Target Audience Research- Better Homes and Gardens

For this magazine, it was found that they have a target audience of mostly women who, on average, were 51 years old. However, it was also found that most of the consumers who enjoyed the magazine were suburban women in general who enjoyed spending time at home. This is similar to our target audience because we are also gearing out product towards anyone who has free time at home for crafts, cooking, or decorating. This magazine has been able to advertise their product through mobile apps, print magazines, through social media, and in stores such as Walmart. One way they used persuasive techniques in advertising was sharing how they have switched to online resources as well as print to market to a wider audience, including younger people who use technology more. Additionally, inside each magazine, many photos of women are featured, along with feminine-directed crafts and ideas. This is to market to their mostly female audience. Overall, the types of media they use include print and digital, specifically social media.

Target Audience Research- Good Housekeeping

For the research done on this magazine, we discovered many different traits that corresponded to their target audience. This product was found to have a target audience of middle aged and slightly over, which is similar to our magazine's intended consumer type. The way they marketed their product was in a newsletter, on their website, and through social media such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. This was successful through the use of persuasive techniques including intriguing material in newsletters and social media to attract consumers. Additionally, they utilized their newsletter and social media in part to act as a monthly reminder of their new product. Overall, they used media such as social media and digital emails to advertise their product to their target audience.

Target Audience Research- The Crafting Corner (our magazine)

For our magazine, we decided to pursue a target audience of stay-at-home parents or anyone who enjoys home making and decor. This might include a majority of middle aged men or women who have free time to craft, cook, or decorate during the day at home. Additionally, our magazine is not location specific, meaning it would be distributed nationwide, primarily in the US. Furthermore, the topics included in our magazine are, for the most part, fairly simple and uncomplicated. This means our intended consumers only really need above an intermediate level of education to enjoy our product. Additionally, people with an average income level of approximately $30,000 a year are included in our target audience. Overall, our magazine is made for anyone with a passion for creativity.

Feedback/ Revisions

     For the magazine draft, my team did fairly well with the basic design and layout of the product. However, there are some details that need to be edited before the final draft. For example, my partner and I had most of the same formatting details such as font, text size, and title page layout, but some parts weren't the same. This includes differences in the TOC layout and page numbers. These can be easily edited and fixed. Additionally, my partner and I both used clip art to decorate out TOC's and articles. The clip art only included small pictures but some need to be made larger to stand out. However, we shouldn't make them too big since they would then be copyright and take away from our own photos. Another revision needed to perfect our product is justifying out article columns. Currently, they are formatted on the left side, and would look more professional if made to fill up the whole text-box space available rather than leaving white space.  To contribute to the professionalism of the title page, I may add some more text underneath the title to fill up some empty space. This will also give me more room to advertise other articles in the magazine and make the reader more interested in the product. Additionally, both our magazines could be improved by increasing the variation of photos. Although we have a variety of items in photos, both of our drafts only include pictures of crafts and objects. However, this can be improved by including photos of people making the crafts. This would make the articles seem more interesting and relatable. It will also demonstrate that we utilized pictures from multiple photos shoots. A final aspect of our magazines that should be revised is adding some sort of branding to the page numbers, similar to what a professional magazine would do. This includes text describing the featured article, an advertisement, or other words that would intrigue the reader. Overall, the magazines were both well made, but do have room for improvement.

Use of Conventions

How does your project use or challenge conventions of your genre, and how does it represent social groups or issues?

     For our project, we researched numerous magazines featuring many different themes. Some products focused on cooking ideas, some discussed easy DIY crafts, and some were about home decor or gardening. We took the ideas from some of our researched magazines and combined them all in our magazine. We decided that rather than having only one topic area for our plan, we could incorporate all different kinds of "crafting". Therefore, we both used and challenged conventions of other magazines within our genre. We used the ideas of other products to broaden the span of topics within our final product but also were unique in the fact that our magazine didn't just focus on one theme.
   Additionally, our magazine has a theme and topic area that relates to artists and even non-artists who would like to learn how to be better at crafting, cooking, or decorating. Although our product doesn't have a serious tone to it, it allows people to escape from the monotony of everyday life and enjoy creating something, even if just for a short while. Overall, it is a great source of entertainment with anyone with a passion for art, cooking, or decorating.