1) This document provides research and inspiration for creating the front cover of a TV soap opera magazine, including analyzing competitors like Inside Soap. 2) Key details researched include the magazine's target audience (working class), pricing (around £1.65), common design elements (bold colors, informal language, headlines/images), and need for synergy with social media. 3) The document concludes by outlining next steps to purchase a sample magazine, organize props/outfits, choose fonts, and use design software to create the mock front cover.

1. OCR Media Studies – A2 Level
Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio
Mind Map and
Research
Name: Patrick Coll
Candidate Number: 1102
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
History of the Product
• First published in October 1992
• The editor of the magazine is Stephen Murphy since 2009
• Owned by Nat Mags
• Started selling weekly in September 2003
• Currently covers the Soaps: Coronation Street, EastEnders, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale
and Home and Away
Publisher
• Hearst magazines
• Publishing Director Matthew Hayes
Circulation Figures
• It’s circulation figures from July- December 2015 were 117,539.
Price Range £1.55-£1.75
• The price range of Inside Soap is currently £1.55-£1.75, on average around £1.65.
Stereotypically Soap Opera’s are associated with working class people who may view
Soap Opera’s as a source of diversion from their ordinary lives. The price is expensive
compared to other Soap Opera magazines such as Inside Soap charging between 50-
60p for their magazine. However to produce a 100 page magazine a lot of money is
required so I think this is justified.
Socio-Economic Needs
• Generally, the Soap Opera magazine genre might appeal to Care givers in regards to
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. The denotation of “Falling for a rapist” or “Drug
collapse” are effective in making people feel pity towards the characters presented
on the magazine front cover, which may entice people into buying the magazine.
However some people may want routine in the magazine’s they purchase and a
magazine such as InsideSoap would fulfill these needs ‘Social Climbers’.
http://www.hearst.co.uk/about-us http://www.insidesoap.co.uk/

3. Masthead Ideas and connotations
SoapCity- The masthead name SoapCity connotes a sense of community,
implying that all the Soaps are local and in the same place (the magazine).
This masthead name works particularly well with the strapline “The best
Soaps in town” as both reference the idea of a city containing all of the
listed Soaps. The inclusion of the word Soap in the masthead of the
magazine make it clear what the purpose of the magazine and it gives
‘Survivors’ (Maslow) the security that the magazine will contain
information regarding all of the latest Soap Operas.
SoapStop- Primarily the sibilance within this masthead make the
masthead memorable and further implies the focal point of the magazine
(Soap Operas). The denotation of the word ‘Stop’ could connote how this
magazine contains all the information the reader needs and it only takes
one stop to digest it all. The inclusion of the word Soap in the masthead of
the magazine make it clear what the purpose of the magazine and it gives
‘Survivors’ (Maslow) the security that the magazine will contain
information regarding all of the latest Soap Operas.
Mastheads are often followed by short snappy slogans that reflect he tone
of the magazine which are usually positioned directly below the
masthead.

4. Colours
Yellow- The colour yellow is particularly bold and prominent on the page when
complimented with other darker colours. In the Inside Soap magazine, yellow
has been used to highlight words mid sentence to put further emphasis on
them. Bright colours are generally more appealing to working class people as it
looks exciting and engaging on the page.
Red- The colour red could be used to highlight the darker side of Soap Opera’s
with connotations such as blood, danger and hell. This colour stands out on the
page and is often used for the masthead.
Blue- By using all three primary colours within the Soap Opera magazine, each
colour will stand out individually on the page and compliment eachother. I will
most likely use blue for the top banner of the page and the footer.

5. Font style and Punctuation
Sans Serif- The sans serif font family is particularly bold, which help words
stand out on the page with some fonts being curved, which may appeal to
some working class people as it is a very basic font. Most serif fonts are not
used within Soap Opera magazines as they are considered ‘fancy’ and mainly
used by the upper classes. Most magazines use bold renditions of sans serif
fonts to make the text to stand out more on the page.
marks.
Punctuation- A lot of Soap Opera magazines use excessive punctuation in an
attempt to appeal to the working class. Most commonly used are exclamation
marks, which follow the end of each sentence to further highlight the content
of the sentence and put emphasis on it. This would not be appropriate in
upper class magazines as a lot of upper class do not use many exclamation
marks.

