OCR Media Studies – AS Level Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media

Preliminary Task, Log Book and Evaluation

Name: Kayla Carstens Candidate Number: 6613 Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic College

Preliminary Task progression – Evidence Front cover: step-by-step

This shows the step by step progress of my magazine, and what I did to get the final product.

Preliminary Task Progression- Evidence Contents: Step-by-step

This is also a step by step guide to show what I had to do to create my contents page; I used simple shapes to create the different headings and then added the picture for my editorial, and similarly I included pictures for the story about prom.

Log Book

Genre research – Vibe Magazine

Name: Kayla Carstens Candidate Number: 6613 Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic College

Vibe predominantly features R&B and hip-hop artists, actors and many other entertainers. It is a music and entertainment magazine founded by producer Quincy Jones. The magazine was shut down in summer 2009, and Vibe was purchased by the private equity investment fund interMedia partners and is now issued every other month with double covers. The magazines main target audience is mainly aimed at young urban followers of hip-hop cultures. However in 2014 you can only access the magazine online. The magazine owed its success to featuring a bigger range of interests than some of its closest competitors which are The Source and XXL which focus more narrowly on rap music.Vibe magazine has featured and had exclusive interviews with some of the people on the issues to the right, also with other big names within R&B and Hip Hop such as Jennifer Lopez, Mary J Blige, Beyoncé, and Eminem.

Why ?I have decided to research and deconstruct Vibe magazine as my starting point because of the fact it is well established, very popular amongst the R&B artists, like wise a respected magazine, which will then give me ideas on how to structure my magazine and what should be included in it.Similarly because of the fact that Vibe magazine is specifically focused on one genre of music which is R&B/Hip Hop it will be a lot easy for me to focus on a specific look and way to represent people in the magazine I will be creating. On the other hand magazines such as Q covers all sectors of the music genre, this includes music from modern Hip Hop to English rock bands. I made sure I chose a magazine that is focused on one genre so that I will be able to replicate and ‘repeat’ (Steve Neal) all the aspects of the magazine so that my magazine will give off a R&B feel to it.

Target Audience – Katz, Maslow, Hartley and/or socio-economic needsThe target audience for Vibe magazine can be denoted as 18-34 year old males and females (Hartley). Similarly, according to Katz, the audience could be identified as ‘inform and educate’ consumers as they wish to learn more about their favourite rap artist and entertainer such as Kevin Hart, as well as things like what songs are at the top of the charts so that people are filled in with new songs, anything new being released by different rap or hip hop artists etc.Vibes primary target audience can also be recognised as ‘Explorers’ and ‘Social Climbers’ (Maslow) due to fans being inspired by their favourite rap artists and the lyrics in their music and to aspire to be just like them.

What is the USP of this magazine? From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP of Vibe magazine is the star appeal of the different artists on the magazine front cover. This influences people to buy the magazine because of the fact that it includes exclusive interviews of their favourite artist. Similarly the USP of Vibe magazine is the big bold, short and catchy masthead ‘Vibe’. This is important as people can ‘identify’ the magazine and can easily recognise it even if they don’t see the full ‘Vibe’ masthead, For example the magazine issue with Alicia Keys, the main image of her covers the masthead but because of the fact that it is a very well known magazine the masthead doesn't actually need to be shown because it is already recognised by the audience.

Name: Kayla Carstens Candidate Number: 6613 Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic College

Masthead

Barcode

Main cover line

Main image

Puff

Cover lines

Web address

The Masthead ‘Vibe’ is put against a darker background so it stands out. However you also establish that it is a very well known Magazine because of the fact the image is able to cover the masthead yet people are still able to identify with what the magazine is.

A Cover line is some of the main stories found in the magazine. For example a cover line would mention ‘Lil Wayne’ because he is very well known in the music industry which would influence other people to buy the magazine. (Star appeal)

The Main cover line is the story based on the main image so that the audience know that the article on Alicia Keys will be one of the main stories in the magazine.

The Main image creates ‘Star appeal’ for the audience and this is where the famous person (Alicia Keys) would persuade the audience to buy the magazine, similarly it shows straight away what the main story in the magazine will be about.

The purpose of Puff is to promote the magazine and influence people to buy it.

