GR 604 Student Project YM — The Visual Strategy Guide

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

WELCOME!

YM delivers guidance and inspiration for teen girls as they navigate the journey of womanhood. Instead of filling our publication with content like the YM of the past, which mainly revolved around dating advice and beauty tips, we instead are re-branding ourselves to inform, educate and empower young women through action, education and service.

Welcome to YM!

We are very excited to present to you our new identity! Inside these pages you will find all of the components that went into redefining us as a company.

It is our hope that you enjoy looking through this manual as much as we enjoyed creating it!

Fondly,

The YM Team

OUR HISTORY AND BRAND DESCRIPTION

BRAND DESCRIPTION

YM delivers guidance and inspiration for teen girls as they navigate the journey of womanhood. This publication offers everything from fashion spreads, make-up trends and advice columns. YM’s main mission is to empower teens to have a voice in issues we face as a society, and effect change in our world.

HISTORY

The magazine was published for 72 years. It was the oldest girls’ magazine in the United States. YM got its start as two magazines in the 1930s— Compact, which was aimed at older teens, and Calling All Girls, which was intended for younger girls and pioneered the signature embarrassing-moments column, “Say Anything”. By the late 1960s, the publications merged into Young Miss, a small digest-sized mag. The 1980s saw a change in size to a regular magazine on glossy print (similar to Teen) designed by Mark Borden. Several years later, still another title change (this time to Young & Modern) under Bonnie Fuller’s direction as editor-in-chief. The final title change came in 2000 (this time to Your Magazine), though the abbreviation “YM” was the title by which it was commonly referred. In early 2002, then editor-inchief Christina Kelly announced that the magazine would no longer run articles about dieting. YM ceased publication in 2004, with the December–January issue. Subscribers received Teen Vogue subscriptions in replacement.

ABOVE: Compact Magazine cover from October, 1954 BELOW: Calling All Girls cover from September, 1961

YM empowers, educates and informs young women, enabling them to lead impactful lives.

TIME LINE

YM got its start as two magazines in the 1930s— Compact, which was aimed at older teens, and Calling All Girls, which was intended for younger girls

A January issue of Calling All Girls.

1930 1960 1940

By the late 1960s, the publications merged into Young Miss, a small digest-sized mag.

1980

The 1980s saw a change in size to a regular magazine on glossy print (similar to Teen) designed by Mark Borden.

2004

YM ceased publication in 2004,with the December–January issue. Subscribers received Teen Vogue subscriptions in replacement.

The final title change came in 2000 (this time to Your Magazine), though the abbreviation “YM” was the title.

YM re-branded their magazine and became You Matter.

2000 NOW

BRAND COMPETITION

Brand competition is a way of evaluating YM compared to other companies selling similar products or services in the market. The following pages contain YM’s current, adjacent and future competitors.

BRAND VISUALIZATION 02

CURRENT COMPETITORS

Current competitors are important to YM because it allows them to see what is currently on the market, enabling YM to provide services and content that is better than the competition.

Teen Vogue is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to Vogue, targeted at teenagers. Like Vogue, it included stories about fashion and celebrities

Twist is an online teen-focused website and was a monthly print teen magazine. The website is owned by, and the print magazine was published, by Bauer Publishing, the United States division of the German firm Bauer Verlagsgruppe. The first issue was released in 1997.

Girls’ Life is an American teen magazine. It was launched in 1994 by Monarch Services. It was later purchased by Karen Bokram under the Girls’ Life Acquisition Corporation. The magazine is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.

People is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, People had the largest audience of any American magazine, but it fell to second place in 2018 after its readership significantly declined to 35.9 million.

Vanity Teen is an independent biannual fashion magazine based in New York, United States and London, United Kingdom, edited by Toni Pérez and Luis Alonso Murillo. It features young artists’ work of new models from agencies around the world. Vanity Teen videos have also gained fashion media attention and have reached over one million views on YouTube.

