Midterm Submission

While creating this draft of my magazine, I chose to use some photos of Taylor that are currently of her coaching as well as some of her swimming. I chose the layouts of my article as to what I felt would best display Taylor and her accomplishments. I also chose my cover photo because I really felt that it was a good, quality photo that shows what competing is all about. The determination on Taylor's face shows that she is getting mentally prepared for her race and that she is excited to compete for UF. The different placement of my pictures gives the magazine a unique feel because each picture is in a different spot and they are all different in colors too. I chose the colors based on which colors would stand out the best and what colors would match my month the best. March is a spring month that is getting ready to transition into the summer so I chose a purple title to standout against the background of the pool. Purple is also a spring color so it will help catch the reader's eye. My article topic has to do with swimming because I am a swimmer and I have a passion for swimming and staying in shape. I chose to do my article on Taylor, who is my coach, because she is a really good swimmer. Getting a full ride scholarship to any college for athletics is really good, it is also really impressive that Taylor got to stay in Florida. She is very inspirational to me and I look up to her in several ways, not just in swimming. She is a very humble, nice person who will do anything for anyone. I am very happy that she is apart of my swimming life and that she gets to coach me everyday. She makes practice enjoyable and she gives really good advice to fix our stroke and form. I think that this article can really help people stay in shape and can show people that even after you school, you can stay in shape while you work and throughout life. 

Planning Activities- Schedule Photo Shoot

I will be photographing my coach. Her name is Taylor Katz and she is a recent graduate of the University of Florida. I will be taking pictures of her because I am interviewing her for my article to get tips on how to stay in shape and how she managed to balance school and her athletic career. Taylor had a full ride scholarship to UF and she managed to make it to the NCAA Championships. Here are some action photos of Taylor coaching our practice and giving some swimmers advice in and out of the pool. Taylor is wearing an SEC swim championship shirt that she got at a swim meet in Missouri competing for UF.

Planning Activities- Scout locations for photo shoots

While scouting for locations, I felt that it would be a good idea to take pictures at the pool because Taylor is a coach and she occasionally swims with us to show us what to do better. Here are some photos of our pool that I took while my team was practicing. The University of Louisville is also featured in these pictures because every year they come down during the holidays to swim with us while their pool is closed. This was the best option for the photo shoot because I was able to take pictures of Taylor while she was coaching us and while she was in the water demonstrating what to do better in our turns and our strokes.

Planning Activities- Flat Plan Template

As I began my flat plan for my magazine, I placed each article carefully. Each article was separated by a different number of ads. Depending on the length of the article, the more ads there would be placed in the flat plan. Our magazine flows like many of the magazines that we researched before we started this project. In the top line magazines that we had researched, there were several ads before the main article and then there were many small articles and ads after the main article.  The other articles or sections in my magazine are based on the healthy lifestyle of athletes. The articles in this magazine include healthy skin products, beauty products, organic recipes, best foods to eat for racing, the top colleges for swimming, and several workout articles to help you stay in shape. This will help engage the audience because there are some interactive ads in my flat plan that have samples of the products. They will also been engaged through the many tips in my articles from various olympians/ college athletes.

Planning Activities- Table of Contents

In my magazine there are several different articles. I am listing articles that are related to the main article. These articles are going to include food, exercise, and athletic articles. The articles will be placed every couple of pages to give the magazine variety. I will be using a couple of photos for the table of contents. I think I will use about 3-4 different pictures that will vary between food, fitness, beauty, and my interviewee. I will use multiple different pictures because in all of the top line magazines that I had researched, each of the table contents had pictures to represent some of the articles in the magazine. I will be using the Segoe UI Semilight font because it resembles the other magazines the best and it is also a good font because it is an eye-catcher and is easy to see. The following articles will be in every issue of the magazine: We asked you, a local article, a Budget article, Letter from the Editor. My exercise articles are on pages 30-31, 33-34, and 47-48; My food articles are on pages 19, 75-76, and 91-92; my athletic articles are on pages 37-38, 41-42, and 61-62.

Planning Activities- Scheduling Interviews and developing questions

I will be interviewing one of my coaches from my swim team. Her name is Taylor Katz and she just recently graduated the University of Florida. Taylor got a full ride scholarship for swimming to the University of Florida. I will be asking her a couple of questions on how she balanced her career during college. The University of Florida is ranked 9th out of the Division 1 colleges. A couple of questions that I will be asking will consist of:

• What her personal best time is at UF and if it is a personal best in her career.
• How does she stay in shape now since she is taking a break from swimming and she is transitioning into her second round of college
• How did she keep up with school and practicing daily?
• What conditioning did the team do to build muscle and stamina for the NCAA Championships
• What kind of food did she eat while she was training/ did she diet while she was in college?

