Media NEA 2026
Chosen Brief: Health Magazine
Mood boards (Initial Ideas):
Final Mood board:
I moved away from doing only hair-care to more broadly focused on multiple aspects of health. As I was creating my mood board(s), I realised I wanted my editions to be more broad. I kept my initial ideas of creating an magazine centered around health for women, specifically women of colour from Black and Asian backgrounds. From this, I was able to generate ideas about how I wanted my front cover(s) to look, as well as the subsequent content pages and website.
In terms of digital convergence and the call to action, I found that health magazines try to engage their audience with campaigns, which I hope to refer to in my magazine and website.
For intertextuality, I hope to reference popular TV shows (
Friends, Big Bang Theory, Moesha) and songs (
Bad Habit by Steve Lacy + Piece of Me by Britney Spears), which would be familiar with the age range of my audience. In referencing Moesha, the Black demographic of my audience would be knowledgeable about the show, and if not would recognise the hairstyle
Moesha Braids, named after Brandy's role as Moesha.
- First edition idea: Focus on fitness and nutrition
- Second edition idea: Focus on hair-care and skin-care (essentially beauty and health)
Industrial Context:
How do they finance, distribute and exchange products?
How do audiences access them?
Hearst Magazines:
Codes & Conventions:
Audience Research:
Audience according to the brief: 16 to 25 year old middle and up market, who like to be engaged.
Audience profile:
Focus Group Results: (Primary audience (16-20 aged women)
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| Here, I wanted to see which aspects my audience regularly engage with so it could be featured in the homepage of my website, but also within the sell lines and articles (of the contents page) of the magazine. As expected, my demographic actively engages with wellness content (e.g. mental health) and beauty content. |
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| Here, I found that my target demographic would like to engage with more fitness and nutrition content. From this, I found that I would like to focus one edition on wellbeing and beauty, and the other on fitness and nutrition. These topics also tend to go hand in hand, and so would make a cohesive front cover. The difference in results from the first question and the second, shows me that my audience fits that of the brief - young people who would like to be engaged. |
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| Again, there is a range of content that the audience would like to be featured. I would like to represent all on my website and across my front cover editions. The interest in beauty made me consider who I wanted for my models - similarly aged women who wear their natural hair out (as that is often stigmatised in Black and Asian communities) and would also understand skincare struggles, especially since the health industry often represents white models and doesn't cater to Black and especially South Asian audiences. |
Generic Research:
Genre Conventions:
- Partially covered masthead
- Serif font for their typography (especially in more recent covers)
- Minimal colours, limited colour scheme
- Use of celebrities with the main cover line focused on them
- Coverlines focused on a variety of topics (fitness, nutrition, mental health etc)
- Aspirational language in coverlines
how and why intertexuality is employed:
Media Language & Representations:
