The document provides initial ideas and planning for a magazine focused on current affairs related to COVID-19 in the UK. It discusses elements to include on the cover such as images, cover lines, and masthead. It also outlines potential sections and topics to feature in the magazine such as health, education, and finance. The target audience is identified as people aged 16-25 in the UK. Details are given for the proposed name and cost of the magazine, as well as how often it would be published. Font choices, layout, and design elements are considered to appeal to the target demographic.

1. MAGAZINE PLANNING
Media studies

2. INITIAL IDEAS
1.What Graphic elements do you need to include ?
• Main image
• Colour scheme
• Text
• Masthead
• Main cover line
• Feature article
• Additional cover lines
• Date line
• Bar code
• Skyline/Header
• Strapline
• Flashes
2.What ideas do you have for the name of the magazine ( masthead ) ?
• The Union
• The UK today
• UK affairs
3.What is the main feature in your magazine ?
Covid-19 ( CoronaVirus )

3. INITIAL IDEAS
4.What other features are you including in your magazine ?
• Financial aspects and effects due to the virus
• Health aspects
• Exam effects
• Mental effects
• Self-isolation and social distancing
5.What are your ideas for your main image ? What other images are
you going to use ? There should be 8 images in total .
• Someone wearing a mask and gloves
• A family self isolating behind a glass window or door .
• Old people worried and anxious self isolating
• Empty streets
• Queuing with social distancing
• A hospital and ambulances
• Lack of essential needs and items in shops
• Closed shops , cafes , restaurants and retailers .
• People disobeying the governments rules and advice within the
respect of spreading the virus .
6. Codes and conventions of current affairs magazines . What are
the codes and conventions of this genre ? What is the target
audience ? How are you going to use those codes an conventions to
appeal to your target audiences interests and fulfil their
expectations ?
• Microscopic image/symbol of bacteria and virus
• Union Jack flag as this magazine will be targeted at a British audience
.
• London eye , the parliaments and Big Ben .
• 10 Downing street
Target audience :
My target audience will be aimed at any gender , race and ethnicity but
will be aimed at people agd 16-25.
7. Composition of your contents page : Where are you going to place your text , so
it will make sense when reading it and allow the audience to see the image clearly
?
8. Use of colours : What are the main two colours in your image ? Use these for
your texts ( titles and headlines ).
Ideas:
• Green and yellow ( to symbolise an ambulance )
• Blue and white (to symbolise the NHS)
• White , red and blue ( Union Jack flag ) .
Masthead
CONTENTS IMAGE
1
IMAGE
2

4. PROPOSAL PLANNING
1.What magazines does the company Dennis publish?
Dennis is an independent English publisher that was founded in 1974 by Felix Dennis . Dennis's company pioneered computer and hobbyist magazine publishing in the United Kingdom. Recently, the company added lifestyle titles such
as its flagship brand The Week, which is published in the UK and the United States. Dennis also produce other magazines such as : Auto Express , Custom Pc , Computer shopper and Bizarre .
2. What is the target audience for your magazine ? ( What is your target audience of the magazines you have been using in your research )
My current affairs magazine will be aimed at any gender and race but targeted at a British audience specifically 16-25.
The target audience of The Economist ( a magazine I have researched ) is currently 70% male , however they’re currently trying to change this and appeal to a more balanced gender audience .
Secondly , The Times magazine target audience is largely middle class, with close to 6.3 million of their readers classified as ABC1 according to the NRS social grade system.
3.What is the primary target audience of your magazine ? Explain it in terms of Demographic , Socio-economic and psychographic profiling .
Using the demographic profiling model , I have decided to make my magazine targeted at Uk residents , of any gender or race but people aged 16-25 . As this age range is fairly young for a current affairs magazine , I need to carefully
consider how to appeal to this market . Also , using the socio- economic model , the main audience will be targeted at groups C2DE as most people 16-25 belong in these categorise . Furthermore , using the psychographic profiling
model , this current affairs magazine will be aimed at mainstreamers as Covid-19 is a currently a worldwide issue in the news affecting almost everyone . It is also affecting younger adults and teenagers ( my target market ) . For example
, due to the virus , all schools were closed and A-Level and Gcse exams were all cancelled .
4.What is the secondly audience ?
My next main target audience would be anyone else over the age of 25+ living in the Uk . This could be parents , workers or people suffering with the virus . Using the socio-economic profile , my secondary audience would be groups
ABC1 as these more skilled workers are more likely to be adults . Also , nurses and doctors that are in these catogirse would be interested in this magazine due to their interest in healthcare . However these more experienced and
professional workers with a higher income are not my main target market . Finally , using psychographic profiling mode; , this group could fall under reformers as they care for their mental and physical health as well as their families and
children in school.
5. How much is your magazine going to cost?
If my magazine was to be mass produced , I would set the price at £2 but this depends on the amount of information in the magazine , the quality and my audience . I could create a survey before making and designing my magazine
asking people at age 16-25 on how much they would be willing to pay for a current affair magazine . I will set my price low though as the target market is aimed at students that might be unemployed or at university .
6. How often will your magazine be published ?
I would publish my magazine every 2-3 weeks as news is not always changing every week so this would be wasting money producing the same news and information in the magzine constantly .
7.What is the name of your magazine ? Think of a word that conveys the genre of your magazine ( current affairs in the UK )
My magazine is going to be named ‘The Union Today’ as the noun ‘union’ relates to the Union Jack flag that symbolises the Uk and the merging of the four countries that make up the Uk . This is significant as my magazine is targeted at
a British audience .Also , the term ‘today’ conveys the genre of current affairs as its informing the audience that this is the present and recent news and information ,today in the Uk.

