OCR Media Studies – AS Level

Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media

Planning & Research

Name: Sean WayneCandidate Number: 1254 Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic SchoolCenter Number: 64135

Set Brief - Print

Music Magazine – Production

Preliminary Task Progression and Planning & Research

Section 1) – Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task Progression– EvidenceFront CoverStep-by-step

First of all I had to get a template for the magazine cover. This template shows the house colours of the magazine.Then I had to create a Masthead for the magazine. I decided on the name ‘The A Star’. The font used was ‘AbadiMT CondensedExtraBold’, with blue letters and a yellow stroke around them. They are in Italics, and all of the letters are capitals.

Then I used the gradient tool to give the background some school related colour. The colours that I used were the house colours, blue and yellow.

I then put the mast head onto the background that I had just created, as well as adding the strapline and the web address to the website. Again these has a blue font with a yellow outline, just like the masthead

I then added in The bar code in the bottom right corer of the page, using a different white layers to make the barcode clearer, with any social media links the magazine might have.

I have then added the main title of the magazine in the center of the page in a bold font. I inverted the colours for part of the title to make it stand out but still have the same house colours

I then added the main picture of the magazine on the front cover. I used the quick selection tool to crop out the background. And then put in a puff promotion next to it, using a font I found on DaFonts website, on the top left of the page.

After that I placed in the articles around the pictures using the pen tool. And I added related pictures to each of the articles (using the quick selection tool again).

Here is the final product of my preliminary front cover, with all of the different parts added on.

No corrections needed for the prelim cover page.

Preliminary Task Progression– EvidenceContents PageStep-by-step

First of all I had to create a template for the contents page of the magazine. This template denotes the house colours of the magazine, just like the cover page.(the same background was used)Then, using the same font as the masthead I created a title for the page with the masthead next to it (in a smaller size). This has been done to give the page brand identity.

Then I produced my editorial for the magazine, which included my picture, a drop capital, my signature and ways of contacting me, the editor (including twitter and email).

After this I began to add in the stories in my magazine on the contents page, with titles and a summary for each.

I then added in the main picture of the magazines contents page.

After this I added other smaller, thumbnail pictures around the contents page, relating to the articles

I then added the web address again with the page number of the page.

Here is the final product of my contents page, with all of the different components fitted on it.

Contents page ChangesThe changes that I have made to my prelim contents page are..,.• That I have made my signature bolder

and easier to identify• Changed the image on the top right of

the page to a image with George, and added a page number and description of the picture.

• I have spaced out the articles so that there is a larger distance between them.

• Changed ‘Dec’ to ‘December’, to make the article description clearer, and more professional

• Changed the wording of the description of ‘Find out what George has to say!’ so that it makes more since and flows more fluidly.

• Added a thumb nail for the ‘Movember’ story.

Section 2) – Log Book

Music Magazine – Genre research• The genre of music that Q magazine covers is eclectic music. This genre of music includes

different styles and tastes of music from a large and varied range of musicians and sources. Q typically contains about one or two main feature interviews with artists or bands, and then smaller interviews with a few more less well known artists or artists that haven't recently recorded any new songs or albums.

• On this diagram it shows the most popular music genre in different places in the world. Eclectic music tends to cover the different styles of music that is shown on the map, this means that they are able to cover the whole of the areas colored in with the content that they provide.

• Due to Q magazine being able to cover such a large variety of music, the covers of the Q, also show quite a large variety of different types of artists, reflecting feeling of excitement that the magazine gives off.

http://time.com/3697123/music-genres-around-the-world-grammy-awards/http://lauranatmason.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/analysis-of-q-magazine.html

Established Magazine for my Research

MastheadMaking the magazine more recognizable

Main HeadlineTo peak peoples interests

Cover Lines (secondary stories)See what is featured in the magazine, to peak peoples interests

Main ImageThe shot type used in this particular issue of ‘Q’ is a close up shot of Florence that’s angle has been taken straight on.

Barcode/ Price/Date/Issue

Strapline *A ‘slogan’ to give the magazine a way to be remembered

‘Star Appeal’ (Richard Dyer)Someone people would recognise, making the magazine more appealing

*Strapline ContinuedThe verbal code “Discover” connotes that the reader is able to find new up and coming artists that might interest them that they have unlikely heard of before. “Discover” gives the impression of finding something new.

