Magazine Design - A1

 

Statement of Intent

I will create a front cover and a contents page for a magazine called ‘SugaRush’ by following the genre codes and conventions of contemporary art magazines. The audience will be 18-35-year-olds who are interested in digital art, including art students and professionals. Despite having a gender-neutral design, the magazine is mainly targeted at females or feminists who support left-wing ideologies. Artists tend to have a more progressive viewpoint, focusing less on how things are and more on how things could be. This exposes them to new and different ideas than traditional and conventional beliefs. The target audience is people who imagine how things could be different and want to make that difference. 

 

Cover lines offering answers, solutions or ways to achieve their goals as artists will be included to maintain audience appeal. References from Internet memes and Photoshop tools will be used to reflect the niche audience (target age group) for the magazine. The magazine will offer information and educational gratifications in which audiences could acquire knowledge on this particular genre. It will also provide exclusive interviews with designers and artists, which will attract readers as the magazine will appear more special. 

The masthead will be bold and positioned at the top of the cover to make the magazine stand out. Selling line, cover price and dateline will be included. There will be five cover lines with supporting phrases that contain alliteration to make them memorable and create an enigma. The cover lines will anchor the magazine genre and main image. The main cover image will be an original illustration of a woman since art magazines often feature works by famous artists. The illustration will directly address the readers through eye contact and a tight mid-shot with a plain background. The colour palette will include black, white and yellow, a simple combination yet works effectively as yellow connotes creativity and gives off youthful energy that conveys the magazine name and reinforces the target audience. A sans serif font and capitalized texts will be used to convey simplicity, modernity, contemporary styling and communicate an active tone. A direct and informal language will also be used. The contents page will have a unique layout based on the idea of a sugar molecule being broken down into smaller pieces. The articles will cover various topics including art trends, drawing tips and interviews, which are within the conventions and would meet audience expectations. 

The illustrated woman offers a more realistic and positive viewpoint, showing women as active rather than passive. The colourful paint on her face indicates that she isn’t afraid to show other people her true colours and is confidently gazing at the audience. The woman’s body is also covered up and not in focus or sexualised in any way. This representation subverts the stereotype of women being defined by how men see them or how society expects them to look and behave. This will, again, reinforce the target audience of the magazine. ‘SugaRush’ will be published as traditional printed magazines by an independent publisher.