media evaluation

1. Name: Lucy Phillips
Candidate number: 2808
Centre: 33435 Aquinas College
AS Media Studies
OCR G321: Foundation Portfolio
Brief: To create a front cover, contents page and
double page spread for a music magazine of
your choice.

2. Question 1: Who would be the audience
for your media product?

3. Question 1: Audience Questionnaire
• Many of the results I received back stated that their preferred music tastes
were something along the lines of Pop-Punk, Rock and Punk so I catered
my magazine to the taste of my audience.
• Another question I asked was Who is your favourite band? and the
responses I received were bands such as All Time Low, My Chemical
Romance and Panic! At the Disco who are all bands under the Pop-Punk
genre of music, which gave me another reason to choose this genre of
music for my magazine.
• I also included the question What social networks do you use? and the
main response I received back was Twitter so I included a Tweet us!
caption on the double page spread along with a username for the
magazine.

4. Q1 : Who would be the audience for your
media product?
I aimed my magazine at
people who…
Go to gigs
Listen to pop-punk
and rock music
Are from around
the ages of 16-22
Are both men
and women
Spend money
on…
Live in the city
Are interested in…

5. Q1: Who would be the audience for your
media product?
I feel that my magazine would be similar to Kerrang! and the audience who
buys it. However, my magazine includes more pop-punk and rock music rather
than heavy metal. I also felt very strongly from personal experience that there
was a gap in the market for a pop-punk/rock music magazine aimed at young
men/women between the ages of 15-22 who are interested in this genre. This
would be my magazine’s unique selling point.

6. Q1: Sub-genres and hybrid publications
Based on my audience research, I
have found that there is a gap in
the market for a niche magazine
that combines pop-punk music with
rock music and very small
influences of heavy metal, aiming
for a primary audience of 15-22
year olds of both genders, who are
interested in these music genres.

7. Q1: Who would be the audience for your
media product?
• The colours used on this front
cover are bold reds, yellows and
greens with a combination of
black and white. The boldness
and contrast of these colours
implies that their audience are
individuals who are interested in
the heavy metal/rock genre and
are not afraid to stand out from
others.

8. Primary Audience
The primary audience for my
product would be both males and
females. My magazine will
combine pop-punk music, which
is typically ‘soft’ music compared
to the likes of heavy metal, with
rock as there are many bands
who are based around both of
these genres.
The colours I have chosen for my
magazine are gender-neutral and
this shows that my magazine is
for anyone who enjoys the bands
in my magazine.
The age range for my primary
audience would be
teenagers/young adults from
around the age of 15-22.

9. Even though I am aiming my magazine at 15-22 year olds who are interested in this
genre of music, I have taken into account that there will be others outside of this age
range who will also be interested in purchasing this magazine, and also there will be
people who read the magazine because one of their friends/family members has
bought it and is just simply available for them to read.
I would aim my magazine at a demographic who are very interested in pop-punk and
rock music, who aspire to be like the bands they idolise by buying shirts with the
names of the band on and going to see them live at gigs. Some fans may even get
inspired to start their own band of this genre.
There are many magazines that are similar to the genre of my magazine such as
Kerrang!. However, many of the bands included in this magazine are from the heavy
metal genre, so my magazine is different from this as it centres the attention around
the bands within the pop-punk genre, appealing to the fans this way

10. Q2. How does your media product represent
particular social groups?
IDEAL READER:
My star represents the ideal reader, with the use of
mise en scene. Her clothes consist of dark colours
which match her hair, and she is wearing these
colours because these are also the colours my
target audience would typically favour, both males
and females. She is straying away from traditional
conventions for female stars, therefore my target
audience would aspire to be like her.
An example of a band
taken from the images on
my moodboard wearing
dark clothing, as it appeals
to their audience.

11. Q2. How does your media product represent
particular social groups?
To appeal to the correct target audience, my star would have to
represent an idealised version of the reader. In order to appeal to
as many consumers of this genre as possible, the star must
appear bold and unafraid to stand out from the crowd.
On the following slides I will demonstrate how Hayley Williams,
one of the celebrities my chosen audience is interested in, filters
her appearance and performance depending on her audience.

12. Hayley Williams – Mainstream Representation
Her hair is a bright and
defining orange, which
shows that she is not afraid
to be bold and stand out
from her audience.
The clothes she wears are
typical of someone
representing the punk
genre, contrasting black
with bright colours such as
yellow or white.
Her pose is confident and
striking to the audience.
Her facial expression shows
intimidation and attitude to
her audience, which is
exactly how she wants to be
represented to her audience.
Red lipstick conveys
boldness to the audience.
Direct eye contact with
her audience.

