Magazine for parents of kids on the spectrum.

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For my Media A-Level I have to create a magazine, I decided to create one for parents of kids on the spectrum.
Here is my first draft.
http://i587.photobucket.com/albums/ss31 ... ective.jpg

Any criticisms or ideas about what you would want in such a magazine is very welcome.
Also if you could please anwser the following questions?

Do you read any of the magazines that are already on the market such as The Autism File and The Autism Perspective?
If you do, what do you like and dislike about these magazines?
How much would you pay for such a magazine?

I am not a parent, though I would suggest a section analysing the latest research might be useful. Also I should point out, there is already such a magazine (spotted it a while back in a newsagent)

When I was young I got Cat Fancy magazine because my obsession was cats. I imagine most kids would be more interested in their obsession than autism in general.

Mage - I think that the magazine is actually geared to the PARENTS of kids who are on the spectrum, not really for the kids themselves.


I know that I'd love a magazine like that, what I find difficult about the two examples that were given is that my son, while on the spectrum - has HFA, not low-functioning autism - and all of the magazines and clubs, support groups, etc. that are out there seem to really focus on that section of the spectrum. I'd love one that specializes and focuses on high functioning kids. What I really need is wrong planet in magazine form.

As far as how much I'd pay - I think that it depends on how many pages are in the magazine, and how much of it is taken up with ads, versus real content. If it's a good magazine with lots of content, I'd probably be willing to pay $5-7.00 US for it.

I really liked the draft you did. A couple of things I might change:

The red background with the yellow print can be tough to read on a computer screen - you might change the background (blue is good for magazine covers) just to make it softer on the eyes.

The pictures that you have on the cover don't fall into a rectangle so they look a little haphazard - and the print that you have going across the top of the picture falls both inside and outside of the picture. What I might suggest trying is rearranging the pictures a little bit so that they aren't together. In graphic design they teach you that when you're looking at a page, the eye naturally goes to the right top corner to begin with. You might try putting one of the pictures there, and another one at the opposite corner, or maybe one closer to the middle of the page instead. I don't know if that would help with the print, but you might try it and see if that helps the cover "flow" a little better.

Good luck!!

I guess I misunderstood, I thought it was meant for parents to buy for their kids on the spectrum. I still see enough articles in New Scientist every month that involve autism so I don't think I'd need any other news source.

There was one called "Spectrum'. I'm not sure though. It was just curbie drivel anyway.

I like the shape of your letters. I'm not bothered about everything being a bit of everything usually but because autism is seen so much as male, young, and white, I think you should consider adding a bit of diversity to the cover. Just an idea but on the BBC news website there is a clip about autistic models in Ghana, the attitude of the mother, I think, would also be of interest to your target audience. I tried to put in the link but it didn't work sorry.