- Leeza Ah-Wan is completing a Foundation Portfolio in Media Studies course which involves creating a music magazine. - Over the semester, Leeza designed pages for the magazine such as the front cover, contents page, and double page spread using Photoshop. - By the end of the semester, Leeza had completed all pages for the magazine including incorporating conventions like mastheads, images, and interviews to make it look professional.

1. St. Paul’s Catholic College 6593
Candidate Name: Leeza Ah-Wan
Candidate Number: 6593
Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media Studies
Schedule
Week Beginning Work Completed
Summer Holidays N/A
8th September As a class we were briefed about what the coursework for this year
would involve. I then created a blog on WordPress. Throughout this
year I will be uploading my coursework onto my blog.
15th September We looked at theorists such as Katz, Maslow and Hartley. I then related
these theorists to readers of ‘Q’ magazine in my log book. I also
annotated a front cover, contents page and double page spread from ‘Q’
and a front cover and contents page from ‘Vibe’. I made these
annotations to see clearly what both magazine companies have

2. included so I know what to ‘repeat’ (Neale) in my own magazine, as
they are both extremely successful.
I also decided on my target audience which will be 15-25 year olds,
similarly to the younger adult target audience of ‘Q’.
22nd September I created a word document questionnaire and then collated the
responses from ten people using Edexcel. I also did a survey on survey
monkey. Survey monkey was extremely useful as it allowed me to get
people to answer questions, specifically aimed at my target audience.
Therefore, these answers will allow me to produce a magazine that
consumers will be pleased with.
29th September I completed a front cover and contents page hand drawn draft for my
college magazine. Then, I began designing my preliminary task front
cover on Photoshop. I ‘repeated’ (Neale) all the necessary conventions
needed to make a magazine successful including the use of a masthead,
strapline, barcode, price, web address (convergence), cover lines and a
main image and main headline, amongst many more. I cropped my
main image using the quick selection tool to get me started. I used a
mid close up shot as requested.
6th October My college magazine front cover was almost complete however, I
needed to move a few things around and make the page look more
presentable. I decided to change a few of my cover lines around in
terms of positioning as I believed the layout looked messy and so
wasn’t aesthetically pleasing. I completed this page and then asked for

3. feedback. I was told to add a QR code scanner onto the page. I followed
this suggestion and placed one in.
13th October I started creating my college magazine contents page on Photoshop. I
constantly referred back to my hand drawn draft for guidance. I’ve
given myself a target to complete this page by the end of this week. I
will try my best to stick to this target as I want to have time to make
any necessary corrections. I also took photos of my fellow peers for the
page.
By the end of this week I had ‘repeated’ (Steve Neale) all the typical
conventions of a contents page and incorporated these onto my page.
For example, the masthead is visible and it also has the same colour
scheme which I used for my front cover. I am on track and I only need
to make a few minor corrections to make sure that the magazine is
completely ready and looks fit to be sold.
20th October This week, I made the minor corrections that needed to be done to my
contents page. Halfway through the week I was completely done with
the prelim task. The preliminary task was a great way for me to get
back into using Photoshop after the long break I’ve had since using the
software at GCSE. Hence, I’m grateful that this task was part of the
course as not only have I re-visited old skills but I’ve learnt new skills
along the way which will help me in producing the best music
magazine possible.
Half Term

4. 3rd November Referring back to an issue of ‘Q’ magazine which I purchased for
guidance, I started to design my front cover hand drawn draft for my
music magazine. Producing a hand drawn draft was useful in giving me
a clear idea of where I should place all the conventions. I also started
brainstorming what names I could use for my music magazine in my
own time. ‘New Vibes’ and ‘New Jams’ were my favorite ideas. By the
end of the week I came to the decision that ‘New Vibes’ will be the
masthead that I will use. I believe it sounds catchy and fresh and will be
able to stop a pass along audience.
I also made a very brief start on my front cover towards the end of the
week. I used the ruler tool to make sure everything was set out in an
organized manner. I used the rectangle shape tool to create a red box
behind my masthead ‘NV’ which stands for ‘New Vibes’. I then added a
black border to the page using the rectangle shape tool once again. I
was also informed that the deadline for my music magazine is the 19th
of December.
10th November I continued working on my front cover, incorporating all the necessary
conventions. These included a strapline, the use of social networking
logos, a barcode, the issue number, cover lines, the price and more. I
also began to take the photos for all three pages. I decided my main
‘star’ (Dyer) will be Katy Perry.
During the end of the week I cropped my main image and placed it in

