Preliminary task progression and planning & research

1. OCR Media Studies – AS Level
Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media
Planning & Research
Name: Alex Westbrook
Candidate Number: 3152
Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
Center Number:64135
Set Brief - Print
Music Magazine – Production
Preliminary Task Progression and
Planning & Research

2. Section 1) –
Preliminary Task

3. Preliminary Task Progression– Evidence
Front Cover
Step-by-step

4. For the background of
the magazine I used
the gradient tool and
selected the radial
gradient. I then set the
primary and secondary
colours in the colour
pallet to a dark blue
and yellow (the school
colour scheme). Once I
had done all of this I
dragged across the
middle of the screen
over the area in
wished I wished the
gradient to take effect.

5. For the banner at the
top I selected the
yellow school colour
and used the rectangle
tool . I then took the
St. Andrews logo and
sized it down and
added blending
options to give it a
better look. To add the
text option I used the
type tool and selected
the area in which I
wanted to add text. I
then selected the font
‘’ and the St.Andrews
blue colour and typed
out the school slogan
onto the banner.

6. I then made a start on the
barcode. To begin with I used
the rectangle tool, changed the
colour to white and then
selected the area in which I
wanted the barcode to exist.
For added effect I added a
number of blending options to
make it smoother and more
appealing. I then took to
google and searched for an
appropriate barcode for the
magazine. After finding this
barcode I opened it in
Photoshop and resized it
before inserting it into my front
cover and placing in the center
of the shape. With the barcode
in place I added social media
icons such as Facebook and
Instagram and placed them
directly above the barcode. To
complete my barcode I added
the issue number, price and
date using the type tool.

7. The next step towards completing my
magazine cover was the main image. In order
to complete this step I first needed and image
and so used a classmate and had them pose
so that I could take a picture. Now that I had
an image I had to remove the background
before it could be inserted into my front
cover. To remove the background I used a
number of techniques. The first technique
that I used was the quick selection tool,
which I used to remove the majority of the
background by selecting the area that I
wished to keep and then inversed the
selection and used the backspace key to
remove the background. Although this
removed the majority of the background,
there was still a remainder of the background
which needed to be removed. To do this I
used the background eraser tool (which can
be found within the eraser tool) and then set
the limits to discontiguous and the sampling
to once and turned on the protect foreground
colour option. Once I had all of the correct
options selected I brushed over the areas
which I wanted to remove. To better the
image I then added blending options
including a drop shadow and yellow outer
glow.

8. Upon adding and finalizing the main
image I decided that I needed to add
a puff promotion and so I took to
google in order to find an adequate
image. Once I had found the image
that I wished to use I saved it and
opened it into a new canvas and
removed the white background using
the quick selection tool. After
removing the background coloured
the image with the St. Andrews
school blue and yellow colours. I then
opened blending options and added
a drop shadow and blue outer glow.
Before moving the puff promotion
onto the front cover it needed text to
be added, so I selected the type tool
and dragged it over the image I then
selected my font and typed out the
text. I then coloured the text yellow
and added a stroke option. I then did
the exact same for the text below it
yet coloured it blue.

9. In this step I added both the masthead and the
main headline. For the masthead I went online to
dafont.com and found a font that I wanted to
use. Normally I would download the font but this
time I had to screenshot it as I wished to apply
multiple colours. Once I had taken a screenshot
of the font, I opened it on a new canvas and
removed the white background using the magic
wand tool and then used the bucket tool to
colour the text yellow and blue. After doing this I
decided to add some blending options. The
blending options I added where stroke, drop
shadow and bevel and emboss. For the masthead
I used a font which I had already downloaded
from dafont.com and used for my puff
promotion. First I selected the type tool and then
dragged it out across the area in which I wanted
the text to go over and then selected the font
and colour that I would be using and typed in the
text. I then added a white stroke in the blending
options.

10. Here I began adding my cover lines.
As the story for my first cover line I
chose the sixth form café and so took
to Google to find the logo of the
school catering company. Once I had
found the image that I would be using
I opened it in a new canvas so that I
could remove the background using
the magic wand tool. Then in order
for the image to be more visible and
stand out more I applied the stroke
option ( Blending options). I then
dragged the image over onto my front
cover and positioned it. For the text
below I selected the type tool and
then dragged it out across the area in
which I wanted the text to go over
and then selected the font and colour
that I would be using and typed in the
text. I then added a black stroke in
the blending options.

11. I then decided to promote the school
YouTube channel and so began by finding
both a subscribe button and the YouTube
logo on Google. After finding the images
that I wanted to use and opened them in
a new canvas. I then removed the
background using the magic wand tool
and added a drop shadow (blending
options) then dragged them into the
front cover. For the text below I selected
the type tool and then dragged it out
across the area in which I wanted the
text to go over and then selected the
font and colour that I would be using and
typed in the text. I then added a black
stroke in the blending options.

