Catherine created a music magazine called "Voltage" as her media product. She aimed it at young adults aged 14-20 who enjoy alternative music genres. To attract this audience, she included popular artists, a clear color scheme, and engaging headlines. Through the process, Catherine learned skills with Photoshop, InDesign and researching magazines. She improved at using conventions like fonts, mastheads and cover lines. The preliminary task helped her learn the programs, manage time better, and take higher quality photos for the final product.

1. AS Media
Coursework
Evaluation
OCR G321: Foundation Portfolio
Name: Catherine Riozzi
Candidate Number: 3188
Centre Number: 16603

2. Front cover

3. Contents page

4. DPS

5. In what ways does your media product use,
develop or challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?
• When creating my media product, I have tried to include as many of the usual magazine codes
and conventions as possible that I have learnt from my in depth research into different
magazines. For example, I chose a distinct font to use for my magazine masthead which I then
carried out throughout each of the pages of my magazine. I decided to call my magazine
“Voltage” because it fits in well with the bright layout of my magazine, and conveys an obvious
link with loud music which is what the magazine focuses on. I chose to use similar fonts carried
out through the magazine that are bold and clear for clarity and to make it flow smoothly. My
media product could be most easily compared to Kerrang magazine as it uses similar layouts that
are known for attracting young teenagers and adults as they have a “fun” feel to them with bright
colours and dynamic layout. It differs from Kerrang in the way that it isn’t quite as “in your face”,
but still has that feeling of controlled chaos as there is a lot of different cover lines included,
making the reader feel there is going to be a lot of different things within the magazine- making it
good value for money. As I based my magazine off of Kerrang and Rocksound magazine, I decided
to price it at £3.50. Because it is a monthly magazine like Rocksound (priced at £3.99). This price is
both affordable for my young target audience, and uses psychological pricing to make the
audience think it is good value for money as it is cheaper than some of the alternatives. I used a
clear colour scheme of pink and yellow throughout my pages along with the standard black and
white to create to create continuity along with a bold colour scheme that creates a loud air about
the product that intends to make the audience excited and enthusiastic about it.

6. How does your media product represent particular
social groups?
• My media product represents both young adults of all social groups. It also
focuses solely on “alternative” genres of music such as rock, punk, heavy
etc, so is aimed towards people in alternative social groups as opposed to
social groups interested in popular culture. I have tried to convey this
through the cover image that I chose along with the band I interviewed, my
colour scheme (especially the dark double page spread background and
image), and even the title and cover lines included within my magazine. I
chose to interview and photograph a band that have an image and look
that you would associate with the social group I was targeting towards, and
that were in their early 20s so as to be a similar age to my target audience,
but also slightly older to be people that some of my audience may want to
look up to.

7. What kind of media institution might distribute
your media product and why?

8. • If I were to sell my magazine independently, it would be highly likely that large
retailers such as HMV, WH Smith, and other newsagents/supermarkets would be
willing to sell my magazine, and this would be unlikely to happen anyway as I
would lack the funding needed to maintain a magazine.
• There are not many media institutions running in the UK that distribute
magazines other than Bauer Media. Bauer is a division of the Bauer Media Group,
which is Europe’s largest private-owned publishing group. It is a worldwide media
empire that sells more than 300 different magazines- including Kerrang and Q- of
all sub-genres to multiple countries, and also owns online branches, TV such as
4Music, and radio stations like KISS FM. The Bauer Media division of BMG has
been running since 2008 and makes billions of pounds every year.
• Because it is such a powerful institution, it would be wise to get Voltage Magazine
to be another one of the successful magazines housed by Bauer Group as it
would be far more likely to succeed. It would also mean that my magazine would
have promotional links with well renowned companies and could be publicised in
formats such as radio and TV adverts, reaching a wide audience.

9. Who would be the audience for your media
product?
• After conducting my market research questionnaire, I decided it
would be best to target people aged 14-20 through my magazine, as
this was the age of people that were interested in similar magazines
such as Kerrang, Rocksound and NME that I was hoping to use as
inspiration for my product. I made sure I could cater for this young
audience by keeping the magazine at a reasonable price of £3.50
which is amiable for a monthly magazine.

