Statement of intent – title

I wanted my magazine cover to appeal to young adults, who don’t feel like they fit in. I used more darker and sleek imagery on the title to appeal to a more mature audience as well as a sleeker colour scheme (red). Furthermore, I have created some game titles which are used to as an anchor to the text. On the cover, I have used a large amounts of the colour red, which is a bold colour, allowing it to be easily seen and noticed. Furthermore, for my plugs, I have allowed the reader’s attention to be caught easily. A particularly good example of this is the middle plug, “fact or fake? Game myths debunked”. This causes the reader to be curious of the contents of the magazine. This means that one of the social needs, Knowledge about the World, is sated by buying this magazine.

As well as this, I have used a brightly-coloured plug, with a green glow surrounding it. This means that the plug is immediately noticeable. This could also encourage the reader to buy the magazine if they are struggling with the fictional game ‘Biolight’.

Another factor I used for the cover is an image of myself. This may fill the first personal need – as I myself am nonbinary and present uniquely to the norm. This can leave a sense of belonging to many others who feel unrepresented in media. Furthermore, I have used myself as a model for a fictional character. In this context, a non-conforming person to society such as myself being a character in a video game and presented for the front cover can fit the personal need of understanding the self to those who are marginalized and see themselves represented. This, as a result can cause them to be more willing to buy the magazine as the cover is radical in nature which can cause the correct title audience to purchase it as they feel represented. This is further presented on the rightmost plug at the bottom of the magazine, discussing representation is video games, enticing the reader further. Having a radical cover instead of a reactionary cover ensures that groups that may not usually purchase magazines due to lack of representation in media may feel more inclined to buy mine.

This radical idea can be taken through many ways by the audience – for example, if we use reception theory, the dominant response would be to accept this representation, that gaming is for everyone. This audience is likely going to be the ones seeking representation. the negotiated response is likely to be a mixed response about the representation, for example, an acception of the representation, but a dislike for video games. This could be people who fit into the age range of the magazine but do not fall into this marginalized group or gamer group. The oppositional response would be a complete dislike of this representation, which could be from anyone, but is most likely to come from an older generation with more traditional beliefs. Furthermore, those who were raised under traditional beliefs may take a dislike towards the magazine.