Planning and Cultural Context for Fortitude Magazine
Article Planning:
Style:
I plan to create a heavy and serious atmosphere within my feature article and my magazine. Racism is a sensitive and distressing topic to many people in our world, and needs to be addressed accordingly. With influential characters such as Donald Trump opposing Kaepernick’s protest, just using personal opinion won’t be enough to change the minds of those who don’t truly understand how important the Take A Knee protest’s message really is. To ensure that my target audience truly understands the seriousness of this protest, I need to hit the nail on this heavy atmosphere by using hard hitting statistics, graphs and academic quotes. This serious atmosphere and factual tone will appeal to my target audience as I believe people who stand up for what is right are usually pretty switched on and intelligent people. Intelligence isn’t defined on education, it’s something that is natural, just like being a leader. In my interview, Daniel Sales said he’s interested in reading “topics and articles that offer detailed, perceptive and investigative journalism along with profile pieces on relevant and interesting people in our world and society. They focus on critical societal and contemporary issues in a sophisticated way.” I believe this is the exact atmosphere that will be in my magazine, so my magazine will connect with my target audience.
Interview for Target Audience: (Daniel Sales)
What is your current knowledge on the NFL taking a knee during their National Anthem protest?
I know a small amount around it, probably not enough to have an informed opinion. I think it started when Colin Kaepernick (a relatively unknown footballer in the NFL) decided to protest the treatment of African Americans in the USA by "taking a knee" during the playing of the national anthem before his NFL games.
What sort of media outlets do you consume?
The Guardian, The Spinoff, Newsroom, North and South, The Listener, Vice, RNZ
What visual features on a publication grabs your attention? What do you look for to catch your eye?
Simple, but effective presentation. Creative and clever content tends to catch my eye more than bland and generic content.
What topics and styles of articles are you interested in?
Topics and articles that offer detailed, perceptive and investigative journalism along with profile pieces on relevant and interesting people in our world and society. They focus on critical societal and contemporary issues in a sophisticated way where other more current media outlets (like Stuff, NewsHub etc) do not examine or analyse in a detailed or meaningful way. It's good to have a point of difference from the current superficial media coverage we get in the "internet, instant, clickbait" age. I like substantive and meaningful content that is well written on important global and societal issues that are written in an informative and easy to read way.
Would you be interested to read an article about racism in America and the clash of politics in sports?
Yes, it is an important contemporary issue, and it is not something that gets addressed properly by “traditional” media outlets. As a History/Media Studies teacher and someone who has studied Political Science and who has an interest in political and historical issues throughout the world, this is a topic that I'd find interesting and engaging if it was well written/researched etc.
Do you believe African Americans are oppressed in the US?
Yes, there are forms of structural racism and historical abuses that African Americans have suffered from in the US that they are still suffering from today.
What is your opinion on athletes using their platform to express their thoughts on politics?
Personally, I think sports and politics mix and can not be separated and admire athletes who use their public profiles to get wider societal messages across.
Feature Article Conventions:
Topic: The diversely opinionated and misinterpreted protest, Taking a knee, dominating American politic and sporting news. America’s national game, over shadowed by a simple and peaceful protest originally created by ex San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Colin Kaepernick. My topic will also cover the “reformation” of the movement when President Donald Trump
Angle: I am going to elaborate on the unknown truth and reason behind professional athletes taking a knee during the national anthem. I will inform my audience how this once low profiled and silent protest turned into a major political dispute and why I am in full support of the movement. The perspective I want to get across is this issue, the reason of protest, is a lot bigger than it appears. I truly believe that even today African Americans have not been 100% freed from the injustice of white supremacy. I am choosing this angle to cover because I am a strong believer of equality and equity. I will include statistics, figures and quotes from educated political and sport analysis journalists and reporters.
