Final Submission

   Between third quarter and my final submission I made a couple of more revisions. The first revision I made was corresponding my page numbers with what my flat plan said. The page numbers now match. On the title page I removed the page number because there is usually no page number on the title mage. Another revision I made is to take the abbreviation of page, pg, off of my table of contents. Doing this makes it look more professional and conventional. I also added a text box saying, "Tips&Tricks," on the title page to fill the page more and add more content. The last thing I did is centering the branding at the bottom of my magazine on the title page, table of contents, and the article pages.

Creative Critical Reflection

https://prezi.com/view/BElwobkBUaCIW8yc0XP9/

CCR Draft #4

How did you integrate technologies in this product?


        In my magazine, I integrated technologies in many ways. The first way I used technologies in my magazine is by learning how to use publisher. To make my magazine I used publisher and before producing this magazine, I had never used it before. I learned how to add pictures and text, move and crop pictures, and create a publication.  The process of learning how to use the program took a while but was worth the wait. Without this technology I wouldn't be able to compose the magazine. Also I used an IPhone 6+ to take my photos. The phone is a little old but the pictures cam out fine. I didn't have a very nice camera to use to take photos so I ad to use my phone. Without this technology I would not have been able to produce the pictures used in the magazine.

CCR Draft #3

How did your production skills develop throughout this project? 


          While developing my magazine, I developed many skills involving production. To start, by studying magazines, I learned how specific the layouts and making of magazine actually is. In the production of the magazine, I learned how detailed the photos and articles had to be. I relied on myself to do all of the work and teach myself while making my magazine. I had to plan out the photo shoots and obtain the objects I needed for the photos. This was a long process that took days and patience because some days I couldn't catch fish for the photos. I learned to compose the magazine and how each page had different aspects needed. The title page had sub headings to show the reader featured articles which I learned how to do through researching my magazines.


       

CCR Draft #2

  How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?


           My magazine engages with audiences in many ways. My magazine engages with the audience first by putting ourselves in the audiences shoes. We do this by having articles that will help them in an abundance of ways. Also my magazine demonstrates that we understand the audience's experience with fishing and we help them become better. Another way my magazine engages with the audience is by creating a booth or pop-up shop at an event, social media accounts, and sponsoring and being involved with things related to the topic of the magazine such as fishing tournaments. My magazine will attend events to hand out promotional flyers and coupons which lets us directly engage with the audience face to face. With the social media accounts, such as the twitter page, the audience will be able to have conversations with us no matter where they live. This will create a warming feel for the audience knowing they can talk directly to the magazine. My magazine will sponsor and become involved in things such as fishing tournaments and fishing expos to market our name and get more exposure.

CCR Draft #1

How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?


              My magazine uses and challenges the conventions of the genre it is about I many ways. In my magazine, one of the ways I used conventions of a magazine is by putting a subheading under the title. This subheading was present in all of the magazine's that I had researched. What the subheading does is allow the audience to have an idea of what the magazine is about with having to open the first page. This helps greatly with new readers because of the fact that they have never read it before. In addition, I also used a convention most fishing magazines use which is having a massive fish on the cover of the magazine. Depending on the type of magazine, different types of fish will be on the cover but making sure the fish is a trophy catch is the best thing to do. By doing this, the magazine is able to catch the audience's eye and make them want to pick up your magazine and read it even more. One thing that fishing magazines make sure to do with their articles is make sure they contain specific content. This content has to be something that inexperienced fishermen can stay interested in and that they can apply to their fishing. My article lets the reader know what to do when fishing which will keep them coming back to learn more. Also, this magazine represents a popular social group. This social group is fishermen that are trying to learn more about fishing and become better at fishing. This is shown by the abundance of tips and tricks presented throughout the magazine and the pictures containing trophy bass. The tips and important info show that the point of the magazine is to teach the audience, which happens to be this social group. The pictures are shown to show the audience what they are trying to catch once they get more experience with fishing.

