Deciding a Genre

Happy Friday!!

Today I want to dive in depth into my genre. I thought I was going to lean toward a fitness magazine, but today in class we got into different groups to help each other with our projects and that is when I considered changing the genre. After trying to explain to my group the jumble of different ideas and visions I had pictured in my mind, someone suggested the genre Lifestyle. That idea never even crossed my mind and I didn't really know too much about what that genre included exactly so naturally, I went home and researched it and this what I found:

Lifestyle is a very broad term for magazines. It can include just about anything such as men and women's magazines, fitness, food, fashion, and more. I also found that is usually used to describe a magazine's tone. Some lifestyle magazine covers look like this:

 

What do these two covers have in common? They are both very girly. A lot of the women’s lifestyle magazines tend to have a woman as the main cover image. The covers all seemed very feminine with the pink and purple color combinations. Something I also noticed is that each magazine usually contains at least one cover line that has to with getting the perfect body image and becoming a very glamorous person. I would want my magazine to be about being healthy and active rather than about looking a certain way. I want girls to read my magazine and be more motivated not defeated because they do not look like the "perfect" models on the cover. I’ve also noted that a lot of the lifestyle magazine’s target audiences’ are mainly for adults- which is older than the audience I am going for. Something I have kept in mind is that since my readers are going to be younger, they may not have a lot of money which is why I believe my magazine will attract them. They know that with my magazine they will have to spend little to no money to accomplish the things I talk about.

 A definite pro for choosing the lifestyle genre is how much freedom you have with it, especially when you are talking about something like a fitness category because you can include a variety of things. With this genre, I am not just limited to only talking about fitness. I could do things that include all of the Lifestyle subcategories (Food, travel, health, etc.) and base them off of fitness. For example, I could have a cover line about places to go to that have tons of fun and active activities.

 My final thoughts for today are about me feeling nervous as to how my magazine is going to come out. I want it to be something interesting to look at, something that sets it apart from all the other magazines. I still have a lot more research to do, but I think I am off to a good start.

Thanks for reading!

-      - C

Citations:

"Lifestyle Magazine." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 June 2014. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.

Women's Lifestyle Takes a Big Hit in Latest ABCs." What's New in Publishing. N.p., 19 Aug. 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.

"What's in the Mag." Marie Claire Australia, 7 Nov. 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2016