Audience Engagement Research-FairFashion Magazine

FairFashion Magazine is a relatively new publication. They have founded their magazine around a cause for sustainability within the fashion industry, which is where I found the most similarity between my magazine. They choose to market their product through personal interviews between individuals in the industry that plan to switch to a more sustainable way of purchasing clothing, with a major factor being buying a piece of clothing at a higher price to ensure it lasts longer, rather than buying multiple pieces of clothing at a cheap price and having those pieces of clothing last for a month, or less. This concept of utilizing sustainable clothing is the basis of FairFashion Magazine's brand. To market their magazine, they promise a newsletter each week with new sustainable brands to look into and possibly shop from to spread the word. The technique of a newsletter is a form of digital media to keep the consumer in the loop, which allows them to keep their customers for the long-term.

This can be seen in the screenshot above.
I plan to use this marketing technique with my magazine, Environmentally Chic. I am certain that this will continue to keep interested customers with the environmental issue of fast fashion, and how each individual can make a difference to propose a positive solution.

Feedback and Revisions

Based on my feedback and revisions, I have decided to improve on all aspects of my magazine (table of contents, title page, and two-page article), by using a different color scheme with more neutral tones rather than hot pink and black text. I want to use a different program rather than Canva and Google Docs for a more professional finish. I may also use different photos in my final product with more outfits and dimensions/poses.

My Target Audience

Age: 16-65+
Gender: Primarily female
Income Level: low middle to high middle class
Education Level: high school graduate degree/college degree
Personal Interests: environment, fashion, marketing, business, climate change, innovation/new age ideas
My product will be interesting to my audience by gravitating towards two genres: environmental and fashion, and how to be environmentally innovative towards fashion.

Use of Conventions

Through my midterm submission, I have gained the ability to recognize where my magazine stands within the realm of it's own genre. The genre I picked was fashion, and I have conformed to most of the conventions dealing with this genre. For example, the photos I used were of an outfit that my model used to exemplify the cause she was supporting, which was environmental change. However, I challenged the use of conventions within my genre because I intertwined fashion trends with issues of fashion, which is also shown in the title of my magazine, Environmentally Chic. By accounting for both sides of the fashion industry, I am able to use my magazine to represent current social issues. I included a local business, by the name of Fits & Fixtures, which uses upcycling techniques to account for the rise of wasteful fast fashion. I used photos of an outfit that the owner of Fits & Fixtures curated with second-hand pieces. This notion represents the social issue of recycling, and a lack of being environmentally conscious.

Mid Term Submission

Title/Cover Page

Table of Contents

Two Page Article

Throughout the development of mid-term submission, I chose to formulate each magazine page in a cohesive yet simple way. 

Starting with the cover page, I chose a pink overlay in the background to exhibit a more girly look, while also keeping a more rigid and bold font. I chose to display my title at the bottom for a more editorial finish. Along with this, the article topics that I chose to be on the title page were based on what I felt would make the most sense when approaching my audience. As said in previous activity posts, I wanted my magazine to be seen as approachable, therefore giving the reader a sense of everything my magazine stands for, which is to be environmentally-conscious yet trendy!

With my table of contents, I integrated a similar pink color into the bullet-pointed hearts which gives the magazine a more cohesive look. Along with this, I chose a different font for the table of contents because I felt it flowed better with a softer and more bubbly font, rather than the rigid one I used on the cover page. 

My two-page article includes several photos from my photoshoots that I captured previous to the creation of my magazine. I wanted to include several perspective shots as if the model is looking down upon the world in a symbolic manner. With use of my interview answers, I was able to use her answers and intertwine them into a first-hand explanation of Fits and Fixtures as a business. This technique gives the audience two opinions rather one solely from the owner. 

Activity-Table of Contents Template

As shown in my table of contents template, I plan to list the following articles to give the reader a feel for what Environmentally Chic stands for, which is ultimately sustainable fashion. However, as to not scare off the reader, I want to implement more casual titles, such as "How wearing socks with heels will elevate your style in the winter months," while bouncing off that with a more serious title, such as "how fast fashion has changed the definition of fashion for the worst." By having the best of both worlds, I am creating a balance for the reader. This is essential in ensuring that my magazine is approachable, yet spreading awareness on an important cause. 