10. How did you attract/address your audience?
• To ensure that I catered for my intended audience of alternative young adults, I have
made sure to create an exciting and enticing looking magazine that is dynamic in both
colour and content. When I received the results from my market research survey, I found
that my audience wanted a magazine full of news, interviews, and popular elements for
my sub-genre such as a gig guide and regular music features.
• My magazine includes popular artists from the alternative music scene that would also
be featuring in the likes of Kerrang etc which means that by including popular bands and
artists in my cover lines and stories, I will be attracting a wider audience than if I were to
use just small bands that weren’t famous.
• I did not choose to aim my magazine at a certain gender as this would be putting a cap
on my audience. However, the results from my survey showed that 16 of the 20 people
that took the survey were female. Due to this statistic, and the fact research shows that
more females tend to buy music magazines more and also more frequently, I wasn’t
hesitant to use my yellow and pink colour scheme because I would presumably have a
larger female than male audience, and the high gender equality of today means that
young males would widely not worry about buying a magazine with pink on it.
• A specific example of how I attracted my audience on my front cover was by using a
standard convention that most magazines do; a buzz word. I used the bold word “WIN!”
in a pink box as this is a well known way to attract attention to an item- it creates a psych
that we are getting more for our money in the form of an added extra.

11. What have you learnt about technologies from the
process of constructing this product?
• From my preliminary task, to adding the final edited touches to my three components of
the music magazine, I have learnt many useful technological skills in multiple formats.
• Firstly, I have developed the research skills I already possessed. By researching multiple
things such as the codes and conventions of magazines and music magazines, how
magazines are formatted, and the techniques of interviewing people. I have learnt from
my research that it is important to always be very specific in searches, and use
trustworthy sources on the internet. When analysing both physical magazines and
images on Google, I have developed a good eye for detail and for noticing when codes
and conventions are being used, as well as what magazines are trying to convey or
express by using or changing conventions.
• The main skills that I have learnt have been on the programs of Photoshop and InDesign
on a mac computer. Throughout the coursework, I have further developed the skills I
already had in Photoshop, and have finally mastered the art of the dreaded Lasso tool.
I’ve learnt how to link both programmes by finding where they are similar, and for
example ensuring that I can access the same specific fonts and colours on both
platforms. I had never used InDesign before this project, but think I have learnt on it very
quickly as I find it quite straightforward to use. I think that my double page spread was
the most professional looking and well composed of the three pieces of work I produced
in my final task, and think this is because I have developed my InDesign skills well.

12. Looking back at your preliminary task,
what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?

14. • Looking back on my preliminary product, I think I have progressed in my skills
development, which can be seen when comparing this and my final product.
Completing the preliminary task helped me to learn the basics of the programs I
would be using to create my final product- Photoshop and InDesign. The
preliminary task also helped me to create a basis of how to lay out my final
project on my blog, meaning that I would hopefully not forget to include
anything. It has also helped me to learn to manage my time, as I could learn how
long it would take me to produce each individual blog post, piece of research, and
make each of the three elements to my magazine. I used a lot more of the
generic magazine codes and conventions such as using more cover lines, creating
a clear masthead, and using specific fonts throughout for continuity when
creating my music magazine than in my college one.
• I learnt from taking photos on my iPhone for the preliminary task that I would
need access to a proper camera with a decent megapixel to insure that I had high
quality images. I also learnt regarding photos that I should plan a photoshoot
rather than taking the photos with no planning so that the end result would be of
better quality. By using a dark background for my photoshoot for the final
product, I was able to create photos with a real atmosphere rather than the busy-
background shots of my preliminary photos in a less ideal location.
• Overall, the progression from preliminary task to the final outcome of my music
magazine has been a good one. I’ve learnt how to create a high quality and
professional looking magazine using usual magazine codes and conventions whilst
creating a product that is unique in its bright and expressive presentation.