12. For my next colour I chose to go with the
subject of the attendance raffle. As the
article was speculating as to what the
prize was, I chose the Xbox-One S as the
speculated prize and so found an image
on Google of the Xbox-One S and
opened it on a new canvas to remove
the background using the magic wand
tool then dragged it into the front cover.
. For the text I selected the type tool and
then dragged it out across the area in
which I wanted the text to go over and
then selected the font and colour that I
would be using and typed in the text. I
then added a black stroke in the
blending options.

13. To finalize the front cover for my
preliminary task magazine I added the
address of the magazines website. I
selected the type tool and then dragged
it out across the area in which I wanted
the text to go over and then selected the
font and colour that I would be using and
typed in the text. I then added a drop
shadow in the blending options.

14. Preliminary Task Progression– Evidence
Contents Page
Step-by-step

15. To begin my contents page I first opened a
new document the size of an A4 page and
then added the background. For the
background I used the gradient tool and
selected the St. Andrews blue colour and
then selected another lighter blue and
dragged across the screen to fill the
background. I then added in a yellow line
using the shape tool by selecting the yellow
colour that I wanted to use and dragging the
shape out over the page. After this I needed
the St. Andrews logo , which I found on the
website, and placed it into the document.
Once I had resized the logo using command
t I added a number of blending options
including stroke to add an effect.

16. To create an outline for the
contents I decided to use yellow
lines which I created using the
shape tool. For these shapes I
decided to use a very slightly lighter
shade than the top rectangle. After
placing the larger vertical shape I
created a smaller one and simply
duplicated it a number of times and
dragged the shapes into position.

17. I decided that for the next step I
would add in the school motto , ‘to
live, to love and to learn in the light
of Christ’ , to the top of the page
right below where the title will go.
To make the motto subtle I chose
the colour to be a slightly lighter
shade of blue and lowered the
opacity.

18. The next step was to add in the title. To
begin with I placed the ‘St.’ masthead
that I have already used for the front
cover. I then took to dafont to find the
same font that was used for my
masthead and took the ‘specials’ part
of the title into Photoshop to create the
blue and white colours with the bucket
tool and then added blending options.
After completing the title I duplicated it
and turned it 90 degrees using
transform and lined it up correctly.

19. After adding in the title I began working
on the actual contents. The first thing in
which I did was take a photo to place
into the page and cropped it before
placing it in. For the title of this story I
used the one from my front cover by
dragging it over. I then used the same
font to add in a page number in the
corner with the type tool. Once I had
duplicated the story title from the front
cover I added in cover lines explaining
what the story contained.

20. The features were then to be added in
below the main story. For the features
title I copied the previous title and
changed the text using the type tool.
After adding in the features title I
added in the page numbers using the
same font but in all white. I then copied
over the images for the features from
the front cover and resized them using
transform and placed them. I then
changed the font to add in the text for
the features which I placed below the
images.

21. For the ‘other stories’ section I
continued to use the same ‘bebas nue’
font that I had used throughout the
page. To begin with I added in the title
using the type tool. Then using the
same font but changing the colours to
all white I typed in the stories and then
aligned them correctly.

22. The next step that I took was to add in
the social media logos, magazine
website and page number. I already
had social media logos saved and so
just placed them in, resized and rotated
them using transform and then moved
them into position. I then used the type
tool to add in the website and page
number.

23. This step was to add in the editorial.
The first thing that I did was went out
and had my picture taken. After taking
the picture I added a vignette and
feathered the edge (refine edge) to get
the effect. With the picture ready I
copied the ‘Other Stories’ title and used
the type tool to change the text to
‘editorial’. For the text in the actual
editorial I first added in the first letter
using the type tool and made it large. I
then added in another text box and
used the pen tool to outline the drop
capital and then pasted in the text that
I had already typed up into a word
document. Finally I added in the picture
and then included my name, email and
scanned in my signature.

24. For the final section at the bottom of
the page I first placed in a screenshot of
the front cover. I then went to the
school website to find a picture of the
front of the school and then another
image with words associated with the
school. For the image of the school I
opened it separately in photo shop and
used transform to crop it and make it
the correct size. Finally I added in the
last image and placed it over the top of
the previous image and then lowered
its opacity (blending options).

25. Section 2) – Log Book

26. R
E
S
E
A
R
C
H
NME, the last of the old-school inkies, suffered another fall in sales, narrowly
avoiding a drop below the 15,000 mark for the first time in its history.
The Time Inc UK title, launched as New Musical Express, had an average weekly
print circulation of just 13,995 in the second half of last year, down 23% on the
same period in 2013, according to Audit Bureau of Circulations figures published
on Thursday.
- theguardian 2015
Bauer Media's purchase of Planet Rock
gives it a digital leg-up in its battle with
rival Global Radio but may cast doubt on
the future of one of its other rock brands,
Kerrang!.
- theguardian 2013
Of those music titles that declare ABC
figures today, NME had the smallest
average circulation in print and overall.
However, the NME's digital edition
recorded a rise in circulation of 16.1 per
cent period on period to an average of
1,518 in the first half of 2014.
- campaignlive.co.uk 2014
This table highlights that
within UK magazine sales,
the Hip-Hop genre falls into
the other category, which
controls 5% of sales.
My research has proved that the demand for printed magazines has
fallen and therefore NME magazine has suffered large falls in sales
which is down by 23% from 2013.

