NEA coursework

1. Magazine
Planning
Mahima Abedin

2. PLAN: INITIAL IDEAS
Graphic Elements to include:
• Text (consider semantic and formal aspects of text such as
choice of font, size and colour).
• Images (consider denotations, connotations in
representation by depiction of main and secondary
images).
• Colour (consider denotation and connotations).
• Layout
• Generic conventions
• Intertextuality
Name of Magazine
(Masthead) ideas:
• The Source.
• Today’s View.
• The Informer.
• Current View.
• The Insight.
Main Feature (main cover
lines) in magazine:
• Magazine one – A LEVEL
FIASCO
• Magazine two –NHS
HEROES UNPROTECTED.
What other features (cover lines) are you
including?:
• Magazine one:
- Boris Johnson: why you must stay home.
- The future of work: is your home a permanent office?
- Relying on students predicted grades is a recipe for
disaster.
• Magazine Two:
- Doctors and nurses unsure if the NHS has enough
protective clothing.
- Beirut blast leaves Lebanon to shreds.
- The race for president – Trump or Biden?
Main Image? Other images?
• Include at least four original images in each of the two
magazine covers/contents pages.
• Main image on magazine one: over head shot or aerial
shot of a student surrounded with books on a desk.
• Main image on magazine two: Close up of a doctor’s
face with a mask on looking teary eyed with scars.
• Other image ideas:
- Student working
- Protests
- Lockdown
- Editor’s image
Codes and conventions of current affairs magazines:
• Masthead- A characteristic to the magazine that makes it
instantly recognizable and noticeable.
• Coverlines- Gives the reader an idea of what is inside the
magazine.
• Central Image- Attracts the reader before they have even
read any text.
• Date line- Informs reader of how relevant and up to date
the news is in the magazine.
• Barcode and Price.
How are you going to use those codes and
conventions to appeal to your target audience's
interests and fulfil their expectations?
• The images, text and colour used in the magazine will be
aesthetically pleasing to attract the audience.
• The layout will be clean and simple so it’s easily
understandable.
• The text will vary between serif and sans serif font so the
reader will know the importance of each topic/text.
What is your target
audience?
• 16 - 25
• Male and Female
• White collar
workers and fairly
paid pros.
• Succeeders and
reformers.
Composition of contents
page:
• Consider placement of
text, will it make sense
when reading?
• - Text will be in sections
with subheadings so that
the contents are clear to
the reader.
• Will it allow the audience
to see the image clearly?
• - Text will overlap the
image but the image will
still be visible as it will be
large.
Use of colours:
What are the main
colours in the
image?
• Use these colours
for the text (title/
headlines)
• Black and red +
white
Who is my magazine
inspired by?
• The Economist
• The Time Magazine
• Both have simple covers

3. FONT TYPES FOR MY MASTHEAD
Font types:
There are two main font types: Serif and Sans Serif.
• Serif is generally easy to read and looks traditional, it is widely used in long texts as books, articles in magazines, newspapers etc.
• Meanwhile Sans Serif is strong, bold and clear. It is also modern looking and often used for titles and headings; it’s widely used on web
designs.
 Italics are used to highlight or emphasise a text, associated to quoted speeches and dialogues.
 Bold is thick and is used to highlight a part of the text, often used in headings.
The conventions of a magazine front cover is that there is a masthead and cover lines. So what is
a masthead?
• A masthead is the title/logo of the magazine, it identifies the brand and is usually located in
the same place (at the top of the magazine).
So what is a coverline?
• On a magazine there are multiple cover lines, these flag up other issues/topics that the
magazine covers.
After doing research on several magazines such as The Spectator, Time etc I found that most magazines
use serif font for the masthead as it is traditional and bold therefore it stands out among the other text
making the logo memorable. However, I found that most coverlines used sans serif font type because
while it is bold and clear it does not stand out as much as serif font type as these cover lines are
important but not as important as the masthead. This research will allow me to come to a conclusion
on the font types used on my magazine covers.

4. The magazine I will produce will be a current affairs magazine, a magazine which discusses political and cultural topics from a progressive prospective. The publishing
company of my magazine ‘The Informer’ is Dennis; this company publishing many other magazines such as culture and lifestyle magazines, health magazines and sports
magazines to keep you posted on current events that are happening in everyday life.
In addition, the target audience of ‘The Informer’ will be males and females aged 16-25, the primary target audience will be in the C1 category of the socio-economic model
(white collar workers) as well as succeeders (people who feel secure and in control who are generally in positions of power) in the psychographic profiling model. However,
the secondary target audience of the magazine are workers in category B (fairly well-paid pros) and reformers (idealists who actively consume eco-friendly products and buy
brands which are environmentally supportive, caring and hold responsible ideologies). Due to my target audience being quite young the price of my magazine will be
affordable; it will be £2.50.Also as many of these people will want updates on the most present news my magazine will be published weekly and the date of the magazine
that will be produced will be August 24th 2020.
The main cover line on my first magazine will be ‘A Level Fiasco’ and the strapline will be ‘relying on students predicted grades is a recipe for disaster’ as it relates to the
main topic of the magazine. I have chosen this as my main cover line as the coronavirus is the most current event that has struck Britain and affected students massively, by
making this the main topic it will attract my target audience as they are fairly young and can identify with it. Additional cover lines on my magazine will be ‘Boris Johnson:
why you must stay home’ and ‘the future of work: is your home a permanent office?’ as these are also topics which are being discussed worldwide as a result of the
coronavirus.
Furthermore, for my second magazine issue the main cover line will be ‘NHS heroes unprotected’ and the strapline will be ‘Doctors and nurses unsure if the NHS has enough
protective clothing’ as again it relates to the main topic of the magazine and is current. The additional cover lines will be ‘Beirut blast leaves Lebanon to shreds’ and ‘the race
for president – Trump or Biden?’ The front cover of my magazine will be simple yet bold but including close up shots as I would like ‘The Informer’ to stand out against other
competing current affairs magazines.
Lastly, in each issue of ‘The Informer’ there will be nine sections which cover topics in: Britain, United States, Europe, Asia, China, finance and economics, science and
technology, books and arts. The magazine will be welcoming of all countries around the globe to attract a larger audience.
PROPOSAL

