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1. Set Brief - Print
Music Magazine – Production
Preliminary Task Progression, Log Book and
Evaluation
OCR Media Studies – AS Level
Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media
Preliminary Task, Log Book and Evaluation
Name: Harry Frampton
Candidate Number: 6902
Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic College
Center Number: 64770

2. Section 1) – Log Book

3. The green Gradient was
chosen because of the
connotations the color it
has with the band. The
color of the cd in their
debut album and their
January tour poster is a
similar shade of green.
This green and the use of
the bands font means
that the reader will be
able to ‘personally
identify (Katz) with the
front cover if they are fans
of the band.
The masthead I chose is
“inD”. The reason I chose
this name in the first
place is due to the
successful existing music
magazines such as NME,
DIY and Q. All of these
have either abbreviations
or short mast heads. By
using a similar format for
my masthead I will attract
a larger audience as they
will immediately know
what genre of magazine it
is just form seeing the
masthead. Also, ‘inD’ is
the text talk for ‘indie’,
which would attract a
younger audience, as they
are a part of the social
media generation.
The use of the
bands font and
name creates
‘Star appeal’
(Dyer) within the
front cover,
attracting fans of
the band.

4. I tried to replicate the band by using the
same costume (the blazer, sunglasses,
Fred Perry polo tucked into trousers, a
tattoo sleeve etc.) and through the posing
(crossed arms and machismo of being
close together).

5. The strapline “the UK’s best alternative
music magazine” is an example of
‘repetition’ (Steve Neale) from existing
magazines. The use of the word ‘best’
connotes that it isn't even worth looking
at other alternative music magazines
because this one is undisputedly the
best one out there.
The cover stories on the left hand side are all
names of bands within the alternative/indie
music community. There is a mixture of very well
known bands such as the Stone Roses and The
Libertines, as well as smaller artists like Swim
Deep and Only Real. This mixture sets a tone for
the rest of the magazine and will attract a larger
audience of alternative music lovers. The bigger
bands will create ‘Star appeal’ (Dyer) and attract
people at first glance because they are easily
recognizable. The smaller artists will attract
people who are fans of these artists, as they will
not often see these artists on covers of other
magazines, creating a unique selling point of my
magazine. It will also attract people who have not
heard of them but are fans of the other artists on
the front cover. This is due to the fact they may
want to find out about the smaller artists due to
their common interest in the bigger artists.

6. The “win tickets” tactic is used by other existing
magazines on social media, as a way for people to talk
about the magazine and attract a larger amount of
people to the magazine. I decided to put it on the
front cover of my magazine as it draws the readers
attention immediately, as it is so bold. This
opportunity to win tickets to the Stone Roses, a very
large band within the indie community which has sold
out already would interest many people. I chose the
Stone Roses because they appeal to most people
within my demographic. They are a band from the
80’s/90’s, so many of the older people from my target
audience will be familiar with them. It also appeals to
the younger people within my demographic as they
may not be in a position financially to pay for tickets
to see many bands (they may be in education still and
therefore unable to work).
Here I implemented two methods of puff
promotion to help to attract a larger audience.
I included a ‘free mixtape’ on my front cover
to attract people within my demographic. The
term ‘mixtape’ could create nostalgia amongst
the older members of my target audience, as
they may have grown up with cassette tapes.
The downloadable aspect of this would appeal
to the younger readers, as they have grown up
in a world full of downloadable music.

7. I decided to include convergence to social media on
my front cover, as it would attract the younger people
within my target audience, as this generation is used to
constantly being able to access social media. Social
media is a vital tool used in marketing and is used in
almost every magazine or film poster. The reason I
chose Tumblr and Twitter as opposed to other popular
social media links like Facebook and Instagram is
because they are more suited to my demographic.
What I mean by this is that the indie and alternative
community are most active on these sites, over the
other two. As a result of this when a reader sees the
use of tumblr on my magazine they are likely to be
attracted to it, as no other music magazines use this
social media site, therefore creating a unique selling
point.
I decided to include some more cover lines but this
time with additional anchoring text underneath in
order to add more depth and realism to my front
cover, this convention of having a short piece on what
the article or feature is about is seen in successful
existing music magazines such as NME. This use of
‘repetition’ will attract readers of NME, as they will be
comfortable with the familiarity of the layout.
However, ‘repetition alone will not attract an
audience’, which is why I chose more obscure artists
that wouldn’t male the cut for the front cover of NME.
By including a barcode I made my front cover look like
a legitimate magazine, creating a sense of
professionalism which would help to attract a mass
audience. A person wouldn't want to buy something
that was clearly made by a person still in school.

