This document provides details about Henry's preliminary task progression for creating a music magazine as part of his OCR Media Studies course. It includes step-by-step descriptions and evidence of creating the front cover and contents page, focusing on design elements like adding colors, images, text and logos. Research was also conducted on the conventions of existing magazines, including the genres, target audiences, and unique selling points of magazines like Q Magazine and XXL Magazine to inform the design of Henry's school magazine.

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

2. Preliminary Task Progression– Evidence
Front Cover
Step-by-step
Firstly I was given a blank background with nothing on it, then
I added colour by double clicking the tab then going to the
colour of your choice, as you can see from the picture above,
there are two colours used to do this I clicked on gradient and
choose the two colours I needed. I wanted the magazine to be
different from others so I choose a colour scheme that was
different and won’t be used by other people.
Then I needed to write the masthead, I looked at the font
given by Photoshop but I did not think they will go well with
the theme of my school magazine, so I went to a website called
Dafont.com to find a more suitable front for the masthead. I
also added the email address of the school so that readers
know where they can get more information.

3. Next I needed to add image, to do this I took pictures of my
friends and then choose the best and most appropriate for the
theme of the magazine, the picture I used was a mid shot of
my friends directly looking at the camera, I also added the text
which is the student of the week award, I wrote this first
because it links to the picture because the person is the
student of the week.
I added more cover lines to give readers an idea of what is in
the magazine, I also added the barcode and price, then I added
the schools social network twitter, this lets the reader know
where they can get daily news, I also added competition and a
prize to the magazine.

4. Preliminary Task Progression– Evidence
Contents Page
Step-by-step
Firstly I started off with a blank page, then I added black
borders around the page, I careful made them the same size
because it will look unprofessional to have them uneven. I
wanted to add colour to the back ground but I remembered it’s
a magazine for school so it needs to be plain.
I decided to change the colour of the border from black to
blue, this is because it matches with the colour of the front
cover and also links with the colour mainly used by the school.
I also used the same front that was used for the masthead on
the front page because there needs to be a continuity

5. I added the image of the student who won student of the
week and I also put a page number to tell readers where to go
directly to see that, I also added an image of my self this would
be used as editorial
I rote out editors message, to let the readers know my opinion
on the magazine, I also wrote the contents, I wrote this first on
Microsoft word so that I can correct any spelling mistake, I also
added “LIFE” to the page this acts as a link and a form of
continuation with the front cover and contents page because it
means that they have some thing in common.

6. Section 1) – Log Book

7. Music Magazine – Genre research
This is a rock
magazine Indie magazine R&B
Hip Hop
Classical

8. Music Magazine – Genre researchHip Hop
Front cover

9. Music Magazine – Genre researchHip Hop
contents page

10. Music Magazine – Genre researchHip Hop
double page
spread

11. Established Magazine for my Research
Masthead
Main
Headline
Cover
lines
Main image
Barcode
Date
price date
strapline

12. Target Audience – Katz, Maslow, Hartley and/or socio-economic needs
The target audience for Q magazine magazine can be denoted as 15-44 years old(Hartley),
there readers are men and female, According to valid statistics, the majority of Q’s readers
are male, with the percentage for men being 66.2%. It is seen as a magazine for young
audience and middle aged women and men. Q magazine can attract a wide range of
audience by featuring currently popular artists like Adele and classic artists like Madonna
and John Lennon, for example may audiences are interested in Adele's music, it informs and
educates the reader(Katz) about the life of the stars.
What is the USP of this magazine? YOU MUST refer to specific
conventions/stories from you research
From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP is that they always
denote exclusive information on the front cover, this will attract people because the
information they have no other magazine will have it. The color scheme re different to
other magazines, therefore they will stand out more because they have odd and bright
colors which attracts they readers. It also has special interviews with stars which can only
be found in their magazine.

13. Publisher research• YOU MUST find out who published your chosen “Magazine of inspiration” from the sub-genre of your choice.
• Then, visit their website and deconstruct the information you can find about the target readership in terms of socio-economic needs,
circulation etc.
Q is part of Bauer Media Group; this is one of the biggest media companies in the world and sells
over 35 million magazines a week.
Bauer Media is a division of the Bauer Media Group, Europe’s largest privately owned publishing
Group. The Group is a worldwide media empire offering over 300 magazines in 15 countries, as well
as online, TV and radio stations.
Bauer Media is a multi-platform UK-based media Group consisting of many companies collected
around two main divisions – Magazines and Radio - widely recognised and rewarded as being
industry innovators.
From this given data of the Q
magazine, statistics show that the
majority of the readers of ‘Q’ are men.
Around 68.3% are men readers and
just over 31.7% are female readers.