Vogue is an American monthly fashion and lifestyle magazine that covers many topics, including haute couture fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. Based at One World Trade Center in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, Vogue began as a weekly newspaper in 1892 before becoming a monthly magazine years later.

Allure is an American women’s magazine focused on beauty, published monthly by Condé Nast in New York City. It was founded in 1991 by Linda Wells. Michelle Lee replaced Wells in 2015. A signature of the magazine is its annual Best of Beauty awards—accolades given in the October issue to beauty products deemed the best by Allure’s staff.

Cosmopolitan is an American monthly fashion and entertainment magazine for women, first published based in New York City in March 1886 as a family magazine; it was later transformed into a literary magazine and, since 1965, has become a women’s magazine.

Vanity Fair is a monthly tabloid magazine of popular culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast in the United States. The first version of Vanity Fair was published from 1913 to 1936. The imprint was revived in 1983 and currently includes five international editions of the magazine.

Vanity Teen is an independent biannual fashion magazine based in New York, United States and London, United Kingdom, edited by Toni Pérez and Luis Alonso Murillo. It features young artists’ work of new models from agencies around the world. Vanity Teen videos have also gained fashion media attention aand have reached over one million views on YouTube.

ADJACENT COMPETITORS

Adjacent competition is important because although they may not be pushing the same selling-points as YM, they do offer similar characteristics through there products and services that could be seen as competition.

HBO is the oldest and longest continuously operating subscription television service in the United States. HBO pioneered modern pay television upon its launch on November 8, 1972: it was the first television service to be directly transmitted and distributed to individual cable television systems, and was the conceptual blueprint for the “premium channel,” pay television services sold to subscribers for an extra monthly fee.

Hulu is an American subscription streaming service majorityowned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast’s NBC Universal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series like 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Disney Television Studios, ABC, Freeform, and FX Networks among others.

Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a film and television series library through distribution deals as well as its own productions, known as Netflix Originals.

Amazon Prime Video or simply Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon’s Prime subscription. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced by Amazon Studios and MGM Holdings or licensed to Amazon.

Showtime Networks Inc. is an American entertainment company that oversees the company’s premium cable television channels, including its flagship service Showtime. It is a subsidiary of media conglomerate Paramount Global under its networks unit.

Claire’s an American retailer of accessories, jewelry, and toys primarily aimed toward tween and teen girls. It was founded in 1961 and is based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The company is primarily owned by Elliott Management and Monarch Alternative Capital, but in 2022 announced plans to go public with an initial public offering.

Tampax is a brand of tampon currently owned by Procter & Gamble. It was based in White Plains, New York, US until its sale to Procter & Gamble in 1997. It is a subsidiary of P&G’s Always brand and is sold in over 100 countries. The product was designed by Earle Haas, who filed a patent in the 1930s.

H & M (Hennes & Mauritz) AB or H&M Group (abbreviated H&M) is a multinational clothing company based in Sweden. Its focus is fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers, and children.

As of 2021, H&M Group operates in 75 geographical markets with 4,702 stores under the various company brands, with 107,375 full-time equivalent positions.

Victoria’s Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with super models dubbed Angels.

Sephora is a French multinational retailer of personal care and beauty products. Featuring nearly 340 brands,along with its own private label, Sephora Collection, Sephora offers beauty products including cosmetics, skin care, body, fragrance, nail color, beauty tools, body lotions and hair care.

FUTURE COMPETITORS

Future competitors are what YM strives to become as a brand. YM looks to this competition in high regards, and aspires to carry out similar facets of their branding.

Write Girl is a Los Angeles-based project of Community Partners, founded by Keren Taylor in 2001. Taylor was recognized by CNN as a “CNN Hero” in 2021. The organization’s focus is connecting professional women writers in Los Angeles, CA with under served teenage girls who might not otherwise have access to creative writing or mentoring programs.

Girls Who Code is a nonprofit organization that aims to support and increase the number of women in computer science by equipping young women with the necessary computing skills to pursue 21st-century opportunities. The organization works toward closing the gender employment difference in computing and changing the image of what a programmer looks like.