13. Hayley Williams – Niche Representation
This portrays a message to
the audience that it is
unnecessary to dress up for
interviews etc. as for Hayley,
it is all about the music.
She is smiling and not looking
directly at the audience.
Her hair is simply pulled back
into a ponytail, yet it is still
her most striking feature.
Highlights just how small she is
compared with other people.
She is wearing casual clothes,
compared to the boldly
coloured top and skin tight
pants she was wearing in the
previous representation.
There is no hint of intimidation
that there previously was in the
mainstream representation.

14. COVER STAR:
In all the photographs of my cover star, I tried to make sure she would be
aspirational for the readers. She is the same age as my ideal reader, and
therefore would attract the target audience. The mise en scene of the star
represents a slightly rebellious young woman, who is not afraid to stand out
from the crowd.

15. Q3: What kind of media institution might
distribute your product?
I have chosen Bauer Media Group
to distribute my product as I feel
that Calamity and Kerrang! would
compliment each other.
Bauer Media Group currently
publish Kerrang! Magazine, one of
the most successful magazines in
this genre of music.

16. Calamity would be a fortnightly magazine priced at £2.50 an
issue. This is a similar price to Kerrang! , however it is slightly
cheaper as Kerrang! is priced at £2.70. It also comes out weekly
rather than fortnightly, thus costing the reader a lot more
money compared to my magazine.
There will also be a lot of advertisements in the magazine
aimed at brands and other items linked with my target
audience.

17. Kerrang! website
Having podcasts, radio, tv,
and a link to the magazine
increases the brand reach.
This means that the brand
can reach a wider
audience, and therefore
sell more to its target
audience.
Having a
subscription package
is necessary as it
helps to keep the
readers loyal to the
magazine
Kerrang! promote their
other features on the
website such as TV, radio,
the K! Tour and the
magazine

18. Website
Social media links
available to allow
the audience to
interact with the
magazine and
follow them for
updates,
promotions, etc.
Includes main stories
involving certain
bands which would
attract the readers. It
is easily accessible for
the audience to read.
Includes a search bar so
the audience can search
for what they want to
read, watch etc. on the
website
Includes the latest and most
recent news for readers who
like to be in-the-know about
their favourite bands
Includes a music playlist
promoting many different bands.
Has my brand logo so it is
recognised straight away
My website has a
subscription link
for the magazine
which offers them
the latest deals
and helps them
save money

19. Merchandise

20. App and ‘C’ Festival Stage
Calamity

21. Q4: In what ways does your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
For my magazine front cover, I took my main source of inspiration from the
magazines above, Rock Sound, Kerrang! and Q, as they are all music magazines
which link in with the genre of my magazine Calamity, which is pop-punk and rock
bands. I decided to include many features from these front covers onto my own
front cover, such as:
• Bright and bold colours for the masthead
• An image where the cover star is giving a direct mode of address to the reader
• A competition titled WIN! on the skyline of the magazine
• An extra feature at the bottom of the magazine which labelled more bands which
were included in this issue
• Original masthead typography
• Anchorage text, a quote from the double page spread to entice readers into buying
the product
• Buzz words such as WIN! and PLUS!
• Cover/sell lines used along with secondary images developed to show the reader
what else is included in this magazine.
• Graphics such as the small yellow stars and the paint splashes across the masthead
have also been used.

22. For my contents page, although I was influenced
by magazines such as NME and Q, I based my
ideas and design heavily upon the Kerrang! Style
contents page as I liked the way it was neatly set
out. I continued using the typography from the
front cover for all of my subheadings and kept to
my colour scheme of red, white and black, to
keep to the house style of the magazine. On this
contents page I used conventions typical to a
music magazine contents page such as page
numbers, to show the reader where each article
was placed in the magazine; an editors letter, as
a welcome message to the reader; a larger image
in the top right of the screen along with the band
name and page number of the article, the name
of the photographer who took the cover photo
and also information about the issue number
and the cover date.
I challenged the idea of having secondary images where the article information is and instead
kept them all at the top of the page, as it would be more neater this way. I also left out the
idea of a subscription to the magazine as would have made the page look messy and
cluttered, and it could have been easily included on another page instead.
I left the background on the larger image in the top right of the magazine and applied it to
the rest of the top half of the magazine because the stage background really enhanced the
image and is relevant to the music genres that this magazine is based upon.

23. My double page spread was influenced by the magazines
Kerrang!, NME and Q in a number of different and unique
ways. The title of the Lily Allen article in Q, which is a quote
from the article itself definitely inspired my masthead as I
liked the rough impression that it gave off to the audience
and decided that a similar masthead would work out for my
magazine. I chose the colours carefully, deciding that white
and pink-purple would work well against a black background
as it enhances the masthead with the boldness of the
colours. Underneath the masthead is the subheading which
introduces the audience to the interview written below.
Synergy is also taking place inside my DPS in the top left
hand side of the page, as I am advertising the magazine
website to the audience, as well as giving them the
magazine’s twitter username so the audience can go online
to find out more about the latest news in music.Another part of my DPS inspiration came from
Kerrang! as it inspired me to place the image on the
left hand side of the page, and the overall page layout
is very similar to that of Kerrang! However, I decided
against the idea of having more than one image on the
DPS as it appears to be cluttered and there wouldn’t
be enough room for the interview otherwise.