8. I continued the color gradient of the
green from the front cover for continuity,
bringing the magazine a sense of realism
and bringing it to life.
I took inspiration of the layout of my
contents page from the old NME layout,
as it looked very professional and I
wanted to use a winning formula. NME is
one of the most successful music
magazines of all time, so I decided to use
it as an exemplar to follow and ‘repeat’
(Steve Neale) the conventions.

9. I inserted the image and the accompanying
cover line at this stage. I chose the
costume used in the image based on the
dress sense of the artist, as seen above.
Rat Boy, also known as Jordan Cardy wears
a lot of pink with black skinny jeans and
white socks, accompanied by ‘old skool’
vans. This has become one of his signature
looks and is therefore the look that I tried
to replicate. By doing this the audience is
immediately aware of who the artist is if
they are a fan. I also chose the venue to be
the o2 Brixton academy, as I saw him live
there during the time of the production
task. Fans of the artist would appreciate
this little touch and so the magazine would
seem more legitimate and professional.

10. This convention was
‘repeated’ from the
NME contents page as
it is very easy to follow
and simplistic, which
follows the theme of
the rest of my
magazine. It also is
suited to my target
audience as they are
younger people so
may not have a lot of
time on their hands,
meaning the easy-to-
navigate nature will
attract them more.
I decided to make the font of each sub heading
‘WetDreamz’ in order to establish continuity
from the masthead and create a sense of a
coherent, legitimate magazine. I created this
feeling through the color of the background of
each subheading.
The editor picture in the contents page is a
convention replicated from the new ‘NME’ (as of
2016) in order to establish a ‘personal
relationship’ (Katz) between the editor and
reader.

11. This is a convention from
the Q magazine contents
page, replicated on my
contents page because I
thought it was a very good
way to help the reader
navigate the magazine.
Instead of just reading
what the article is about
they are provided with a
visual aid, which may
stimulate them more and
interest them more in the
content of the magazine.
By doing this my magazine
may be more suited to a
younger readership, which
populate the majority of
my demographic.
I chose each shot from a number of photo shoots
where miscellaneous pictures had been taken in
order to help with future production. I chose the
individual pictures based on how aesthetically
pleasing they were or how they fit my stories. For
example, the mise en scene of the bottom
picture resembled the artist Rat Boy once again,
so I decided to make it one of my thumbnail
images, linking it through the page number in the
bottom right hand corner.

12. The editorial was included to give the magazine
a more personal feel, possibly creating a
‘personal relationship’ (Katz) between the
reader and the editor. By doing this it creates a
unique selling point for music magazines, as
often the existing magazines seem like they are
too big for the reader to be able to interact with
anyone at the magazines offices. Although
magazines like ‘NME’ have editorials, they are
not often placed in the contents page. Using
Steve Neale's theory that ‘repetition alone will
not attract an audience’ I decided to defy this
convention’s typical placement but still use it, as
the first thing a reader looks at is the contents
page, meaning they are more likely to read the
editorial of ‘inD’ magazine and therefore more
likely to feel the ‘[personal relationship’ they
might not feel when reading a magazine like
‘NME’ or ‘Q’.
I then decided to add some more features
as there was blank space, and leaving this
would create a lack of professionalism and
realism. Also, the more features on a
contents page the more likely it is that a
reader will see something which will make
them want to continue reading.

13. I decided to include an example of puff
promotion encouraging readers to
subscribe to the magazine. This feature is
used in all magazines that are not free, no
matter the genre. This convention would
appeal to my demographic as although
they do have disposable income they may
not have a lot of it and so would take any
opportunity to save money. The use of
pink would help to draw their eye to the
puff promotion and increase the
likelihood of them subscribing to the
magazine. I also created the cover for
another magazine in order to include it in
this box to give readers something to look
forward to.
I also added links to the magazine's website
and also their YouTube page to give extra
content such as video exclusives. This would
attract more younger people which fits my
demographic more

14. Music Magazine – Genre research
• YOU MUST insert anything you can find about this genre –
secondary sources (quotes from articles; statistics; other
magazine front covers)
• Make sure your findings are neatly presented and contain
images where needed.

