Final Submission

Completed Critical Reflection

3rd Quarter Submission Feedback

When my magazine was presented to the class, I got some feedback that helped me to improve my magazine.  First, I added more titles to my cover page. I increased the size of the text and included different color titles. This shows the reader more of what is included in my magazine to draw them in.  I decided to do some red titles to tie in with the color of the dog's collar.  I also used colors from the trees in the background to color one of my titles.

My title page stayed the same.  I did not get any suggestions for this page so I didn't make any revisions.

For my article, I decided to add to it by writing more and including more facts from the sited websites that has to due with the illegal business of puppy mills, and measures that we can take in order to stop them.  After I added more text to the article, I decided to put it into three columns on the first page of my article.  The margins for the text match the width of the picture that I have in the middle of the page.  I revised the heading of my article, making it fit more tightly together.  Then, I added a line to add separation between the article title and the author's name.  I then decreased the size of the author's name and also italicized it. Finally, I added branding on the bottom of the page.  I decided to put it in the middle of the page, as opposed to the left or right corner, because I have seen many magazines do this and prefer the way it looks.

The second page of my article also went through some revisions.  I added two pictures to this page to take up some white space and fill out the page.  I put the pictures on the top left corner and the bottom right corner, with text surrounding it, to add symmetry and balance to the page.  Finally, I added branding to the bottom of the page that matches the first page of the article.

CCR Draft #4

How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware, and online - in this project?

I used the software Microsoft Publisher to make my magazine.  I chose this software because I was familiar with it and the tools it contains, rather than using InDesign which I was not familiar with. I found that I got more done in my magazine and it was very easy for me to edit and add elements to it as I went along.  I also used Photoshop on the cover page of my magazine.  It was the first time I had used this software. 

I integrated online technologies into this product by all the research that I did in order to get a better idea of the issues around dogs and how to compensate for them. I also researched tips and things that would interest all pet owners to include in my magazine by using the internet. 

3rd Quarter Submission

My cover page revision consisted of me moving the article titles down to the bottom of the page, and putting all the text in white.  I think this made the text easier to read and made the page look clean and organized.

For my table of contents, I moved the text on each side of the page and made them equal lengths, and made the text wrap around the dog's shoulder.

I added the author's name to the first page of my article.  Then, I bolded and increased the size of the first letter of the article and added a page number at the bottom.  I also added a different picture to the middle of the page and made it have sharp edges, as opposed to the soft edges that my picture before had.  I also changed the font of the text to make it look nicer.

For the second page of my article, I moved the picture and moved it to take up the top third of the page.  My text fits in the bottom third of the page as well.  I did this because I wanted the picture to be in a different spot than the first page, so that they were not too similar.  I had also seen many magazines do this with their articles so I decided to do it too.

CCR Draft #3

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

My production skills have gotten better throughout this project.  I used Microsoft Publisher to make my magazine, and although I was familiar with the program before this project, my skills have definitely gotten better and I have learned new tools and ways to use the program. I also used Photoshop for the first time during making my magazine.  I became familiar with the tools.  I over layed the text of my title over the cover picture of my dog, and then erased the text that was on top of the dog's head.  This is a technique that many magazines use to their cover pages, and I now know how they do it.

Taking pictures for my magazine was very easy for me because I have been interested in photography for a while now, and am always taking pictures.  I knew to use different angles for each subject I was shooting, and used the iPhone 8+ camera in portrait mode.  This camera has excellent quality and is very similar to DSLR cameras.  I used the apps VSCO and AirBrush to edit my photos; two apps that I have been using on my own personal pictures for years.

Finally, I have learned about distribution and how to get your product out to an audience.  Finding a distribution company is crucial in order to get your product to as many people as possible.  You can distribute your product nationwide, in your country, in your state, or just in your local city.  For my magazine, it is centered around pet life which is something that people everywhere need.  I would distribute my magazine in the the United States first, and then maybe expand to all of North America or nation wide. 

