Planning powerpoint for my magazine

1. MAGAZINE PLANNING
POWERPOINT
By Dia Aziz

2. Initial ideas plan
■ Some graphic elements I will include are a main image, additional images, masthead, main coverline, additional coverlines, colour scheme,
barcode/dateline/price, font types/text, skyline/strapline, bottom strip, flash, feature article and etc.
■ The name of my magazine (masthead) will be “Current Eye”. I came up with this because it is a sharp, simple and easily but rememberable.
■ The main feature (main coverline) in my magazine will be Covid19 (the Coronavirus), this is because it is the most relevant current affair going on in the
world right now and will be for the whole of 2020.The main coverline for my magazine will be something along the lines of “don’t buy more than you need”,
because during the current Coronavirus outbreak, people are stock piling food and other necessities, meaning shelves are left empty for people like the
elderly, who are more vulnerable and so we should take consideration how much we buy.
■ Other features (coverlines) I will include in my magazine could be about how Covid19 is affecting different interests, like business, education, sports and etc,
and different locations across the world.
■ My main image may be a photo of an elderly person looking out at empty shelves in a supermarket.This will link to my main feature/coverline and will also
be a simple, yet effective and heat-breaking image. Other images I will include could be a photo of a location in the UK that is usually very busy but is now
empty due to the Covid19 outbreak, a photo of a student wearing a mask because of how the outbreak affected students’ education and etc. (4 original
images in each magazine edition)
■ Codes and conventions of current affairs magazines.The genre of my magazine is current affairs.The codes is a system of symbols used to represent
something. In graphic language, these codes usually operate at a symbolic level of representation.The codes of this genre include having colours that
represent and appeal to your target audience, to choosing the right font type (serif or sans serif) to connote either a traditional or more modern concept of
your magazine. The conventions is the repetition of normative values; a set of common characteristics that define a genre.The conventions of this genre
include having the main image take up the whole front cover, making the masthead be the biggest text in the cover, placing the barcode at the bottom of
the cover and etc. I will use these codes and conventions to appeal to my target audience’s interests and fulfil their expectations by.
■ Composition of my contents page: I will place my text in columns, so it will be easy and clear for when reading and I will also place images of a smaller size
to do with the contents, on the sides of the contents page so it will allow the audience to see envision the contents in their minds.
■ Use of colours: I will use the two main colours in my main image, along with black or white as my colour scheme. I will also be using these for my texts;
title/headline. When doing this, I will keep in mind to make the colours I use represent my chosen current affair (the Covid19 outbreak) and target audience.

3. Primary target audience
The primary target audience of my magazine, in terms of demographic, socio-economic and psychographic profiling:
Demographic profiling Categorises audiences based on things like gender, age, race, interests, geo-demographics and etc.
■ Gender – Male and female
■ Age – 16-25
■ Race – All
■ Interests – Current affairs
■ Geo-demographics – UK, USA, English speaking countries
Socio-economic profiling Categorises audiences in terms of their occupation and income.
■ Groups A-C1 –Those that range from very well paid professionals such as bankers, lawyers and doctors, to white collar worker, such as
nurses, bank clerks, office supervisors and etc. As those in these groups would be more likely to have an interest in a current affair
magazine, than those in groups C2 and below.
Psychographic profiling Categorises audiences in terms of their personal aspirations, needs and desires.
■ Individualists –I believe people like this would ready my magazine, as they are a socially conscious group who would be interested in global
news and current affairs.
Overall, the primary target audience for my magazine would be socially-conscious 16-25 year old males and females, from all races who are
interested in current affairs and are from English speaking countries because all the writing in my magazine will be in English.Also anyone from
the socio-economic groups of A-C1, who would consider themselves as archetypical individualists.

