OCR Media Studies – AS Level

Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media

Preliminary Task, Log Book and Evaluation

Name: Brenda BokoeCandidate Number: 7483Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic CollegeCenter Number: 64770

Set Brief - Print

Music Magazine – Production

Preliminary Task Progression, Log Book and Evaluation

Names for school

magazine

DA INCREDIBLE

ST.PAUL’S

SP VIBES

HYPE SAINTSST.PAUL’S VIBE

1) More names needed2) Talk about which one

you did choose and the connotations of the verbal code

Preliminary Task Progression– EvidenceFront CoverStep-by-step

This should contain a final version of the Page itself, including corrections

I started with a normal photo shop page, and drew gridlines across to guide me through. I also added the school maroon and blue color to keep the magazine unique and show that it’s a St. Paul’s school magazine.

Step 1

I then added a background color which is white using the ‘Paint Bucket tool’ (G).

Step2

I went onto “dafont.com” to choose a font style and then saved it to the available font styles in my photo shop page. Then I wrote my mast head in a good size which could be easily read across the whole page.

Step 3

I then added my barcodes and the magazine’s social media sites next to it in order to broaden the appeal of the magazine to the target readership.

Step 4

I added my strap line at the left top of the page.The verbal code ‘Written by you, for you’ connotes that the magazine contains information for the students on what is going on in the school and gossips from the staffs and students

Step 5

I added St. Paul's log at the top of the page to make the magazine seem more official.

I added my main image but made sure I used the ‘Quick Selection Tool’ (W) to select and then inverse the areas not wanted. I also used the refine edge tool to touch up the image and place it in front of the masthead, which I noticed was conventional in other magazines.

Step 6

I then added my main headline and the name of the person in the main image, which is a well known and respected student in the school that people would be interested to read about.

Step 7

I then added my promotion and my magazine issue number.The offer should act as a further tool To help entice the readers to purchase the magazine.

Step 8

I added two important cover stories linking with the themes of life at school.These were carefully positioned around the main image using the ‘Pen tool’ (P).

Step 9

I added more cover stories at the left side, again using the pen tool to carefully integrate the text around the images.

Step 10

I added a handprint on the right side to make the magazine standout and look eye catching. The handprint says “we are 99%” boosting out the magazine ‘s USP (unique selling point)

I realized that the right side was empty so decided to add more cover stories.

Step 11

Lastly, I duplicated my mast head using “CMD - J” and resized it then dragged it down to the right bottom of the page.

Step1

Preliminary Task Progression– EvidenceContents PageStep-by-step

I started my contents page by inserting most of the shapes I am going to need to indicate where certain conventions are going to be placed.

Step 1

I then added the grey shape color which will be used for my cover lines and features to appear in the first issue.

Step 2

I added the contents’ heading and duplicated the name of my magazine at the side in order to increase the brand identity of the magazine for the readership.

Step3

I then added my general headlines, an “SP” text next to St. Paul's vibe and my signature at the bottom of the page.

I also added the page number at the bottom of the page.

Step 4

I added my editorial and my image next to it.The editorial was carefully positioned around the image using the ‘Pen tool’ (P).

Step 5

I inserted images of some students who will featuring in the magazine.

Step 6

I inserted social media websites, the magazine website and also the link of my editorial page in order to increase the awareness of the magazine across the media platforms.

Step 7

I added the St. Paul's logo at the left side top of the page.

I also added my main image and manipulated it using the ‘Quick Selection Tool’ (W) and ‘Quick Mask Mode’ (Q) to inverse the selection and remove the background.

Step 8

I added my main cover stories, the pages where they could be found and my promotion.

Step 9

Last but not the least, I added the rest of my secondary stories at the left side which brought be to the completion of my contents page.

Section 1) – Log Book

Music Magazine – Genre research

The image clearly shows the different genres of music that are involved in the magazine, we see that it isn’t just one genre that is mainly focused on but a variety. This Is very effective and widens the target audience of the magazine by them dealing with a wide range of artists.

From other secondary research completed, I have seen that young adults are the target audience of Q magazine. They are doing everything possible to keep them interested such as getting their favorite bands and artists involved. For instance at the right hand side of this magazine, Rihanna the famous celebrity who is so loved by younger music fans has been included in the magazine photo. This is to connote that Q magazine is trying its best to get everyone involved in the magazine across a variety of demographics and music fans.

Publisher research

http://miaspicerx.wordpress.com/2012/11/22/existing-target-audience-q-magazine/

Gender: As shown above , 75% of Q magazine readers are males and the rest of the 25% are females, which implies that their main target are the male gender.

Age: Although Q magazine fan base is between a wide range of ages, it connotes that the target audience of younger generations more than elderly. Putting this into consideration, it is clear that this magazine is aimed at people aged 15-24 It is also clear that the circulation of the magazine is broad and it is stated above as the UK’s biggest magazine with 88,420 so we know from the huge amount of number that this is very popular magazine

Established Magazine for my Research

• The use of social media such as Facebook and twitter should be introduced as this will help promote the magazine.