CCR Draft #2

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


My product engages with the audiences by informing them of issues regarding pet abuse and housing, but also includes information and tips for every day life with animals.  Anyone with a pet would be able to pick up my magazine and get information from it.  From recipes, to actives, to tips for a healthy pet, there is plenty of information included in this magazine that could interest a wide array of people. 

My magazine would most likely be distributed in grocery stores, pet stores, and veterinarian offices.  Grocery stores are a great place to sell magazines because there are so many people that come in and look at magazines while they are checking out or waiting in line.  Pet stores and vet offices would also be a great place to advertise my magazine because all the people that go in there are pet owners, so they would most likely be interested in my magazine. 

CCR Draft #1

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

My magazine uses conventions that I have seen in similar magazines in this genre.  The front page features a dog that grabs the audience's attention, with the title of the magazine above it and subtitles lower on the page. This is the most common layout that I have seen for most magazines.  I added a section at the top of the page that says "dog heath, care, food, and fun." I added this feature so that when the magazine sits on a stand at a grocery store, the top of the magazine is still visible and people will be able to see what my magazine is about.  Although this is not on every magazine, I still wanted to add it to mine in order to utilize the once empty space. During peer revision I have received many compliments for this feature as well.  I also decided to photo shop the title to go behind the dog's head.  I have seen many magazines do this and it looks very professional so I wanted to do it also.

My next page is the title page.  I kept this page pretty simple but I think it turned out very good and appealing.  The entire background is taken up by a high angle image of a dog, compared to the low angle the I used on the cover page.  The title "Contents" is written at the top of the page in white.  The page numbers and titles are in white and are located on the sides of the page, wrapping around the image of the dog. Most magazines have a very busy table of contents with different pictures, fonts, and colors.  However, I wanted to keep mine clean, organized, and simple.

My two-page spread looks pretty similar to other magazines, and uses the same conventions.  For example, the first letter of the article is in a larger font and in bold.  Most magazines utilize this convention to make the page look professional and makes the article stand out.  The actual text of the article is in two columns, separated by a high angle image of a dog.


My article represents issues regarding animal abuse, adopting, and sheltering.  I wanted to make this magazine about animals after I had seen how animals can be mistreated in stores, and how adopting is always the better option.  I wanted to bring awareness of these issues and if I were to write more articles in the future I would conduct more research and possibly do interviews in order to write more articles about issues such as these. 

Article Revision

For the first page of my article, I made a few changes but overall kept the layout the same. I added the author's name because that is something I initially forgot to do for my midterm draft.  Then, I changed the font of the text to make it look more realistic and clean.  I swapped out the center picture and made the edges sharp to make it look more professional. Finally, I put the first letter of the article in bold because I have seen many magazines do that and I liked how it looked, and I added page numbers.

For my second page of the article, I changed the layout.  I took my picture and moved it to the top to take up the top 1/3 of the page, and moved my text to the bottom. I have seen many magazines do this and thought it was an effective layout so I decided to do it too.  I made the same changes with the bold first letter, font change, and page number at the bottom right of the page. 

Digital Distribution Post #2

Animal Wellness Magazine also has a website that you can visit that offers more than just the magazine does.  On their website, they offer issues of their older magazines from 2006, as well as the current ones from the recent years  You are able to view a preview of these digital magazines or purchase them.
They also offer a Video Gallery that is not available on the physical magazine.  There are videos on Heath, Nutrition, Food, and Lifestyle.
Also on the website there is more room for more articles and pictures, so there are multiple pages under each tab.
There are more advertisements than in the actual magazine and by clicking on these ads, they take you to the companies website, which is a feature not possible in a magazine.

Digital Distribution Post #1

Modern Dog Magazine uses digital distribution to reach dog lovers worldwide.  Their website (moderndogmagazine.com) is available everywhere for anyone to access, while the actual Modern Dog Magazine is only available for purchase in North America.  On the website, they offer many more services than are in the physical magazine including:

• List of magazines from past months/years
• Photo contests 
• Memorials 
• More advertisements 
• Shop
• Must-see videos 
• Blogs
• Pet industry news
• Events/art/travel/etc. 

