Executive Summary Research Summary Target Audience Competition & Comparables Moodboard & Aesthetics Production Applications Annotated Bibliography
Spring 2014 Mainly Local Magazine Design brief + proposal by Kate Fearnall DESN 320 - S003 Publication Core Design Chris Hethrington
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Despite the recent trend of eating healthy and ‘clean’ studies have shown that many individuals are still buying their produce from chain grocery stores rather then locally. I want to investigate the reasoning for why buying locally and organically is better for both you and the local economy. I hope this publication will help educate my readers and add context to the format of my health and lifestyle publication.
a. Project Topic Creating a publication that focuses on a small community in Vancouver (Main Street) showcasing the communities local hot spots and farmers market through a quarterly publication. b. Design Opportunity There is an opportunity here to create a publication that helps educate a younger demographic on the benefits of engaging within their own communities through healthy living. This resource will include stories of local businesses, recipes, health tips, and small gathering tips. This publication will also entail an online web page featuring local stories of restaurants and at home recipes. There will also be a social media campaign implemented to help spread the word of the publication and engage potential readers.
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a. Design Challenge A challenge that lies within this project is altering social behavior and systems of the average consumers purchasing habits. b. Design Objective To create a publication for young adults that provides information on healthy eating, locally sourced restaurants, tips on hosting small gatherings, recipes and benefits of buying locally and more sustainably. I want to engage my readers with both textual information as well as visual. e. Project Thesis I intend to discover and define the need for a younger demographic to become more involved in sustaining our local economy. I want to encourage them to buy locally sourced products and engage them in exploring their local communities and events.
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When we shop for local foods, we get the satisfaction of knowing that we are contributing to our local communities and economies. For example, research out of Brock University suggests $3 billion would be added to the local economy if 5 million Ontarians spent $10 of their grocery budget on local foods each week. You don’t always spend more to shop for local food; in some cases it can cost less because in-season foods are generally cheaper and travel costs are minimized. It supports the future of farming The stronger our local farmer gets, the more we ensure local goods can be grown and raised for generations to come. (3) It promotes biodiversity Our demand for local food creates greater variety. Farmers who run community-supported agriculture programs, sell at farmers’ markets and provide for local restaurants have the support they need to raise more types of produce and livestock than multinational commercial enterprises looking to squeeze every dollar out of one type of crop. (3)
Farm to table “Farm to Table” (or farm to fork) is a restaurant concept that’s gaining momentum across the county. In this model, food is locally sourced, seasonal and fresh…so fresh that you can expect the menu to change daily. Most everything is homemade and in some cases grown on site. A few of these restaurants even have a butcher, a brewer or a vintner on staff. They support sustainable farming practices so you can expect the food to be organic and pastured, but you should still ask. In my experience most of the staff is very knowledgeable and they seem to genuinely enjoy talking about everything that goes into preparing these amazing meals. (1)
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Organic For foods to be labeled as organic, at least 95% of the ingredients must come from organically produced plants and animals. Any food product sold as ‘organic’ falls under the EU regulations 834/2007 and 889/2008. This means that the product must have been produced to these regulations and inspected and certified by a registered certification body. (2)
It promotes cultural diversity Many local farmers are growing varieties of “culturally diverse” ingredients locally so traditional recipes from different heritages can still be honored and prepared—fresh—close to home. (3) It empowers consumers Shopping locally gives us a chance to engage our growers directly. Building a relationship with farmers is fun—who doesn’t love a trip to the farmers’ market! We get to learn something new about our food, including when the freshest produce is in-season. And we are reassured when we ask growers directly about sustainable production, including whether pesticides are used. It’s important to ask about growing practices because buying local does not automatically mean the food is sustainably produced. (3) It boosts our well-being Of course, when local foods are grown sustainably, using humane animal practices and without pesticides and chemical fertilizers, we can also be confident that our food is healthier and environmentally friendly. So every time you buy food grown in your region, you can feel good knowing you are making a difference. (3) It tastes better! Finally, local foods taste better because they are in-season, recently harvested and didn’t have to travel far to get to our plates.(3)
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The Mainly Local reader enjoys buying locally within their community and is always encouraging friends to do the same. Our readers see the benefits for both the economy and themselves as this way of living is a way to be more sustainable. Female Age 20+ Rents Apartment Average income College student / recent grad Single / Married No children / New parent Loves BC culture Enjoys the outdoors Likes cooking
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Lifestyle Magazines
Mobile Apps
Website & Blogs
(Print & Digital) Lifestyle magazines are often targeted towards an older demographic. They provide a wealth of knowledge on subjects such as home decor, recipes, shopping, and do it yourself sections. Although Lifestyle magazines are great I am looking to create a lifestyle around local food and culture.