Girl Scouts prepares girls to empower themselves and promotes compassion, courage, confidence, character, leadership, entrepreneurship, and active citizenship through activities involving camping, community service, learning first aid, and earning badges by acquiring practical skills.

She’s the First (STF) is a non-profit organization, headquartered in New York City, that fights gender inequality through education. The organization’s stated mission is “a world where every girl chooses her own future.”

Girls For A Change (GFC) is a US 501(c)3 organization based in San Jose, California, that seeks to empower girls[1] and young women by inviting them to design, lead, fund and implement social change projects that tackle issues girls face in their own neighborhoods.

Key Club International, also called Key Club, is an international service organization for high school students. As a student-led organization, Key Club’s goal is to encourage leadership through serving others.

The mission statement of Habitat for Humanity is “Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope”. Homes are built using volunteer labor and Habitat makes no profit on the sales.

The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as The American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing animal cruelty. Based in New York City since its inception in 1866, the organization’s mission is “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States.”

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations.

PRESENT BRANDING ym

YOUNG & MODERN

The original title was an acronym for Young Miss, but it was revamped as Young & Modern under Bonnie Fuller in the 1980’s

YOUR MAGAZINE

What was once called, Young & Modern changed names for the final time in the 2000s. The last title that YM was ever published under was Your Magazine in the late 2000s.

FUTURE BRANDING

THE FUTURE OF YM

YM will change it’s slogan to “You Matter” which is the soul of the company. YM will strive to provide information in the form of articles, images, podcasts, etc. to encourage all female teens to strive to achieve and be their best.

YM will provide healthy recipes, volunteering opportunities, tips on how to live a more sustainable life to preserve the environment, explore different interests and hobbies, showcase different cultures and focus on female empowerment.

Researching visual systems of other brands will inspire YM to create a strong identity. The following Personas identify fictitious people who relate to the selected brand. Not all profiles are on target; some are created for the purpose of understanding how to make uninterested parties connected. By creating Personas, the designer has a better understanding of their intended market.

PERSONAS 03

BIG BROTHER Jameek

Murray ride - share driver FOLY, ALABAMA

27

a | Standing up for myself and others b | Looking to make positive changes for myself or others in the future. c | Finding resources and opportunities to change future outcomes for myself and others.

AUDIENCE TRAITS

a | Jameek spends a lot of time writing music because he is an aspiring rapper.

a | Jameek’s 15 year-old sister, Kymani, is his biggest fan. Jameek always shows her his latest lyrics because she often provides helpful feedback.

a | Jameek wants to positively impact Kymani’s journey into adolescence because he never had someone to help guide him.

b | Jameek has recently noticed that Kymani has had issues with bullying at school because she often comes home crying.

b | Jameek has tried speaking to her about this, but he is having issues with her opening up to him because Kymani tells him that he cannot relate to what she is experiencing.

c | Jameek does not know the best way to approach this situation, and is therefore looking to find something he can educate himself on about this matter.

c | Jameek is in the market for something he can listen to while on the road, like a podcast, because he spends most of his time driving.

MISS MAKE-UP Aashvi

Khatri make - up artist LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 39

a | Looking out for myself and others.

b | Looking to make positive changes for myself or others in the future.

c | Finding resources and opportunities to change future outcomes for myself and others.

AUDIENCE TRAITS

a | Aashvi remembers her mother never leaving the house without a full face of make-up, when she was growing up.

a | Aashvi is currently working as a make-up artist on movie sets because she was inspired by her mother to always look her best, and help others achieve the same.

b | Aashvi follows many make-up blogs because she wants to keep abreast on the latest trends.

b | Aashvi, who is very close to Jia her 18-year old niece, enjoys talking to her about different make-up brands.

b | Aashvi is thinking of starting her own YouTube channel because she believes she could offer great make-up tutorials.

c | Aashvi knows that Jia reads a lot of online articles about make-up.

c | Aashvi knows that Jia makes Tik-Tok videos online about make-up.

