This is my design brief for my A2 advanced portfolio. I have decided to produce a promotional package for a new regional magazine for the Cornish tourist industry.
Cornwall is statistically one of poorest areas in the United Kingdom with a GDP of 62% of the national average. 24% of Cornwall's GDP is accounted for by the tourist industry, which provides 1 in 5 work placements in the county.
The package I aim to produce will include the first four pages included in a regional Cornish, tourism-focused magazine of my own design (Front cover, contents page and a double page feature spread). I decided to tackle this brief to express my own views as a Cornish citizen, I believe I am qualified to produce this variety of magazine as I have lived in Cornwall for the entirety of my life and I know what tourists look for when they come to the county. The prime focus of my magazine will be to attract families from outside the county, and provide them with up to date information on the most popular attractions and events taking place locally here in Cornwall. The tag line for my magazine will be 'Celebrating Cornish heritage' as I also wish to include features encouraging readers to visit the many historical sites around the county, and generally explore the landscape and discover all it has to offer. This will appeal to a niche market that contains readers who prefer a more sophisticated and refined approach to holiday-making, this is likely to include older individuals and families with mature offspring. These people will be categorised as 'Aspirers' and 'succeeders', this means my aim is to influence their choices in improving their personal image as well as bolstering those in high social standing.
By creating this magazine I'm automatically entering into competition with established magazines of the same genre; Cornwall Today, Cornwall Life and My Cornwall, to name but a few. I intend to blend the themes contained within each of these successful magazines into one and provide reader's with as many aspects and views of Cornwall as possible to appeal to a much wider readership and create a product everyone will enjoy.
As well as tackling the creation of the magazine, I have also decided to produce two hyperlinked web pages from a website for my magazine. I think it is best to create a home page as well as a separate information page leading off from a banner that will be one of the main features on the home page. It might be a good idea to consider writing an article that is separate from that which will be on my feature page, this could be a guide to Cornwall's attractions and heritage sites as this is a major factor of my magazine plan. The web pages will become an ideal accompaniment for my magazine.
Lastly I shall be designing a billboard advertisement for the magazine. It is imperative that the advertisement contains the front cover of my magazine as well as a larger version of my masthead. Also included on the billboard will be the web address, this is vital as the internet is powerful tool that is likely used by the entirety of my readership.