5. PROPOSAL PLANNING AND
CONTENTS PAGE
8. Main cover line : what will be the main feature of your magazine ? Title and strap line ?
The main feature of my magazine will be the main image ( possibly somebody in a mask ) to clearly represent the worldwide virus – covid19. My strap line could consist of phrases such as “ Britain’s latest news
regarding the deadly spread of Covid19” . The strapline needs to be punchy , snappy and exaggerated to stand out from the rest of the current affair magazines . Furthermore , my title of the magazine ‘ The Union
Today ‘ needs to be in the largest font compared to the rest of the cover lines so that people automatically recognise the magazine and so that new customers can acknowledge that the magazine is about British
news . Finally , the main cover line , could be phrases relating to the virus in a bold , capital font to intensify the purpose of the topic and to catch reader’s eyes .
9. Additional cover lines : What other contents are you going to include in your magazine ?
I could also include other information concerning the virus such as the negative effects upon people . For example , the Coronavirus is affecting people mentally , financially and physically . Also , I
could include the government and NHS advice and rules on the cover lines to aware and inform people the possible ways to prevent the virus from dramatically getting worse . As my audience is
targeted
10. How many sections will your magazine have ?
On my contents page , I will have 2 columns . Two columns will consist of the page numbers with the topic of that individual page . Next to each topic and information , I will have an image relating to the news .
11. What will be the contents that you will need to include in each section of the magazine ?
Ideas:
Headings could include words such as : BRITAIN , EDUCATION , HEALTH , EXAMS , FINANCE AND ECONOMICS , TRAVEL .
Subheadings could include :
- China worries about infections by travellers abroad .
- How will GCSE and Alevels grades be determined ?
- Parents heed calls not to send children to school
- Uk schools close expect for key workers children .
The Union Today
Contents
BRITAIN
Government
The virus means the big state is back
Life after lockdown
Slices of British life under coronavirus
WORLD
Government
The virus means the big state is back
Life after lockdown
Slices of British life under coronavirus
Government
The virus means the big state is back
Life after lockdown
Slices of British life under coronavirus
CHINA
Government
The virus means the big state is back
Life after lockdown
Slices of British life under coronavirus
EDUCATION
Government
The virus means the big state is back
Life after lockdown
Slices of British life under coronavirus
EXAMS
Government
The virus means the big state is back
Life after lockdown
Slices of British life under coronavirus

6. PROPOSAL
( 500 WORDS )
My genre of the magazines is Current affairs that are taking place in the UK, which was stated in the brief. Secondly, the brief also stated that the target
audience must be targeted at people aged 16-25 at a mass market demographic. I am planning on targeting my magazine at any gender, race or ethnicity but
specifically people living in the UK. Through planning I have decided to name my magazine The Union Today which will be presented in my masthead on my
front cover. The title of the magazine represents the UK as the word union refers to the union jack and the union of the 4 countries of the UK. Also, the world
today portrays current affairs and news in this moment of time. In addition, my magazines will consist of two different front covers, possibly with different
lighting, props, setting, angles and a different model. However, the two front covers should look very similar with the use of colours, setting and font so that
the audience can acknowledge that the two magazines are from the same company. Currently, I am thinking of producing my main text in Serif font type
(possibly Times New Roman) because through online research I have found that most current affairs magazines use Serif font for their mastheads and large
pieces of text . However, this idea could change when I look further into my use of fonts. For my cover lines, I was thinking of producing the font in san serif
(for example Arial) . This is because the cover line will be smaller and less significant. Furthermore, for my contents page I am thinking of having two columns
of information including the topic on each page and next to these headings, I will have images taken myself relating to each topic. This will make it easy for
the reader to find their chosen topic that they would like to read about. Furthermore, on my contents page, I am thinking of splitting up the topics into at least
4 sections such as ‘health’ and ‘education’ and these will be in serif font type to stand out to the audience. Also, I might make these titles a different colour to
intensify the titles. Underneath these, I will have small headers relating to the topic of each page in bold san serif font type. Then underneath this I will have a
quick one sentence summary of the story and news in sans serif font type. I will the repeat this process for each topic. In addition, my main feature of the
magazine will be about the global pandemic and self-isolating of covid-19. I will then have cover lines referring to school closures and exam cancellations as
this will target the young adult audience. Moreover, I am thinking of placing a puff on my magazine which could include a free prize in the magazine. For
example, a free hand sanitizer. I also have an initial idea of placing all the text on the front cover or the contents page in the shape of the Union Jack flag as
this will represent that the magazine is a British aimed magazine. On the other hand, if I was to mass produce my magazine, I would sell the magazine at
around £2 as most of my audience will be students or unemployed due to the young age of my audience . Finally, to produce two products consisting of a
similar style and layout, I will make sure to use the same three main colours to ensure consistency. Furthermore, I will always make sure my font is the same for
each type of title and as I have mentioned I might make the text on the front page of my magazine in the shape of the Union Jack. My logo may also include
the Union Jack which I can place on my website so that the audience can recognise that the two products are from the same company.

7. FONT RESEARCH
How many current affair magazines use serif or sans serif font type ?
Out of a 10 current affairs magazines , I have found that seven of these magazines use
serif font type , and three of these magazines use sans serif font type . Some of the
magazines that used serif included : the Money week and The prospect . Then ,
magazines that use sans serif are The private eye and the Monthly.Also , I found that
most broadsheet magazines use serif font type too such as The Gaurdian , The
telegraph and The Times.
Why do you think there are many more than the other ? What are the connotations of
the fonts ?
I think that current affair magazines and broadsheet newspapers mostly use serif font
type for their designs as it is easier to read looks more traditional .