5. appropriately.
I am currently on track and so I am confident that I will meet the
deadline which is Friday 19th December.
17th November I believe that I have learnt a lot of useful skills this week. I used the pen
tool to get my main headline text to slant across the central image.
Learning new skills such as this was challenging to begin with as I kept
making mistakes. However, eventually I got the text to look the way I
hoped. Therefore, I am pleased that I persevered and did not give up.
I’m thoroughly enjoying creating my music magazine and am very
excited to start my next two pages soon.
By the middle of the week, I double checked I had ‘repeated’ (Neale) all
the necessary conventions and incorporated them onto my front cover.
Then, I had to make a few minor corrections. I then produced a hand
drawn draft of my contents page. This has given me a clear plan on
where to place the conventions when I start designing my page on
Photoshop.
By the end of the week I had started designing my contents page on
Photoshop. I added all the typical codes and conventions that I wanted
on it. Furthermore, I ‘repeated’ (Neale) aspects from my front cover
such as the colour scheme. By the end of this week I had the basic
structure of my page. Next week, I need to add in a few more photos.

6. 24th November I drew up a hand drawn draft of my double page spread. I also looked
at my magazine of inspiration for ideas and also looked at other
successful magazines so that I could get ideas of what I could
implement in my magazine.
Towards the end of the week I added more original images onto my
contents page and more stories. I also moved some of the previous
conventions I had utilized around to make the page look more
appealing. Furthermore, I typed up my editorial and deleted a story, so
I could place my editorial in appropriately, in its place.
1st December I continued to design my contents page, and typed up all the necessary
text onto the page. I made sure that the web address and page number
were placed appropriately on the right hand side of the page. I also
ensured that all the stories from the front cover were referenced to
clearly, for consistency.
When comparing my original hand drawn draft of my contents page
and the real thing on Photoshop, there are differences. I have changed
certain aspects from my hand drawn draft such as the positioning of
items. I have done this to benefit my magazine, as I believe I have made
the page look more professional.
Towards the end of the week I began working on my double page
spread, using my hand drawn draft for guidance. I duplicated the web
address, masthead and page number from my contents page, and

7. placed it on the right hand side of my double page to ensure
consistency. I also used the shape tool to create a red rectangle in
which the ‘star’ (Dyer) of the interview was clearly referenced. I then
also created my pull quote using the shape tool.
This weekend I plan to take a range of photos. I will then select the one
most appropriate for my double page spread; as I don’t believe the
images I took a few weeks back are good enough. I will also be typing
up my interview.
8th December At the start of the week I used the Quick Selection Tool and Quick Mask
Tool to edit out the background of a picture that I believed would be
suitable for my double page spread. However, I was not happy with the
result. My front cover and contents page both have a white background
and so in order to ensure a consistent colour scheme, it’s important
that my double page spread has a white background also. However, this
meant that when I cropped my image the left hand side of the page
looked very bare and empty. I therefore decided to retake my images.
In the meantime, I used the pen tool to place in my interview. I used a
drop capital at the start of my interview as this is a typical convention
that I wanted to ‘repeat’ (Steve Neale). This was definitely the task I
found the hardest so far, since I’ve been doing this coursework unit.
However, after many attempts and perseverance I believe that I used
the pen tool to a good standard and my interview looks appealing and
professional.

