY NAME!

I WRITE THIS POST WITH SATISFACTION THAT I HAVE FINALLY DISCOVERED A TITLE!

My magazine is titled "The Sophisticate", and yes THE is included. 

SOPHISTICATE:

Noun

A person with much worldly experience and knowledge of fashion and culture.

This is exactly what I want my magazine to resemble, and how I want this edition to be utilized. 

Take Fortune for example, as of March 2015, they have 15,053 viewers throughout their media platforms of print/digital, web/mobile web, and video. 

Fortunes "average" age for viewers is 41.8 (which I guess means 42 years old?). The Sophisticate is going to attract a younger audience, especially with the face that it will be a May, graduation edition. 

The average income of Fortune viewers is $81,010. This means that this magazine primarily attract wealthier, more educated individuals/families. One of my major goals of this magazine is to maintain my target audience of both men and women of ages 20-50, in all classes. 

":: Demographics ::." :: Demographics ::. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

"Fortune: Audience by Platform 2015 | Statistic." Statista. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

"A Review of 6 Popular Business Magazines." HubPages. HubPages, 21 Nov. 2015. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

LETS GET COLORED!

When you think of huge corporations, their "color" commonly becomes noticed with their brand. Here are some examples for you...

-Think COSMOPOLITAN, think pink.

-Think Pespi, think royal blue.

The use of colors in a corporation is vital to creating an image that users/customers/viewers want.

Color plays a huge role in memory recall, by stimulating the senses, it instantly conveys (or reminds) us, the message.

So how do I want my message portrayed?

I want my magazine to be sophisticated, and serious, classical, and show dominant power. So black seems to be a perfect fit. Black is also commonly used with wealth, and to make a logo look 'heavy'.

But I want the magazine to also look simple, with spice, so white would also be a perfect fit with the 'fine' black color. White 'connotes simplicity, cleanliness and purity. The human eye views white as a brilliant color, so it immediately catches the eye in signage. White is often used with infant and health-related products.'

RED! Red is the perfect 'extra' color to be added on my cover page because it increases heart rate, aggressive, energetic, provocative and attention-grabbing.

View this article here: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/175428

Williams, John. "Your Brand's True Colors." Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur Media Inc., 06 Mar. 2007. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.

TOPICS...

Topics... Topics... Topics...

When I think of the word magazine, two up and coming, Cosmopolitan and Success. They are both trendy, yet sophisticated. I want to attract not only one gender, but both. So how can I do this?

When looking at statistics of a business magazine source (InBusiness) sources show that 88% of readers are college grads.  The key word here is 'graduate'. How do I get around this word, and attract college students, and/or soon to be graduates. So, my idea has been decided. I will create a monthly business magazine with a twist- graduation edition MAY 2016!

READY...SET...GO...

As I write my first blog post, I pondered, what is my reasoning for all of this mania?

So I write this post with confidence, that this blog, along with my AICE Media Studies portfolio will portray my thoughts, ideas, and creativity through a source of medium. So why choose to make a magazine? I question my self saying, what really is a magazine? Magazines are defined as a periodical publication containing articles and illustrations, typically covering a particular subject or area of interest. But when creating a magazine, I feel I am trying to mock million dollar magazine corporations such as TIME, National Geographic, Success, People etc. But how can I make my magazine DIFFERENT. I want mine to stand out, and be known for something different, I want it to be one-of-a-kind. 

So lets start here...

1. Lets target a different kind of audience, an audience that know magazine tries to catch their eyes...

COLLEGE STUDENTS-COLLEGE GRADS!

How can i get their attention?

What draws them in?

Stay tuned for my next blog post... As I dive deeper and deeper into the art of designing a magazine.