Jordan Brace created a music magazine for their school called SPC Magazine as a preliminary task. Their document outlines the 10 step process they took to create the front cover, including adding a banner, masthead, logo, website link, social media links, issue details, headlines, images and stories. It also describes the process of creating the contents page, including duplicating the masthead, adding features, an editorial box, stories, images and a byline. Jordan researched existing music magazines to understand conventions and target audiences to help design their own magazine.

1. OCR Media Studies – AS Level
Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media
Preliminary Task, Log Book and Evaluation
Name: Jordan Brace
Candidate Number: 6118
Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic College
Center Number: 64770
Set Brief - Print
Music Magazine – Production
Preliminary Task Progression, Log Book and
Evaluation

2. Preliminary Task Progression–
Evidence
Front Cover
Step-by-step
1.First I made a banner
in the St Paul's Colors
to reflect it was a
school magazine using
a simple shape tool
and then blurring the
edge for the seen
effect
2. I then added my
masthead and magazine
name “SPC.Magazine”
3.From there I added
the St.Pauls logo to
add some association
to the school.

3. 4.I then included my
magazine website link
and Strapline.
5. From here I added
some synergy through
the inclusion of
Facebook and Twitter
idents.
6. I then inserted the
magazine cost, barcode
and issue number to
make it seem realistic and
professional.

4. 7.From here I added
my puff and
competition
involving winning an
Apple iPod, a
product the readers
would aspire to
have.
8. I then added
my background
image and main
picture for my
magazine.
9. After that
I added my
main
headline
“Year 7 Flies
by!” in bold,
large text.
10. I finally added
the rest of my
stories to make my
page more
attractive and
fuller in content.

5. This is my final
Front Cover after
making key
changes I have
now completed
the work
Some of the
corrections I made
were moving around
some key stories and
adding new images
relevant to those
stories. I also changed
the background to
make it more
appealing and also
took a better photo to
make it clear to see
what it represents
I also adapted my
puff to make it
more eye catching
and appealing to
my audience.

6. Preliminary Task Progression–
Evidence
Contents Page
Step-by-step
1. I initially started off with
my plain banner from my
front page after hiding the
other conventions.
2.From here I duplicated my
Masthead logo to increase the
brand identity of the magazine.
3.I then entered my two
features headers for my
stories to differentiate the
content of the magazine.

7. 4.I then added my
editorial box and
editor picture, which
I created using a
simple shape tool.
5.I then entered my
editorial, which I typed
in word, and added a
drop capital and ensured
was wrapped around the
image using the ‘Pen
Tool’ (P)
6.I then placed in a
scanned version of
my signature and
then added social
media links to my
page because it gave
synergy to the
magazine.

8. 7.Next, I
added my
stories with
page numbers
and
headers, as
well as the
sub line
summaries.
8.I then
added my
puff/
competition
to the
magazine
page to give
the readers
an incentive
to turn over
the page.
9. I next
included
pictures to
the page
which relate
to the stories
within the
magazine.
10. Finally, I
added a by
line to the
picture to give
some context
and inform
the readers of
what it
represents.

9. I changed around some
of my images to make
them suit the page
better and fill the
required space better.
I also added some page
numbers on to the
images so that readers
know where each story is
to their relevant image.
This is my final Contents
page and as you can see I
have made various
corrections to make it
look as good as possible.

10. Section 1) – Log Book

11. Q Magazine Research
• I researched in to Q magazine because it is a
very generic and conventional music magazine
and by looking into its codes and conventions
it gave me a clear idea as to what a good
magazine should contain and also what
separates a good magazine from a bad one.

12. Q’s Logo Clear but
not full shown as due
to its popularity
people can recognize
the logo without its
entirety
Artists name clearly
shown in appealing
text
Big image of artist
with a medium long
shot. This also shows
‘star appeal’ (Richard
Dyer) to the readers.
Sub lines
showing
more star
appeal and
interesting
stories
“Most revealing
interview” Shows
exclusivity.
“Bob Dylan Special”
Again showing
unique and exclusive
stories.

13. Target Audience –The target audience for Q magazine can be denoted as
readers in their Mid 20’s, both male and female (Hartley), who are decently
educated and like soft rock music and value the magazines views and
opinions on well known bands and follow it like a prestigious music bible.
They usually would be very opinionated on all types of music and consider
themselves to be better informed than others. They are predominantly ‘Social
Climbers’ (Maslow) and read more to ‘Inform & Educate’ (Katz) themselves on
the music industry/latest news than enjoy the views expressed.
What is the USP of this magazine?
From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP is that it is
somewhat powerful. It has opinions from people of importance and generally
seems to be the “top dog” in its magazine style and in that people follow what it
says and once they have been told what Q thinks they promote this opinion/ view
and denounce any other view because it has no prestigious values to it even
though it could be equally important this is shown in that Q is one of the highest
selling music magazine’s in the UK and has almost a cult following.