StraplineThe strapline hasn’t been included on this specific magazineBecause it is already well known enough to not include one. However a strapline is something that sells the magazine for example ‘Vibe, Best selling magazine’. This influences people to buy the magazine because of the fact that it is the best selling or the most popular, and normally people are then drawn to buy it.

This is important for a magazine as it means the audience can get to know the magazine a bit more online.

This is another convention which is on every magazine.

Name: Kayla Carstens Candidate Number: 6613 Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic College

Publisher research

Quincy Jones launched Vibe in 1993, in partnership with Time Inc. Before Scott Poulson-Bryant gave the magazine the name Vibe originally it was called Volume. However in 2009 it was announced that the magazine was shutting down and instead Quincy Jones would like to keep It alive online. After it shut down private equity investment fund intermedia partners, LP bought Vibe Magazine and they have said they ‘feel privileged to purchase and resurrect such a storied brand’.

Name: Kayla Carstens Candidate Number: 6613 Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic College

Before my final decision

Before I decided which genre I wanted to do I made sure I looked at different music magazines so that I knew exactly what I wanted to conform

my magazine to.Here are some of the other magazines I looked

at…

Genre: popular music (This is a music charting magazine and it unconventionally focuses on all genres.

Magazine known for its record chart

This magazine also has a wide range of colour schemes which represents ‘difference’ (Steve Neal) in billboard magazine in comparison to others as most magazines will stick to a maximum of 3

Billboard is also published weekly

Billboard is owned by Prometheus Global

Circulation : 16, 327

The target audience for billboard is intended for music professionals for example record label executives, music retailers and artists.

It also retails at around $6.95

Circulation: 52,781

The magazine was sub-titled “The modern guide to music ad more”

Genre: British popular music magazine.

Q is owned by Bauer Media Group

Q retails at around £3.90

Q is published as a monthly issue.The target audience

for Q magazine can be denoted as British white males aged 15 – 25 from a middle class background.

A USP of Q magazine is that it has an ambiguous message on the spine that encourages the audience to guess what will be featuring in the magazine.

It also has a sister magazine called ‘Mojo’

Masthead

Genre: Rock/ Popular Music/ Entertainment

Main image

Cover Lines

The colour scheme of The Rolling Stones is Red, Black and White however includes a lot of Yellow too.

Circulation: 1,464,943 which has been paid and verified (Annual)

Founded in 1976

What’s unique about this magazine is that it doesn’t only focus on music news but has a big emphasis on politics too.

‘In the 1990s, the magazine changed its format to appeal to a younger readership interested in youth-oriented television shows, film actors and popular music’.

Genre: British Rock Magazine.

This is a clear example of Puff being represented which will attract people to buy the magazine as they could get a prize.

Retails at £2.10

First issue was the 6th of June 1981

Circulation: 35,127

Readership: 345,000

The popular colour scheme of Red, Black and White is ‘Repeated’ in this magazine and is also used in other magazines such as XXL, rolling stone and Spin. However the dark colours are conventional to the style and genre of Rock music as it can be seen as quite dark.

Kerrang! Is “The world’s largest weekly music magazine”

It’s also the only magazine which includes punctuation in the masthead.

My Chosen Music Magazine

After looking at all the different genre’s of magazines my final decision was to do a Hip Hop magazine, this Is because I could relate to this genre the most as this is the type of music I listen to, like-wise I am genuinely interested in Hip Hop music and it’s culture. The magazine I chose to model was VIBE magazine as I felt it was very popular in the Hip Hop industry, similarly I also liked the simplicity and sleekness of VIBE magazine and I felt as f I could replicate it to a similar standard. Although the magazine I chose to replicate was VIBE magazine I was also inspired by other Hip Hop magazines such as XXL and the source. However I noticed many ‘similarities’ (Steve Neal) between both of them when looking into the Hip Hop genre.

Conventions of a Music Magazine: Front Cover

Masthead

Date

Web address:VIBE.com

Puff:‘Free iTunes download’

All examples of ‘Star appeal’

Main image

Barcode

Cover lines

Target Audience: American Black males, who are into Hip Hop/ Rap or R&B music, aged 16-35 from the middle class background as the price is $4.99.

