AS MEDIA STUDIES

FOUNDATION PORTFOLIO

RESEARCH & PLANNING

CENTRE NO: 11049

ST FRANCIS XAVIER COLLEGE

My name is: Ruben Martin

Candidate No:2352

Preliminary Project – Research & Planning

• I spoke to members of the college and also spoke to some of my friends who attend the

college to get some feedback on what they would want in the magazine and I already

had a idea of what I wanted to include in my magazine because I am also a student. Also by being the same age as my target audience this made easier for what I wanted to include in the front & contents page.

• How did awareness of that audience impact upon your visual

design and choice of language? The awareness of my audience didn’t

really make an impact because me and my target audience are the same age so I

already had in mind what I should do for the design and the type of language I should use because was already decided before I picked my target audience.

• What key points did you learn about Adobe Photoshop and InDesign

in constructing your artefacts? I learnt how to change the background of an

image in Photoshop by using one or two simple tools like the magic ward and the Lasso tool. Also InDesign I learnt how to import images from Photoshop and also I learnt how to use the actual programme as it was my first time using InDesign.

Preliminary Project

• College Cover • College Contents

Reflections & Feedback• What would you do differently next time? Next time I would pick a

different font as feel my font is too childish for the magazine and also I would

use a different colour scheme which is basic but make sure it stands out to the

reader. Also I would use more images that can attract my target audiences

and I would make the front cover look like a magazine more than a poster.

• What kind of feedback did you get that might influence you? I

got feedback from my teacher, that the font I used looked too childish and

something that would be used for a cartoon so for my next magazine I'm

going to use a more mature font so I can grab the attention of more readers.

Also my target audience said I should pick a colour scheme that stands out

more to them.

• What aspects of your understanding of Adobe Photoshop & InDesign do you need to improve? I need to aspects of both programmes like changing the

background image and knowing how to use the tools so I can have a better outcome in my next magazine.

The music genre of my music magazine is:

• Genre:

• and my chosen title is ‘It’s A Wrap’ which was

changed to ‘Rapster’ because the first title was to long it sounded boring whereas Rapster was more catchy and short and referred back to the genre of the magazine Rap.

Rap

So I researched this genre of music publication and studied:

• Model 1 • Model 2

What I learned from this was…..

• Cover Design • Cover Lines

•The design of both covers has

taught me that the headings have

to be bold and a bright colour so

they can stand out to the reader.

Also the main focus should be a

well edited image which shows

the main artist is being fully

focused on. The colours of the

magazine should have a

consistency so they flow together

and it doesn’t look rushed or

anything and the design should

be organised so the reader can

easily find what they want to

read.

•The cover lines are catchy and

draw the reader in so they can

purchase the product because they

will be eager to read on. The styles

of the fonts are all similar so the

cover lines don’t look different from

each other but they all stand out in

their own because the way they

have been laid out on the front

cover.

For my music magazine….• Target Audience: Young male audience. From

the ages of 17-28 years old.

• Frequency: Monthly issue

• Cover price: £1.99

• Publisher: Harris Publications

• Unique Selling Point: My magazine is the mainly aimed at a younger generation in the Rap scene.

This is the face of the magazine• Front cover • This is how it works

•The title of the magazine ‘It’s A

Wrap’ relates back to the genre

showing the audience its all about

Rap music.

•The main cover lie stands out

because its placed in the middle

and the font size is bigger than

others so this stands out as the main

story.

•The tag line at the top of the

magazine shows the readers that

this is a magazine worth reading

and the font colour is white so it

stands out more.

Here are the 4 original photographs I shot for the project……

I modified each photograph; here is the original next to the final version: • Raw 1

• Final 1

• Here is how I changed the photograph and why:

I chose not to change this image because I felt that the

background was fine and the colours matched and

because it’s not an photograph of a person I chose not to

make any changes.

And the second one:

• Raw 2 • Final 2

• Here is how I changed the photograph and why:

This photograph was edited by changing the background

colour and making the lighting brighter. This was done so I

could make the photo blend in with the contents page.

And the third one:

• Raw 3 • Final 3

• Here is how I changed the photograph and whyI manipulated the image by using the lasso tool to change

the background to all white and changing the lighting to

make the image more bright.

And the last one:

• Raw 4 • Final 4

• Here is how I changed the photograph and whyWith my last image I cropped half the image so only one

person could be left in the photograph then I changed the

colour of the background to be all white.

Here are a couple of research models for my contents page…

This is my contents page• Contents Page • These are key features…

•The boxes which have been

filled with colour is a key

feature so the reader can see

the important topics of the

magazine.

•The four images chosen are

important because they link

back to the front cover and

the stories of that are in the

magazine.