They also include a link to another branch of their magazine called Modern Cat.  At the top right of the page, there is an option for you to click saying "Love cats? Visit Modern Cat!" Pressing this link will take you to another website where you can check out that magazine and their digital option. Including a link that will directly take you somewhere is a great way to get people to visit your website.  

Distrubtion Research

Most magazines use a distribution service to get their magazine out to a large audience.  There are many different distribution companies to choose from, and the one I decided to research is called Curtis. This circulation company is the leader in the magazine distribution market, with retail sales exceeding $550 million per year.  They work with numerous big-name magazines that are displayed everywhere. This would be a good distributor to use because of the big reach they have, including US and international. I would utilize this model to distribute my product because of the many advantages they offer including:

• An experienced, progress-oriented top management team, which seeks, tests, and develops new and better ways to improve the single copy sales performance for our clients.
• The largest sales and marketing organization in the industry, whose professional staff covers all major markets every week (most daily), representing over 98% of all magazine sales.
• The industry's largest Account Executive staff.
• The best launch/transition facility in the industry.

Overall, this company is very successful and distributed magazines nationwide, which is a major reason I would use them to distribute my product. 

Target Audience Research #3

The last magazine I researched was Animal Wellness Magazine.  They have different magazine subscriptions that you can order to  deliver magazines right to your house.  One subscription option is the 1 Year Package Deal.  In this, you will receive 6 issues of Animal Wellness Magazine (Print & Digital,) Coupons, E-Books, and much more.  The 2 Year Package Deal includes much of the same items, but you will receive a total of 12 magazines.  These subscription deals help people stay connected to your magazine because they receive it on a normal basis, without having to go out an buy it.
They also have a contest section. Here, you can upload images of your animals to try to win.  Winners will be featured in the next issue of Animal Wellness Magazine and receive a special prize.  For example, right now the winner is able to receive $100 off Chewy Louise Treats, toys, accessories, food, and more. 
These are all great way to get people's attention and get a larger audience.  I think I would like to do a contest such as the one used in this magazine.  This is a good way to make people interested because they are able to get something out of it. 

Target Audience Research #2

The next magazine I researched is Bark Magazine.  This magazine also has a newsletter that you can subscribe to.  The magazine will send you an email when they have new issues available in store, or a link where you can order the magazine and have it delivered to your house.  This magazine has also been mentioned in the press multiple times.  The Oprah Magazine says Bark Magazine is "A mus-read magazine for mutt lovers."  "The New Yorker of dog magazines ..." said Time Magazine.  Other large-scale magazines such as The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and USA Weekend have also mentioned good reviews about Bark.  Lastly, this magazine holds contests to attract people to their site.  For my own magazine, I would like to be recognized in a larger magazine that reaches a bigger audience, in order to attract people to my own product.

Table of Contents Revision

On my table of contents, the revision I made was to move the text on the right side to go wrap around the dog's shoulder.  This way you can clearly see the text and it is not washed out by a light background.  I also lined up the texts on both sides so that they are balanced and have an equal length.

Title Page Revision

For my first revision, I used Photoshop to edit the title "RuffLife" to go behind the dog's head. Many magazine's do this to their title and I think it adds a professional looking affect.  Also, I edited the article titles that are shown on the bottom of the page.  I made them all one color, white, to make them look clean and connected.  I edited the fonts, styles, and placement to make them look as appealing as possible.  Finally, I placed them all on the solid-color concrete, rather than having some of the words on the trees in the background, so that all letters are clearly seen. 

