Lo1 - Sample materials.

Magazine ideas mindmap.

Masthead moodboard.

Most colours denoted on these mast heads are pastel, specifically more so the mast heads for magazines that are based on golf, running and polo / horses, this is significant due to the fact that dull, toned down colours connote that an older demographic is being targeted. I get this connotation due to the fact that bright, bold colours are stereotypically used to attract a younger audience e.g. children, or a C2,D,E audience. Therefore, more pastel, dull colours are used on magazines to signify that an audience of A,B,C1, sophisticated adults are the target audience for the magazine. I will use colours similar to these on my mast head or as the house style colours as it will make my audience understand that they are being targeted. 

These colours help attract this specific audience as they’re toned down and more pastel compared to florescent colours that you’d typically see on a pop magazine, making the magazine appealing to a more sophisticated / educated audience who would typically have the money to spend on horses.

The mast heads typically consist of two colours only, they're commonly opposing in order to make them contrast and create a visually appealing effect on the magazine, I think opposing colours have been used so that the magazine not only looks visually appealing, but they’ve also been used to prevent the magazine from looking messy, since the use of more than three colours on a magazine can make the layout look messy and childish, which would attract the opposite audience to what i'm targeting, as these 'messy' layouts and crazy colours are typically seen on pop magazines aimed at children due to their eye catching effects. 

When looking at all these mast heads, it is obvious that conventions are shared between this genre of magazine such as most equestrian based magazines have a long name e.g. 'horse and rider', 'the blood horse' or 'horse and hound', contrasting from most other mastheads as they're typically short and snappy in order to make them memorable. However, since these long mast heads help connote the genre of the magazine due to their uncommon length, I think I should choose a mast head name in which is 2-3 words long to help connote that my magazine is equestrian based.

Although both sans-serif and serif fonts are denoted within the mastheads, I think I may use serif font to write my masthead text due to its connotations in which will help attract my target audience. For example, since i'm targeting an A,B,C1 mostly female, partly male audience, serif font is relevant due to the fact that the flicks resemble hand written text which we associate with elements such as diaries, diaries are stereotypical conventions in which we associate with females due to it's inclusiveness of things such as 'gossip', therefore making the masthead more relateable and appealing to a female audience. However, the flicks are also excessive and are therefore used to market luxurious products due to their fancy denotation, helping attract an A,B,C1 audience since people within this social grade will buy fancy products due to their high disposable income, meaning they will recognize that the magazine looks more relevant to them as we associate serif font with expensive products.

Masthead designs.

I think the name 'Sheffield Stables' could potentially be a good choice to go for since my magazine is aimed at a Sheffield based audience and therefore this name will help connote that locals should read the magazine. Secondly, since the word 'stables' is equestrian jargon this name also helps connote the genre of the magazine and attracts an audience of those who like horses. 

As seen on the masthead moodboard, most equestrian based magazines do not have especially exiting mastheads since they're aimed at an older audience, therefore I think this plain and simple, serif masthead is suitable to use as it still looks visually appealing whilst connoting classiness, attracting an ABC1 audience.

Although this text is similar to the one above, it's thicker / bolder, toning down the seriousness of the mast head above as the writing looks more 'bubbly', which is good as I am targeting older teenagers as well as adults therefore this text helps imply that.

Since both words 'Main' and 'Tail' are equestrian jargon, they instantly appeal to an audience who are interested in horses. Therefore, not only helping attract the target audience but also connoting the genre of the magazine.

I chose this font as I think It stands out and catches they eye whilst, however this is the mast head that I am probably the most unsure on as it doesn't look especially delicate or conventional to equestrian magazines.

I think this masthead design is my favourite as I think the exaggerated capital letters represent the actual tail of a horse, therefore the mast head will be playful whilst still looking classy due to the serif flicks, I also think the font mimics a stereotypical equestrian mast head and therefore will look the most conventional whilst still looking visually appealing. 

I think this mast head could be a good potential name since it has the word horse it in, therefore instantly connoting to the audience what the magazine is based on which is beneficial as equestrian magazines target a niche audience so the more obvious the genre the more advantageous.

I really like the 'Mermaid swash Caps' font as I think the exaggerated capital latters add a really nice visually appealing affect to the font, making it appeal to an older and young audience due to it's bubbly look but also classy serif flicks. However I think I prefer how it looks on the 'main&tail' mast head.

As seen on the masthead moodboard, most equestrian based magazines do not have especially exciting mastheads since they're aimed at an older audience, therefore I think this plain and simple, serif masthead is suitable to use as it still looks visually appealing whilst connoting classiness, attracting an ABC1 audience, the only main difference between these fonts are that one is in caps and on is not as I was unsure on which looked better / the most conventional to horse magazines. 

Photoshop edited versions. 

To edit this text I added a drop shadow by double clicking the layer, I then experimented with reds, pinks, lilacs and whites as these are the colours that I've decided I will most likely use as my house style. However, I ensured that the colours were on the more pastel side as colours such as this are conventional to equestrian magazines due to the calmness of them attracting a more mature, older audience, which is who I'm targeting. I've decided to go with the Mermaid font as it has a bubbly yet classic effect due to it's flicks, attracting both the younger and older half of my 16-35 year old target audience. Lastly, I decided that 'Mane&Tail" was the best masthead name to go for since both words are of equestrian jargon, making it easy for my target audience to acknowledge that the magazine is relatable and aimed at them.