Zoe Hickson - 1033 - Magazine Mind Map

1. OCR Media Studies – A2 Level
Unit G324: Advanced Portfolio
Mind Map and
Research
Name: Zoe Hickson
Candidate Number: 1033
Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
Center Number: 64135
Generation of Ideas for Ancillary Product 1) –
TV Magazine Front Cover

2. History of the product:
‘What’s on TV’ was first founded in 1991, published by Time Inc. UK.
Time Inc. UK were originally named (IPC media) and launched a website called
‘What’s on TV’ in 2007 focusing on catch ups of soaps as well as spoilers and
news.
Time Inc. UK merged TV Easy with What's On TV in September 2014.
Circulation figures:
The magazine’s circulation figures in 2015 were 997,160.
Price:
The price for this magazine ranges from £0.50-£1.00.
Socio-economic needs:
The denotation of the stereotypical target audience will mainly consist of
women between the ages of 25-60. This is because the stereotypical viewership
of soap operas is females, meaning they are likely to enjoy reading about
upcoming soap opera series’. This magazine will appeal to people between the
C2-E demographic, considering the price of this magazine compared to ‘Inside
Soap’ or ‘TV times’. People in these categories are likely to be in the middle or
lower class, so are stereotypically more likely to enjoy to watch soaps.
I have used these magazines as inspiration for my magazine, due to the images
used, font styles and the cover stories. I like these images, as the characters are
looking directly at the camera, making it seem professional. The audience may
feel they have a ‘personal relationship’ (Katz) with the characters, as they are
looking directly at the camera, making it seem like they are looking at the
audience. The shot types I will use is similar to these images, being an eye level
medium close up.
Source of Inspiration
Source: http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/full-2015-mag-abcs-breakdown-cosmopolitan-bucks-trend-uk-magazines-decline-average-4-cent/

3. Images
I have used these magazines as inspiration for my magazine, due to the images used,
font styles and the cover stories. I like these images, as the characters are looking
directly at the camera, making it seem professional. The audience may feel they have a
‘personal relationship’ (Katz) with the characters, as they are looking directly at the
camera, making it seem like they are looking at the audience. The shot types I will use is
similar to these images, being an eye level medium close up.

4. Masthead Ideas
Today’s TV
This masthead idea would appeal
to my target audience of females
between the ages of 25-65
because the alliteration used
makes the name sound catchy and
memorable.
It also connotes what the content
of the magazine will include, and
gives my target audience the
security of knowing the magazine
will always be up to date with the
latest series’ of soap operas.
The font for this masthead idea
would be similar to that of my
magazine of inspiration, with ‘TV’
being in larger and bolder font
than ‘Today’s’. This is because the
‘TV’ in the masthead of ‘What’s on
TV’ is one of the first things you
see when looking at the front
cover. This means it will appeal to
anyone looking for a TV magazine,
and is likely to stand out from
other magazines.
Soap Weekly
The simple nature of this masthead idea is likely to appeal to my target
audience, because it is clear what the magazine is about and what it involves.
This would be a weekly magazine, which I feel would appeal to my target
audience, as there are many soap opera episodes on every single day,
meaning a weekly magazine would still have lots of information inside. This
also means I could make it cheaper as it comes out more often than monthly
magazines. If I was to use this masthead idea, I would make both verbal
codes the same size and put them both in bold, so that both of the words
stand out.
Soap Soak
This masthead idea connotes that my magazine includes lots of details and
information about the upcoming series’ of soap operas. The verbal code
‘soak’ ‘signifies’ (De Saussure) that the magazine ‘soaks’ up lots of
information about the current soap operas, and will therefore appeal to my
target audience. The alliteration again makes this masthead idea unique
and memorable. The font for this idea would be large and bold, meaning it
is eye-catching and stands out on the front cover. I would also perhaps make
the ‘S’ in both verbal codes larger, so that it makes it stand out even more.

5. This font style, ‘Bebas Neue’ would
appeal to my target audience, as it is
easy to read, and looks similar to
other magazine font styles. If I was to
use this font style, then I would make
the text white and place it on a red
background. This is to make it look
similar to my magazine of inspiration. I
like this font style because it is simple
but still looks professional and I think
it would still stand out on a page
because the font is bold.

6. Masthead Font Styles
This font style is called ‘American
Captain’. If I was to use this, I would
change it to white and put it on a red
background, so that it looks similar to
that of ‘What’s on TV’. I think that
this would appeal to my target
audience as it is simple, easy to read,
and looks similar to the font on
‘What’s on TV’, my magazine of
inspiration.

7. This font style, ‘Monofonto’ would
appeal to my target audience,
because it is simple but slightly
different from my magazine of
inspiration, therefore I would be
developing the masthead font style
rather than ‘repeating’ (Steve
Neale – 1980) it. If I was to use this
font style, I would put the font in
white and place it on a red
background so that it looks like the
one on ‘What’s on TV’. I would also
use photoshop to put the letters
slightly closer together in order to
make it easier to read.