Third Quarter Submission

   For my third quarter submission I made a lot of changes to my magazine. These changes include brightening up the pictures, adding branding to market my magazine more efficiently, and removing the white border that was placed on accident from the title page. I am sure I will learn more about magazine production and make more changes but this is my quarter three submission.

Revision #3

   For my third and last revision, I brightened up the pictures in my magazine. I did this by playing with the brightness and the contrast in the pictures. I made this change to two pictures total in my magazine. By making this change, it will allow my magazine to look more professional while also making it pop more. It will intrigue the audience to pay more attention to the photos and give them a look.


Before                                                                                         After

Revision #2

     For my second revision, I will add branding to the bottom of my pages and make the page numbers easier to see. I will dot his by putting my website in the bottom corner with the page number and also I will increase the font size so it will be easier to see. Adding the branding will allow my magazine to become more popular since I am advertising the website and social media platforms. More people will view the magazine which will create a greater audience.

               Before                                                                                           After

                                                               

Revision #1

   For my first revision, I will be removing the border on my title page of my magazine. As of now, the title page has a white border along the outside of the magazine. This border takes away from the magazine and also distracts the reader from the important content on the title page. Taking it away will make the page look cleaner because the border was only on one page and also was put on the magazine by accident. I also made this same change to my title page.


         Before                                                                                                  After

                                                                                         









                                                                              

Distribution Plan

      For my distribution plan, I will use the online and traditional tactics that I learned about in my research. One of the strategies I will use from the traditional will include having a distributing agent since my magazine is just starting off. There are magazine distributing agents all around the state so I will have to find one at a reasonable price. Hiring someone like this will allow me to have my magazine be in stores around the area and get the magazine to the target audience efficiently. On the other hard, I will use online distribution strategies such as using my social media platforms. Using my twitter account to distribute my magazine by adding a link straight to a subscription to the magazine like the magazines I researched have done. Also I will allow my magazine to be sold on websites such as amazon to have a better distribution of my magazine.

Distribution Research #2

        Another way magazines distribute their magazines is digitally. The magazine Bass Master is very involved in distributing their product online and here is how. If you subscribe to Bass master online, it allows you to view the magazine on many different platforms such as apple and android systems and e-reader devices. When you buy the magazine online you can interact with it digitally. The magazine is distributed through their website which is bassmaster.com/digital. They also sell to companies that can sell their subscriptions online such as amazon and magazines.com. When you first go to their website, it is very easy to see how much they advertise subscribing to their magazine. There are also links on their social media and at other events they are involved in, such as the Bass Master classic, help them digitally distribute their magazine.

Distribution Research #1

       Magazines use traditional techniques to distribute their magazines which includes many different ways to do it. Large magazines usually use distribution departments to get their magazine to retailers since their sales and circulation and so high. On the other hand, smaller magazines use distribution agents to get their magazines to their audience. Companies in south Florida such as Magazine Subscription Service Agency, South Florida Business Journal, and Best Version Media all and distribute them to different places in the area. These companies work with the magazines to get their product to peoples door and in places, such as bookstores and publix, that sell magazines regularly. The main traditional way to distribute magazines is to get the product to the peoples door whether its being delivered or bought from a store, the goal is to have the magazine in the audiences hands. 

Marketing Plan

    After researching different magazines strategies to market their product, I found a couple of techniques I might use for my magazine. These are creating a booth or pop-up shop at an event, social media accounts, and sponsoring and being involved with things related to the topic of the magazine such as fishing tournaments. The technique I will make is a twitter account. The reason I chose to do this is because most advertising is starting to happen more and more on social media so having a twitter account will bring great exposure. The account will also allow me to market and expose the special things my magazine has and offers to the audience.
 

Target Audience/Marketing Research #3- Game&Fish

    Game&Fish has a very similar audience to the magazines I have already researched and my own magazine. This magazine is bought by 86% men and the median age of the audience is 40. The average household income is 87,000 and 85% of people are married. This magazine has the same audience as the other magazine I have already researched and has a very similar audience that I will be trying to have.