8. At the end of the week I retook my image for my double page spread
and placed this in. Knowing how bare the page looked before, I wanted
a background that really stood out. So, I decided to take an image that
featured a lot of vibrant colours. Therefore, I changed my main ‘star’
(Dyer) from Katy Perry to Shakira as my friend had a Colombian flag
which she said we could use as part of the background.
15th December This week, I typed up the caption and credits and placed these on the
left hand side corner of my double page spread. I also placed in social
networking logos and typed up their relevant links, along with other
relevant text onto the page.
I also had to go back and edit my interview because I changed my main
star. I typed up my interview on Word to avoid any spelling or
grammatical errors as this would be extremely unprofessional and so
all I had to do was go back to the saved file and change some of the
responses and answers. However, this also meant I had to redo the
layout of my interview using the pen tool. Fortunately, as I had already
done it previously I was familiar with what I had to do and so it didn’t
take me too long.
By the end of the week my double page spread was completed and I
was waiting on feedback. In the meantime I went back to my front
cover and contents page and also made sure that I changed all the text
that said ‘Katy Perry’ to ‘Shakira.’ I was also forced to change the main

9. headline so it matched and was relevant to my newly edited interview.
Once receiving feedback I made all the necessary corrections to my
double page spread. Some of the corrections and feedback from my
peers included enlarging the text in the red rectangle at the top of my
page so it filled the shape fully. After making this change I could see
that a little correction like this actually made a massive difference in
making the page look more appealing.
After seeing how useful my peers were in helping me improve my
double page spread, I plan to obtain feedback for all four pages after
Christmas holidays.
I am extremely happy with the work I have produced this term and I
have successfully completed all four pages by my deadline which was
the 19th of December.
5th January This week I made minor changes to my double page spread following
feedback from my teacher. I added more social networking logos across
the bottom of the page and also added #shakira on the bottom of the
page. I believe adding a hashtag is beneficial because many consumers
will use social networking sites such as twitter, so utilizing the hashtag
will increase awareness of ‘NV’.

10. 12th January This week I started to mind map questions that I could ask members of
my target demographic to see if ‘NV’ was successful and appealed to
them. I thought it would be useful to obtain audience feedback so if
anything was drastically displeasing to someone I would have the
chance to change it before submitting my work to the examiner.
2nd February This week I began my evaluation.
By the end of the week I had answered 1 out of the 7 questions that
need to be addressed within my evaluation.
9th February During this week, I completed a further three questions for my
evaluation. I also added in relevant images onto my PowerPoint to
make it look appealing. I am currently on track and am hopeful that I
will have completed the evaluation by the end of next week.

11. 23rd February I managed to get a lot of work done this week in regards to my
evaluation. As well as answering the last three questions, I also showed
evidence of photography planning for all three pages and annotated my
front cover, contents page and double page spread.
I proof read the whole presentation to ensure there were no mistakes
or errors and then with my evaluation complete, I moved onto planning
for audience feedback.
9th March I want to show my ability of using technology so I have decided that I
will not obtain audience feedback through a questionnaire, especially
because I have already done two as part of my planning and research
previously in the year. Instead I will obtain feedback through videoing
those within my target demographic of ’15-25’ year olds.
We are currently halfway through the week and I am pleased that I
have managed to interview 5 people within my target demographic. I
have rewatched the videos and the overall feedback towards my
magazine is positive which I am extremely happy with.
Rather than doing ten videos, I have decided to show my other skills
through creating a Prezi presentation that features additional feedback

12. from a further five interviews I plan to conduct next week.
16th March This week I interviewed another five people in order to get feedback
about my magazine. I then typed up their responses and the questions I
asked them onto a presentation on Prezi.
By the end of the week I had finished my Prezi presentation and I am
extremely happy with it. I believe Prezi is a great way to present work
as its fun and interactive.
By the end of the week my coursework was complete. I uploaded all my
files onto my blog page with relevant explanations for each area.