HOW HAVE I FOLLOWEDREGIONAL CONVENTIONS?

MAGAZINE NAME- My magazine is produced for the north east of England, e.g. Sunderland, Durham, Newcastle and Leeds. These areas are in the east of the country with many based on the coast. This is what inspired my name. East coast links to the area my target audience live but it is not too obvious because I still wanted to maintain a fashion, fun edge to the name.

BELLAS CLOSET- This is a boutique based in the north east which also has a strong online presence. I used this because it was a northern store I was aware of and thought that it was fitting to promote local companies which are easily accessible to my readers.

NEWCASTLES HOTTING UP – I used this as my direct and obvious link to region. Newcastle is one of the most popular shopping destinations within the North East so it will instantly relate to my audiences as it is likely they have shopped her, been for a night out, food etc. or even live there. It is a lifestyle piece which is also vital for a fashion/beauty magazine.

TAGLINE- This is a constant throughout my magazine so it was important that it emphases the regional element of the magazine. I directly choose to mention the north east to ensure that any first time readers, or even occurring readers know that this is a brand especially made for northern girls.

MODEL – My model is also from the north east which adds to the region. Using models from the area along with brands etc. makes it more authentic that this is a magazine made by northern people for northern people.

SPOTTED IN SUNDERLAND – I choose to add a spotted section to give people in the north east an opportunity to feature in the magazine. This links to region because this section would not feature someone from London, Scotland or Bristol because the magazine is not made for them. It is also another obvious and direct mention of a city my readers would be from.

NORTH EAST MORE STYLISH AREA – I wanted to link the fashion genre of my magazine to the regional elements and felt that the perfect way to do this would be to use my editors note to directly talk to the readers and tell them that they are living in the most stylish area of Britain. It emphasizes he region for my target audience while creating a relationship with them.

REPEATED USE OF NEWCASTLE – I carried this on from my front cover because it fit conventions of a contents page to focus on cover stories. However it also lends itself nicely to the repeated use of Regional articles.

NCL’S OWN – This is short for Newcastle which shows how the magazine promotes local beauty companies which are affordable and accessible. It also reinforces the idea that these products are perfect for northern girls which may even push them to make a purchase.

NORTHERN GIRL – Because feature pages are hard to directly link to region I decided to add a blurb to the page which makes highlights that the products shown are carefully thought through to ensure that they are what the typical northern girl would need in their lives.

LONG LASTING MAKEUP – Northern girls are known to love makeup, fake tan and partying so in order to produce a piece that would appeal to them I focused on this stereotype and used products which are high tolerance and have strong staying power so that it would last them through long days and drunken all nighters.

GLITTER – I used another northern stereotype for this piece because it wanted to make sure it is something they would actually read. Glitter is a big trend amongst girls in the north so I decided to play on this.

MODEL FROM THE NORTH – My model, Siobhan, lives in wall send making her a northern girl herself, her look is very relatable meaning the audience will appeal to her. Using someone from the north east throughout the full magazine and ancillary tasks shows how dedicated to the regional conventions the magazine is. It would not make sense to feature someone from London on the cover of a magazine made for people from Newcastle (an other cities) so I followed this convention.

TAG LINE – This is repeated on almost every page of my magazine and on my website so It is important to include the region. Most magazines that are made for a specific group of people often emphasis this as much as possible without being too in your face so I followed the convention of using it in the tag line. Tag lines are also memorable so using it here makes sure people remember.

TAG LINE- I have said everything there is to say about using the tag line but this is another example of how I have repeatedly used and emphasized it.

REGIONAL MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR – Magazines are often winning awards which give them extra credit and after looking back at my website I realized that the regional element is not as emphasized as it is on other pages so I created an award which included the regional context of the brand. Naming it regional magazine of the year adds more emphasis on the north east tenor while crediting that it is good at reaching to its intended brand.

HUMBLE ROOTS IN SUNDERLAND – when talking ‘about’ the magazine on the website I found the perfect opportunity to highlight that it is a magazine made in the north east by people in the north east. This makes the brand more relatable because it is a company which they could aspire to work for, to be in and provides them scope to reach their dreams. It also tells us that a Sunderland magazine has spread out to reach other northern girls.

WE PRIDE OURSELVES ON BEING A TRUE NORTHERN MAGAZINE – This is our promise to our readers, it mentioned that models, clothing brands, makeup brands and our staff are all Northern, which may not be applicable when it comes to other regional brands. It adds to the excitement of the brand because it is something everyone in the north can be proud of and embrace as our own.

METRO CENTER – This is one of the biggest shopping centers in the whole country meaning that people from all over the north east come here to do some serious shopping. By mentioning it It creates a reliability and the fact that it is on the outskirts of Newcastle makes it regional too. It is important to me that the stories we feature are linked to what our target audience and this shopping center is something they will definitely want to know about.

SUNDERLAND MODEL – This is another direct and obvious link to region and it is about celebrating the success of women who come from the North East. It allows my target audience to dream that they may get their one day because it shows that it is possible.

MODEL – This is another model that I used from the north east. She is also within the age range of my target audience.