The answers to these questions are going to be important for the reader because my issue of the magazine is based on sports and health. Depending on the viewer, they might find interest in what she did to stay in shape while she is taking a break from swimming and college. They may want to read the article to see what kind of workouts she does and the types of food she eats. The answer to the conditioning will allow the readers to learn workout routines that are really good for stamina and cardio. Trying to schedule this interview around both of our schedules was a bit hard at first, but the head coach allowed my coach and I to do the interview towards the end of practice to get action shots of her coaching as well as taking notes on the advice she gave to various swimmers.

Planning Activities - Cover Design Template

For our cover, we brainstormed one-word and two-word ideas for the title that would include "wellness" or fitness". As we began to brainstorm, we felt that the location should be included in the title as well. The titles that we came up with were " 'Sota Wellness" and " 'Sota fitness". We ended up agreeing on 'Sota Wellness. The font that our group chose to use for the magazine is called "Eras Medium ITC"; this was chosen because it is similar to the other fonts of the health magazines that we researched. Each group member has chosen a different color for their issue to represent the month in which their magazine was issued. Being published in March, my magazine color is a bright, neon-like purple to represent the spring time. Our cover model will be in the center and will cover a portion of the last letter in 'Sota and the first letter in Wellness.

Magazine Project Genre Research- Self

Self Magazine is an American magazine that specializes in women's health, fitness, style, and wellness. In this May issue of Self magazine, Nina Dobrev is featured on the cover. Nina Dobrev is an actress most famous for her role on The Vampire Diaries. On the cover Nina is holding a trapeze and her article is about her life after her career playing Elena Gilbert on the hit TV show The Vampire Diaries. There are several different subheadings that contain different fonts and colors. The "Self" title is bold and it is the biggest text on the page and is in white to catch the eye of the reader against the blue background. Since Nina is a well-known actress she also catches the eye of the reader because her life may interest the audience if she is popular. The bold and bright colors of the cover grab the reader's attention. The style of this magazine is similar to Men's Health, Women's Health, Health, and Shape. The title of this magazine shows the importance of health but it also relates to beauty and the style that make up a person. The constant distribution of this magazine is 1,491,431 copies, making it the most circulated magazine in the United States. If our group copies the style of this magazine, we will be able to produce around 200,000 copies of our magazine. This magazine has been awarded with Best Personal Service in 2006, and has been nominated for a National Magazine Award in 2008. Self magazines purpose is to promote health and wellness, but also to promote beauty and style.

Magazine Project Genre Research- Health

Health Magazine is a magazine that focuses on food, weight loss, fitness, and lifestyle. This magazine helps to inspire people to eat healthy and to stay in shape physically.In the May 2018 issue, Tracy Anderson is featured on the cover. This cover has a blue background and the "Health" title is bold and is a bright pink color to catch the eyes of the reader. There are several subheadings that run along the left side and the right side of the magazine. These subheadings include summaries that describe what will be in the magazine and what is included in the articles in the magazine. The articles that are included in this magazine are mostly about nutrition and fitness. Tracy Anderson is on the cover of the magazine in a bikini showing off her abs which she has earned from being physically fit. Her article is all about how to get flat abs in 5 exercises. The key to a happy life is a healthy life. The font and the shape of the title is similar to the other health magazines like Women's Health, Men's Health, Shape, and Self. With a constant circulation of 1,363,422, Health is able to keep a profit that helps keep their company in business. If our magazine was published like this, we would be able to sell around 200,000 copies. Health magazine has also been awarded the General Excellence award in 1994, and the Best Single-Issue Article also in 1994. Health magazine helps keep a worldwide audience stay in shape and eat healthy.

Magazine Project Genre Research- Men's Health

Men's Health magazine is the number one magazine for men that focuses on nutrition, fashion, fitness, and health. The front cover allows the reader to be engaged by having four different colors that catch the eye: black, orange, red, and blue. The title of Men's Health is bold and it is much bigger than all of the other subheadings on the cover to grab the readers attention. The subheadings are on the right and the left side of the magazine with brief summaries of what is included in the magazine. The cover contains a different man for each issue and the male figure can be an actor, singer, rapper, model, or major athlete. There is an article every couple of pages with several ads in between each article. This magazine would be a good magazine to read for men who are interested in boosting their physique along with staying in shape throughout their lives. Men's Health is distributed monthly and the total circulation number is 1,819,151 per year.  Men's Health has won the James Bear Foundation Award for journalism(2013) and the service award for the American Society of Journalists and Authors(2015); It has also been recognized as an Ad Age magazine of the year(2017). Clearly, Men's Health magazine is a very popular magazine that many people read around the world. 