Target audience: The people I aim to interest with my article piece are those who support standing up for what is right. Also those who are courageous enough standing up for what is right themselves. My target audience isn’t restricted to a single gender or race. My piece of writing is designed too question and diminish segregating human beings. I believe it is quite important to have a healthy mix of ethnicities in my target audience as my intentions are too discuss the issue of racism, not discluding people of different races. My target audience must also be non bias against African Americans. For my target audience to be able to fully comprehend the broader message throughout my whole article, it’d help if my readers are well educated. Saying this, I have done some further thinking and reflection, and have decided to also include several short messages which are easy to understand. I’ve done this because I plan to include in my article facts about poverty percentages in the African American race. A wider implication of this poverty is the lack of education. I believe it is only right that if someone who can relate to my article is uneducated, they can still take away pieces of my message. I believe people who consume media outlets such as the New York Times, BBC Sports and VICE would appeal to my article, due to how I plan to write and publish my article. I want my audience to truly think deeper than just the surface of the real issue rather than the symbolic action such as the kneel.
Focus points: Look into how police treat African Americans in comparison to white Americans using statistics and two high profile arrest cases which I will explore and go into depth within my article. A second focus point is on veterans and current people serving within the military who back Kaepernick’s campaign. They disagree with Trump’s accusations that the protest’s message going against America’s flag and America's Military Service.
Six Potential Article Headlines:
- A Country Divided by Racism
- Un-United States of America ✔ Original choice
- Take A Knee For Racism, Stand Up For What’s Right
- Choose Your Side Sunday ✔ Final choice
- Kaepernick’s Symbolic Sacrifice
- Segregation’s Rebirth
For my article, I have decided to go with Un-United States of America because I think it’s a catchy title and will draw my target audience’s attention. When brainstorming for this title, I wanted to capture and focus in on the fact that America is the complete opposite of united. NFL is America’s national game, so the title reference to the whole of America is relevant and applicable. From the public’s vastly mixed reaction to the protest, it is evident that America is truly quite split on whether Kaepernick’s protest is appropriate or right.
After further thought, and insight from fellow peers and my teacher, I have decided to change my title to Choose Your Side Sunday. Choose Your Side Sunday worked slightly better that Un-United States of America because it has relevance to the NFL with the Choose Your Side play on words. Choose Your Side Sunday is also more simple and effective which works for my target audience because it is creative and clever.
Essay Structure Planning:
Headline: Choose Your Side Sunday.
This is the title that I am going to commit with. It represents both the choice of which team you will back before the kick off whistle blows, and also, the side of the protest you support before we even get to kick off. Will you support Kaepernick and protest in silence? Or will you support President Donald Trump and switch off your TV? Will you even follow Trump’s example and leave the stadium just to make a point? This title appeals to me because it really makes you think before you even read the article. The word Choose is the first word you see and already in your head you are preparing yourself to read carefully as an option or two will soon be presented to you to choose from. Your Side is the part where two meanings can be interpreted, but only one is actually intended. The reason why I’m including the word Sunday in the title is because traditionally, all football games are played on Sunday’s apart from two special games which one is held on Monday for Monday Night Football, and the other game held on Thursday Night Football. Also, the day Kaepernick’s protests originated on was a Sunday, and every Sunday this protest takes place.
Byline: A country divided by racism, a legal system tangled in corruption and a race suffocated by injustice. Will taking a knee be enough to draw the attention that racial inequality deserves?
This opener straight away lets my audience know that I am talking about racism. I’m going to say a country divided by racism to really imply that choose your side theme. I want my audience to feel that there are two definitive sides to this protest. Those 100% in support of it, and those 100% against it. Whether it’s sport or politics, there will always be those people in between who see both sides, but I’m trying to negate that with my title by telling my audience to choose your side. To tie in with the statistics I’m going to include in my article, proving that African Americans are not treated fairly across the whole of America, I’m going to write a legal system tangled in corruption and a race suffocated by injustice. I want this sentence to really grasp that harsh reality. I’m going to end with Will taking a knee be enough to draw the attention that racial inequality deserves to question my readers. This protest has gone viral and has gained a lot of media attention, but is it still enough to put an end to modern day racism and inequality? Most likely not. Because even with this strong protest, its message has been twisted and altered by many close minded people to try and negate the idea.