Target Audience – Katz, Maslow, Hartley and/or socio-economic needsAccording to the Q readership profile, 71.% of its reader are in the A,B,C1 categories with 70% of the readers being in employment. The magazine mainly appeals to 30 to 40 year old white males that are interested in alternative music and purchasing CD Albums (Hartley). These people are most likely looking for information about different artist, including their personal life, their professional career, as well as the issues being discussed in the magazine. This is so that the readers are able to build up admiration for the subject of the interview as well as immerse themselves in the content (‘Diversion’ - Katz). Most of the target audience is ‘Explorers’ (Maslow) which means that they are influenced by social change.

What is the USP of this magazine? From the research that I have completed into the product, I would assume the unique selling point to be the column that has been written by a award winning radio DJ Zane Lowe about guitars, also Some well known celebrities from a variety of genres have be mentioned (such as Skrillex etc.). Also the main focus of this issue of Q magazine is Florence (and the machine), that has a large fan base that would be interested in reading about her and what she is currently doing (career/personal life etc.).

Publisher research

http://magazines.bauermediaadvertising.com/magazines/detail/Q

http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/brands/q

The ‘We think popular’ slogan that Bauer (the publisher) of Q magazine is able to connote to the reader of the magazine that their content is covering all of the current popular music.

These statistics on the right of the page shows that The circulation of the magazine is on the decline , from roughly a total 540,000 readers in March 2011 to roughly 360,000 in June 2012

This magazine is able to be purchased from any newsstand , post office and corner shop, as well as super markets and other well know Shop organisations. This means that the magazine is available to a large range of people, mostly being those in group A,B and C1.http://origin.mediauk.com/magazines/36219/q/readership-figures

Established Magazine for my Research

Masthead

Cover lines (secondary stories)See what is featured in the magazine, to peak peoples interests

Strapline*To make the magazine look more appealing ( Showing the standard of he magazine)

Main Headline

Barcode/Price/Date/Issue

Main Image, ‘Star appeal’ (Richard Dyer)Someone people would recognise, making the magazine more appealing.The shot type that was used in this particular issue of ‘Classic Rock’ is a medium close up of Led Zeppelin that has been taken with a straight on angle

Puff Promotion/CompetitionThis is done to draw the reader into buying the magazine

*Strapline continuedThe words “Fastest-growing” connotes that this magazine is becoming more and more popular, quicker with every issue. This caused potential readers to feel a sense of urgency to buy the magazine so they don’t miss out on what it has to offer

Target Audience – Katz, Maslow, Hartley and/or socio-economic needsThe that classic rock magazine mainly appeals to white men that are in groups B and C2, ages between 35 and 45. this is shown by how the language used in the article is very refined as well as the fact that the magazine mainly features older music which will appeal to a slightly older range of men(Hartley). This target audience tend to prefer having issues that they are able to identify that informs them about the topic being discussed in the magazine rather creating a diversion or building a ‘personal relationship’ (Katz). The target audience are usually ‘social climbers’ (Maslow) which means they are more materialistically driven.

What is the USP of this magazine? After my research I can conclude that the unique selling point of this magazine is the darker colours that are used in the front cover that creates a more serious tone to appeal to a certain audience. As well as that the magazine focus on Led Zeppelin that has a huge fan base that would be interested in reading about what he has done, on top of that he is one of the most well known people in the rock genre, meaning that people will associate his music (which is very popular) with the magazine. Also In the magazine there is a reviews article about U2 as well as talk of a new ‘rock god’ about Jimmy Page, attracting more people to read the magazine.

Publisher researchThis magazine has experienced circulation declines in there first ABC report since they moved from Future Publishing to Team Rock. It saw a circulation dip of 4.6% as the year go on, going from 56714 in 2012 (December) to 26273 in 2013 (December). But this is less than the previous year when they had reported a 9% circulation decline from 2011-2012.This magazine is available to purchase at any news stand at a post office, corner shop and supermarket. As well as that there is a monthly subscription to the magazine, which is when that months issue is sent directly to the reader via post.

http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/futures-classic-rock-and-metal-hammer-bought-former-gmg-radio-execs-£102m-deal