8. Images Needed
Similarly to my magazine of inspiration, I
would have the main image featuring two
main characters within my soap opera, and
then I would take pictures of different
people and have them as cover stories for
other soap operas, such as Eastenders,
Coronation Street and Hollyoaks.
I will use a pale coloured
background, with a slight
gradient, which will enable me
to create a soft white stroke
effect around the main images,
similarly to my magazine of
inspiration does.
I will ask my models to use
different facial expressions, in
order to try and replicate lots
of the different issues covered
within my soap opera trailer. I
will also support each of these
images with cover lines in
bright, bold colours.
Social Media:
Many magazines nowadays use social media to interact with their audience and to gain
opinions and insights from audiences. Social media logos are usually located on the front
cover to encourage the audience to interact with the magazine publishers or editors. This
particular magazine does not have any social media logos on the front cover, and this is
something I shall be changing when creating my magazine, as I want my audience to be
able to interact online.
Mode of address –
I will have my
models looking at
the camera when I
take the photos as it
looks as though the
characters are
looking at the
audience, and makes
the magazine look
professional. This
may mean that the
audience feel that
they are forming
‘personal
relationships’ (Katz)
with the characters
from the soap opera.
This is also what
many soap opera
magazines tend to
do, including my
magazine of
inspiration, ‘What’s
on TV’. I will take eye
level medium close
ups, similar to those
on my magazine on
inspiration.

9. Language
I will use colloquial language, similar to that used
within the actual soap operas in order to appeal to
my target audience of females between 25-65. I will also include some
more advanced
vocabulary in order to
make the magazine
appeal to adults, rather
than teenagers or
children.
The language used in my straplines
and cover lines will aim to grab the
audience’s attention by using short
and catchy phrases or questions. I
will make my strapline short and
eye-catching, causing the audience
to want to know what happens in
the soap operas in the upcoming
month.
Strapline ideas:
- “Giving you all the gossip you need
to know” – this will appeal to my
target audience, as it connotes
that my magazine will ‘inform’
(Katz) the audience of all the
gossip in the upcoming series’ of
soap operas.
- “All the stories from all the soaps”
– this connotes that my magazine
gives my audience every single
story from every soap opera, and
this will appeal to them as they are
likely to want to purchase a
magazine that gives them all the
information they want to know.

10. Puff promotion:
I will use a puff promotion on my magazine in order
to encourage my target audience to purchase the
magazine, as well as to make the magazine eye-
catching. Puff promotions are usually used to attract
the audience to their magazine and to try and be the
unique selling point of the magazine, persuading
people to purchase the magazine just to have a
chance of winning something or getting something
free with the magazine.
Price:
I will make the magazine monthly, and will make the
magazine £1.00, meaning it is not too expensive that
people will not be able to afford it each month.
However, it is also not too cheap that it may get a
bad reputation for being cheap or may be looked at
as being bad quality. From researching other soap
opera magazines, they are around this price for a
monthly magazine, meaning people are likely to
purchase it.

11. Main Headline Ideas
I will put the main
headline in front of the
main image, so that the
audience know that this
supports the main image.
I will also make the font
size very large making the
headline one of the first
things the audience
members will look at
when first looking at my
magazine. I will put it in a
bright colour, or add a
bright coloured stroke
effect around the edge,
as my magazine of
inspiration does, in order
to make it stand out even
more, and to make the
writing easier to read. I
will also put the writing in
capitals to make it seem
more dramatic.
I will use punctuation such as exclamation marks or
question marks in order to make the story sound more
dramatic and exciting for the audience. I will also use buzz
words in order to attract the audience’s attention and
make them focus on the main story within my soap opera.
Possible headlines:
PREGNANCY HORROR! – This would
be a good headline as it is short and
catchy, and is likely to catch the
audience’s attention.
WHO KNOWS THE TRUTH? – this
would appeal to my target audience,
as it is a question, meaning it will
make the audience think about what
will happen in the upcoming series.
WHO IS THE KILLER? – this will appeal
to my target audience as it questions
who will be killing someone within
the series of Park Rise, and will make
the audience want to watch the
series, as this headline connotes that
the series will be full of drama.

12. Mind Map - Conclusion
Before creating my final magazine on Photoshop CS5.1, I need to purchase a hard copy of my magazine
in order to be able to flick through and easily see all the codes and conventions on the front cover and
inside the magazine.
I also need to gain permission to take photographs of potential models, and gain location permission to
ensure I can take the photos in certain places.
I will also compose a props list of clothing items and props I require for my models.
I will be using Photoshop CS5.1 to produce my magazine, to ensure it looks professional and high quality.
I am also using this because it has the essential tools I will need when creating my magazine.
I intend to ‘repeat’ (Steve Neale, 1980) the use of bright colours from my magazine of inspiration, as well
as the layout of all the codes and conventions. The bright colours used make the magazine stand out
from some of the other soap opera magazines, and the layout makes it easy to see all the stories on the
front cover. I will also ‘repeat’ (Steve Neale, 1980) the pale coloured background seen on the ‘What’s on
TV’ front cover, because it makes all the images stand out more compared to if it was on a plain white
background.