Extended lead: Will include a real story of a victim of racism within the NFL itself. Warren Moon is also an African American who played quarterback in the NFL during his career which had to be put on hold, despite his amazing skill set, because of the colour of his skin. He broke the racial stereotype that African Americans could not play “thinking” positions such as quarterback, which allowed players like Colin Kaepernick to be able to get drafted into the league today. Though this extended lead doesn’t directly relate to the protest my article focuses on, it has relevance as it reflects on how another African American quarterback overcame his own personal experience of racism in the sporting world
Nut graph: I will introduce Colin Kaepernick properly to my audience and also inform my audience about what the Take A Knee movement really is. I will include a few quotes from Kaepernick regarding why he started this movement in the first place.
Body: In my body, I will cover many wider implications the protest has caused, and many statistics relevant to the oppression of African Americans in America. Firstly, I’ll aim to cover the results of polls conducted right throughout America about the protest. A relevant statistic that I may include could be about comparing incarnation rates and the average yearly household salary between African Americans and whites. I will look to add in the background of racism in America and how the general public’s reaction to Kaepernick’s stance is no surprise considering America’s history. It is important that I back up everything I say with strong quotes, brutal statistics and authentic case studies.
Conclusion: To end off my article, I want to reiterate the exposure through Kaepernick’s actions and Trump’s comments. I think it’s important to pose a question to my readers and make them think… For this protest to blow out of the water like it did, and receive so much attention, it’d be a total waste if it didn’t result in positive change.
Final Article:
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Magazine Planning:
Finished Publication Conventions:
Magazine logo: For my magazine logo, I will go for a heavy text based logo because it is simple and effective, but can still draw attention if it is made in a creative way. If I can create this text based logo effectively, it will then attract my target audience and fit to my audiences description.
Six Potential Magazine Names:
- The Un-Republic ✔ Original choice
- Isolation
- Divided
- Adversity
- Fortitude ✔ Final choice
- Elevation
I contemplated on the magazine publication name The Un-Republic as it would tie in well with my original feature article title The Un-United States of America. Republic means a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch. In other words, a group with a certain equality between its members. Right now, America is not a land of equality as it was once promised by Martin Luther King Jr. His efforts changed how America viewed African Americans, but still his work remains unfinished.
After further consideration, I decided to change my magazine’s name to Fortitude, which means to show courage through pain or adversity. To display fortitude, you must show a strength of mind, character and spirit. These qualities describe Colin Kaepernick and his sacrifice perfectly, so I believe this title is extremely appropriate for this magazine. Fortitude is a complex word and has a serious tone to it. Straight away, my target audience will realise that my magazine has a serious atmosphere.
Magazine Logo Inspirations:
Here are four sport based magazine logos which are easily identified and very iconic. ESPN and Sports Illustrated are two magazine titles that are the most recognisable from the four total. As a sports enthusiast, I can effortlessly recognise these four magazine logos. I aspire to design my magazine’s logo so it can be easily distinguished from other logos.
I like the style of the ESPN logo, it has a really nice tone and feel to it. The text is creative, as the gap in the E is continued throughout the rest of the logo, this is unique and a obvious give away to viewers indicating it’s the ESPN font. The Sports Illustrated logo gives off a classical 90’s sport jersey font theme. It also has a slight 3D theme to it which makes it seem to pop out of the page. This stands out to me and makes the logo appear bolder than the rest.
My magazine’s feature article is related to sports, so I think it is important to use these sport magazine logos as a main source of inspiration. It is also important to consider that my magazine’s feature article also has a heavy focus on racism, so I must have other inspirations which relate to social issues, political issues and cultural issues.
National Geographic, Time, Vice and GQ all focus on arts, culture, and news topics like my magazine. These logos are also very iconic and recognisable. Once again, they are all simple, typography based logos which are effective. Vice’s logo has the most defined font in my opinion, because of that black outline creating a 3D depth theme.
Magazine Logo Concepts:
Logo one: In this logo, I have used a jagged font with two castle watch towers on top of the letter I and letter U. The castle watch towers represent a strong building with a durable base. Fortitude is to be a strong individual through your actions and the way you present yourself. The jagged edges in the font represent the bricks in the castle. Pieces are out of place like America and their people.