6. Positioning on the page
Masthead- The masthead is generally positioned either in
the top left hand corner of the page or along the top of
the page as a strip. This is where the readers attention
will be drawn to first as it is the biggest text on the page
and is usually a recognisable colour. Most British people
read from left to right so by having it in the left top hand
corner most people will look here first.
Headline- Most headlines featured on magazine front
covers are towards the lower-centre of the page as this is
most likely where people will read next. The magazine
Inside Soap uses an orange headline consistently
throughout all of their magazines so frequent readers are
able to quickly locate the main headline on the page.
Images- The main image is featured in the centre of the
page with the main headline beneath it and other images
are featured along the sides of the magazine page or the
bottom section with their own separate headlines.

7. Headlines
Battered, Bruised but Breathing! Use of alliteration is effective as it rolls off of
the tongue and will have more of an impact on the reading. The connotations
behind the words ‘battered’ and ‘bruising’ are negative and make the audience
feel pity towards the victim. This will most likely be the headline for my
magazine as this is a plot element from our Soap Opera trailer.
Final Words! This short phrase is effective at hinting at plot elements however it
doesn’t give away who has died straight away. This short phrase may be more
suitable as a sub line.
Terry’s divorce! This gives away major plot elements assuming that other
people have not already seen the Soap episode, which may entice readers into
reading more. Some Soap Opera magazine readers may see the magazine as a
form of television catch up in which they do not need to watch every episode of
the soap to follow the storyline.

8. Images needed and Price
Main Image- The main image featured in most Soap Opera
magazine is usually a medium close up shot of a character
that has been superimposed against a white or colourful
background. The image is usually quite big on the page so it is
important that there is a suitable resolution image. Most
magazines have multiple characters as their main image,
which are stitched together to create one bigger main image.
In my magazine I will likely have three of the main characters
from my Soap Opera standing next to each other in the
middle of the page so it is essential that I take the pictures in
similar lighting conditions. Generally the characters are
featured looking directly at the camera to give the audience a
sense of involvement in the content of the magazine so this is
what I will do for my magazine. I will likely take close up shots
of the characters featured on the front cover of the magazine
and then medium long shots of the characters for the sub
stories.
Price- Personally I want the quality of my magazine to be similar to that of InsideSoap, which
means I could justify paying prices of £1.50 per magazine. This price is still affordable for
working class people and would represent my brand as one of the premium magazines.

9. Language/Puff Promotion
After looking at a lot of other competing Soap Opera’s I’ve noticed that the
language utilised is rather informal and more conversational than other more
expensive magazines. This is due to the stereotypes of working class people
generally being more socially informal and more conversational than other upper
classed people. In my magazine I will try to replicate this by using short sentences
with over exaggerated punctuation to catch the attention of the working class.
Most magazines also offer other incentives such as potential chances to win a
prize for example that will persuade working class people, who may need some
more money, to purchase the magazine. Language used such as ‘Free’ or ‘New’
are particularly effective in attracting a working class audience as it portrays the
content as exclusive to that particular magazine.

10. Synergy (social media)
From analysis, not many Soap Opera magazine use social media synergy regularly
on their front cover, despite a working class audience having social media
accounts. However as a modern magazine appealing to a younger audience, I
think it is essential for my magazine to include social media and website links so
the younger generation can be updated over social media accounts. In addition,
to this I would be tempted to promote an online edition of the magazine so a
younger audience have another means of reading the magazine.

11. Conclusion
For the next stages of the production of my magazine I should
purchase a copy of InsideSoap so I can use it as a guide when forming
my hand drawn drafts. From this I can then create a magazine that is
similar to the quality of Inside Soap, which will justify paying a
premium price for it. I will then need to organise the props that will be
necessary for the front cover of the magazine and the outfits the
characters will be needing to wear.
Furthermore I will need to download a font style to represent my
magazine for the masthead, for the headlines and cover lines.
In regards to the software used to create the product I will most likely
use Pixelmator at home which I will then convert to a PhotoShop file
for finishing touches.