Content Ideas

I was confused about what stories I could include in our regional magazine and had to email OCR  for clarification.  The feedback I got from the email as regards of what to include was that the content must be recent and that the 'definition of a regional magazine is reasonably broad- in other words it doesn't just have to be geographical/regional  but could be young women in Birmingham- musicians in Liverpool- for instance.'

I think it's best to keep to my regional area of the West Midlands and Wolverhampton, where I am able to go and research possible articles.

Similarly to the layout in Wolverhampton Magazine, I want each double page of the magazine to be split with the main article on one page and on the other page, a full-page advertisement.  The reason behind this is because not only will our magazine document and praise the efforts of the public, but also will promote local businesses and charities.  Before designing the layout of the double page spread I think it’s most important to have the content of the articles sorted.

First double page spread idea 

Fashion and shopping were most demanded to feature in our magazine, according to the feedback I gained from our audience research questionnaire.  The content for the fashion article will be about The Clothes Show.  Including these particular events is an attempt to attract a younger demographic and make youths excited about their local area.  Also the marketing of this event is mostly through social media and their website which helps promotes the business and having an address at the bottom page encourages consumers to investigate into the story.

The Clothes Show will be the main article on the left side of the page and there will be stylised outfits on the right page.  I think this chronologically makes sense, so the reader will see a fashion vent where they can gain inspiration.

Second double page spread idea 

To find information about cooking and food events in the West Midlands I visited the local community centre and spoke to a couple of the workers and found leaflets about local events.

I found a small soup kitchen who operate on Saturday evenings. This is an ideal story to fill the demand of a cooking feature and encourage consumers to join because there are more upcoming events.  Also it has a website and social media accounts, so the consumers can interact and gain more information.  This story will be featured on the left page as the main article and on the right page will be an advertisement for the soup kitchen itself like the layout in Wolverhampton Magazine.  These articles will appeal to the new younger demographic we are trying to attract, as well as involve the main older consumers to be charitable.