4. Secondary target audience
The secondary target audience of my magazine, in terms of demographic, socio-economic and psychographic profiling:
Demographic profiling Categorises audiences based on things like gender, age, race, interests, geo-demographics and etc.
■ Gender – Male and female
■ Age – +25
■ Race – All
■ Interests – Global news
■ Geo-demographics – UK, USA, English speaking countries
Socio-economic profiling Categorises audiences in terms of their occupation and income.
■ Group E – Some in this group would read a current affairs magazine, such as pensioners, however, I believe some others in this group, such
as unemployed, students, casual worker and etc would not.
Psychographic profiling Categorises audiences in terms of their personal aspirations, needs and desires.
■ Succeeders – People who feel secure and in control, generally in positions of power. People like this could also read my magazine as I believe
they would be interested in reading about current affairs/global news due to their high background.
■ Reformers –Those that have a caring and responsible ideology. People like this could also read my magazine as since the first edition of my
magazine may be about how Covid-19 is affecting those that are vulnerable, reformers may be interested in how they can help them.
Overall, the secondary target audience for my magazine would be +25 year old males and females, from all races who are interested in global
news since this will also be in my magazine alongside current affairs, who are from English speaking countries. Also since my magazine is about
Covid19, a huge global pandemic, anyone from the socio-economic group E, who would consider themselves as succeeders who care to educate
themselves or reformers who have a caring and responsible ideology, would have an interest in my current affairs magazine.

5. Date and price
The date and price of my magazine:
■ How much my magazine will cost (price):
Based off my research on other British current affair magazines, in which the prices of their magazines ranged from £1.00 to
£5.00. I will make the price of my magazine £3.00.
■ How often my magazine will be published (date):
Based off my research on other British current affair magazines. I will publish my magazine weekly.This is so that in every
weekly edition, it will cover the main current affairs and global news of that week.

6. Title, main coverline, additional coverlines
The title, main coverline and additional coverlines of my magazine:
■ The name of my magazine will be “Current Eye”. I came up with this because it is a sharp, simple and easily but
rememberable. It also conveys the particular genre of my magazine – current affairs, as it incorporates the word “current”
and the word “Eye” from my research of other British current affair magazines.
■ The main coverline (main feature) of my magazine will be “I can’t get anything I need”. This will be the main feature for
which I will write my article/interview. This quote will be from an elderly person who is vulnerable to Covid19 (the main
feature of my magazine) and is therefore unable to buy what they need due to younger people panic buying and stock
piling.
■ The additional coverlines of my magazine will be about how Covid19 is affecting different areas across the world and
different interests, such as business, education, sports and etc.The coverlines will be something along the lines of “no
prom, no shirt signing, no last day, no memories”, “Venice waters at its clearest in 60 years” and etc.

7. Contents page
How many sections my magazine will have:
■ My magazine will have 3 sections.Two for the written contents and the third section for images to do with the written contents.
All the contents I will include in each section of my magazine:
Section one:
General News
■ Education:
■ Science &Technology:
■ Politics:
■ Business:
■ Economics:
Section two:
International News
■ Asia:
■ North & SouthAmerica:
■ Australia:
■ Africa:
■ Antarctica:
Section three:
Pictures
My first section will contain news from different interests and how Covid19 has affected each of these. My second section will contain news from
across the world, in each continent around the world and how Covid19 has affected these places differently, for better or worse. Within my first
two sections, I have headings (news from different interests and news from across the world), within my headings I have 6 different subheadings
and within my subheadings I will have my mini contents.
Headings
Subheadings
Contents
Sections

8. 500Word proposal
The genre of my magazine is current affairs. My chosen current affair is Covid19 (the Coronavirus). My target audience will be
socially-conscious 16-25 year old males and females, from all races, who are interested in current affairs and are from English speaking
countries because all the writing in my magazine will be in English. Also anyone from the socio-economic groups of A-C1, who would
consider themselves as individualists. However, those above the age of 25 may also enjoy my magazine along with those interested in
global news since one of the sections of my contents page will be about how my current affair is affecting different locations across the
world. Also, some from the socio-economic group E, such as pensioners, who would may consider themselves as succeeders or
reformers.The name of my magazine will be “Current Eye”, as it conveys the particular genre of my magazine, while also keeping it
sharp, simple and easy, but rememberable.This will be my masthead. My main coverline will be “I can’t get anything I need”.This will
be the main feature for which I will write my article/interview. This quote will be from an elderly person who is vulnerable to the
Coronavirus and is therefore unable to buy what they need due to younger people panic buying and stock piling.The additional
coverlines of my magazine will be about how Covid19 is affecting different areas across the world, e.g. “Venice waters at its clearest in
60 years” and how it is affecting different interests, e.g. education, “no prom, no shirt signing, no last day, no memories”. My main
image will be of an elderly person looking out at empty shelves in a grocery store. Additional elements I will include are a skyline,
flash/puff/plug, barcode/dateline/price, bottom strip, and etc. My contents page will contain three sections, two of these sections will
be for writing and the third will be for photos to with my contents. My first section will contain news from different interests and how
Covid19 has affected each of these, for example, business, education and etc. My second section will contain news from across the
world, in each continent across the word and how Covid19 has affected each of these places differently, for better or worse. Within my
first two sections, I have headings (general news and international news) and within my headings I have subheadings (education,
science & technology, politics, business and economics, and Asia, North & South America, Australia, Africa and Antarctica), which
within these I will have my contents. Based off of my research on other British current affair magazines, in which the prices of their
magazines ranged from £1.00 to £5.00 per edition. I will make the price of my magazine £3.00 per edition. Also, based off of my
research on British current affair magazines, I will publish my magazine weekly.This is so that in every weekly edition, my magazine will
cover the main current affairs and global news of that week.

