Miranda Thompson is an Exeter graduate currently studying the MA in Magazine Journalism at City University with experience in both local and national publications (Lancashire Life, Country Life, Sugar, High Life – she loves life). Find her on Twitter or follow her blogging endeavours on renting life in London here.

Ever thought about where a magazine actually comes from?

The culmination of the first term City University’s MA Magazine Journalism is dedicated to a realisation as to what exactly goes on in the world of magazine business; the creation and subsequent pitch of a magazine concept.

We were told to get into groups of five to six before coming up with a concept for an entirely new magazine idea to pitch before a panel of industry experts and launch experts, competing with the other groups to find the most original and workable idea.

Sound simple? We also had to factor in advertising, a business plan, marketing, brand extensions, a website, content and market research. Oh, and come up with an innovative idea that would make a magazine people would reach for from among the hundreds of titles already crowding newsstands. In five simple steps, here’s what I learned:

1) The thing foremost in your mind should be your reader. You shouldn’t just be thinking of them – you have to know them, intimately. I’m not just talking age range and favourite film; the name of their best friend, their bank balance at a certain time of the month, what they’ll be doing at 3pm on a Saturday. It’s the essence that magazines are built upon: a niche which brings its audience together through pages of print. A useful tip came from Company editor Victoria White at a 2010 Periodical Training Council (PTC) masterclass, who told us to imagine language used by the reader in order to create coverlines.

2) Quality, structured content is imperative – Everyone knows the pure and simple attraction of online content as younger generations spend their media time on their smartphones– look at the demise of Sugar for proof, for heaven’s sake – but requires a lot of mouse-clicking and finger tapping. A magazine, meanwhile, presents information specifically filtered and tailored to their reader; content which you know you’re going to savour. We reflected this need by planning regular and special features as well as a comprehensive annual overview of 12 months’ worth of issues.

3) We weren’t just creating a magazine – we were creating a brand. One of the most positive responses my group received from the judging panel was the possibilities our magazine had in terms of brand extensions; not simply online but in retail terms as well. In the 21st century a magazine and the influence it has extends far beyond 164 pages of print, whether by lending its name to a valuable cause or hosting a glossy award ceremony. Ultimately, you want the magazine to feel like a print extension of them.

4) The importance of advertising – Unless your wallet is well-endowed, the revenue generated by advertisers is central to a magazine’s lifeblood, and it’s crucial to create something that advertisers will want to buy space in in order to target your reader population. Having space allocated for advertorials will also boost this.

5) Don’t forget the front cover. In becoming immersed with the ins and outs of our concept, it was all too easy to relegate design to a dark corner. Magazines are such a visual, beautiful entity and I hadn’t envisioned how hard it would be to translate vague ideas on fonts and colours to reality.

The completion of this project was a fantastic, real opportunity to get behind the glossy facade of magazines. Put simply, there’s so much more to them than simply lining the walls of WH Smith.