   Game&Fish is owned by the same parent company as In Fisherman. This will cause the marketing to be very similar. Game&Fish also has a print version and digital version. The only national title with custom-tailored content for its state and regional audiences. They provides state-specific coverage of hunting and fishing for core enthusiasts across the United States. Also Game&Fish attends the same events In Fisherman does such as ICAST, Sportsman Channel Outdoor Fest, and Florida Sportsman Expo to market their magazine. They hand out free samples and subscriptions at booths to get their magazine more exposure. Also, one of Game&Fish's editors had his truck wrapped to market the company. This is something companies do to market a lot whether its wrapping a car or getting a small work truck with a big ad on the side. 

Target Audience/Marketing Research #2- Bass Master

    Bass Master magazine's target audience is also very similar to mine. Their main audience is males which is 82% of the it. The average age for someone reading the magazine is 42 years of age. The average annual household income is 62,000 so this magazine is purchased by mostly middle class families. Of the readers, 63% are married. This shows that this magazine will have a similar target audience to my magazine which is middle class and males.

    Bass Master magazine is one of the best at marketing their product. Similar to the In Fisherman magazine, Bass Master appears at events such as the Bass Master Classic Expo. They show up to events like this to give samples and to spread the word about the magazine they have for sale. Also this magazine is strongly involved in one of the biggest fishing tournaments of the year, the Bassmaster Classic. The magazine is advertised throughout the whole tournament whether its print ads or televised ones on commercial breaks, the magazine gets plenty exposure. Bass Master also has a twitter account with 130k followers where they do most of their social media marketing. Their tweets also get retweeted by other fishing and outdoors accounts which will allow their audience to grow rapidly.

Target Audience/Marketing Research #1 - In Fisherman

    The magazine In Fisherman has a very similar target audience to my magazine. They target 90% males and 10% women . This is usually from 35-55. The class they are targeting is middle class. More than 65% of people reading this magazine age married and graduated college also. This is because these are people that are interested in fishing and need all the tips they can get to catch those big fish. How this is similar to my target audience is the class and age. My magazine targets middle class and mid ages just like this magazine.

   In Fisherman is one of the best in the industry at marketing. In-Fisherman was the first media brand to embrace a multi-media strategy, with television, print and web exposure. They also have the largest magazine audience of any other freshwater fishing magazine. In Fisherman has a print version, digital version, and even an In Fisherman TV show on the Sportsman channel, a TV channel in the conglomerate they belong to. The TV station is owned by the parent company so In Fisherman runs ads for their magazine on commercial breaks. Also In Fisherman attends events such as ICAST, Sportsman Channel Outdoor Fest, and Florida Sportsman Expo to market their magazine. They hand out free samples and subscriptions at booths to get their magazine more exposure.

Feedback and Revisions

 The feedback that I received on my magazine was very helpful and should allow my magazine to be improved greatly. The most common responses were that the pictures on the article pages were dark and could be brightened up. The second response that was said in an abundance was to add branding and page numbers that are easier to see. Also, I need to match my page numbers with my flat plan which I forgot to do. Last but not least, I need to get rid of the border on my cover page. To brighten up the pictures, I will have to edit them and play with the picture settings. I will also add some branding to the bottom of the pages and have the page number on the outside most part of the page in a bigger font.

Use of Conventions

       My magazine uses and challenges the conventions of the genre it is about I many ways. In my magazine, I used a tactic that most of the magazines that I researched had. This is putting a subheading under the title that explains the purpose of your magazine. In addition, I also used a convention most fishing magazines use which is having a massive fish on the cover of the magazine. This is used to catch the audiences eye and make them want to pick up your magazine and read it even more. Also, this magazine represents a popular social group. This social group is fishermen that are trying to learn more about fishing. This is shown by the abundance of tips and tricks and also the pictures. The pictures are shown to show the audience who they are trying to catch once they get more experience with fishing.