15. Established Magazine for my Research
Mastheads are essential in
successful magazines in order to
attract fans of the magazine and
notify them that they are reading
the right magazine that they may
have formed a ‘personal
relationship’ (Katz) with the
magazine as they have been
following it for a long amount of
time.
Main headlines are often the
main form of ‘Star appeal’ (Dyer)
in music magazines, and are
often bold to help draw a large
audience of fans of that artist.
Barcodes are a
necessary to sell
magazines and
therefore give them
a sense of
legitimacy needed
to attract people to
the magazine.
Cover stories are a good
indicator of what else is in
the magazine apart from
the main headline. If
someone didn’t like the
artist or issue covered in
the main headline the
cover lines may convince
them to buy the
magazine, therefore
attracting a larger
audience.
There are also often other
instances of ‘Star appeal’ (Dyer)
to appeal to a mass market
within the genre of music the
magazine is covering.
Straplines are often used by
magazines to flaunt their
reputations to people that may
not be readers in order to attract
a larger readership

16. Target Audience - Katz, Maslow, Hartley and/or socio-economic needs
According to Katz’s uses and gratifications theory Q magazine helps to encourage a sense of ‘diversion’ amongst
their readership, as they will be entering into a world of the music industry when reading the magazine. Music
helps a lot of people to forget about their worries and so people are likely to want to buy the magazine in order
to achieve this sense of escapism and immerse them into the world of music even more than they would be just
by listening to it. The magazine also ‘informs and educates’ the reader on new artists, information about artists
they already know and upcoming gigs in their area. By doing this, after reading the magazine the reader may feel
enlightened and so will want to purchase the magazine again.
According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs the target audience for Q magazine fall under the self-actualization
section, as it fulfills their need for creativity and the acceptance of facts. The sense of creativity is fulfilled by
either reading about other peoples creativeness or by encouraging the reader to make their own music. The
need to accept facts is fulfilled through reading factual information within the magazine’s articles and different
features.
In reference to Hartley’s Seven Subjectives both male and females and females purchase Q magazine, though the
readership consists predominantly of males (the percentage for males being 66.2%). There is no specific
target audience when it comes to ethnicity, as a range of different types of music and artists are covered within
the magazine, from Florence and the machine to Kendrick Lamar, there are artists for all ethnicities. 83.8% of the
readers are 15-24 years of age. Q targets the UK, as this is the only country it is sold in.
According to socio-economic class , 70% of the target audience for Q fall into the ABC1 category, so most
disposable income, though some are in better jobs than others.
Q’s USP
From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP is the coverage of older bands.
Although other music magazines such as NME also do this occasionally, Q magazine is much more
frequent in its coverage of older bands and so by doing this attracts a mixture of older and younger
readers. From looking at previous front covers of Q magazine it was made apparent that they covered
newer artists around 70% of the time, and older artists around 30% of the time, in other words the
majority were newer artists, but older artists were covered much more than any other modern music
magazine. By doing this Q create the opportunity to have a mass audience and so live up to their
strapline as ‘the worlds greatest music magazine’. Another unique selling point is their compilation of
expansive lists each issue, for example, “the 100 greatest albums of the 90’s”. Finally, Q is known for
utilizing puff promotion like no other magazine, by giving CD’s and books out with their magazines, the
January 2006 issue included a free copy of "The Greatest Rock and Pop Miscellany … Ever!”.

17. Publisher research
The publishing company for Q is Bauer Media UK, a European-based media company,
headquartered in Hamburg that manages a portfolio of more than 600 magazines, over
400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations around the world.
The circulation (how many magazines are distributed) of Q was 64,596 as of 2012, the
highest circulation of music magazines that year.
Primarily socioeconomic class ABC1 read the mag (70%)
The dominating gender of readership was men
The dominating age group 15-24
Q gender ratio is 31.7% female to 68.3% male
Source: bauermediaadvertising.com

18. Music magazine conventions
• Research your own example of a magazine from the sub-genre of your
own choice and annotate the codes & conventions/USP/Target audience.
Masthead
Puff promotion of “the
ultimate gig guide” helps to
give NME a unique selling
point, as other magazines
will not contain the same in
depth gig guide that NME is
renowned for. This would
appeal to the target
audience of NME as 67% of
the Audience will be
attending a live music festival
this year, meaning they
would be interested in such
events.
Main headline
Barcode
Cover stories
‘Star appeal’ (Dyer) is
evident in this magazine as
it names many artists
synonymous with the
alternative music genre,
which would attract fans
of the genre to read the
magazine. NME is targeted
at fans of this genre and so
is appealing to them
through the use of this
convention.