Logo two: In this logo, I replaced the letter O with a brain to symbolise a strong mind. To reinforce the strong mind concept, I had to put strong mind above the brain with a slight curve to ensure people know the brains purpose within the logo. I was going to try fit in a gym dumbbell in my logo to represent the strong theme but the logo looked to cluttered with the brain as the letter O and the dumbbell as the letter I.
Logo three: In this logo, I went for a heavy text based theme. Like a few of my inspiration logos (such as Vice and Sports Illustrated) I added depth to the name Fortitude to make it stand out and give it a 3D feel to it. What I did differently in this logo is add Exhibit in the top left. The purpose of this was to try use my title as a way to encourage or tell people to display the value my magazine symbolises.
Logo four: In this logo, I also included that depth in my logo. This logo is based off typography, as it is heavy text based, but has a bit of imagery and colour to catch the human eye. In the letter O, I have manipulated it to be shown as an eye, an eye of the oppressed. I have included veins in this eye as the eye is distressed. It can feel the pressure and judgement from the eye on the top of the letter I, which is looking down on it. The eye on the letter I is shown as harsh and disgusted by the eye below it. ✔ Final choice
Final Logo: Out of my four logos, I have decided I am going to go with Logo four as it is creative and intellectual which works well with my target audience and intended atmosphere for my magazine. This logo also stands out the most to me and my peers, which tells me it has the most potential to make my magazine thrive. It was really hard to choose between my four logos, logo one and two were both effective typography based logos but I believe logo four had a lot of depth and meaning which is why I ended up choosing this logo as my final. I believe meaning should be valued as much as aesthetics is valued in a logo and my fourth logo, I believe aesthetics and meaning are both present to a high standard.
Six Potential Slogans:
- Stories about modern day heroes
- When the sport’s and politic’s world collide
- Braveness awaits you ✔ Original choice
- Fighting adversity
- Only the most honest opinion
- Hear the unheard ✔ Final choice
Braveness awaits you is a catchy slogan, and is also relevant to my title Fortitude. It encourages my audience to be brave and show courage no matter what situation you are in. Reading Fortitude Magazine will inspire you to always do what's right and keep persistent on achieving what you fought for in the first place.
After further thought, I changed it to hear the unheard as articles in my magazine will be from the side of those who are rallied against... The point of view from every story will be from the side which is innocent and unheard which works well with the slogan.
Four Potential Kickers:
- America, 1968 2018. What’s changed. What hasn't. ✔ Final choice
- Two steps forward, one step backwards for the black race.
- If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
- Freedom is never given; it is won.
For my kicker, I have decided to go with America, 1968 2018. What’s changed. What hasn't. I really like this kicker as it ties in that 1968 era with Martin Luther King Jr. and the 2018 era with the likes of Colin Kaepernick and all the other activists against the oppression of African Americans.
Potential Images for Cover Page:
These are a few images that have caught my eye to use in my magazine. I have selected a few to give me some options and room to work with, but I want to primarily use a black and white or grey scaled picture as the head picture of my magazine to give off a 1968 setting atmosphere.
Magazine Cover Planning:
Here are three magazines I would like to base my structure off. I need a strong image to centre my cover, and use colour to make a statement. I need to use my title effectively so it stands out and has a bold presence. I think a border on my cover will really add an element of colour and design and will help split the picture from the edge of the magazine, which makes the cover appear as clean.
For my cover image, I am leaning towards a black and white themed picture to enhance that 1968 era when this battle of ending segregation and oppression began. This is why it is important to introduce colour through my title, slogan and kicker. Colours such as red and yellow are strong and vibrant, which will draw attention from viewers.
Linking to your target audience:
Title: I believe that using Fortitude would appeal to my target audience as they are well educated and be able to comprehend the meaning of the title and the real depth the word comes with. Fortitude is also a creative name, not something bland or common such as the word courage, so I believe it fits my audiences liking.
Slogan: My slogan Hear the unheard would appeal to my target audience because when the reader sees the slogan they already have a feel for what my magazine consists and what it stands for. I believe it has the simple and easy to understand, but still effective theme to it.