9. Statement of intent
■ I will equally represent different niche social groups in my current affairs magazine. My magazine’s sophistication will interest archetypical very well-paid
professionals and white-collar workers in groups A-C1. Because my magazine is about a huge global pandemic (Covid19), it’ll interest stereotypical individualists
and succeeders who care to educate themselves and reformers who have a caring/responsible ideology. My magazine interests socially-conscious men/women
aged 16+, as my contents are relevant to them. Education as a feature means the mode of address appeals to my young audience, sports (stereotypically appealing
male audiences), business (interesting a wide audience), etc.The design appeals to my audience by making it interesting to them while remaining sophisticated - a
sans serif font type is clear to read, but also modern-looking to represent my audience.This product relates to others produced by Dennis since I have some similar
contents. I’ll use semiotics through my main image to conventionally dominate the front cover with a medium-close up or close-up at conventionally an eye-level
angle as it’s always in direct address to the reader to break the fourth wall. Research impacted my planning decisions hugely when deciding what contents to
include, I researched the contents of three magazines and made a refined list to appeal to my target audience.When coming up with the date/price, I researched
into the same eight magazines to find out how much they charge/how often they publish, I then had a finalised average of £3.00 per weekly edition to inform on the
current affairs of the week.
■ Since the writing on my magazine’s website/online edition is in English, it’s suited to those from English-speaking countries. I will represent my archetypical groups
by the content my website displays that affects/interests them.All the information on my website is denoted through written information and images so the
ideology and genre of my magazine (current affairs) are lucid. Because my secondary target audience features a few from the socio-economic group E, like
pensioners, how Covid19 has affected them specifically is a main.The audience's expectations are to use my website and read my online edition that will inform
them on global current affairs affecting them, like how their interests have been affected by the pandemic. I will use media language to communicate meaning as
the name displayed on my website is “Current Eye”, since it connotes the appropriate genre of my magazine while keeping it sharp, simple, but memorable. I’ll use
semantics as cover lines about how Covid19 is affecting different interests to quickly inform my audience on what the magazine features. My research has
impacted my planning decisions hugely.This was the case for when I decided on my target audience. I researched into the magazines I’d been using in my research
and looked into the demographic, socio-economic and psychographic profiles of their audiences. I then had an idea of what age, gender, geo-demographics, etc to
appeal to - this helped me decide how I would design my website/online edition. By using eight magazines, my research is representative and valid.
■ By having an appropriate design that connotes sophistication and the contents informative, I’ll keep consistency throughout my products and create a brand that
attracts/represents my audience as it’s directed towards their ideology. My products work together to create meaning: some audiences like physically reading a
magazine, whereas others prefer digitally reading the online edition.The synergy of two platforms, means I’ll attract a wider audience that can get their
information through more than one format. I’ll use codes/conventions throughout my products to represent/attract my audience by having an appropriate colour
scheme; red/blue have semiotic meaning linking to politics.The main feature of Covid19 can be illustrated through an appropriate/effective main image, like an
elderly person looking at empty shelves in a store - educates the young audience on panic buying and the effects it has on the older community. Additional graphic
elements draw the attention of different audiences, like cover lines about the effects Covid19 has on different interests. I’ll also have a few sections to interest
different niche audiences and also feature global news.