• Also a website could be very helpful especially for their target audience to look up their new activities

Mast headMain image consists of different artist which drops a hint that the magazine includes hip-hop, rap and rock or country music.

Cover lines which makes the magazine interesting and helps sells the magazine

The image also oozes ‘star appeal’ (Richard Dyer) for the readers and is clearly going to attract a mass readership by itself as they are some of the biggest names across the music industry.

The Strap line used are interesting as people will want to know who are the most exciting people in music are now so that promotes the magazine

Target Audience –

Age “ Hartley’s seven subjectivities” - The target audience for Q magazine are young adults. Q magazine do every thing they can to keep them interested such as getting their favorite bands and artist involved.Survivors “Maslow’s hierarchy of needs” - Q magazine ensure they included concert dates as well as the artist personal lives/music life in order to feed this demographics need for security in knowing the latest and most important information to do with their favorite acts/ artists.“Katz’ Uses & gratification theory“ - Q magazine advertise opportunities for readers to get involved and they sometimes use representation of people who may reflect us and how we are. So they use ‘personal identification’ so that we can relate to the people on the cover or double page spread.

What is the USP of this magazine?

From research into a series of Q front covers, the unique selling point is the powerful main image, ‘star appeal’ and the Main headline which is used perfectly to describe the image representing the story. They use good color for the font and keep the background less busy, as that is plain or fewer things in the way of the image and cover line stories. For example looking at the magazine cover at the right side of his page , they placed black cats around the main image and used this to describe her as “sexy beast Lily Allen and her wicked ways”. This already passes a lot of information to the main readers and pulls their attention as they will want to know what Lily has done or what wicked ways she has.

After researching an established and eclectic music magazine, I have decided to research and produce a 4-page spread for a new Hip-Hop magazine. These are some examples of Hip-Hop magazines who

have more of a niche following compared to Q magazine.

Conventions of a Music Magazine

• . Main Image - Well known sexy celebrity Ciara Harris. The posture and the style of the image attracts more people to buy it especially the male gender as she encourages a ‘male gaze’ (Laura Mulvey).

The Strapline at the top of the mast head brings out something striking, with verbal code “illest” a slang term commonly used amongst rappers in the genre.

Secondary cover lines help sell the magazine

The verbal code below the Main Headline describes the picture so drops a hint of the diva celebrity.

Magazines brings out humor, telling the audience that there is some interesting information and makes it more fun

Her clothing and the lollipop looks quite provocative which matches her personality and she has a provocative stage present and everyone knows her as a sexy performer

Publisher research

The publisher of VIBE magazine is Len Burnett

The magazine’s target demographic is predominantly young, urban followers of hip-hop. It is now issued every other month with double covers, with a larger online presence.

VIBE records the celebrities, sounds, fashion, lifestyle, new media, and business born from urban music. As an authoritative voice, VIBE creates trends as much as it records them. It covers music, educates its readers, and gives back to the community. VIBE serves as a gateway to a growing young, trendsetting, multicultural audience. As excellent journalists and innovative marketers, VIBE is the voice of urban music and culture. VIBE provides a democratic digital experience where users are encouraged to provide content. At VIBE print and online will seamlessly relate.

Circulation of VIBE magazine

VIBE lifestyle network represents over 25 sites and reaches over 19 million unique users per month. The new vibe is the premier destination for urban music, entertainment, culture and lifestyle for 16+

Target Audience – Vibe is an entertainment music magazineThe magazine has a total audience of around 2.4 million people, 55% of which are male 45% are female. Personal identification(Katz) because readers will want to have the same clothing or items as their desired artist and the. Age(Hartley) would be strictly for readers above the age 18 – 34 years old due to the content inside such as strong language or artists wearing revealing clothing. Social climbers(Maslow) reading the magazine will be attracted to information regarding their favorite artists allowing them to increase their social status.

What is the USP of this magazine?

From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP is the layout of the magazine. The font on the magazine cover is immediately and noticeably Bold. It is also a Serif Font. The peripheral text surrounding the image also appears to be very important and informative for this reason. The font is quite modern due to its bold aesthetics and size. The font is intentionally large. This is because the image on the cover is also large and it would be easy for the image to detract from the surrounding sub-heading, which obviously are important for the reader to read, firstly to become interested in the magazine and therefore buy it. Due to this the font is large and bold to serve its purpose to advertise the inside stories. Its serif font, get the point across quickly and efficiently with little fuss.

Non stop

• Frankie

DOPE!I chose dope because it means excellent, cool, outstanding or awesome. The reason I chose this name is because after carrying out my research like survey and questionnaire, I realized that the other ideas of names were not very outstanding and did not really match the type of magazine. So I did some brainstorming and realized that dope best defines my magazine

as it brings out how special or excellent the magazine is and what it is bringing to the audience.

Replay

Tuned up

DTB

Brainstorming names for my magazine