•The colour is also a key feature

because the red is a consistent

colour which has been used

from the front cover onto the

contents page.

How does the contents page link back to the cover page?

•The contents page

links back to the front

cover because the

main artist has been

used twice so the

readers know this is the

main topic of the

magazine.

•The colour scheme

used on the front cover

has been transferred

onto the contents

page so there’s a

consistency so both

pages can match.

•The cover stories used on the front cover have been included on the

contents page with similar fonts so everything is consistent and flows

with each other.

Key points of contents page • How have you made the reader want to read on? I’ve made the reader

want to carry on reading by giving them a little bit of information.

Under the sub-heading of the features I’ve gave an insight into what

the article is about and why it is interesting so the reader can get

drawn and not bored.

• What are the links between images and words? The images are linked

back to the words by the page number I’ve placed on the image

linking it back to the features which also have the page numbers of

what each article is about.

• What determines the dominant stories? The image of the main artist

has been used on the front cover and I used another image of the

artist and the first feature is about the artists interview on the double

page spread to show this is the main article of the magazine.

• How have you gone about ordering the information on the page? The

research I done on other magazines I took into consideration and

used their style but mixed it with my own ideas by putting information

under the sub-headings and having text and photographs in

different columns .

How does the contents page flag up your double page spread?

My double page spread is going

to include a full interview on my

main artist I have chosen for my

magazine, this is flagged up

through my contents page

because I have included the

main artist and the page

numbers of the double page

spread where the interview is

going to be.

Here’s an example of an inspiring double page spread…

This is why I think that double spread works

•An extract from the

interview has been taken

out so the reader can have

insight into the interview and

what they will be reading

about.

•The image of the artist

has been enlarged and

takes half of the page

emphasising to the

reader that artist is the

main topic.

•The magazine has

chosen a simple

colour scheme which

flows and this works

because the reader

will not be lost by too

many colours.

•The artists name ‘The

Game’ is in capitals

and bold black text so

this stands out to the

reader showing them

he’s the main focus

and the heading is in a

bold gold font so this

stands out from the rest

of the paper to show its

the start of the

interview.

This is my double-page spread

This is how my double page spread works

•The use of two images

emphasise who the main

focus of the magazine is

and who the interview is

on.

•The use of the word

‘Exclusive’ draws the

readers in to know what

is important.

•The image of the artist

wearing blue works with

the text that has been

placed around it

because the font colour

is blue so it stands out to

the reader.

•The use of the same font works because there is a

consistency on the double page spread to keep the

reader, reading so they don’t get distracted by too

many things happening.

•The yellow background on

the title helps because it

helps the title stand out to

the reader.

This is how all three components are linked together….

•There is a consistency of the colour scheme flowing from

the front cover to the double page spread to keep everything the same and so no other colours clash.

•The photograph of the main

artist being used throughout the product helps the reader be reminded of the main topic of the magazine.

•The cover lines being carried on from the front to the contents keeps a consistency going through the magazine so nothing new is brought in half way through the product.

This is my re-drafted cover page

• Cover Page • Key modifications from feedback

•From the feedback

given I was told there

was too much dead

space so I got rid of the

dead space by

organising and adding

more information.

•Also the colour of the

background wasn’t

edited so I changed

the colour of the

background of the

photograph because

the colour before was

clashing with the font

and colours chosen.

•The colour scheme chosen previous

was too boring so I changed the

colour scheme to brighter colours so

the cover could stand out to the

reader.

•Also I changed the name of the

magazine as the chosen name was

too long and ‘Rapster’ was catchy.

Final

Draft

This is my re-drafted contents page• Cover Page

• Key modifications from feedback:

• My first contents page didn’t have a solid

background colour, so I changed my

background to ‘red’ because it looked like

a poster.

• Also I took some

text out because the text on my previous contents page overtook the page so I cut out text.

• Also the boxes

which had the text

in I added different

colours into the

boxes so each box

could stand out as

they contained

different

information.

Draft 1

Final

•Also the pictures used are more organised

because on the previous draft the pictures

were scattered all over the page and just

put anywhere on the page.

This is my re-drafted double spread

Key modifications to double spread from feedback

FINAL

DRAFT

•From the first draft I changed the

fonts used because they didn’t link

back to the contents and front

cover so for everything to be linked

I used similar or the same fonts

throughout the magazine so

everything could be linked.

•On the final product I changed the

colour font of the questions so the

questions could stand out from the

answers because everything was

the same colour.

•The same colour scheme has been

used throughout so the banner title

I changed it to a brighter yellow to

link back to the previous pages and

so the title could stand out also.

Evaluation

• You can find my blog here: http://rubensmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/

You can find my evaluation with responses to the 7 questions here: http://rubensmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/