Kicker: My kicker America, 19682018. What’s changed. What hasn’t works really well with my intended background image, style and colour scheme for my magazine. It works really well because it ties in my intended 1968 era theme as I cross out the 1968 and replace it with 2018 and question my audience what has really changed? We are still fighting over racism despite the efforts of the past 40 odd years… My target audience will really connect with this as its intellectual and has a deep meaning behind it.
Images: I plan to use a black and white or grey scaled image on my cover to set the atmosphere. It all starts with this, then my kicker and colour scheme will tie in with my image. Within my feature article, I am going to add in images and typography based illustrations which resemble facts and stats to add in colour and style to my magazine spread. My target audience want something that’s bold but not too over the top, so I need to make sure I don’t clutter my pages and have an appropriate balance between typography and imagery.
Colour scheme: For my cover page colour scheme, I have decided on a black and white theme with a coloured border and coloured text. This way, text I want to stand out will be typed in a bold colour such as red so it is extremely bold and visible for my audience. This is simple but it brings a serious atmosphere if I am able to really nail that cover image.
Production schedule:
This project is heavily based on the planning and all my resources are on my computer online so I will need my laptop to complete all the work I have to do. This means internet is vital and I can obtain this between 7am and 10pm in the Boarding house so I will need to complete my work within these times during the weekdays. During the weekend, I have no time restrictions on internet access so if I fall behind schedule, I will need to make the most of this time at home and catch up on work. Through the internet, I can access Google Docs and work on my 3.5 Planning Log throughout the 3 weeks I have been allocated. For my magazine logos and cover page I will need to use photoshop, which I have installed on my computer , to have as much freedom to be able to create something aesthetic and well styled. My laptop will also be used to do research on. I can use my teacher Mr Sales to give me feedback in class and through Gmail to maximise grade potential. This is extremely fitting as he is also my basis of my target audience. His feedback is therefore vital to my publication if I want it to positively appeal to my target audience. To save time, my interview will be emailed to Daniel Sales and he will type in his answers and send it back to me. This is because he also has other interviews to answer and I have work to do. So to save time for both parties, emailing the questions is the best fit scenario. To ensure enough time to go through my planning and make it better, I plan to have all parts of part one up to part four completed before the final week. I also think it is a good idea to get feedback from Mr Sales at least once a week to make sure I’m tracking well. Although this production schedule seems short and simple I believe it will be effective as it gives me frequent feedback giving me the time to be flexible and adjust my work to fit my target audience.
Review:
In review, I believe my planning has been quite effective and I have a pretty clear vision of how I am going to put my magazine together. The challenge now is executing that plan to a high level which relates to my target audience appropriately and accordingly. I also need to ensure I get that serious tone and atmosphere feeling locked in throughout every feature of my magazine. My target audience is intellectual and educated, so I should be able to easily set that serious tempo, as educated people know that racism is a serious matter and our world continues to struggle with putting an end to it. I believe my draft work was effective as I used Mr Sales for feedback and went away continuously and worked on making my feature article as precise and interesting as possible. This was a challenge which I managed to overcome by following my production schedule closely. A challenge was coming up with feature article headlines, but I ended up having a few very solid options as titles and I am vivid with my final title Choose Your Side Sunday as I believe it is quite a cool metaphor and is creative which appeals to my target audience. I invested a lot of time into my logos, adding in small illustrations such as the brain, castle watch towers and eyeballs to ensure my logo has a point in difference. Choosing the correct text for each logo was vital, but I didn’t want to stop there as others would. Having a simple symbol, vector or illustration in your logo could be that one thing people remember vividly about your logo. NIKE for example, everybody remembers the tick rather than the font, and the same goes for other companies such as Rolex and their crown logo, Ralph Lauren and it’s polo symbol. I was really happy with my magazines finished name Fortitude,again because it’s not a basic and bland name. It has meaning and depth just like it’s final logo. The final challenge for me now is piecing it all together and finishing off a promising project. As long as I stick to my production schedule and tie my colour scheme, magazine imagery and text together, I believe this magazine will be a success.
Final project can be found here.
