Typography, Headlines and Infographics

solicited for contributions. Any courses that give students the opportu-

nity to express themselves are potential sources for the magazine.

One student editor sent an open letter to each teacher in the school

asking for the submission of any work the teacher felt was worth pub-

lishing. “What is Coyote material?” he asked in the letter, referring to the

name of the magazine. “Obviously, it’s well written. Secondly, it is acces-

sible to the general community. Most importantly, it takes a different

perspective on things than is usual or may simply be about an unusual

topic. It might just be unusually insightful. It does not have to be satiric

or even faintly amusing. Our interest is to let the unique voices of our

school community speak in their own ways.”

You might seek material from clubs or students who work on other

campus publications. You might also provide a submissions box, where

students can discreetly drop off their work. You may wish to protect an

individual author’s identity, but you shouldn’t accept anonymous work.

If you accept anonymous work, you have no way to know if the author

was a student or not. Periodic contests to encourage writers to contribute

to the magazine can help sometimes, too.

Magazine staff members should be keenly aware of the need for variety

and should be systematic about making the most of their school’s poten-

tial. The staff should brainstorm ways to make the magazine represent all

kinds of talent in the student community. They might ask themselves

whether the magazine is a place for all kinds of voices to be heard.

(^420) MIXED MEDIA
Your Beat

1. Imagine you are going to approach a publishing
   company with an idea for a new magazine. What
   would the magazine be called? What would some of
   its articles be? Who would be the intended readers?
   Here are a few examples to get you thinking:
   
   
   • Cue (a magazine for people interested in theater)
   
   
   • Women in Sports
   
   
   • Adventure(great places to visit and things to do)
   
   
   • Movement(the world of dance)
   
   
   • The Love Connection (advice for singles)
   
   
   • Elite Eating (the magazine for the modern chef)
   
   
   
   


2. Give an oral report on your favorite magazine.
   Plan to cover these topics:
   
   
   • An analysis of its primary purpose and target
     audience
   
   
   • A brief discussion of its history
   
   
   • Some of the competitors in its particular niche.
     (Writers’ Market, a resource published annually
     that describes virtually every magazine and
   
   
   
   

journal published in the United States, gives this

information.)

• Any trends you can spot by looking back over the
  past year’s issues


• What a young writer or designer can learn from
  this magazine.

3. Test your knowledge of the magazine market. Work
   in small groups, and see which group can think of
   the most magazine titles. List as many magazines
   as you can under each of the following categories:

• News magazine


• Consumer magazine


• Literary and creative arts


• Business magazine


• Men’s magazine


• Women’s magazine


• Technical magazine


• Medical magazine


• Special interest magazine