14. Mast
head
Main
Headlin
e
Cover
lines
Main
image
Barc
ode
Date
pric
e
da
te
strapline
Conventions of a Music Magazine
XXL font cover analysis
• The masthead is a big bold text saying XXL, it is
printed large to emphasise the extra extra large
in the name. it is written in white with a
rectangular red background, this is draw a lot
of attention. The colour red is often associated
with the hip hop culture,
• Just like every XXL magazine there is a
dominant image, they are made to look
intimidating, the image is from a mid shot to a
close up. The person on the from cover is a hip
hop star that is well know so that hip hop fans
will recognise them.
• The magazine XXL does not use a lot of writing
for its cover lines, it keeps writing to a
minimum, this acts as a teaser for the
audience, by doing this the audience will want
to know more. XXL mostly mentions names of
rappers in the cover line so that it appeals to
their fans, for example if the cover lines says
Kendrick Lamar then fans of Kendrick Lamar
will want to know what it is about.

15. Conventions of a Music Magazine
XXL contents page analysis
• The contents pages are always the same and
follows the style of the magazine and is very
simple. The contents page as a main image
which takes up half of the page, the u=image is
of a popular artist that is well known. The
image is the first thing a reader will notice.
• On the contents page there is a “the a side”
printed across the top. It is printed in the same
XXL’s colour scheme of red and black with a
white background.
• On the left side is a list of all the main articles
within this issue. Each article's name is
accompanied by it's page number and a brief
summary. The name and number are written in
bold and all caps to stand out from the rest and
look easier to read

16. Conventions of a Music Magazine
XXL double spread page analysis
• The photo will be noticed first by the reader. An
in the other double page is a article of Doctor
Dre. The whole double spread appears in black
and white .Doctor Dre has an emotionless
expression. he is wearing black which connotes
power and mystery.
• It has a title which is the largest font on the
page, it is found above the text of the article. It
is written in black, this means that it will sand
out more since it is on a white background. The
rest of text is smaller but is still in black.
• The double page spread always includes a
quote from the artist, this appeals to audience
because they feel like they are getting they
know the rapper better.
• From studying double page spread from XXL , I
now have an understanding on how I want my
magazine to look like, since am using XXL as my
magazine of inspiration, I now know that the
photograph is the most important aspect of the
double page spread, another thing I found out is
that quotes are important and I need to include
it in my magazine.

17. Target Audience – Katz, Maslow, Hartley and/or socio-economic needs
The XXL magazine can be denoted as Hip Hop genre based magazine. The target
audience for the XXL magazine is for people that enjoy hip hop, they are for young
adult between the age 18-25years old. Their target audience are fans who wants
to know about their favorite rappers, they are people passionate about music and
don’t care about what other people think. It appeals a bit more to young adults as
this genre is more popular to the younger generation.
What is the USP of this magazine? YOU MUST refer to specific conventions/stories from you
research
From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP is the use of a successful
star which is well known and liked by the audience, this makes it more appealing to the audience.
It uses words like exclusive to get the audiences attention, this tells people that the information
they no other magazine will this encourages them to buy the magazine, it also has competitions
that can be won. Another unique selling point is the cover lines , they make the words bold so it
stands out. Its masthead is a unique selling point because it is big and bold, so it will be the first
thing the audience look at. This helps the target audience buy the magazine because by looking
at the masthead they know what magazine it is which means that they will want to buy it
immediately.

18. Publisher research
XXL Magazine is published by Harris Publications, a publisher based in New York,
USA. In August 1997, Harris Publications released the first issue of XXL. The
music magazine is available in a physical print and also holds a website which
provides Hip hop news, original content and content from the magazine which
holds a focus in and around the artists which specialise in Hip hop.
It featured rappers Jay-Z and Master P on a double cover.
They publish over 75 different types of magazines: Automotive, Business,
Celebrity & Lifestyle, Comics, Firearms & Weaponry, Music, Quilting, Sports &
Health and Misc. Harris Publications only publish XXl Magazine in the US,
although alternative companies export the magazine into other countries and
distribute them to other firms which sell them.
It is a monthly circulation