My media studies class and I have been planning the content for our double-page spread, applying our knowledge from previous assignments—such as target audience, representation, and researching double-page spreads of well-known magazines in our genre. Reflecting on our ideas before shooting our project(s) is crucial to ensure we are prepared and create our best work for our article. All of the images in this post are from Google.
Overview of My Double-Page Spread:
As I've been planning for the layout of my double-page spread, I've also been researching more on layouts of well-known Cooking/Baking magazines. This Cook's Country magazine caught my eye in terms of my layout ideas. It is filled with pictures, making the Tarte Tatin recipe easier for readers to follow.
My double-page spread will feature three Oreo cheesecake recipes: a standard, a vegan, and a no-bake recipe. My standard Oreo cheesecake recipe will be specific, with plenty of visuals and step-by-step instructions to easily guide amateurs through this process and ensure their bake is successful (no matter their level of expertise). I will include a vegan recipe alongside the standard Oreo cheesecake recipe to satisfy the dietary restrictions and allergies my target audience may have. In other words, it will ensure my target audience can enjoy the recipe without the inconvenience and unknown of substituting ingredients. Especially as society is leaning more towards veganism, I was even more inclined to feature a vegan cheesecake recipe; it may increase the number of people interested in my magazine. As I want the recipes in my magazine to be as convenient for my target audience as possible, I also feel it is best to feature a no-bake recipe to accommodate people’s busy lifestyle; in the target audience questionnaire that my family, friends, and classmates filled out a few weeks ago, I learned that more than ⅗ of my respondents didn’t have much downtime.
Reaching My Target Audience:
I plan on reaching my target audience through specific word choice, content mixed with images/visuals, step-by-step recipe instructions, and tips from an experienced baker. In particular, word choice is helpful when targeting one’s audience since it can provoke specific connotations, meanings, and emotions (pathos). As such, I can appeal to them by advertising that one can create spectacular-looking homemade baked goods that are easy to follow—even for non-professionals and challenging recipes. I can further appeal to my target audience through credibility (ethos); via an interview with a baker from a local bakery, they can share their insights from their expertise on baking the perfect cheesecake (considering they own a bakery that solely sells cheesecake products).
Next Step Before Interviewing Nadia:
I have already emailed Nadia Decius, the founder of Sweet Delight Cheesecakes, permission to photograph at her bakery; the next step would be to plan my interview with her. In doing so, I must create detailed questions that I will feature with Nadia’s responses in my double-page spread, one of the various ways I aim to reach my target audience. I will ask her more than I may need to ensure I am prepared to write my article. The following are my interview questions:
What are your go-to techniques for a successful homemade cheesecake?
What ingredients/tools do you find crucial when baking cheesecake?
Do you recommend sifting your dry ingredients?
Do you think convection ovens make a difference in an even bake?
What helps you determine if a cheesecake is cooked enough to remove it from the oven?
How do you prevent the top of your cheesecake from cracking?
How did you become the experienced baker you are today?
From your experience, do you have any advice for amateur bakers attempting to make homemade cheesecake?
Incorporating Representation:
What was once a hobby of hers, Nadia Decius is now a successful baker who opened a cheesecake-themed bakery in Florida. In my interview, I plan to ask her how she became the experienced baker she is today and if she has advice for amateur bakers. I can incorporate this information in my article to represent those learning to bake, considering she can share her experience that relates to other amateur bakers. My magazine article will further represent less experienced bakers that wish to create impressive baked goods with explicit and image-filled content.
Planning for my double-page spread was helpful as it influenced me to condense my ideas of my target audience and determine the most effective ways to include representation. It also influenced me to consider the interview questions I would like to ask Nadia Decius, making me more prepared for if/when she responds to my permission email. Now that I have more specific ideas about the content of my double-page spread and how I will include representation of my target audience, I will start to plan the layout and design of my article; as I mentioned above, I want my magazine article to have a mix of both content and images to make my recipes simpler for bakers.
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