24. On the whole, I have used many conventions from Kerrang! Magazine as it has inspired me in my
choices towards this magazine, such as the kind of typography to use for the headings and which
images will leave the biggest impact on my audience. I was also inspired by where certain things were
placed on the page and although I challenged certain aspects of Kerrang!’s style and changed certain
features, I can say that, although I have been inspired by other magazines, Kerrang! Has been my main
inspiration throughout.

25. Q5: How did you attract/address your audience?
• I chose the pop-punk/rock genre for my magazine, and I have tried to include themes
involving this genre such as; winning tickets to Reading and Leeds festival, real life stories
involving fans of a similar age to the reader and recent gig experiences.
• I took the theme all throughout the magazine, starting with the cover star. For my star I used
a female of 16 years old, and she is dressed in dark colours, however she doesn’t look too
‘metal’ either, and this was the look I was aiming for.
• On my cover, I also included bands within the genre such as All Time Low, blink-182, Green
Day and Paramore.
• The fonts used within my front cover may be successful to attract the genre aimed at because
it relates to the scruffy and scribble writing used on album covers, relating to the contents of
the magazine.
• My magazine is similar to the likes of Kerrang! and Rocksound , as they all have a punk edge
to them all. However, my magazine is slightly different as it strays away from the ‘metal’
genre.

26. Q5: How did you attract/address your audience?
Another important point of the magazine was to address my audience, speaking
to them visually and verbally, by using colour to help. I used bright colours
contrasting with black to stand out to my audience, and rough fonts to fit in with
the colour scheme of the magazine and make the audience feel comfortable.
The kind of language I use when speaking to the audience is informative as to
what is included in the magazine, but at the same time it is spoken in an
informal manner , to match my target audience.
I used fonts with a rough-looking edge to connote the genre my magazine is
representing. Typically, most magazines of the punk/rock genre use these fonts,
so it’s an easy way for the audience to know what genre my magazine is.
My cover star, although her overall look is rebellious, is smiling and this creates
an enigma for the audience as they may wonder exactly what she’s happy about,
causing them to buy the magazine and find out for themselves.

27. Q5: How did you attract/address your audience?
Bold masthead.
Original typography used.
Graphics used to display
colour among the front
cover. Can also be seen as
enigmas, as the audience
do not know what they
mean.
Buzz words like this excite
the audience before
introducing the act.
Adding the names of other well-known
bands helps to sell copies.
Extra images and
cover/sell lines.
Barcode and price.
Cover star uses direct
mode of address to
attract her audience.
Anchorage text; a quote from the interview
inside the magazine. Makes the reader want to
learn more.
The skyline promotes a competition that will catch the eye of the
reader.
Name of cover star.
Typography used to display
the aura this star gives off to
its audience.

28. Gender, Age and Genre
Gender
My magazine is aimed at both males
and females, as the cover stars would
differ from different bands to different
genders as each issue progressed.
Age
The target audience for my magazine
are aged between 16 and 22 years old.
However, it is possible to have a
secondary audience as many people
older or younger than the target age
group may also have taken an interest
in the magazine.
Genre
My magazine is aimed at those
interested in the pop-punk/rock style of
music and this is portrayed through the
clothes of the cover star, as she is
wearing dark colours which match the
colour of her hair.

29. Colour, extra artists and the main feature.
Colour
My main colour scheme has been the use of red,
black, yellow and white. I used red as the colour of
the title, borders and the graphic; black is used to
highlight the headings, which are all in white and
yellow. White is also used as the main background
colour. I used these colours because the black, red
and white all match with the colours of the cover
star, and the yellow is effective for standing out
amongst all the other colours.
Extra artists
At the bottom of the cover, there is a small heading
labelled PLUS! and there are many other well-
known bands stated there. This widens the
audience as a result, offering them more musical
talent as well as the cover star.
Main Feature
The main feature stands out on the cover because
the name of the cover star is labelled in white,
which is a total contrast from the others around it.

30. Contents page:
Using pictures emphases the
main articles and draws the
reader in to flick through the
magazine to the pages stated.
It also helps them to get an
idea of what else the features
include.
Having a subscription package
available will as a result increase
magazine profits and reader
loyalty
The heading and the background
of the heading is the same colour
as the colours used on the front
and throughout the rest of the
contents page. This creates a
unique selling point and keeps
the house style.