WIDOWER

Sam Livingston construction worker MISSOULA, MONTANA

43

a | Looking out for myself and others.

b

c

| Looking to make positive changes for myself or others in the future.

| Finding resources and opportunities to change future outcomes for myself and others.

AUDIENCE TRAITS

a | Sam does not have a lot of time to devote to his daughter after work each day.

a | Sam has been struggling to raise his teenage daughter because of the recent loss of his wife.

a | Sam is worried because he does not know the first thing about raising a 13-year-old teenager.

b | Because Sam works 12 hour days in construction, he is exhausted when he gets home.

b | Sam often seeks advice from his sister on teenage girl adolescence because he is unable to relate .

c | Sam is looking for sources other than his sister to help with the emotions of a teenage girl because he is clueless.

c | Sam is looking for positive outlets of expression for his teen daughter.

CLASS PRESIDENT Sheu-fuh Huang

high school freshman FOLLY BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA

14

a

b

c

| Looking out for myself and others.

| Looking to make positive changes for myself or others in the future.

| Finding resources and opportunities to change future outcomes for myself and others.

AUDIENCE TRAITS

a | Sheu-fuh is a volunteer at a local soup kitchen because she believes in giving back to her community.

a | Sheu-fuh donates to her local ASPCA because she doesn’t want to see innocent animals to be put down due to over-population.

a | Sheu-fuh spends her weekends at her grandparents because she likes to hear about stories of their past, and the historical events they experienced.

b | Sheu-fuh ran for Class President because she cares about the issues that affect her school climate.

b | Sheu-fuh created a Current Events club after school because she thinks that teens should become more aware of the happenings in the world.

c | Sheu-fuh wants to find more resources on current events.

c | Sheu-fuh is looking for national teen volunteer groups to subscribe to.

GAMER

Jake Shooster high school freshman VOORHEES, NEW JERSEY

14

a

| Looking out for myself and others.

b | Looking to make positive changes for myself or others in the future.

c | Finding resources and opportunities to change future outcomes for myself and others.

AUDIENCE TRAITS

a | Jake wants to be a Gamer because he loves playing video games.

a | Jake follows many blogs about gaming because he is interested in creating his own video game some day.

a | Jake just got a new computer so he can get better at coding.

b | Jake thinks playing outside with friends is overrated, because he feels that the online virtual world is more fun.

b | Jake has a younger sister who is all into make-up blogs which Jake thinks is silly, so he rarely spends time with her.

c | Jake subscribes to many gaming magazines because he is always looking to connect with other Gamers.

c | Jake is going to Las Vegas next month for a gaming competition because if he wins, he will receive a chance at a gaming sponsorship.

TRAVEL BLOGGER

Domari Hudson B logger

DREXEL HILL, PENNSYLVANIA

23

a

| Looking out for myself and others.

b | Looking to make positive changes for myself or others in the future.

c | Finding resources and opportunities to change future outcomes for myself and others.

AUDIENCE TRAITS

a | Domari has no siblings, so she is used to being on her own.

a | Domari spent a lot of time as a child on travel forums because she had no brothers or sisters to play with, and always loved learning about other cultures..

a | Domari started a travel blog a few years ago because she wanted to share her experiences with others.

b | Because Domari has so many subscribers, she was able to make enough money to buy an old van.

b | Domari is looking for more content for her blog, so she decided to travel across the US in her van.

b | Domari isn’t sure that she wants to continue being a blogger forever because she wants to settle down with her boyfriend in a few years.

c | Domari loves looking through her travel magazines because often she discovers new places to visit.

c | Domari believes in sustainabilty, so anything that is considered high fashion or is a beauty product is something she stays clear of.

SOURCES

1 | https://www.buzzfeed.com/leonoraepstein/39-reasons-ym-was-the-bestteen-magazine

2 | https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/serial?id=callingallgirls

3 | https://the-avocado.org/2018/06/15/lets-read-ym-april-1997/

4 | https://fashiongrunge.com/2012/04/throwback-thursday-teen-magazines/

5 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YM_(magazine)