Super Bowl Commercials

Australia Tourism Commercial

The target of this commercial is older people with a stable job and extra money to spend.  Because this is an ad for tourism in Australia, it is going to be an expensive trip.  With the cost of flights and excursions, this ad is mainly for those who can afford the trip.  The average age range would be somewhere around 30-55.  This ad appeals to humor by making references to things such as Crocodile Rundee and other quotes from well-known shows or movies.  It also uses celebrities Chris Hemsworth and Danny McBride.  For my personal product, I would appeal to humor because I think it would be hard to find celebrities of that fame to advertise my magazine.

Tide

The target audience for this commercial is teens and adults.  Teens in high school and college that are doing their own laundry might see this commercial and want to buy these Tide products based on the results they see on the commercial.  Adults typically always do their own laundry so this would also appeal to them.  It uses humor to attract the audience by making a reference to the popular show, Stranger Things.  Also, the commercial made a parody of other commonly used products which also appealed to humor.  These strategies were very smart in order to gain the audiences attention and are things that I would definitely consider doing.  

Alexa Loses Her Voice

The target audience for this commercial would be from anyone around 16-60 years old. People of all ages use Alexa because of the functionality it has.  Also, most people are able to afford Alexa because it is only about $50.  This commercial also sues humor to show the audience what Alexa can do.  Different scenarios are shown that show you all the different things you can ask her to do.  Also, stars such as Gordon Ramsey, Cardi B, Anthony Hopkins, and more are in this commercial to give the audience someone to relate to.  If people see that celebrities they look up to are using a certain product, they will usually be more inclined to buy it.  If I could, I would like to use celebrities to promote my product because of the influence they have on the actions of people in our society. 

Target Audience Research

My target audience is anyone who owns a pet or loves animals.  The age range can be from teenagers to adults.  Since I live in Florida, the articles will be based on animals in a temperate climate, rather than cold and snowy because I do not experience those things.  Income level and education level of the audience are not very relevant to the magazine.

The magazine I have researched is Modern Dog magazine because they have a similar target audience and a similar subject as my magazine.  It is similar because the magazine is about pets and appeals to pet owners.  This magazine offers a newsletter that people can sign up for that is delivered right to your inbox every week.  I think this would be a good idea for me to do with my personal magazine because it is an easy way for people to be notified when a new issue of the magazine comes out. 

Use of Conventions

How does your product use or challenge conventions of your genre?

Every pet magazine I have researched had a main animal centered on the cover page.  I decided to do this also so that it would be clear the the viewer what my magazine is about.  I made my title big and bold on the top of the page to stand out.  Another aspect I wanted to add to my magazine was a bar at the top that had a few words to describe what my magazine is about.  Most magazines have this feature so that when magazines are stacked on top of each other at stores, people are still able to read a basis of what your magazine is about, and it attracts them to buying it.  Overall, I payed close attention to each magazine I researched and picked certain characteristics from each one to add to my personal magazine, in order to make it look as real as possible.

How does it represent social groups or issues?

My targeted audience is any pet lover or owner, so my magazine is based around appealing to those groups.  There are many articles that are there to help anyone who owns a pet and help them understand their animals better, to give them the best life possible.  Also, I wanted to incorporate articles about pet stores, puppy mills, and sheltering to give people more information on topics that they might not know are actually very harmful to pets.  I hoped these articles would make people aware of how bad these systems actually are, and how they are able to help.

Feedback

After sharing my magazine to the class, I received very positive feedback.  My background photo for my cover page got very many compliments, such as the low angle and the filter I had used. My table of contents also received good feedback.  Some people commented that they liked the way my article names wrapped around the picture of the dog, along the sides of the page.  The mid-angle of the picture worked well with the low angle picture on the previous page.  Next, my article had some white space, so I will write more to fill up a maximum amount of the page. Also, on each page of my article I have a high-angle picture centered on the page.  To add some variety, I would like to incorporate different angles and put the pictures in a different spot.  One suggestion that I got was to use a main photo to take up about a quarter of the page.  This would help cover some white-space and also add a visual element that would draw the reader's attention.  Also, I will add page numbers and my name under the article's title.