Friday 27 January 2012

Facecake Magazine Proposal Statement


The intentions of this project is to create a make-up magazine designed for starting out make-up artists or for people considering a career in make-up artistry and give them a starting point to start their career. It will also attract people with an interest in make-up who want to learn more about make-up, products and styles. The magazine will include tips and techniques, must haves in a make-up kit and what goes on behind the scenes. It’ll give the target market a better idea of what to expect from this industry. It will be called Facecake.

Target Market/ Person Specifications

The target market is a big part of the unique selling point. It will be aimed at people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five. The reason for this is because these are the people deciding what they want to do with their lives. They have many options ahead of them, some are deciding to go to college or university or deciding what they want in the form of a career, and some of these people are already there, starting their careers.

It will appeal more to women but will also attract men. There is a huge fashion scene and although many people think stereotypically that it is primarily a female industry this is false. Many men are interested in fashion and make-up etcetera. So it will have a wide audience, which means there are a lot of people that this magazine will appeal to, so the magazine will prove popular.

The majority of magazines are aimed at people in their teens and their early twenties. These are the people with disposable incomes and these are the people who spend the most money on their appearance and social life. They go shopping more which means they are more likely to see the magazine on news stands therefore it will appeal more to them.

The title also is a huge part of the attraction to the target market. Facecake will appeal to teenage girls; it’s cute and girly and will entice them to buy it. Furthermore, the cover will be a strong editorial. It will stand out and be colourful and strong. The model on the front cover will also attract the audience. The eye contact is essential. It looks like the model is looking directly at the buyer and will draw the audience into purchasing the magazine.

Inspiration

Make-up Artist magazine and FaceOn magazine were the inspirations for Facecake. Although these are also the competitors but because these are aimed at an older age group and a more experienced audience it will not affect the sales of Facecake. Both the aforementioned magazines are aimed at professionals whereas Facecake will be aimed at people considering a career in make-up or just starting out. These magazines also have an older target market, as the audience would have already started a career in make-up. Facecake will include tips and techniques and teach the audience, and hopefully inspire them to push the limits with make-up and created new and inventive looks. The other magazines do provide tips and techniques however; these are aimed at a more experienced audience. Articles in the magazine will help the reader become more confident in experimenting with make-up and will demonstrate helpful tips on how to achieve a unique look.

Unique Selling Point

The unique selling point is that there is not a lot for starting out make-up artists, most things are for a more experienced audience, and Facecake will give the audience a better idea if this is the career path they want to go down. Another unique selling point is the target market it’s aimed at is a younger audience than what is on the market today and these are the people that magazines appeal to the most because of their disposable income. Another unique selling point is that Facecake includes interviews from people of similar ages to the target market and to people that are at the peak of their career. For example, Alex Philips has been interviewed for Facecake, he is nineteen. He is a make-up artist who has just graduated at London Muse and started working for Illamasqua an international make-up brand. People will be able to relate to him, he’s a similar age to the target audience; he has just started his career and completed his education in make-up. Also because this magazine has been put together by students and includes student’s own work this should appeal to the target audience, as they can relate to the people behind the magazine. They are of similar ages and are going down similar career paths.

Concept Direction

The concept is to create a make-up magazine for people considering or starting a career in make-up. It will teach the audience tips and techniques, it will include must have’s for a make-up kit like brushes, make-up, cleaning products etcetera. It will feature behind the scenes of a fashion photo shoot so the audience can learn from it; from this they will learn what to expect from the fashion industry and what the fashion industry expects from them, and what the role of a make-up artist entails. Facecake will include interviews from different people in the industry from different parts of the industry so the audience can find out what the industry expects from them. The interviews featured are by a fashion stylist, photographer, make-up artist, a make-up company founder and a director of product development at Illamasqua. The concept direction is to attract a younger audience that may be considering a career in make-up or just have an interest in make-up. The aim is to teach the audience and give them a starting point and maybe help choose which path they wish to go down to start their career.