19. Target Audience – Katz, Maslow, Hartley and/or socio-economic needs
The target audience for NME magazine can be denoted as…
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 logo of the magazine SHOULD be placed on this slide neatly somewhere

20. NME’s target audience is aged between 17 and 30. It’s a unisex magazine,
though it is mainly male dominated. Only 27% of the readers are female,
therefore 73% are male readers. The language used within the magazine can at
times be explicit, hence why the target audience is no younger than 17.
NME statistics
77% of NME readers have been to at least one pop/rock concert (figures from
2007). 67% of the Audience will be attending a live music festival this year.
The NME is the “longest published and most respected music weekly in the
world” according to time inc. UK. Costing £2.20 it is a standard priced magazine
aimed towards working class citizens (ABC1) who are interested in music. As of
18 September NME will be freely distributed outside train stations and other
busy public places.
Reach: 289,000 adults (0.6% of the adult population)
Publisher: Time Inc. UK

21. Publisher research
The logo of the magazine SHOULD be placed on this slide neatly somewhere
• 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.

22. Section 2) – Evaluation

23. In what ways does your Media product
use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
Example sentence starters:
The magazine, across the 4-pages, ‘repeats’ (Steve Neale) codes and conventions from…
There are examples of some ‘difference’, however, in terms of the forms and conventions
in my own media product for example….

24. How does your media product
represent particular social groups?
Example sentence starters:
The denotation of representation is…
The magazine, across the 4-pages, helps to represent…
For example, on page….

25. What kind of media institution
(Publisher) might distribute your
media product and why?
Example sentence starters:
From the research that was completed pre-production, I would envisage that … may
publish ‘name of magazine’ because….
The similarities of my magazine to ‘name of magazine’ also ‘sgnifies’ (De Saussure)….

26. Who would be the audience for your
media product and why?
Hartley’s seven subjectivities
According to Hartley’s seven subjectivities,
Katz’ Uses & Gratifications theory
According to Katz’ Uses & Gratifications theory, ,
Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, ,

27. How did you attract/address your
audience?
In order to attract the intended target audience of.. I decided to….
The inclusion of codes & conventions such as… helped to appeal to the target audience becasuse…

28. What have you learnt about
technologies from the process of
constructing this product?
The denotation of the software used to construct the media product entitled ‘name of magazine’
was…
In order for this product to look fit for purpose and appeal to the target audience, I decided to
create… using the… tool because.
Refer 2-3 examples at least and conclude

29. Photography Planning – Front Cover

30. Photography Planning - Contents

31. Photography Planning - Interview

32. Analysing my Front Cover
Neatly annotate the
Screen Grab of your Final
Front Cover –
4-5 Annotations at least
and apply appropriate
media language.
Arrows should be RED as
well!
Screen grab of Magazine
page positioned in the
Center of the slide
(Remove the BLUE box once
placed in as well)

33. Analysing my Contents Page
Neatly annotate the
Screen Grab of your Final
Contents Page –
4-5 Annotations at least
and apply appropriate
media language.
Arrows should be RED as
well!
Screen grab of Magazine
page positioned in the
Center of the slide
(Remove the BLUE box once
placed in as well)

34. Analysing my Double Page spread
Interview
Neatly annotate the
Screen Grab of your Final
Double Page Spread –
X1 page per. Slide!
4-5 Annotations at least
and apply appropriate
media language.
Arrows should be RED as
well!
Screen grab of Magazine
page positioned in the
Center of the slide
(Remove the BLUE box once
placed in as well)

35. Audience Feedback -
• Complete a relevant survey that asks no fewer than 10 people about their opinions of your
magazine.
• This should contain between 8-10 questions – one of which MUST be about your
Progression from Preliminary Task – Main Task.

36. Looking back at your Preliminary task,
what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
I feel that, having completed the preliminary task and learning about the demands of this
production process, I have learnt…
There is evidence of progression that I feel particularly demonstrates how I met the demands of the
production process, for example…