With this template, I'm not showing any photos. However, in the future, I may want to include a background photo with text overlayed on top. Along with this, the font I am utilizing is a more girly themed one, with more bubble lettering rather than rigid and serious. 

Activity-Scheduling Interviews and Developing Questions

For my two-page article, I plan to interview the local business known as Fits and Fixtures. They are only a few months old in the making but I wanted to reach out and talk to the owner herself, Victoria Richard. This interview and the questions I plan to ask are vastly important because the cause she has centered her business around is the process of upcycling. Upcycling is a relatively newer movement where people take old pieces of clothing or furniture and make it into a piece that is new again, therefore reusing something old into something timeless.
I will be asking her the following questions:
1. What was your inspiration for your business?
2. How do you plan to grow bigger in the future with your following? How do you plan to keep that audience interested?
3. Explain the process of upcycling in your own words.
4. What is your personal environmental initiative?
The answers she provides to these questions will give the reader insight into the upcycling business, along with gathering inspiration of their own to act on being more sustainable in their fashion choices.

Activity-Cover Template

Through my research, I configured that I wanted my magazine to be centered around the betterment of the environment, while also focusing on the fashion perspective. Therefore, I can intertwine two things that I am vastly passionate about into one magazine. With some thinking, I decided my magazine title will be listed as "Environmentally Chic," and I will be utilizing the idea behind sustainability in fashion, along with mentioning how harmful the industry of fast fashion can be. 

By developing my title, I have decided to use more modern fonts. 

Activity-Flat Plan

The flat plan I have created includes a variety of photography, advertisements, and several opinions and first-hand accounts of the fashion industry issue that I plan to tackle. Throughout my flat plan, I have strategically placed a majority of advertisements in the beginning and end of the magazine, while giving my main article the spotlight. By using this strategy, the audience will be able to shift their full focus on the subject at hand. I have also included a memoir on an upcoming fashion designer that has been gaining popularity through the pieces they have created. This is extremely important to my magazine because my goal is to be inclusive of all fashion styles, while focusing on the simplicity of how to put an outfit together. Within my magazine, I plan to display how trends tend to circulate and change over time, and how individuals within the fashion industry have exemplified this. My main article will be centered around the subject this is displayed on the title page, while including a memoir or interview of their input on the subject. I have also included full page photography within the article itself to capture the attention of the audience.

Activity-Scout Locations

Thought Process while Scouting Locations for Photo Shoots:

Due to the main theme of my magazine involving fashion, I want to investigate locations that will elevate the outfit itself, with complementary colors or shades in the background. The outfits I will be putting together will resemble a more clean, put-together style, with simplistic touches. This includes dainty jewelry, a statement buckle belt, or a pair of shoes that are not seen often.

With these thoughts in mind, I will be directing a more serious photoshoot, with the clothing being the main focus rather than the face. This creates a more modernist look of the photos themselves. 

By reaching this conclusion, I believe Siesta Key Village and St Armands Circle would capture the chic atmosphere that I plan to accomplish.

Siesta Key Village:
same or similar outfit to the one pictured in the st.armands circle photoshoot


These photos ended up being my favorite because of the poses used and the coloring in the background.
St. Armands Circle:

one outfit per photoshoot to grab a unique and eye-catching style for the final draft.

I favored these photos the most from this location because of how the bell-bottoms elongate the models legs, therefore exhibiting a more power-focused persona. 

Activity-Schedule Photo shoots

Scheduling Photo Shoots:

December 10th:
I will be going to St Armand's Circle while using a few friends as models.

December 12th:
I will be going to Downtown Mainstreet and going with a friend from the previous shoot to model.

December 17th:
I will be going to the Village on Siesta Key with the same friend from the December 12th photoshoot as a model.

My scheduling process involves being able to find a consensus on what time works best for my model, and if it does not work for her, we may have to reschedule accordingly. This proves to be a bit difficult with the number of locations that must be done.
From the photoshoots, these were my favorite photos: