Monday, 18 January 2016

Website Draft Articles

St Michael’s Mount
Enjoy a fabulous family day out in which you will be spoilt for choice at St Michael’s Mount. From a variety of activities and events to enjoy such as exploring the beautiful sub-tropical gardens, climbing the castle, uncovering stories about the harbour and walking the causeway. You will be fascinated by the history, legends and myths surround St Michael’s Mount.

St Michael’s Mount many say is the stuff of fairy tales, Situated majestically on an island of its very own, sits a castle which is every bit as mythical as you may think. This is why it’s no surprise how St Michael’s Mount visitor numbers have rocketed over the past decade. Whether you’re photography, tourist or you’re heading outside to experience the breath-taking coastal walks; there is something for everyone at St Michael’s Mount.

At a low tide, the causeway appears from the sea and allows access over to St Michael’s Mount via foot, walking across the ancient granite cobblestones following in the footsteps of giants and pilgrims. When the tide is high, some of St Michael’s Mount’s boatmen will ferry you across the water to the island.

One of the most noteworthy points of interest on the island is the underground railway which was used in the 1900’s by the miners who worked there in order to carry many goods and suppliers over to the island. The railway is still in use today to transport goods over to the island but because of the step gradient, it cannot be used by passengers. The National Trust neither permits public access or viewing of the railway.

The island also offers you many guided tours or you can explore the island on your own and by your own pace. The island also has their own restaurant which overlooks the coast while you have a bite to eat. So whether this is a family trip, holiday highlight or even a personal dream, make sure you visit St Michael’s Mount and make it an experience to remember.

So why not visit St Michael’s Mount today?

Cornwall Water Activities
Cornwall is arguable the king of the UK in terms of surfing and other water based activities. Cornwall has many sandy beaches with a variety of different types of sea behaviour. If you are a surfer Cornwall has many beaches that have constant waves but if you’re in to other water sports Cornwall also offer many flat seas to suit different tides, weather conditions, mood and agility.

Harlyn Surf School are one of the first companies in the UK to offer Stand-Up Paddle boarding (SUP). Cornwall is a great place to learn and enjoy SUP and at Harlyn Surf School they have many different locations to show you. Beginner sessions mainly take place on the stunning Camel estuary however if the sea is calm then they do occasionally run the lesson from Harlyn beach.

Harlyn Surf School cater for everyone by offering a variety of different difficulties so whether you’re just starting out and would like a taster of SUP of whether you have had experience before and just would like to improve your skills then Harlyn have different lessons to suit everyone.  

Harlan Surf School will supply all customers with their own wetsuits and boards so check out Harlyn Surf School today for an unforgettable experience.

Lanhydrock House
The highly rated National Trust property of Lanhydrock House is a perfect place for everyone and anyone this summer. You can discover two different sides of the Victorian lifestyle from the kitchens, nurseries and servants’ quarters to the luxury family area’s and massive bedrooms.

During spring and the summer you can stroll around the vibrant gardens and woodland areas, explore the house and all of its decorated history and treasures.
Even though during winter at Lanhydrock, the house is closed, outside you’re never short of something to do there, with weekly park runs, lots of space to run about, fly kites, ride bikes and play in, wrap up warm though.
The weekly park run at Lanhydrock is becoming increasingly more popular with more people attending every week. You can enjoy this free family 5K around the parkland. It’s not a race, but a timed run, suitable for everyone. The park run happens every Saturday starting from 09:00.
If running is not your style why not try out Lanhydrock cycle trails? Lanhydrock has six different cycle trails which are all colour coded into their difficulty so there is something for everyone. All the trails vary is distance from 1 mile - 3 miles. Lanhydrock have their own cycle hire with bikes for all ages and abilities and you can hire for half or a whole day. Helmets are free when hiring a bike.

After finishing either your rise or run you’re sure going to build up an appetite with all this exercise so be sure to try out the Park Cafe, which has a variety of hot and cold food, snacks and drinks. The Park Cafe is located near the car park and the adventure play area.

Tuesday, 10 November 2015

Double Page Spread Article

After doing my audience research it was brought to my attention that the public would like to see a feature page that relates to 'Events that happen in your area'. As this was the most popular choice on my survey I took this into consideration and I have decided to write my feature page on an event that is happening at Minack Theatre.

I'am currently sitting in Cornwall's most famous open-aired theatre surrounded by some eye catching scenery. Minack Theatre, near Penzance, which is carefully being transformed into a new set for a upcoming play which is due to be performed in early June which includes student and actor, Jonty Colman. Jonty is being critical acclaimed to be the next 'big actor' in the theatrical performance industry. Jonty has picked up awards for his acting abilities over the last three years including 'Young actor of the year' from Filmmaker Magazine. Im sat here with the man himself who is here to offer some spot-on acting advice for people who aspire to make it onto the big stage.

OurCornwall Reporter: "What have you had to sacrifice to be here today?'"

Jonty Colman: "I had to sacrifice a lot to make it where I am today. The theoretical performance industry is become ever more competitive with an increasing number of young talent flourishing from all over the UK and Europe. It takes a lot of mental and emotional perseverance to get you name out there. I have performed in many low scale plays up and down the country, literally trying to perform as much as I can to create connections and make my name heard in the industry. It's not easy. I'm trying to concentrate on my A-Levels at college but when the shows aren't coming your way, it gets frustrating and it does affect my college work. There has been times where sometimes you think to yourself that this isn't for you and just won't work out but whats important is that you learn to block out that little noise in your head. Thats all it is. A negative little noise that (if you let it) can destroy all your hopes and dreams. You block him, you can then continue on the path you want to venture down."  

OurCornwall Reporter: "You touched on that you're a student by day and an actor by night, how tough is it to juggle both commitments? and do you have any advice to our readers about juggling commitments?"

Jonty Colman: "Yeah thats right, I'm in my final year and arguable my most important year. I have been an actor all my life and its always been difficult to squeeze both commitments in but the main struggle this year is the stress levels. A-Levels on their own are a challenge for anyone but when you spend half of your time traveling up and down the country acting, sometimes I say that there just isn't enough hours in a day for all of it. The best advice I could give all you young actors out there is to plan everything out. Prioritising certain work and appointing it to a certain day will prevent any last-minute panic. Once your priorities are in place, you work out what can be put on hold for a few weeks. Make sure you allow some 'ME' time in your plan. Its vital to relax and put your mind to rest every now and then and essential 'recharge' yourself. Finally set yourself realistic expectations of what you believe you can achieve. Only you know what you're capable of and don't let anybody else tell you differently. As long as you work hard, you will get noticed."

OurCornwall Reporter: "Did anyone ever tell you that you couldn't make it? if so how did you react to that?"

Jonty Colman: "Yeah and it came at such a surprise and I did take it to heart. I was at such a vulnerable age and when someone tells you, you're not good enough or that I will never achieve my dreams, well it does hurt, nobody will deny that. It takes mental strength to overcome that. Mental strength doesn't come from what you can do, it comes from what you can overcome, so don't ever give up when someone says they don't believe in you. Use it as motivation to push harder. If you don't go after what you want, you will never have it. If you don't ask, the answer will always be no. If you don't step forward you will always be in the same place. So don't let somebodies opinion of you become a reality."

OurCornwall Reporter: "Well thank-you for talking to us today Jonty, We look forward to see you again here in early June."

Thursday, 5 November 2015

House Style

Front cover design thoughts:




































Final Masthead

On traditional regional magazine they imply an archaic theme with also fitting a modern theme. Furthermore the type face is also typically a serif style font which connotes the professionalism and formal nature of the magazine. As I'm creating a magazine for not the normal regional magazine age bracket I will be using a sans-serif font to appeal to a younger target audience. I will be looking and design ideas that break the original common codes and conventions in order to reach out to my younger target audience. From my audience research I found out that 'OurCornwall' was the most liked masthead so I'm now going to design mastheads around that.


The first masthead that  I created has a very thin typography and looks very casual. I could see this style font sitting at the top of my magazine as it looks creative and will appeal to a younger target audience as of its sans-serif font. The spacing is also bigger than conventional to make the tittle look tidy and neat. Due to some of the characteristics it makes me believe this masthead may not be appropriate for a regional magazine and maybe a fashion/design magazine instead. What I do like about this masthead is that its all capitalised to make it stand out from the back of the magazine. 


The second masthead that I looked at creating was this one. What I planned to change is the characteristics that I didn't like in the first masthead. Firstly, the font style used is almost the same but made bold to make it more suitable for a regional magazine. Additionally I also eliminated the spacing between each letter to make it more powerful. This masthead would definitely stand out against the background of an image over the one above due to the bold style font. I kept the sans-serif style font as I believe this will attract to my target audience. Potentially the font isa still too thin for my target audience.
This masthead is my favourite out of the three. I changed the font style completely and went for a more relaxed style font. Even though all the letters are still capitalised the 'O' of Our and the 'C' of Cornwall stand out more two separate the two words. This title makes the letter actually stand out more to the audience and makes it easier to read. The masthead is a powerful form of advertising through repetition and getting the name of the product stuck in the head of the audience. This masthead again is in a thicker bold font which will stand out on the cover. Finally I decided to keep it still as a sans-serif font as this will appeal to my target audience the most. I believe this will be the best masthead to go forward and use for my final product because its the most suitable for my target audience while still looking like a regional magazine masthead. 




Tuesday, 3 November 2015

Shortlist of Font Styles and Typeface

The font and typeface used across all the pages in my magazine may vary but they're all as important as each other as they need to relate to my target audience while still looking professional by following common codes and conventions used on a regional lifestyle magazines. In this posts I will be making a brief shortlist of the possible fonts that I believe would be effective when incorporated in my magazine. when it comes to creating my products I can look back at this post to see what fonts and typefaces will be most appropriate.


Helvetica is one and if not the most popular typefaces used in the print industry and by graphic designers around the world. Helvetica was released in 1957 under its original name 'Neue Haas Grotesk'. A lot of people will be familiar to this font and devote the main reason of its popularity to Steve Jobs as he incorporated in the apple operating system but others can argue that it was popular long before computers was even in existence. Without a doubt Helvetica is one of the heavily used fonts by professionals because of its familiarity with the audience and its readability. As of this I feel like this is a suitable font to make my shortlist as its an effective font to use as a body of text and as my audience would have more than likely engaged with this font before they will feel that sense of familiarity and recognisability.

Garamond is another popular typeface that is commonly used in the magazine industry along with textbooks, websites and just a general body of text. This typeface was created by Claude Garamond and there is now a range of contemporary typefaces that vary and all bear in his name. Garamond has a fine serif look and ives off a more elegant image as a whole. Adobe Garamond is a relatively new interpretation of Garamond designed by Robert Slimbach and is based on the original Garamond font.  This adobe version of the font has been listed as the second best font (behind helvetica) by a German Publication.

is a typeface created in 1798 by Italian typographer Giambattista Bodoni and is a great font for headlines and can be used in almost any occasion. The face has extreme contrast between thick and thin strokes, and an overall geometric construction which makes it a very aesthetic looking font. Im still unsure about actually using this one my magazine though. Bodoni is commonly featured on fashion magazines such as 'Vogue' and because of this it doesn't follow common codes and conventions of a regional magazine. A small section of Vogues target audience will be the same as mine (Young Females) so it could work so its on the shortlist (for now). 

Adobe Caslon is another serif typeface that is commonly featured in magazines. Adobe Caslon was created by Carol Twombly and Caslon is a very attractive font due to its characteristics. Caslon is commonly used in print because its a very welcoming font and also created a aura of credibility. This is another font that I would like to try when creating my products.

Other font(s) that I will consider using are:

Times New Roman

Monday, 2 November 2015

Shortlist of Possible Title Names

When it comes to creating a title for you magazine its very important that you consider who your target audience is and the genre of you magazine. The masthead is one of the main attractions to your front cover and its vital that the masthead represents my target audience so they can relate to it and be attracted by it. Furthermore I will also want to follow common codes and conventions of a title name to be appealing and using connotations of words to attract my target audience.

The first name that I came up with is 'Youth of Cornwall'. Straight away this name shouts out at my target audience as it includes the word 'Youth' which indicates its for that market. This alone could attract a lot of youths into taking a second look at my magazine on the shelf. Additionally the is no current magazine with a name anything close to this so its unique but you could also say its very basic. The simplicity of of the title could work one way or another. Its simplicity could been seen as appealing as its basic and easy for my target audience to understand which also attached to the social grades which my target audience's is very low without the inclusion of complex words this could appeal to them. On the other hand the simplicity of this title could also seem 'cheap' and not very professional.

The second name I came up with is 'Our Cornwall'. The reason why I liked this name is because straight away it involves the audience with the word 'Our'. This a really open word because it invites the consumer in. Its also very friendly then and creates a happy atmosphere. Additionally this title also includes the word 'Cornwall' so when people see this they know they can get information about there region. Having Cornwall used in the title is crucial as it lets people know that this magazine was created for them as its about their region. The biggest selling point about regional magazines is that the consumer knows they're getting knowledge on their region which is something other magazines can't achieve and this is why I believe its important 'Cornwall' clearly features in the title.

The third name that I came up with is 'Kernow Bewedh'. This name is in cornish and when translated means 'Cornish Lifestyle'. I believe this title being in cornish is effective as it relates to my target audience as they live in this region. The majority of people in Cornwall know that Kernow means Cornwall but not everyone knows that Bewedh means Lifestyle so this will make people think and talk about it and possible even research it which means that my magazine is getting publicity. The next time that consumer returns to the shop they now know what it means and will most likely purchase it as they feel they can relate and connect to it now.

After looking back through all of the mastheads they all obviously have their flaws but the best way to ensure I choose the correct one for my products I decided to ask my target audience. From these results you can see that there is a clear winner in 'OurCornwall' with 94.44% of the votes. People may not liked 'Youth of Cornwall' because the people who answered my survey may of been of an older age group and felt like it didn't relate to them, you could also argue this is too long for a masthead. 'Kernel Bewedh' was also not very popular and this could be down to the fact that many people may not understand what it means and it also maybe to Cornish for tourists. So from this research it tells us that 'OurCornwall' is the best masthead out of these options and this could be down to its simplicity and welcoming feel.

Wednesday, 28 October 2015

Chosen Institution to Publish My Magazine

There are four main producers of magazines in the industry. They're Hearst, Conde Nast, Bauer and IPC Media. Between these four they publish some of the best selling names in the magazine industry such as, Kerrang, NME and Q. As these magazines being as popular as they are being sold across the UK, they're unlikely to publish my magazine. These insinuations work with nationwide magazines and as my magazine is primarily targeted at people in my region which doesn't make it suitable. Because of the unlikely hood of these big companies publish my magazine I may have to look at smaller alternatives who work with regional magazines.


As regional magazines are becoming increasingly popular because they offer regional information a lot of publishers have recognised this. Currently there still isn't a mass amount of institutions in my chosen region but Northcliffe Media or now known as 'Local World' controls 100 publications include magazines and newspapers read by 6 million consumers. One of these publications is 'This is Cornwall' which is a regional magazine that works with the same target audience as mine. This magazine is also a stand out in my region with is popularity, it also features a website and a lot of demographic information which gives it its popularity. Furthermore they also publish one of the most popular newspapers in my region 'Cornish Guardian'. The Cornish Guardian is very popular with my secondary target audience but include a lot of content that could possibly feature in my products. The Cornish Guardian is known for its outstanding informative newspaper and website that covers all news in the region.

After looking at these two publications I believe that Local World would be my suitable publisher. As Local World operates with similar companies and products so they have that experience and know how to deal with my new products.