Price

Conventions of a Music Magazine: Contents page

Photo credits

Page numbers: This important as it then leads the reader to the specific story they want to go to.

Always only one image on the contents page, which is usually the artist which is featuring in one of the main stories

Vibe magazine always

Conventions of a Music Magazine: Double Page Spread

Main Images

Quote from the interview

Main Body (Interview)

Web Address

Research for my magazine To make sure I knew what the audience would be looking for in a Hip Hop magazine I created a survey using word to come up with a few questions that people would answer so I could get an idea of what they expected from a Hip Hop magazine.

This is the questions I made and emailed to people.

This is one of the emails I received back, answering the questions.

Research for my magazine: Results

What is your age?

Under 910 to 1718 to 2425 to 3435 to 4445 and over

What gender are you?

MaleFemale

How much would you spend on a magazine?

Nothing £0.01 - £1.00£1.01 - £2.00£3.01 - £4.00£4.01 or more

What is the most important aspect of a magazine front cover?

The Masthead

The Main story

The Cover Lines

The Main image (With star appeal) - Richard Dyer

Planning magazine pages - Results

Do you listen to Rap music?

YesNo

What would you expect to see in a Hip Hop magazine?

Some of the reoccurring answers were:- Latest Music- Famous Hip Hop artists- Hot girls/Boys- Competitions

What colours would you like to see in a Hip Hop magazine?

Some of the reoccurring answers were:- Black- White- Red- Grey- Blue

What would you expect and interview in a Hip Hop magazine to consist of?

Some of the reoccurring answers were:- Question and Answer- Upcoming music and music videos- Personal Questions- An insight into the artists lifestyle

Research for my magazine - ResultsWhat would you expect someone featured in a

Hop Hop magazine to be wearing?Some of the reoccurring answers were:- Bomber jackets - Hoodies- Chains- Sexy clothing

As a result of the responses I received from my survey, I decided to make the colour scheme of my magazine grey and black as these were some of the popular answers from the results, like wise it conformed to Vibe magazine. Similarly I took into account some of the results in what they would expect someone to be wearing in a Hip Hop magazine, which is why I made sure Rhiya the girl who I used for my pictures to wear a Bomber jacket.

Planning magazine pages - Photographs

In order to have a successful magazine, I had to carefully plan who I wanted to be the model for the magazine, likewise I had to make sure the location was set so we could meet up and take sometime out of college to get the pictures done. By texting my friend Rhiya I asked her when she would be available and if she could assist me and luckily she was very co-operative and an amazing model. Similarly she also fit in to what I wanted my magazine to portray such as a very pretty girl to create the Male Gaze (Laura Mulvey), and someone who could pull of the Hip Hop vibe at the same time. Taking into consideration the answers I got from my questionnaire, I requested that she could wear a bomber jacket, as I would be mostly focusing on the top half of her body, and people said this is what they expect from a Hip Hop magazine.

I Purposely made sure I took the pictures against a white/ cream wall in my house as I knew when I took the pictures the background colour would come out a greyish colour which I wanted for my magazine. I similarly did the same thing for my contents and double page spread as it meant I didn’t have to edit the picture to a high extent and I didn’t have to use the quick selection tool on Photoshop to go around the image.

Planning magazine pages - Photographs

This is another image I planned to use for my font cover however I thought the background was very dark, and I wanted the Bomber jacket to show the inside of the pink colour, to represent a feminine touch.

This was the final image I chose for my font cover, however I made it bigger so that it could replicate what a stereotypical large image on Vibe magazine would look like similarly it would catch the audience attention straight away.

Planning magazine pages - Photographs

This is a similar image to what I used for the contents page, however for the image I used I made sure it was lighter so that it would ‘repeat’ the same colour I used in my front cover.

For the final image, I just cropped the other half of her body out so that the images didn’t look too similar on each pages, and it could create a difference between the pages.

Planning magazine pages –Photographs

These are some of the photos which were my original idea to use for my double page spread, however I decided to go for a more serious look.

This is the image I decided to use for the double page spread, because it connotes the idea that she may be pretty but when it comes down to the amount of work she puts into her music she is very serious, and that not only men can make it in the music career, but as a woman she can represent all the other woman that shouldn’t give up on their dream.