MIA Magazine

A Representation and Reflection of Motivated Millennials Through an Editorial Perspective. “We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character” – Henry David Thoreau Whilst many generations have their own unique attributes and special characteristics that define their age bracket, the generation right now that is commercially and relevantly in demand is Generation Y, also known as the ‘Millennials’. The Millennial generation is understood to compromise of people roughly between the age of 21-32, and the term ‘Millennial’ certainly has some attributes that has been marketed into the world of content sharing, specifically magazines. For my media practice project, I chose to take advantage of Millennials, who are arguably the first “high-tech generation” and create a magazine dedicated to the motivated, intellectual, and pro-active Millennials looking for further inspiration and self development. Therefore, I named my magazine MIA, which abbreviates to Millennials in Action. I wanted to give a platform that opposes the often negative connotations associated with Millennials such as them being ‘entitled’ or ‘lazy’ or ‘selfie obsessed’ and focus on the good side such as the entrepreneurial, ambitious and resourceful side. Therefore, I only used articles and photographs of/from this category of Millennials. As my target audience is to an extent in the niche/independent magazine category, I was able to be explore more with the design, form and content, allowing for more creative freedom than the often constraint mainstream magazine that are less frivolous with their design and representation of people/beauty standards. In the development of my magazine, I was inspired by Millennials who take action in their day-to-day lives to better themselves and the world around them. My main focus for my magazine’s issue was on “befriending yourself and the planet”- as pointed out in my cover page’s cover line. This concept involved articles implementing self-love in daily life, social media and to be more conscious not only to yourself but the planet, thus the concept of conscious living. I looked at surrounding topics such as the Millennial involvement in climate change and had noticed that there was a trend on social media on the persisting effects of climate change. Moreover, to understand other surrounding discussion on Millennials, common characteristics suggest this age bracket as the “Generation Me” whereby there seems to be a narcissistic quality placed on said generation. There is a concern that Social Network Sites (SNS) may reinforce or create narcissistic tendencies as they offer a convenient outlet to display vanity, self-promote and may accumulate large numbers of superficial friendships and followers. Discussions on social media usage and connecting back with one’s self and the planet seemed to be a reoccurring topic surrounding academia and articles on Millennials. As the term Millennials are known to being steeped in digital technology and social media, the mobile gadgets become an extension, another body part. This inspired me to do a piece on social network connectivity. Consequently, a concern from the media and academics are placed on the addictive quality and ‘like-infused’ behaviour as a form self-validation, which acts as a “reward molecule”. Many mainstream gossip magazines such as Heat play on these insecurities of how to please followers through body image and often create a negative, highly edited and external approach to self-love. This is why it is important for platforms such as magazines to create an authentic type of self-love, coming from loving your mind, body and soul to motivate, rather than suppress young adults- which my magazine hopes to do for all genders. “Magazines not only reflect or are a product of the social reality of the times, but … they can also be a catalyst, shaping the social reality of their sociocultural moment” -Abrahansen I did the photoshoots below, designed it on Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, presenting in Adobe Indesign as a Magazine. See below the various articles I researched, interviewed and wrote, whilst some photographs were sourced. It was a solo project but I could not have done it without the people who helped me in taking part of the content as credited throughout the magazine. Enjoy. :) -Aana D'silva