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Whagazine

Layout | Art Direction | Illustration

WHAT IS A WHAGAZINE?

Whagazine is a visually exciting and engaging print magazine for resilient little explorers and their exhausted parents. One monthly issued magazine answers about one hundred of the most common children's questions: "why the Earth is round?" to "why this man is bold?" Each article begins with the central question and dives deep into the topic, giving all possible clarifications and inviting to a discussion. We, as parents, are tired of billions of queries but still aim to elevate curious and empathetic human beings. Whagazine is our little helper in this mission.

One WHagazine issue answers about one hundred (out of one billion) of children’s questions.
These are the answers on questions that require a profound knowledge of subject, “difficult” questions (about death, emotions, war) or “frustrating” ones (why is this car red? where does this man go?).
These are not one sentence “leave me alone” answers but captivating stories, embracing the potential adjacent questions, leading to conclusions and discussions, introducing a solid research structure.  
The last page contains an idea on how to “recycle” this issue (who needs more old magazines at their home?): a collage or a paper boats/planes instructions.

DELIVERABLES

48 pages magazine
Promotional materials

PROBLEM TO SOLVE

Children's magazines are underrepresented in the print press market. There are quite a few great examples of science and DIY magazines. Most of them are suitable for readers as young as 4-6 years, which means that parents or/and elder siblings (or/and any other elder relatives) are helping children in this cognitive experience. Younger children have a shorter attention span; however, the task often determines this. How might we create a magazine offering a more concise knowledge bringing format, engaging and inciting curiosity and aesthetically pleasing for both children and grown-ups?

SOLUTION

Whagazine contains articles structured as answers to children's questions. These articles begin with the central question and continue with the follow-up explanations so the little ones have a holistic understanding of the topic (and don't have any questions left). This pattern also allows the reader to stop at a logical moment of the narrative when the focus is gone.
Whagazine's layout replicates one of the grown-ups magazines. It makes it more attractive for parents and children (who always want to be more like adults).

TIMEFRAME

12 weeks

TEAM

Solo project

ROLE

Layout
Content strategy
Art direction
Illustration

TOOLS

InDesign
Procreate
Illustrator
Photoshop

WHO IS A READER?

Whagazine's prime audience is children, from "I can talk" to "I can find an answer myself in Wikipedia" (2-10 years). Parents or siblings accompany the younger readers; growing up, they can read an issue themselves. Whagazine can be a source of knowledge or just fun pictures and a family time activity.

Eleanor, 42
Stamford, CT
Interior designer
Eleanor has a 5 years old daughter Marie. She spends all her spare time with the child and the activities this time is filled with are extremely important for Eleanor. Marie is not allowed to watch video content yet. Mother and daughter are reading a lot, playing board games, assembling Lego and puzzles. Marie is a very curious child, she asks a lot of questions about everything around her. Often Eleanor has no answers for them and needs to make a research.
Sandra, 26
Charles City, AI
Housewife
Sandra is a mother of two. Her elder daughter Alice is 4, and her little one is just 5 months old. She needs to spend a lot of time with the baby. Alice often feels jealous and demands mom’s attention. Sandra is very exact and careful with her time. She finds some time every day to spend with her elder daughter, it should be a quality time for both of them. Alice is a really smart and curious girl, they read a lot together.
Ethan, 38
Seattle, WA
Project Manager
Ethan has two children: a 3,5 years old boy and a 6 years old girl. His wife used to take most of the care of the children, Ethan mostly enjoyed some outside evenings with them. During COVID he started to work from home, and his wife came back to work. Ethan has to spend more time with kids to help his wife.Sometimes he feels really frustrated. He wants to share more wisdom with his kids, tell them something useful and interesting, teach them, but doesn’t really know where to start.

WHY WHAGAZINE?

Whagazine's content is accessible and playful; it considers the psycho-emotional qualities and abilities of younger kids. Whagazine's visual solutions are engaging and pleasing for readers of all ages. The issue contains more than 100 hand-drawn illustrations.

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