This document is a mind map and research for a student's ancillary product of a TV soap opera magazine front cover. It provides inspiration from the magazine "What's on TV", including its circulation numbers, target demographics, and conventions like exclusively promoting soap storylines on covers. Font, color, and layout ideas are proposed, including a red masthead in the style of "What's on TV". Headlines, images, and other design elements are planned to mimic the source magazine and engage readers. Social media integration and a promotional puff are also discussed to help market the fictional magazine.

1. OCR Media Studies – A2 Level
Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio
Mind Map and
Research
Name: Jessica Blundell
Candidate Number: 1020
Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
Center Number: 64135
Generation of Ideas for Ancillary Product 1) –
TV Magazine Front Cover

2. Source of Inspiration
What’s on TV is a weekly UK television magazine. It publishes
features, TV listings, new and gossip from soap operas. It also
publishes puzzles and competitions. Its main focus is on soaps and
reality TV, however, documentaries and dramas are also covered.
It was launched in March 1991. Early covers of What’s on TV
generally featured TV stars and programs, but now they exclusively
promote soap stories.
What’s on TV has a circulation figure of 997,160
(source:http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/full-2015-mag-abcs-
breakdown-cosmopolitan-bucks-trend-uk-magazines-decline-
average-4-cent/), demonstrating how it is a popular magazine that
lots of people are interested in reading. This means if mine is similar
people are likely to want to buy it which in turn will promote my soap
opera and boost its population.
Since the audience for soap operas appeal to mainly to C1C2DE
demographic this will be the same for this soap magazine as they are
likely to want to see what is going on in the soap‘s that they watch.
This means that those who are in working class positions are the
most likely to purchase this magazine as it appeals to their interests.
Furthermore, the audience may be able to relate to characters as
soaps appeal primarily on the working class, therefore this will
encourage the audience to find out what is coming up in soaps they
watch.

3. Masthead ideas
Masthead
ideas
Soap weekly –
This highlights that this magazine
will bring readers news weekly
about the soaps on TV and will
entice the readers as they will
want to find out things that the
rest of the audience of a
particular soap may not know. It
also suggests that this magazine
is weekly and there will be a new
issue every week, highlighting
how its reliable and will always
have new information, gossip and
drama the readers can expect.
Soap delivery –
This masthead highlights how
information about soaps will be delivered
to the magazine and then get back to the
readers. It highlights how the magazine
will always bring reliable and interesting
soap gossip and will always bring the
latest news of the soap world.
Soap express –
This denotes that
information and drama about
soaps will be instantly
available in the magazine,
and will draw readers as they
will want to get the latest
information about soaps they
watch, and the masthead will
highlight that they can get
this.
The masthead will be presented in the form of a red
square so it resembles that of ‘what's on TV’. This will
create the idea that the magazine contains everything
that the readers need to know about soap and it will
be in one place, just as the masthead is all in one box.

4. My chosen
masthead is
Soap Delivery
Masthead
font ideas
I like this font because it takes up
the majority of the red box behind
because of its width, however, I do
not like how the A is so pointed as it
is not similar enough to What’s on
TV, therefore.
This is my favourite font because I
like how the letters are rounded
which makes it more similar to
What’s on TV. This font also takes up
the majority of the red square,
meaning it stands out and is easy to
read.
This is my least favourite font
because I do not like how tall
and narrow the letters are. It
doesn’t resemble ‘What’s on
TV’ as much as the other two
fonts and there is too much free
space within the red box.
The font used by ‘What’s on TV’ is
quite wide and round, ‘keep calm’
also has these qualities, making it
the better font to use.

5. This is the masthead that I have chosen to use for my
magazine. This is because I like the spacing between letters
and the length and width as it fills up the box and doesn't’t
leave much free space. This is similar to that of ‘What’s on
TV’ therefore making it more realistic and similar to this
popular TV magazine. The red box inside of a white box with
the stroke effect allows room for the website and the date of
the magazine’s release, again making it more similar to my
magazine of inspiration and allowing readers to have as
much detail as possible in a small space. I have also added
the Bevel & embess, contour and inner glow effect to the red
box to add detail and make it look more professional to the
standard of ‘What’s on TV’.
The ‘What’s on TV’ logo can be seen below mine, and has the
same exact layout. This means my magazine is going to look
more proffessional, which can encourage people to buy it.
Eventually I will add in the date when I decide when the
magazine will come out, but I’ve included the website below
the magazine name just like ‘what’s on TV’
My chosen
masthead
‘What’s on TV
masthead’

6. House style
Colours to be
used
Red WhiteBlue
Masthead & background
Font and picture borders
Yellow Purple Blue
Pink White
These are simple colours
to use for the masthead
and the background and
will easily catch the eye
of people who walk past
the magazine, it will also
ensure that my magazine
will look like the
magazine of inspiration
‘what’s on TV’, therefore
ensuring it is as realistic
and professional as it can
be.
These colours that I’ll use for
the font, font borders and
picture borders are bright and
bold and again will catch the
attention of people walking
past the magazine as they are
so bright and clash,
particularly the yellow and
purple as they’re both
secondary colours and clash
the most out of the colours I’ll
be using.