(Food & Lifestyle) Many publications today have a mobile app to accompany their written publications. Mobile Apps are great for people who are always on the go, they are especially great for food lovers who enjoy the convenience of looking for recipes in an app form while at the grocery store etc.
(Food & Lifestyle) Many websites and blogs accompany lifestyle publications. They often focus on simple navigation, stories, galleries and a link to an online viewing platform for the print publication.
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Many lifestyle / local websites often showcase a wide variety of local ‘hot spots’ in many different areas. However, I couldn’t find any local lifestyle publications that focused on only a specific neighborhood of a city.
ediblecommunities.com Edible Communities is a locally based web and print publication in Vancouver. Edible Communities produces a monthly magazine showcasing local food, information on farmers market, BC culture, and entertaining ideas and recipes. Target audience 35+ vancitybuzz.com Vancity Buzz is an online website/blog that showcases local Vancouver hot spots. The website is updated daily featuring new stories on where to eat in the city as well as exhibitions and shows to check out. The blog is quite diverse in it’s categories and does not simply focus on food and lifestyle. Target audience 20+ insidevancouver.com Inside Vancouver is an online website/blog that is quite similar to VanCity Buzz. The website features categories such as food & drink, shop, family, outside, entertainment, town, sports, green city. Inside Vancouver places a strong emphasis on providing a website full of images sometimes contributes from local Vancouverites. Target audience 25+
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These lifestyle magazines are contemporary examples of what is currently circulating. They place a strong emphasis on cohesive and simple design, similar to the aesthetic I am trying to achieve with my publication.
Kinfolk Magazine Kinfolk Magazine is the leading entertainment magazine for young food enthusiasts interested in casual gatherings. Kinfolk promotes a balanced and intentional healthy and fulfilling lifestyle. Target audience 20+ Cereal Magazine Cereal Magazine is a publication passionate about food, travel, and books. Cereal is quarterly produced based out of London, UK. Target audience 20+
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Budget I will be taking photos in my Art Direction II class as I would like to showcase my own photography skills. My budget will be tight so I may be limited in the amount of produce I can buy for cooking / recipes etc. There is a chance I may incorporate sourced images for specific content if I can’t generate them myself. Knowledge I am not a copywriter, although I will try and write most of the copy myself as well as source it from other local publications. I will need to take my time with the content section of the publication. Time I would like to design a main publication in the format of a magazine, a website or blog to accompany the publication as well as a social media / magazine launch party to engage readers. My time will be spent equally on most parts of the publication with special attention given to the main component (the magazine).
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mainly local. mag
A publication that focuses on a small community in Vancouver (Main Street) showcasing the communities local hot spots and farmers market through a quarterly lifestyle & food publication.
Available both by subscription through the online website as well as in local markets and grocery stores in Vancouver.
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Link to print magazine subscription as well as additional stories, recipes, and photographs related to the current publication.
A social media launch party using platforms such as Instagram and a traditional magazine launch party encouraged through social media.
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1. April. Fringe, Fringe Eating - Farm to Table. Wordpress. 2011. Web. http://www.fringe-eating.com/2012/03/defining-farm-to-table/ Fringe Eating is a blog that focuses on healthy and sustainable eating while touching on topics that relate to this theory such as the idea of Farm to Table. The idea behind Farm to Table is that all ingredients are locally sourced within your community they are often fresh when they hit your table. Many restaurants have caught on to this recent trend and are trying to improve their Farm to Table culture.
2. Soil Association. Charity, England, Wales, Scotland. 2011. Web. http://www.soilassociation.org/whatisorganic/organicfood Soil Association talks about all things organic from organic farming, labels, culture and principles. I was particularly interested in there section on defining what the term organic is and what signifies a product from being organic or non organic.
3. Green Living Enterprise, Green Living Online, Benefits of Buying Local Food. 2014. Web. http://www.greenlivingonline.com/article/benefits-buying-local-food This article focuses on the benefits of buying local both for the consumers as well as the producers i.e. farmers, local retailers, etc. The article is broken down into 8 easy steps with sub categories of buying locally within your community.
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