Creative Critical Reflection

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CCR Question #4 Draft

I incorporated a lot of technology into creating my magazine. The main program I used to design my magazine was Microsoft Publisher. Publisher was very easy for me to use and navigate. It made making my magazine an easier process. When I first started working on my magazine, I made my cover page first. I played around with a lot of different fonts and colors to find what I thought looked best and what stood out most. For my table of contents, I had to re-arrange a lot of my articles to make everything symmetrical and have a good use of white space. There are many steps I took on Publisher to make my two page article look the way I wanted it to be. I also used the "justify" option for my text to make it symmetrical and in columns. The software wasn't too difficult to use, but it just took me a while to organize all my text and pictures to make it look a certain way. For practice, I used InDesign to learn the functions to help format my two page article, but I did not end up using this program to actually make the outcome of my magazine. I found it difficult to use and I could not remember all of the tools. The internet was very helpful to me for my research during this whole process. It was useful when I had to research my magazine genre, audience engagement, marketing, and distribution. For my photoshoot I used my phone. I have an iPhone XR, so the camera quality is pretty good and my pictures came out sharp. I tried to make sure I got good angles of all the pictures and framed them well for the photo. The last aspect of technology that I used for my project is Instagram. For my marketing plan, I made an Instagram for my magazine. I am familiar with creating an account on Instagram, so it was fairly easy for me and very quick. I then made a profile picture, a post regarding my magazine, and a caption.

CCR Question #3 Draft

During this process, my production skills have developed and improved. In the beginning, I had to create a schedule to get all of my pictures needed for my magazine, along with scheduling an interview with the interior designer that I know. Creating this schedule for many jobs to complete seemed overwhelming to me and I was not sure which days to set aside for specific aspects of my project, along with the other planning of the design of my magazine I had to make. I eventually picked days for everything and got everything done. For my photographs, I had to make sure they were all at the right angles so that I got everything I needed into the shots. My skills using Microsoft Publisher to edit my magazine have improved. I started out just picking out fonts and colors for my text, to having symmetry in my text and arranging many layouts. Now that we have advanced technology, I was able to make a simple way to advertise my magazine by creating an Instagram account. I learned how to specifically target a certain audience and market my product towards those people. I also started out with little knowledge about the distribution process. After researching many magazines' way of distributing their product, I got familiar with the process. I then made my own plan to make an app for smartphones and tablets. After researching some more on apps for specific magazines, I began to develop even more ideas for my own. I had then completed my whole idea for my app which included many different features. I believe that my editing skills have improved and my knowledge of the business side of magazines has evolved.

CCR Question #2 Draft

The magazines I researched for audience engagement were Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, and Southern Living. They had many strategies for audience engagement that I thought were effective. The Real Simple magazine created a "home idea" in New York. They took a regular townhouse and designed it into their own home. People can go online and take a virtual 360 degree tour of the house. This is engaging because it gives the readers inspiration for their own homes and they can even take the magazine's ideas and put it in their house. The Good Housekeeping magazine uses a Facebook site. This is engaging because people can follow their page and get updates on the magazine almost on a daily basis. They post videos of DIYS and cooking, and also post their own articles. Readers can watch these videos at home whenever they want and have access to many different kinds of videos. The Southern Living magazine partnered with the store "Dillard's" to make and sell their own products. This is engaging because if the readers see something they like in the magazine, sometimes they can buy it from the store. They can use these products to decorate their homes. My marketing plan to get my audience engaged is to have an Instagram account. Instagram is very user-friendly and easy to work with, so it will even work with older adults. It will have links to articles and many videos and pictures of food and decorating.

My magazine will be distributed as a real media text. The traditional method of distribution for my magazine is through print. Subscription letters will be sent in the mail to houses for people to fill out. Then the magazines will be sent to the people who subscribed monthly. For my digital distribution, I also researched Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, and Southern Living.

My digital distribution plan is to use an app. It will be available on any smartphones or tablets. Consumers can subscribe and get access to all issues, or they can pay for individual issues. There is also an option for "sneak peaks" of some articles in the magazines if people do not wish to pay for anything.

CCR Question #1 Draft

My magazine that I made uses many conventions of the magazines in my genre. The title of magazine is in a large, blocky font. The word stretches across the whole top of the page. This type of font is used by the "Real Simple" and "Good Housekeeping" magazines. The color of my title is bright red. Almost all of the magazines I researched had their title in a bright color such as yellow, orange, red, or white. I used the big, bold letters and a bright color for my magazine title to make it stand out. It is easier to see and read and it draws attention right away. My photographs were also very similar as the magazines I researched. For my two page article, I took pictures of the DIY decorations that were explained by the woman I interviewed. Some magazines that have pictures of all the DIY gifts, decorations, and crafts that are mentioned are "The Pioneer Woman" and "Real Simple." I used these type of pictures because it helps the readers understand the descriptions and instructions of the particular decor item. My magazine can be for people who have little to no knowledge about design crafts, so having those visual aids will help with their desired outcome. The layout of my table of contents has some of the same aspects as other magazines in my genre. There are four section headers with a few featured articles under each section. There are two columns and one of them has one picture. I used this layout for my table of contents because I wanted it to look very organized. I also was trying to make a good use of white space. Some magazines I researched have this same format such as "Southern Living" and "Good Housekeeping."

The social groups represented in magazine are mainly women, homeowners, the middle class, and people with hobbies such as decorating, cooking, or baking. My magazine has different ways in which these groups are represented. My main article is about making simple decorations with items you own in the house. One of my articles in my flat plan is about buying gifts on a budget. Most of the fun extra articles are related to fashion and makeup. The woman I interviewed is an interior designer, so her social group would be and educated woman and also someone who has a passion for designing and decorating.