7. Main headline ideas
Main
Headline
ideas
‘The tables are turned’
Mike gets revenge
This connotes that
everything in the world of
the soap has changed and
someone has done
something wrong. This
reveals how one of the
characters is going to to
change the whole situation
and make another character
enter a situation they cant
get out of.
‘The truth is exposed’
Confession shocks Stacey
This reveals how a secret has been revealed and nothing will
be the same again. It also exposes how the confession is going
to be shocking for not only the characters but the audience
too which will entice the audience to watch the soap and find
out what is so bad that a character is left in shock.
‘Jason’s betrayal’
What’s next for Walford?
This ‘signifies’ (De Saussure)
how one of the characters
has done something which
has betrayed the whole of
the world of that particular
soap. It conveys how it is
something which will change
the whole fictional setting of
Walford and its future is
uncertain. This means that
audiences will be interested
in watching it as it makes the
next storyline seem worth
watching as it will change the
whole soap.

8. Images needed
Images
needed
Main image: I will need a picture of two characters together so that it will
be similar to magazine of inspiration and will match with the main title. I
will be using a mid shot of two people as this is what the magazine of
inspiration used, this makes the image easier to look at and gives the
detail that the front cover needs in order to stand out and encourage
people to look at the magazine. For this ill be using people who have
appeared in my trailer.
Coverlines:
I will be using pictures of other
people who represent other
professionally established soaps
on the front cover. This is
because it will make it more
realistic like the magazine of
inspiration, and a range of plots
can be explored. Other soap’s
I’ll include are EastEnders,
Coronation Street, Hollyoaks
and Emmerdale. Further
reasons for using other soaps is
that the magazine will appeal to
more people therefore making
the magazine more popular and
successful.
Borders: I will be using colourful borders around the
pictures and text used on the page so that it looks like
the magazine of inspiration and therefore more
professional, however, I will also be using borders
because it will make the magazine stand out more
and seem fun to read, meaning that some audiences
will be encouraged to buy it as it would be colourful
and appealing to look at.
Mode of address: The people in the images
will mostly be looking at the camera so it
comes across to the reader as if the
characters are directly looking at them,
introducing a ‘personal relationship’ (Katz) as
the reader will feel as if they know the
character. However, I may have one or two
characters looking away at another character
or something in the distance so they look
natural.
The camera angles will be mostly mid shots in
order to ensure it looks like the magazine of
inspiration and the cover line wont obstruct
the view of the characters for the readers.
Mode of address: the main characters of my soap
‘Hanging Hill Lane’ will be used for the main image
to promote the new soap, and all of the
characters featured will be looking directly at the
camera to reinforce the idea of how they are not
up to anything good and as they are not looking at
each other, reminds readers of the theme of
deceit and lies which are prominent in the soap
opera.
Camera Angle – The main image will be medium
shots so that the image captures a lot of their
appearance which helps the readers become
familiar with them, it also means that the main
headline wont obstruct the readers view of the
characters.

9. Language/price
Language/
price
Price: I have done
research of the two
main soap magazines.
What’s on TV costs 58p
and Inside Soap costs
£1.99. As I now have an
understanding of how
much a soap magazine
costs I will be pricing my
magazine at 99p as this
is relatively cheap for a
TV magazine and will
encourage more people
to buy it as it wont cost
them a lot of money to
buy, and are therefore
more likely to buy it on
a weekly basis.
Language: I will use
shortened language which
will be quite snappy and
short. This means that
people can quickly read
what will be in the magazine
which could tempt them to
buy the magazine. It will
also make the cover lines
and headline easier to read
which again means people
can read a general overview
of what is in that particular
issue and decide whether or
not to buy it.

10. Puff promotion
Puff
promotion
As practiced from my
experiences on Photoshop, I
am aware that a puff
promotion can be a feature
which largely contributes to
the success of a magazine. It is
most commonly presented in a
circular outline and I will
introduce this feature into my
magazine front cover.
I am likely to present it
in one of the top
corners as this is where
most of the space will
be and will make it
more professional and
organized.
This is an example of a puff promotion and
provides an incentive for people to purchase the
magazine, as they are not only getting the
magazine but they’d also get a ‘free bracelet’ with
it, meaning they’d feel they’re getting more for
their money.

11. ‘What’s on TV’ does not have a slogan, therefore I will not give my
magazine a slogan either as I was it to be as similar to the magazine of
inspiration as possible and not ‘reinvent’ the wheel.
As seen from these examples, no slogan can be seen so I wouldn’t be
able to put one anywhere on the magazine without ‘reinventing the
wheel’ which is not what I aim to do.
Slogan

12. Synergy (social media)
Synergy
(social media)
I will be incorporating
social media into my
magazine as it will create
a ‘personal relationship’
(katz) with the readers
and they can connect
more with the magazine
and the soaps it writes
about.
Within my magazine I have
decided to use Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook as a
source of social media in
order to keep readers
updated with the magazine. I
will also consider using the
Hearst media logo as the
publisher of my magazine as
it will make it more
professional, however, if it
takes up too much
unnecessary space I will not
use it.
Facebook: As there are about 1.71
billion monthly active users
(www.statista.com) a Facebook
page would be a way of reaching
millions of people who read the
magazine, as well as introducing
new people to the magazine.
Twitter has 313 million monthly active users which
means that the soap can reach so many people. Twitter
is also a good way of updating people as within one
tweet an update can go out to millions of people. I may
also include a twitter hashtag to further promote the
magazine and help the readers communicate with it.
Instagram has 500 million
users, which means that an
Instagram icon would attract
many users as so many
people own an account,
helping to promote the
magazine

13. Mind Map - Conclusion
In order to develop my ideas further I will need to
purchase a copy of What’s on TV so I can get a better
idea of the conventions used by this particular
magazine. I also need to organize what I will take
pictures on, who I will take pictures of and create the
masthead on Photoshop. I will be using adobe
Photoshop to create the product because this is a
software I am familiar with and can therefore make
the best use out of the features available and since I
know how to use it I will be able to make the product
quickly and easily.