Magazine Project Genre Research- Women's Health

Women's Health is a magazine that focuses on nutrition, health, fitness, and lifestyle. The magazine usually features several celebrities who are singers, actors, dancers, or models. The layout of this magazine is typically the same for each issue. There is the main girl ion the front page with several sub titles. There are also several different color fonts that are used on the cover page of the magazine. The title Women's Health is much bigger than all the other fonts on the page. Each issue varies in color as well as font size. This magazine has several different articles that include health, fitness, beauty, skin, and nutrition. There are bright colors used in the titles to catch the readers eye and attention. In recent years, Women's Health has a circulation number of 1,511,791. This allows us to manage the magazine monthly and to sell 100,000 copies. This magazine has also been nominated for Best Personal Service(2018), Best Magazine(2017), General Excellence in Active Interest(2014-2015), and General Excellence in Fashion, Service, and Lifestyle magazines. This is a well-known magazine that is a finalist for several awards and is popular all over the world.

Magazine Project Genre Research- Shape

Shape Magazine is a health and fitness magazine that usually covers the lifestyles of women. It features several actors, models, singers, and several other famous figures. Shape magazine typically has the same background for each issue. The typical background is white along with the typical bold, all caps "Shape" title, which can vary in color. The woman tends to take up the center and the whole page of the magazine cover. This singer's name is Ciara and she has two kids. This shape magazine was published after she had her first kid. Her article is about how she lost 60 pounds in four months after her first kid. Ciara is wearing a tank top and tape for boxing gloves. The words usually surround the woman and there are multiple sub texts to catch the eye. These subtexts are different quotes and different variations of text size, color, and font. The distribution number for Shape magazine is 2,500,000 issues. The articles in this magazine vary between healthy eating, fitness, weight loss, lifestyle, and several celebrities that have their own tricks for staying in shape.   

Project Selection- My decision

I am going to do the magazine project for Media Studies. This will be a good fit for me because it presents more challenges for me and it will fit my creative side. Even though it will be a hard task, I feel I will be able to do this project do to my skills in photography and journalism. As I start researching topics for my magazine I start understanding what would be best to include in the magazine. I am looking at texts for articles, different fonts, picture layouts, and edit designs within the article. Our group will be writing about active and health lifestyles; our target audience would be teenagers and young adults that are pursuing a healthier lifestyle. One member of the group will focus on healthy foods and maintaining a more balanced diet, while another member will attend a local skate park and interview skaters to see how they maintain staying in shape. The third member will go to local athletic centers and private-owned gyms to interview the people who strive to meet their goals and to stay physically fit; the final member of the group will speak with college students who are student athletes and discuss how they stay in shape and balance academics during the school year. The research we will be doing will allow us to fully comprehend the necessary elements to include in our magazine. This assignment will not only help us learn how to stay in shape, but as well as the other people who will read this magazine.

Project Selection- Film

I think that the film project would be a good fit for me because I am good with technology. I am also very interested in films and movies. I find film and the process of filming very interesting and fascinating. Some challenges that I may face in this project would be the production process. I will have to learn how to cut film and piece it together to get it to seam together. The film industry has been fascinating to me because I got to see how Ferris Bueller's Day Off  come to life. I learned so many new camera shots and camera angles. I also learned that filming can also go over-schedule and over-budget. This can cause several problems throughout the process. Overall I feel that I would be able to handle the movie project well and I think that it would be a good fit for me. I think I would be interested in making a sports film or more of an action filled movie.

Project Selection- Magazine

I think that the magazine project is a good choice for me, however there could potentially be some conflicts that arise. In my spare time I enjoy reading several different genre magazines which include, sports, entertainment, fashion, style, and lifestyle. I feel that I could be a good photographer and take photos of what the magazine article would be about. I have taken Digital Technology Introduction, Engineering, and now thinking skills. I can now type with high accuracy and I know how to work computers and have certificates in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. I am also a decent writer and I think that writing articles about subjects I am interested in will make this project a good fit for me. I feel that my photography skills will also help me out with this project. In AICE Media Studies, I have learned a lot from shows like HBOs The Newsroom and the movie All the President's Men. I have learned that journalism is not as simple as it seems. It can be very difficult to find a credible source that gives credible information. It is more important to give credible, accurate information rather than being the first network to report on a subject. I think that the magazine project could be a good fit for me for the AICE Exam.