10. Font type research – to choose the appropriate font types for my masthead
design
What is a masthead?
■ A masthead is the title and/or logo of the magazine and it identifies the brand. It is conventionally rather big and placed in the
same place; top of the magazine, because we read up to down. It is always written in a unique font design and colour to attract the
magazine’s target audience.The masthead is the magazines trademark.
What is a coverline?
■ A main coverline is the text that goes with the main image and further explains it.This is essential in a magazine, as it highlights
the main image but using words.The additional cover lines are normally a few words that flag up different issues, explaining what
is in the magazine. They are boldly coloured and in a large type size because they are designed to attract the readers attention
and make them look inside the magazine.
What is a font type?
There are two main categories of font types: Serif – easy to read and looks traditional. Widely used in long texts like books, articles in
newspapers/magazines and etc. Sans serif – strong, bold and clear, modern looking. Often used for titles and headings, widely used on
web designs. Italic is a sloping kind of typeface used to highlight or emphasise a text, associated with quoting, speeches and dialogs.
Bold is when the characters are thicker, darker and heavier than normal, used to highlight part of a text and widely used on headings.
Looking back at the different mastheads of the different current affair magazines I have been researching, five of them used a serif font
type for their masthead and three used a sans serif font type.This shows me that the serif font type is much more popular in today’s
current affair magazines and so this will help me when choosing what font type to use for my magazine. I believe there is multiple font
types because different magazines want to connote different things, for example, a traditional magazine such as ‘The Spectator’ would
use a serif font type because it connotes sophistication and class, whereas a more modern magazine such as ‘Private Eye’ may use a
sans serif font type because that is what it connotes.

11. Draft for first magazine cover
Individual elements of magazine front cover included:
1. Colour scheme – I decided to base my first magazine front cover on three colours; black, white and neon green. The colour
black is used as my magazines background colour to make all the writing on my magazine stand out. The colour white is used
for most of the writing on my magazine to stand out against the black background and the touch of green used in my border,
flash and additional writing is used as a code to represent Covid19.
2. Font types – I decided on two font types for my entire magazine cover. This includes ‘Ultra Condensed Sans Serif (original)
which is used for my masthead and ‘Eurostile’ which is used for my main coverline, additional coverlines and additional writing.
I chose to only use these two simple font types to make my front cover simplistic but sophisticated and straightforward.
3. Masthead – My masthead is my magazines name ‘Current Eye’. I decided to make this very large to conventionally take up a lot
of space.
4. Main image – The main image on my draft of the first cover is of a close up shot of an elderly man looking melancholy. I chose
to go with this shot and idea as my main image as it represent my main coverline quote of “I can’t get anything I need”, due to
panic buying. This also educates my young audience not to panic buy and the consequences their actions can have.
5. Additional coverlines – The additional coverlines I have included represent what the contents of my magazine include, but on
the front cover of my magazine so the reader can get a quick idea on what my magazine is about.
6. Additional photos – The additional images on my front cover are also used to represent my additional coverlines and therefore
what my magazine features. When designing my actual magazine cover, however, all the images will have been taken by me.
But for the purpose of planning, for now, all my images have been taken off the internet.
7. Flash – I included a flash to state that my magazine includes a free hand sanitiser to encourage people to buy my magazine. I
also made my flash the same neon green as my border to stand out for the consumer.
8. Skyline – The skyline I included on the top of my cover states what my magazine features – different interests such as sports
and education that has been affected by the Coronavirus disease.
9. Barcode – I conventionally placed the barcode on the bottom left hand side of my magazine front cover as it is practical for
when locating to purchase but also not in the way of other more important graphic elements.
10. Date/ price – The date of my magazine can be located at the top right of my magazine and the price of my magazine is also
conventionally placed on the bottom left corner next to the barcode along with the fact that this is a weekly edition.

