Foundation portfolio evaluation

1. Foundation Portfolio
Evaluation

2. My classmate, Poppy Saplamides, and I created two different
issues of a pop music magazine. We decided to work together as
we both wanted to look and research pop magazines and our
ideas were similar. I created a front cover, contents page and
double page spread which follow the conventions of real,
existing pop music magazines such as Top of the Pops or We
Love Pop. I have used these two pop music magazines as an
inspiration and examples for my own designs.

3. The mast-heads of pop music magazines stand out and the
readers eye is drawn towards it as it also relates to the
genre of music represented. This makes it easier for the
target audience to choose. I believe “Pop-It” is an
appropriate masthead for a pop magazine as it is fun and
reflects the pop genre. The cover line has a link to the artist
featured on the magazine, who attracts the chosen target
audience. The barcode is in a corner, at the bottom of the
page and it is not eye-catching. The posters in “We Love
Pop” are presented as “poster amazingness”, this inspired
me to give the posters a fun, quirky name such as “wall
candy”. This language attracts the readers. The colour
scheme is girly, pink is very often used in pop magazines
and I adopted this feature.
Front Cover

4. The contents page of pop music magazines include a
variety of page numbers which allow the reader to find
the certain articles they are looking for. They are usually
in big fonts and bright colours so that they stand out.
Contents pages contain subheadings which inform the
audience. It also includes images of the artists featured
and the attraction is driven towards the main article.
Most pop magazines contents page include a fashion
section, so I decided to include one in my own magazine.
It is typical for a contents page to include images
alongside important titles. I decided to add an “Editor’s
word” section as I believe it is a great way to address to
my target audience and it is quite frequent amongst pop
magazines as it allows a direct contact with the reader.
“Top of the Pops” introduces the contents page by using
“Inside the mag…”, which inspired me to use “Inside
Pop-It”.
Contents Page

5. Double Page Spread
Double page spreads of pop music
magazines include a range of images of the
artist featured. They usually feature artists
that are popular at the moment or
promoting artists that are trying to get into
this industry. The double page spread
presents an interview which is supposed to
interest and entertain the readers. The
questions are fun and quirky and so are the
answer, as the language used is informal
and easy to understand for the target
audience. This inspired me when it came to
creating the questions and answers for the
interview.

6. Social Groups
My three pieces create a representation of young girls, who are
the intended target audience. As it is a pop magazine, girls are
more interested in the features included and the artists
presented. Girls are the main target audience for pop magazine,
therefore my presentation is conventional. “Pop-It” represents a
particular age group of 14-18 years old girls, there is no
specific race it is aimed at, class or region. It is also a
representation of youth as it shows what this generation enjoys
and their role models.

7. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a UK-based international public-service
broadcaster. It is the world's oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest
broadcaster in the world by number of employees, with about 23,000 staff, in total
and 16,672 in public sector broadcasting. The BBC sponsors and distributes the
magazine “Top of the Pops”. As this is a very successful pop music magazine amongst
young teenage girls, I believe the BBC is the media institution that is most suitable for
my media products. Because of its popularity, it would help my magazine grow and
people would also trust buying it.

8. Target Audience
“Pop-It” targets teenage girls aged between 14-18 years old.
They are girly, sociable, into pop music and one or more artists
represent their role models. Because my magazine is about the
pop genre, it is suitable for my target audience. The reader of
“Pop-It” enjoys gossip, fashion and spending time with their
friends, therefore we aim to produce the best articles which will
both entertain and inform the target audience.

9. In order to attract my target audience, I followed the
codes and conventions of existing pop magazines.
• “Pop-It” includes posters, puffs and a variety of
images, these features are typical
• I have used girly colours which would appeal to my
target audience
• The masthead stands out
• I have directly addressed my audience by using
“you” and “I”, this gives the magazine a friendly feel
which is appropriate for the pop genre and the
audience it is aimed at

10. Technological skills
• I have learnt a variety of new skills since the beginning of this
project. I know how to edit an image in photoshop and
manipulate it in order to obtain the product wanted. I have
used photoshop for all three pieces of work I have produced.
• I have also used blogger (
www.claudiaionescuaslevelmediastudies.blogspot.co.uk) in
order to present the work I have produced. It is easy to access
and public.
• www.slideshare.co.uk helped me add my products on my
blog
• I have mostly used powerpoint for my presentations
• These are the main programmes used, however I have also
used YouTube and Google in order to gather information

11. Looking back…
• Looking back at my preliminary task, I realise I
developed many skills.
• I am much better at working on Photoshop now.
• I am well aware of the conventions of existing pop
magazines, therefore I gathered knowledge which
might be useful later on. I also acknowledge the
amount of work put into creating a magazine.
• The contents of my pieces of work is the area I have
improved on as they are better now than they were
in the preliminary task.