Group Project

Global Eye Magazine

Alexandra Bota, Editor

Agata Slowinska

Angela Crocker

Annalisa Romano

Antonia Trevini

Catarina Amorim

Konica Sarkar

Kritika Randev

Kurt Mennie

Molly Chidavanyika

Muhammad Quasim

Rhea Bose

Yibo Fu

The brief - create a magazine relevant to your course, decide on a theme or focus and work together on the content, including stories, pictures, design, layout and production. We went with the previously used name of Global Eye, and this year’s edition was focused on travel, art, sport and other culture related topics – in line with the crowning of Coventry as City of Culture 2021.

We set out to bring a little bit of colour to a world that is overtaken by negative breaking news - offering people a break from all the usual problems (diseases, violence, disasters, death, etc).

Read some extracts below, and you can browse the full magazine here.

How did you make the magazine?

It was created through teamwork and use of many facilities and programmes provided by the university, such as the Adobe Creative Cloud software products. This magazine is intended for physical printing; however, it can be read and enjoyed online in its entirety.

Did anything change during this process?

The whole approach in creating the magazine changed during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in the UK in March 2020. In order to follow the social distancing rules. We relied a lot more on other technologies and ways of communicating, such as emails and group messages – to ensure that the result is not affected by this.

What were the challenges?

One challenge that we faced was communication. We used different ways of communication; however, this made the process a little bit more challenging and things took more time than if the process happened in a face-to-face environment.

Who is the magazine's audience?

Our magazine is aimed at a UK audience that has an interest in different aspects of culture, and who are1 interested in discovering new concepts and new places.

What did you learn as you were creating this work together?

During this process, we learned that there is a lot of thought and work that goes into the creation of a magazine – from creating a cover to page layout. But, maybe even more important, how to think about the stories that we tell in a more creative and visual way.

Extract

Maokwo: life in the form of art

Maokwo is a project which aims to help with the inclusion and rise of artists, migrants and women in the society based on faith and God. It’s a Shona word from Zimbabwe which means ‘hands.’ ‘A child is born with clenched fists because they are holding their gifts,’ says Laura. ‘As they grow, they slowly let go, open their hands, sharing their gifts and talent with the world. When it’s time to pass on, their hands are fully open.’

Read the full article here.

Extract:

Eat on the Street

Each stall and shop has its own unique story. ‘The place you are standing here was once my home,’ says Iqbal Hussain, owner of the restaurant Coco’s Den. ‘When I saw people getting attracted towards this place for food, I decided to utilize my building for business and didn’t change the building much because I want people to know the background of this area.’ Paintings line the wall of the restaurant showing the lifestyles of the people who lived in the region. ‘Through these paintings, I wish to preserve our cultural values,’ Hussain says.

Read the full article here.

"It was an exciting opportunity to collaborate with our peers and to learn new techniques. Communication was a big challenge, as everyone was working on multiple projects simultaneously, but we all collaborated well in the end."

Kurt Mennie

Extract:

Mumbai: where magic happens

Why does Mumbai have such a relentless work culture? ‘There is a continuous flow of work around the clock,’ says Rishita Das, a manager at Trunkoz Technologies. ‘And I think the reason for this is that the people do not have any other option. They usually come from faroff places, and they cannot afford missing work. Everyone wants to find their place in the city.’ There is nothing as permanent in the city as its work culture. ‘In Mumbai, there is no time for permanent hatred. Only Dhanda [work], right?’ exclaims Vir Das, an Indian stand-up comedian in his show. His words sum up the essence of the city in one line.

Read the full article here.

"As the editor, I can say that the magazine required a lot of time, effort and teamwork. But it showed me how much thought and hard work that goes into every single page of a magazine. I now appreciate even more the people that do this every day. I can only say that this project was one of the hardest and biggest challenges during the course, but it also brought so much satisfaction. I am proud of our result."

Alexandra Bota