14. Publisher research
http://magazines.bauermediaadvertising.com/magazines/detail/Q
http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/brands/q
• Q magazine is the UK’s number one purchased music magazine. It mainly focus’ on
having high quality and having a personal character. This is shown through intricate
dialogue and high detail reporting with impressive photography and an sense of
humor to finish.
• Q also stands as an authority figure in the music world. To be in or part of Q
magazine is a prestigious achievement and only the best of the best make it there. Q
is for music that is important for the people that made it important. It has a very
exclusive and high profile attitude.
• Q has a major influence too. It can make or break artists and what they say is read
and influences people all over the world.
• Q’s constant access to high profile artists and celebrities in the world of rock and roll
is paramount to its success and is matched by no other
• Q’s audience is on average for people in their mid 20’s and both sex’s

15. Music Magazine – Genre research
Due to “Elektro” being an American magazine I decided to
do more local genre research in UK Magazines “Mixmag”
and “DJ Mag” as they are similar.
Both these magazines have a readership level of around
10,000-100,000 fans as shown by the social media ratings.

16. Established Magazine for
my Research
They all have massive images
of the main artist and then
usually the artists name in
another large text. There is
then lots of small text listing
the names of artists featuring
in the magazine. These are
usually big names in the
genre and so are used as star
appeal.

17. Clear bold
masthead
to denote
what
magazine
it is
called.
List of artists
mentioned
within the
magazine and
neatly
positioned
around the
main image.
Bar-code to
show cover,
magazine
price et.
Big eye capturing
picture of artists
in a close up
over high angle
shot.
Main Headline is
unique as it seems to
denote support and
enthusiasm towards
the group.
This also conveys ‘star
appeal’ (Richard Dyer)
to the readers.

18. Target Audience –
The target audience for Elektro magazine can be denoted as people or fans that would
read Elektro, stereotypically white working class 18-25 year old males (Hartley) who
generally listen to their music to have a good time and escape or use the music as a
‘Diversion’ (Katz) from their reality to immerse themselves in an altered reality and just
enjoy the music. Many people join the genre of music by ‘exploring’ (Maslow) into the
music style to show their alternative preferred choice as it is a niche market and so
fans usually go to events as groups or conform together to spread their shared
interest. The socio economic needs of readers show they are typically C2-D and are
usually lower working class more common people rather than upper class.
What is the USP of this magazine?
From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP of Elektro is that
it is one of the very few magazines promoting and showing an interest to this genre
and even its coverage is limited to four copies a year, which is a small circulation
compared to magazines like NME or Q. Elektro is also unique because it’s opinions
always relate to the fans and they always have the best artists (Star Appeal) around in
their features and rarely disappoint those who enjoy their work. The magazines also
appealing to its readers because it gives an in depth look into the lifestyle of the
musicians and also the lifestyle being a “raver” provides giving those who are
passionate about their music something to relate to.

19. Publisher research
• After researching “Elektro” Magazine I found very little information on their
publisher and target audience but after looking into the general areas of the music
genre I have found more than enough relevant data on age ranges and socio-
economic needs for fans of this genre and also from my own knowledge to fill in
grey areas.
• I know that Electro/EDM being a newer genre of music the age ranges which know
and enjoy it at the oldest will stereotypically be in their early 30s with the odd
exception of older fans but mainly the age range is 18-25 as this is a prime age in
which people constantly binge drink and if interested join the rave scene.
• But more recently the age range is becoming younger with company's springing up
which hold under 18 events such as BPM and Technicity bringing in the rave
mentality to a younger audience but unfortunately this includes dark side of raving
which is drugs and this has caused many casualties since. The Elektro/rave scene is
generally a working class area because it was originally a cheap but good night out
but there are more upper and middle class fans becoming a part of the genre.

20. Magazine Names
Magazine
Name Ideas
Basshead
E.S.R.R.
Off Beat
Haz
ard
Alt.
Hardcore fans known
as Bassheads
Bass orientated
Music
Abbreviation of
Altered meaning
different/unique Alt is a computer key.
EDM/Dance/DnB are
electronic/ made on
computers
Edgy, Different, Slightly
Dangerous- Describes the
genre well
Means different
Beats are key in the
Genre’s BPM- Beats
Per Minute
Off is good because because
Raves etc. tend to “Go Off’Eat Sleep Rave Repeat- Well
known phrase to ravers alike
Describes the music
as a way of life
Short snappy and easily
relatable

21. Masthead Preview
The verbal code ‘E.S.S.R’ connotes the very techno and space like view of the genre,
because it is a new style of music and it uses technology to create be created it is usually
related with being funky, unique and original items hence all the bright colours and
weird images.
I chose the current font because it is bold and stands out meaning readers will notice it
and gain an interest in the magazine also I decided I would use a dark purple colour for
my font because it is eye catching and is commonly used for strobe lighting in the rave
scene making it a relatable colour.