Creative Critical Reflection Draft #2

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

My magazine engages with audiences because it includes material that would relate to activities people would enjoy as well as information this audience would like to read about. My audience would be the population that enjoys tropical life and spending time on the beach and ocean. Since my magazine is titled Life in Paradise, it automatically will bring people in who want to enjoy this type of lifestyle. Also, since my product isn't limited to only one type of "story", it can draw in people who are looking for island life, beach necessities, or even those looking for activities they can do on the water. This allows the audience to not be limited to one type of theme within the main theme and broadens the audience by a bit.

If Life in Paradise became a real media text, I would begin to distribute it by finding a distribution company that I could partner with. In a previous post on my blog, I did an entry about usual magazine distribution processes. While researching, I found the company Disticor, which is a distribution company that will help you get your magazine into stores and sold. When magazine companies partner with a distribution company like this one, it speeds up the process of getting their magazine into stores and on shelves, especially if they are new to the business. It also creates a more professional front for a new magazine company that is trying to become known. Creating a website for my magazine might also help the distribution of it. Since so many people are online now, if they decide to search for a certain type of magazine, like tropical or travel, the website to my magazine may pop up. Overall, partnering with a distribution company and creating a website would ultimately allow my magazine to be distributed as a real media text.

Creative Critical Reflection Draft #1

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

The product I have produced is my magazine Life in Paradise. When you think about conventions of a magazines, you think about all of the necessary items in order to make it successful. This includes the front page, how the title is displayed, fonts, colors, table of contents, articles, and even how the pages are numbered. I would consider my magazine "challenging these convention" because I have made sure my work is original and not copied off of another company. I have even included my own photographs that I have taken that no other magazine would have access to.

My magazine also challenges conventions of the genre it falls under. Life in Paradise would be in the genre of travel and beach lifestyle. Some magazines under these categories just talk about the fun involved in luxuries related to this. However, my magazine also talks about the expenses and all the factors you need to know and consider before purchasing an island for example. This example of my main article allows people to know that owning an island involves a lot more work than just a place to vacation. Owners have to worry about employees to hire in order to manage the island and allow it to be a place to go and relax.

When discussing social groups and issues, my magazine would represent ones involving the wealthier lifestyle. This is so because a lot of stuff in the magazine, like owning an island, is only possible for those with a higher income. Also, on my flat plan, I had more articles that would relate to people who have more money available to them like islands and boats for sale. With this social group mainly in my magazine, the issues arise with the people who can't afford an island. These people may feel like the wealthy are rubbing their riches in their faces and making them feel less than they are. Although my magazine would represent this higher payed social group more, others would still be able to receive valuable information due to other articles like, perfect snacks for the beach or water sports. Thus the issues arising due to certain social groups being portrayed in my magazine are not large and are not anything to worry about.

Distribution Research (Travel + Leisure)

Digital distribution is a huge part of the success in magazine sales. The magazine company, Travel + Leisure, relates to my magazine, Life in Paradise, because it is a travel magazine and talks about tropical lifestyles. Travel + Leisure's success in the digital distribution field lies in their website. This website provides some articles that would be included in their print magazines. The website includes many tabs that bring you to topics that relate including trip ideas, hotels and resorts, and subscribe. The subscribe tab brings you to a page that offers you subscription payment plans to sign up for. When a customer signs up for a subscription, they will receive a print magazine, an instant online version, and a secret European villages guide. With the instant online access of the magazine, this provides a better sell point for digital distribution of Travel +Leisure, The ability to have the magazine on a technological device allows travelers to have less weight on their shoulders and a decrease in items to pack. I would use a website in order to promote my magazine digitally because many people use the internet now. I would also include the option for a digital magazine with a subscription and not just provide it all online for free. If I provided my magazine online for free, then my company would not make a large income.

Distribution Research (Coastal Living)

The Coastal Living magazine chain produces magazines related to travel, coastal homes, lifestyle, and foods. This magazine is therefore similar to mine because the one I have created is about island life. Coastal Living has a website which allows them to help their digital distribution.

https://www.coastalliving.com/magazine The website promotes their own magazines with showcasing articles in them as well as including a tab titled magazines. When you click on this tab, you are brought to a page that shows articles, options to subscribe, give a gift subscription, and even to advertise with them. Another feature Coastal Living provides related to digital distribution is subscription plans that include a print and digital copy. This allows people to be more likely to buy a subscription because it allows them to travel with the magazine without having to carry the actual magazine. I would use this distribution model as a way for people to access my magazine another way. I would maybe have certain features of the website unavailable to access unless you have a subscription however, to convince people to buy one rather than just read the articles for free. 

Distribution Research (Traditional Distribution)

In order for magazine companies to distribute their products, they turn to many different methods. Most companies will start with a distribution company that will help get their magazines on shelves and in stores. While researching how to get my magazine distributed, I came across the website for Disticor Magazine Distribution Services. This company allows magazine publishers to get their magazines in stores and sold at a higher rate. I would utilize this model to distribute my magazine because as a beginner publisher it is a lot harder to sell your magazine by yourself and without another companies' support. When you invest in a magazine distribution company, you are able to get more work done while they are spreading your magazine and getting it sold.

Revisions (Two Page Article)

With the two page article, I did not make as many revisions as the front cover and table of contents. For the spread, I adjusted the title by making the font bigger and changing the color of the font its self. I also removed some of the captions around the photographs as I found them unnecessary. You will also notice that I have added a couple photographs to this section, changed the main font and size slightly, as well as added the branding on the page numbers to match the table of contents.

Original Article Page 1

Original Article Page 2

New Article Page 1

New Article Page 2

Revisions (Table of Contents)

The revisions I made to my table of contents include changing the fonts, pictures, layout, and background color. I also added branding by the page number. I made a lot of revisions because my original table of contents was not the best. Even once I submitted it, I knew there were a lot of adjustments I could make.

Original TOC

New TOC