31. Double Page Spread:
The typography and the colours
match with the over all colour
scheme. Promotes the website to
the audience.
Promotes the twitter account to gain reader
loyalty and also allows the reader to interact
with the magazine.
Promotes the tour of the cover
star’s band at the end of the
interview.
Uses a pull quote from the interview to try
and make the reader more interested in
what the cover star is talking about.

32. To get the typography I needed for my product, I used a website called
myfonts.com to find a font with a slightly rough edge. The one I chose in the end
was called Nidex, so and I copied and pasted it into publisher and made the
background transparent for use. I then proceeded to used the same font for the
rest of my magazine.
Q6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of
constructing this product?

33. These were some other fonts I had considered
before choosing my final typography…

34. For my double page spread I had to begin the interview with a dropped
capital, so the audience know exactly when to start reading from. I did
this by formatting the text box, clicking Drop Cap, and then making the
decision on which design I wanted. I chose Drop Cap Style 1.

35. For my contents page, I used my own original image for the image
in the top of the page. I made sure to edit the image before use,
and I did this by clicking on recolour and slightly changing the
saturation of the image from 66% to 100% for a more enhanced
effect.

36. This was the finished result.

37. For my double page spread, as well as creating a typography in the same way as stated in
the first slide of this section, I also used the effects option on the rectangular shape to
create a shadow behind it.
First, I chose the shape and the shadow to go behind
it, and then I went onto format shape and changed
the size of the shadow and also the transparency until
eventually I had finished the shadow effect.

38. Q7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to the full
product?
• I believe that I have improved since the beginning of the preliminary task,
and my technological skills have also improved.
• For the preliminary task, we created a front cover and contents page for
an Aquinas Magazine.
• As well as just creating the magazine, we also had to take our own photos
and ecide which ones were more fit for purpose than others.

39. Photography

40. Photography
On the previous side, I showed how I gathered up several images of potential front
cover photos and decided which ones would be best to use. I put a green tick next to
the ideal shots for a front cover. These shots are correct because they are centered
in the middle and are looking out at the reader, therefore they would be ideal for a
front cover.
By using rule of thirds, I was able
to decide which of the images I
wanted for my front cover. This
particular image was good
because the star is centered in
the middle of the shot, using
direct mode of address.

41. My Aquinas Magazine – Front Cover
First draft. This was made in publisher and it was what I created after experimenting with publisher in
the early days of the preliminary task.
The main image wasn’t
as transparent as it
should have been
Too many different
fonts makes the
magazine look
messy
There aren’t any
secondary images

42. Second Draft
In the second draft, I
added secondary
images as well as the
main image.
I got rid of the gray
background and
experimented more with
colour to try and make the
magazine more bold and
interesting.
I also changed the typography and
made it look more appealing to the
eye, as well as sticking to a certain
font and not using too many

43. Front cover - Final version
For my final version of the front cover, I improved on the layout, added some newer and
better images and cover stories, as well as adding social media links to get the reader more
involved with the magazine.

44. My Aquinas Magazine - Contents Page
First draft. This version of my contents page was extremely basic, as I had no
idea of what I wanted it to look like so I created the layout as I went along. I
did plan first, but there were various things I wanted to change.
There isn't much
colour on this contents
page besides the main
images on the page.
The images are loosely
placed and one of them
is stretched out too
much, so it looks
unnatural.

45. Second Draft
The second draft is very similar to the first draft, however there are
a lot of differences involved.
Image added
to the editors
letter
Image is no longer
stretched, looking
like a more natural
image as a result
Image in the bottom
left corner deleted as it
looked untidy
More colour added tot
the magazine logo

46. Contents page – Final version
This is the final version of my Aquinas Magazine contents page and I was satisfied with it
because it looks a lot fuller and more interesting than the previous versions. I think this is
because I have added more images, including a tiny version of the front cover next to the
magazine logo, as well as adding a more effective typography into the editors letter.

47. I have also made improvements to my final front cover version. Upon receiving feedback for the
original version of my front cover, I was given critique on my work to improve it even further.
I had to:
• Change the colour of the font from red to a brighter colour, as to make it stand out even
further.
• Change the font style of the extra information at the bottom, as well as on the sell lines, to
match the rough image of the magazine that I had created.
• Enlarge the typography on the cover as a whole, to make it seem more appealing to my
audience
• Add another sell line on the left side of the page as to fill space
I also improved on some other
aspects of the front cover that
hadn't been mentioned. I added a
graphic on the left hand side of the
page as it matched well with the
splashes of colour across the title,
as well as it being extremely eye-
catching. I also changed all the
letters in the typography to
capitals, as well as enlarging my
main image. I believe these
changes were necessary to further
improve on my magazine front
cover.

48. On looking back on the previous task, I believe that I have improved immensely
since the beginning of the project, as I have grown more confident with using
publisher to create my pages, and my planning and layout have improved also.