12. Draft for second magazine cover
Individual elements of magazine front cover included:
1. Colour scheme – I decided to base my second magazine front cover on three colours; black, white and and a darker yellow. The
colour black is used as my magazines background colour to make all the writing on my magazine stand out. The colour white is
used for most of the writing on my magazine to stand out against the black background and the touch of yellow used in my
border, flash and additional writing is used as a code to link to Covid19.
2. Font types – I decided on two font types for my entire magazine cover. This includes ‘Ultra Condensed Sans Serif (original)
which is used for my masthead and ‘Eurostile’ which is used for my main coverline, additional coverlines and additional writing.
I chose to only use these two simple font types to make my front cover simplistic but sophisticated and straightforward.
3. Masthead – My masthead is my magazines name ‘Current Eye’. I decided to make this very large to conventionally take up a lot
of space.
4. Main image – The main image on my draft of the first cover is of a long shot of one person standing in an empty town. I chose
to go with this shot and idea as my main image as it represent my main coverline quote of “Ghost town”, due to people fearing
to go outside due to the virus.
5. Additional coverlines – The additional coverlines I have included represent what the contents of my magazine include, but on
the front cover of my magazine so the reader can get a quick idea on what my magazine is about.
6. Additional photos – The additional images on my front cover are also used to represent my additional coverlines and therefore
what my magazine features. When designing my actual magazine cover, however, all the images will have been taken by me.
But for the purpose of planning, for now, all my images have been taken off the internet.
7. Flash – I included a flash to state that my magazine includes a mask to encourage people to buy my magazine. I also made my
flash the same yellow colour as my border to stand out for the consumer.
8. Skyline – The skyline I included on the top of my cover is used to state additional information that my magazine includes.
9. Barcode – I conventionally placed the barcode on the bottom left hand side of my magazine front cover as it is practical for
when locating to purchase but also not in the way of other more important graphic elements.
10. Date/ price – The date of my magazine can be located at the top right of my magazine and the price of my magazine is also
conventionally placed on the bottom left corner next to the barcode along with the fact that this is a weekly edition.

13. Magazine front cover template changes
Changes/ updates I made to my two
magazine front cover templates...
■ Adding more additional coverlines:
On my first magazine cover template I
added one more additional coverline
stating ‘Thousands stand on their
doorsteps as they clap for the NHS’
and one more additional coverline on
my second magazine cover template
stating ‘Two metre social distancing
rule reduced to one!’.After doing this,
I now had three coverlines on each
front covers with a main coverline on
each as well, stating ‘I can’t get
anything I need’ and ‘GhostTown’.
1st magazine
cover
template
2nd magazine
cover
template

14. Magazine front cover changes pt. 2
I decided to change my entire main
image and main coverline on my
first magazine cover. So the main
coverline changed from “I can’t get
anything I need” to “BLM strikes
worldwide movement”. And my
main image changed from a close up
shot of an elderly man, to a close up
shot of a young girl wearing a black
lives matter mask. I decided to make
this change as I wanted my two
magazines main topics to be
different from one another and so
my first magazine edition will
feature the current affair of black
lives matter and my second edition
will focus on Covid19.
Before
After

15. Magazine front cover changes pt. 3
■ I also changed the colour scheme of my magazine covers. I did this so they matched the colours in my main
images on my front covers.The colour scheme on my first magazine cover is green, white and creme, and the
colour scheme on my second magazine cover is grey, orange and white.
■ The positioning in which I had my coverlines was another change I made. I did this so it would fit better around
my main image on my front covers, meaning the coverlines were now not clashing with the image.
■ My six additional images that are on my two contents pages (three additional images on each), are now of:
 a school entrance – Schools to re-open in September, how will they catch up?
 Venice waters –Venice waters clear up due to lower levels of pollution thanks to lockdown.
 a restaurant opening – Restaurants reopen as government releases eat out to help out scheme.
 two students wearing masks – Students suffer with uncertainty for their futures.
 a fair – Hyde ParkWinter Wonderland cancelled as Covid19 repercussions continue.
 a boat on the RiverThames – Nine cruises to experience on the RiverThames.
Some of these images used to be on my front cover, but I moved them to my contents page as I found that my front
cover did not need any additional images because all it did was make it look chaotic.
■ The colour scheme of my contents page is black, white, and red. Black and white are colours that feature on my
two front covers, and I used the colour red too because it reflects the political stance of my magazine - the
labour party, I am planning on using these three colours in my magazine’s website too.