27. Established Magazine for my Research
Masthead
The masthead denotes
a white font in a red
background which
connotes passion,
happiness, enthusiasm,
and energy as red is a
warm colour.
Main headline
The main headline denotes
the quote ‘how to rebuild
your life’ which appeals to
the reader as they will most
likely regard advice from a
band such as Coldplay to be
particularly useful and thus
are more likely to purchase
the magazine
Cover lines
The cover lines feature
renowned artists such as
‘U2’ and ‘David Bowie’
which exploits Richard
Dyers ‘Star Appeal’
Barcode/pric
e
The barcode
displays the date
of issue and
price.
Main picture
‘Star Appeal’ (Richard
Dyer)
-The main picture features
the entire Coldplay band.
The image covers the page
therefore highlighting the
status and success of the
band.
Puff promotion
- The puff promotion states
that the article included is
‘World Exclusive’ suggesting
that it can only be seen in
this magazine which gives
people an incentive to
purchase the magazine
Strapline
Although there does not appear to be a
strapline on this particular magazine cover,
on other Q magazine front covers you can
see the strapline ‘Discover great music’
which connotes that by reading the
magazine the reader will ‘discover great
music’

28. The USP of Q magazine seems to be that not only is the magazine globally available
yet it also features a number of different artists from around the globe which not only
shows ‘star appeal’ by featuring universally recognized artists which also creates a
worldwide fan base for the magazine.
The audience of Q tends to be an older age of at least 25 (Hartley). I discovered this from
a survey that I found a ‘Q Media Pack’ on the website for ‘Q’ magazine. The fact that the
main audience are older or at least working adults means that they are able to charge a
high price of £3.90. Due to its high price it could perhaps appeal to a higher class of
audience. Although it includes a range of genres it would more so attract rock and roll
fans. In accordance to Katz Uses and Gratifications theory that users may want to be
‘informed or educated’. This is evident in this Q magazine within the title ‘Coldplay, how
to rebuild your life’ which would entice the reader into reading the magazine as Coldplay
are a well known and successful band and therefore many people may be interested in
their success , especially if they feel that they need to ‘rebuild their life’ . In particular fans
of Coldplay would be interested in Coldplay’s take on success. Also due to the fact that
Coldplay are a famous band it corresponds with Richard Dyer’s ‘’star appeal” , which
would apply to fans of Coldplay as they would want to hear all about Coldplay and
everything that they have to say. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs ‘social
climbers’ will be enticed by the artists within the magazine.

29. The slogan ‘We think popular’ of Bauer media connotes that they are attempting to
find and publish a magazine which is popular with a wide range of people which is
most likely why the magazine features a large amount of celebrities of a variety of
music genres in order to attract all types of audiences and ultimately become the most
popular magazine.
With regards to the price and availability, the magazine is available to the public by
subscription online costing £24 a year for seven issues of the magazine.
Almost 85% of the readers are male which shows that the magazine is highly popular
with male readers.

30. Cover Line
Includes Obama in the
strapline which almost
suggests that Obama
has an interest in the
magazine and so if
someone as big as the
president is involved
with the magazine
then it must be worth
reading
Main picture covers
part of the
masthead to
highlight Eminem
Masthead uses
aggressive color
red In order to
ensure that the
color stands out
and is
immediately
noticeable to the
reader
Ident includes a
list of featured
names which
would entice the
reader as there
are many well
known celebrities
Main Headline
Features a banner
which says ‘exclusive’
which shows that you
cannot get this story
anywhere else

31. Target Audience – Katz, Maslow, Hartley and/or socio-economic needs
The target audience of VIBE appears to be ‘social climbers’ considering that the magazine cover
features a number of well known celebrities and so they would read it simply because of these
featured celebrities. The featured celebrities would also attract an audience of ‘survivors’ seeing
as they feel the need to constantly update themselves on the latest celebrity news. VIBE
magazine appeals to primarily males seeing as it mainly features male celebrities. The usual age
for a VIBE reader would be between the age of 18 and 30 as it would perhaps not appeal to a
younger audience because of the explicit content of the featured celebrities. With socio-
economic needs I would say that the main audience would be C2 African Americans seeing as
most of the artists are African American yet it is not exclusive seeing as there are artists from this
genre which are not African American.
What is the USP of this magazine?
Judging by the front covers of VIBE magazine I would say that the main USP
would be Richard Dyers ‘star appeal’ considering that the magazine
consistently includes household names such as Eminem and Kendrick Lamar
which would attract a large number of people to purchase the magazine as
they may be fans of the featured celebrities.

32. Publisher research
As of 2014 VIBE magazine became available exclusively online
Although VIBES publisher SpinMedia des not have a slogan you could argue that
their slogan is ‘redefining Hip Hop’ as this is what is said on their website. The fact
that are redefining a genre suggest that their content is in some way different to
other Hip Hop magazines suggesting that they show a unique kind of innovation
that makes VIBE appeal to readers as they are able to view Hip Hop from a
different and interesting perspective.