5. STATEMENT OF INTENT
My current affairs magazine ‘The Informer’ published by the company Dennis will represent key issues currently occurring around the world; these issues will be displayed on the
contents page where various topics and subjects of which the magazine will cover. As the magazine will cover global issues as well as issues presently happening in the UK it will be a
realistic representation of crisis’ happening around the world and it will represent different social groups and how they have been affected by current event.
The target audience of the product will be people aged between 16-25 years old, the primary target audience are c1 workers (white collar) and succeeders. The secondary target
audience are workers in category B (fairly paid pros) and reformers. The target audience will be represented through semiotics (images) and semantics so that they are able to easily
associate and relate to the magazine, ultimately becoming a pull factor for people to purchase the product. For example, as one of my magazines are about the recent COVID19
pandemic one cover will be of a doctor wearing a mask with teary eyes. The denotation of this would simply be a key worker suffering however a doctor has connotations of wealth
as it is a well payed job; therefore, stereotypically my target audience would be able to identify with the image hopefully convincing them to purchase the product.
The two main forms of mode of address will be indirect and direct address. One magazine cover will have a model facing away from the camera while the writing refers to ‘people’ or
the ‘public’. Meanwhile the other will have the model facing face on with the camera looking directly at the audience.
The media language further allows me to communicate meanings across to my audience for example, one way is through the font types varying from serif to sans serif in order to
demonstrate which parts of my magazine are more important than others. The masthead will be serif as it’s bold and stands out, yet the cover lines will be sans serif as they’re not as
important because the contents page will reiterate these topics. There will also be various camera shots and angles used. One cover will have an overhead or aerial shot of the
model, using a high angle shot to allow the audience to see what the model is doing from a wider perspective; the other cover will use a close up shot and a close up camera angle of
the model’s face allowing the image to stand out and take over becoming a bold statement. Mise en scene will also allow me to communicate with the audience. Both main images
will have low key lighting in the background as it is dramatic and will draw the attention of the audience; one cover will be in uniform and the other in casual clothes in order to
represent the different environments both models are in and the locations will be in a hospital and bedroom. The cover with the close-up shot will break the fourth wall as the image
will be face on, therefore it will be of direct address making it more intimate. The main colours used will be dull and gloomy to create the illusion of a dangerous and cloudy
atmosphere- as it has connotations of things going wrong, representing the current crisis’ going on today.
Lastly, research has impacted my design ideas and ideas about my magazine overall, after researching other magazines I noticed how many of their content’s pages had similar topics
therefore my magazine will also incorporate these subjects. The publishing company mostly produce computer magazines, however they also publish a magazine called ‘The Week’
aimed at a young audience, by publishing my magazine as well the audience will grow and will educate a lot more of the younger generation about what is happening around the
world today.

6. How do you intend to link your media products to demonstrate
your knowledge and understanding of the digitally convergent
nature of your media production? (approx. 100 words)
The magazine I produce will have its own website entirely dedicated to the subjects and
topics of the magazine, this enables companies to merge and produce much more
efficient services for the target audience. By having a website, it allows a wider
audience to view the product from all different places around the globe as it is on the
internet and can be accessed through any electronic device. This will also help the
brand as it will be globally accessible making a large number of people aware of the
product ultimately pulling more customers in.

7. MAGAZINE COVER PLAN
THE INFORMER
DATE PRICE
A LEVEL FIASCO
Relying on students predicted grades is a recipe for disaster
Why you must stay
home
The future of work: is
your home a
permanent office?
IMAGE FILLING
BACKGROUND
Masthead will be in Adobe Calson
bold font type as well as on top of
a red box in White. This is so that
the brand stands out.
Additional cover lines beside
the masthead to give the
magazine an organised look.
Main cover line in Myriad Pro
bold so that it stands out.
Strapline under main coverline
explaining the main topic.
Dateline and price for the
customers.
Image covering the whole
of the background so that
the magazine is eye-
catching.
Barcode on the bottom right for
practical reasons – makes scanning
easy for those selling the product.

8. MAGAZINE CONTENTS PAGE PLAN
The Informer
Date/Website/Page number
CONTENTS
@theinformer
@theinformer
@theinformer
EDITORIAL
IMAGE
“
3 images relating to the content of
the magazine
3 content columns that will have
separate headings for each
section in bold and red.
Editorial/message from the editor
explaining the magazine as it is a new
current affairs magazine.
Image of editor
Red bar for
design/aesthetic purposes
and the name of the
magazine.
Image of the front cover of the
magazine that the contents page is for.
‘What’s on the front cover’ section
to explain the reason behind the
main topis of the issue to the
audience.
Pull out quote from an interview to give
audience further insight into the issues
being discussed.
All social media listed to
grow the brand/current
affairs magazine and gain
a following.
Conventional dateline, website
and page number.