Content

The magazine will include must haves in a make-up kit. A lot of make-up artists that are just starting out don’t always know the importance of keeping your kit clean and sterilized. In the magazine it will to explain this and what products are good to use. Other must haves will be primers, powders, and lipsticks etcetera. It will also include advice on brushes that are great quality and their different uses and how to use them.

Magazine Aesthetic

The appearance will attract the target audience. The editorials will be strong and stand out just like the front cover to keep the audience interested. It will be printed in bright and vibrant the colours which will attract the buyer. It will consist of bold colour palettes. The images will be edgy and dramatic to keep the buyer’s eyes moving across the page this should also keep them interested and wanting to read more. The layout will be quite simple and easy to read as it has the ability to attract a younger audience and it won’t impact them as well if the magazine is over crowded and there’s too much information to take in. The model on the front cover will draw the audience in. The model will be shot straight on and it will look as if the model’s eyes will be looking directly at the audience or the person considering buying the magazine. (See Picture 1)

Production Schedule

Production has already started. The interviews have already been conducted and answered. The photographers, stylists, designers and make-up artists have already been recruited. The front cover photo has already been shot, and the behind the scenes photo’s have already been taken and written about. There is a clear step-to-step guide on how to set up a fashion photo shoot and what things may be needed along the way and what is expected of the make-up artist.

The editorials are planned for the next few weeks and will be finished by the end of March as that leaves enough time to prepare for errors that may occur. The layout of the magazine will be completed in April then put onto In Design and saved as PDF’s and then sent to the printers. However, before getting all fifty copies of the magazine printed, a sample will be created to check that the colours, fonts, pictures and paper all work well together and will achieve the expected result required for the end product.

Sponsors/ Advertisers

Many companies would not sponsor this magazine as it is a student magazine not a high profile one, however, they did send advertisements. These companies were Illamasqua and Barry M. Many companies still haven’t replied such as screenface, babyliss and sleek make-up. The reason these companies were approached to advertise was because they will appeal to the target audience, and they all create products that the target audience will use in their make-up career. Advertising in Facecake should appeal to these companies; as the target audience will use their products. The company’s products, brushes and courses will be discussed and this should be another appealing factor to convince them to advertise in Facecake. Many of these companies are directed at professionals but not all of them. This is because some of the readers may just have an interest in make-up and not considering a career in make-up so this way the advertisers will appeal to both types of audience.

Costing’s/Budget

Mainly the budget and costing’s will be small as the models, photographers, designers, and stylists are mostly students at Solent, and many of the other models will be on a time for photographs basis. They will all receive credits and their work published in the magazine. The ones that aren’t students have agreed to do interviews or work for the credits so they will be unpaid. The adverts in the magazine are free, as the companies were happy to send advertisements. However, they were not willing to pay any sponsorship. After looking around for publishers, Altone Printer Ltd, were the cheapest. They have charged £196 for fifty magazines or £264 for 100 (see picture 2), and they will keep the magazine on file so if many are sold and more are needed the company can reprint more copies. To raise this money, fund raisers will be carried out and hopefully, the money should be made back by selling the magazine. The magazine will be sold online via PayPal. Many of the shoots will be done at Solent University in the studios, as the shoots should look professional and the behind the scenes shots would need to be in a studio environment.

50 A5 Magazines Printing Costs: £196
Props for photo shoots: £100
Travel Costs: £50
Make-up Costs: £100
Total: £446

Future of Facecake

Facecake is planned to be produced monthly. Each month more and more people will buy Facecake as word will get out as it attracts more people. The plan is to attract another 25 people minimum each month. The plan is to sell 50 in the first month alone. In time as Facecake becomes more popular and makes more money, then more people can be hired. The plan will eventually be to hire a sales team, which will include tele-sales and people to visit make-up stores and companies and sell Facecake. An iPhone/ iPad app has also been considered, as many magazines are now purchased and viewed this way.