Question #2: Creative Critical Reflection Draft

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


     My Magazine engages with audiences by having interactive articles. Some of the interactive articles featured in the June/July issue of Fashion Co. are Summer Style Preview, Trendy Summer Style Tips, 20 Easy Summer Looks, and How to get Beach Waves for ANY Type of Hair. In the magazine readers are often asked their opinion relating to the topics discussed in the article. For example the 20 Easy Summer Looks might ask the audience what their favorite outfit is in a little thought bubble somewhere on the page. Also several articles are split into different sections depending on which section relates to the reader. In the article How to get Beach Waves for ANY Type of Hair it is split into three sections; curly, straight, and wavy depending on what type of hair the audience has that is the section they would focus on. Fashion Co. also encourages readers to write in to the magazine to let me know how they liked the magazine, what type of articles they would like to read in the next issue, and what boutique they would like to be featured next. The audience is encouraged to write to the magazine about any thing they would like whether it be a question, comment, etc. My magazine prides itself on being an interactive magazine and engaging audiences. 

     Fashion Co. would be distributed through a real media text through stores as most magazines are. It would also be available online through the Fashion Co. app in the Apple app store and Google Play store. This way people on the go could access the magazine from their smartphones and tablets. As a way to engage audiences even more, and in case people do not use apps, the magazine would also have an online website. To get the magazine into stores a meeting would have to be set up with the specific store (to start off), so the product could be pitched directly to them. According to Observer.com to get the magazine app on the app stores "$99 a year would have to be paid for a developer's license, in addition to a $5 charge for the X code 4 development software." Then the app must be submitted to Apple for approval. After around 4 months of waiting Apple will say if the magazine app has been approved. The process for getting the magazine app on to the Google Play store is similar. The website is probably the easiest way to distribute the magazine, but is very expensive. The total cost of a "small" website is around $5,640 to $11,400, including visual design, testing, and launching (Executionists.com).