My evaluation

Name: Georgia Evans
Candidate number : AQ131509
Centre: 33435 Aquinas College
AS Media Studies
OCR G321: Foundation Portfolio
Brief from OCR syllabus

QUESTION 1)
Who would be the audience for your media product?
•

The audience for my music magazine is people that are really into their music and
have a passion for rock/heavy metal music. From my audience research you can
clearly see that with the questions I asked I received the perfect set of responses.
This gave me a good insight in to the kind of music magazine I wanted to do.

QUESTION 1)

Who have an
interest in the
background
stories of bands
and not just their
music

Teenagers that
don’t have lots
of money, so
therefore can
afford this
magazine

People who
have a passion
for heavy/rock
music

15+ both
genders

I aimed my
magazine
at…

People who
like to shop at
afflecks

Rebellious
teenagers.

Who would be
interested in up
and coming
bands of the
same genre of
music.

People that attend
gigs/ festivals

QUESTION 1)

This is my mood board, on this I included bands and TV programmes that my target audience
would enjoy. As my magazine is for metal and rock music fans I added bands such as Bring Me
The Horizon, Nirvana and Black Sabbath.

QUESTION 1)
Who would be the audience for your media
product?

I based my music magazine on these sorts of magazines. This is because I felt like my target
audience would appreciate it if I could make a magazine like these. It also ties in with my music
theme. I felt like my magazine would be portrayed to be more for men, when this is not the case.
Me being a massive metal fan I feel like there are not enough magazines that combine the genre of
metal and woman together. Magazine such as Metal Hammer are aimed more at men than women.
I feel like my magazine portrays both genders clearly.

QUESTION 1)

Sub- genres and hybrid publications

Based on my audience research, I have found that there is a gap in the
way women are perceived in rock music industry, you very rarely see
women on the front of ‘Kerrang!’ or ‘Metal Hammer’

QUESTION 1)

PRIMARY AUDIENCE
The primary audience for my music magazine was any gender and ages 14+. I
chose to do it from this age, because I believe that this age range gives me a
broader audience to reach and makes my magazine more appealing. Even
though my magazine looks like it is for a male audience, I can clearly prove
that is not the case and there is things that apply to both genders.

SECONDARY AUDIENCE
My secondary audience for my music magazine would then be people
that would not necessarily go out and buy the magazine, but perhaps
might pick it up if a friend or family member has it in their house. Even
though I aimed it at 14+ I still think that younger audiences may want to
read this, as they might be interested.

QUESTION 1)


DEMOGRAPHIC
The demographic for my magazine would be people who have a
massive interest in rock/heavy metal music. Also anybody that
would shop in places such as ‘Affleck’s’, people not of a
mainstream background but like to be different.

QUESTION 1)

SIMILAR PRODUCTS
An example of similar products on the market now,
would be magazines like ‘Metal Hammer’ ‘Kerrang!’
and ‘Rock Sound’ these magazines have been around
for a very long time and therefore I think it is time for
a new updated version of these magazines. They are
sold widely both around the UK and America.

QUESTION 1)

AUDIENCE IDOLS
Within my research I have been looking at the biggest stars of the rock and metal
genre at the moment. I found that there isn’t one specific artist or band focused on
through out this genre. At the beginning of the year I found that Biffy Clyro had
taken over the rock scene, as they had brought out a new album after years of not
having an album out. I would not include any artists such as, Justin Bieber,
Beyonce or Katy Perry. This is because they would not appeal to my target
audience.

QUESTION 1)

IDEAL READERS
My ideal reader would be someone who is very
interested in music, but also bands behind the
scenes stories. I would say my ideal reader
would also be interested in playing music or
being in a band. Also my ideal reader would be
someone who is up to date with their music.

QUESTION 2)
How does your media product represent particular social groups?

“Representation”
How a person, group, social group or brand is FILTERED to send
specific messages to audiences.
Representations are CONSTRUCTED to INCLUDE and EXCLUDE
different groups of people

QUESTION 2)

Mode of address:
The use of intertexuality within my features
creates a code that the audience of my publication
would understand.

Ideal reader:
My star represents the ideal reader, with the use of
mise en scene. His outfit and performance connote a
rebellious side, keeping to the traditional role of the
lead singer of a band. Therefore my target audience
would ASPIRE to be like him.

QUESTION 2)

To appeal to the correct target audience, my star would
have to represent an idealised version of the reader. To
appeal to my target audience the star must show the
genre of rock and heavy metal within the picture.
On these next few slides, I will show you how
‘Simon Neil’ one of my chosen stars filters his
appearance and performance depending on his
audience.

QUESTION 2)

QUESTION 2)

Non-direct eye contact
with audience

Body language shows he
was not ready for the
picture to be taken

Un natural hair colour.
Natural/positive facial
expressions
Caught off guard,
cheesy grin
Microphone, shows he is in
the middle of talking.

Wearing a suit,
shows he is
somewhere
important

Messy hair, shows he isn’t
that bothered about
appearance

QUESTION 2)

Direct mode of address

Top half undressed,
shows he is there
maybe to show off his
tattoos

Smiling, shows the
picture is not serious

Beard, shows that
he is showing
himself as himself
and not pretending
to be someone he
isn’t

Whole persona is informal

Hands by his waist,
shows he is stood up
straight and is not
slouching.

Question 3:
What kind of media institution might distribute your product?
I would choose Bauer Media Group to distribute my

music magazine, as they already distribute Kerrang
and Q magazine, therefore I think they would be a
good distributer, as they know where to distribute
and where would be hitting my main target
audience.

Bauer Media Group have offices all over the world
e.g. Germany, USA, Spain, France, Mexico, Australia
and United Kingdom. This gives me a good base for
my magazine, as they might be able to publish my
magazine all over the world and therefore I would
have a bigger fan base.

Question 3:
What kind of media institution might distribute your product?

‘s

Kerrang website.

Easily recognisable logo

Gives Kerrang a chance to interact with the audience.

Having podcasts and making it easy for people
to listen on line as well as on TV gives the
magazine a wider audience as they are being
able to access Kerrang wherever they are.

Question 4)
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

When finally deciding what genre of music I would do for my music
magazine, the first idea that came to mind was ‘Kerrang!’ but after
research I finally decided to use ‘Metal Hammer’ as a source of
inspiration. I chose this magazine, because I felt that it would give
me lots of ideas of how to style my magazine (From Hell and Fire.)
The title of my magazine comes from the band ‘Iron Maiden’ who
inspired me, after seeing them at Download Festival 2013. The
main theme of my magazine was Rock and Heavy metal, which also
ties in with the theme of ‘Metal Hammer’ as you can clearly see
from the examples I have shown you, you can see the PUG, which
includes things like ‘Poster Special’ or ‘Free CD’ I included this into
my magazine as I think it would give a positive effect on my target
audience, this is because people (especially teenagers) enjoy
getting something for in magazines, so this would entice them to
choose my magazine over any others.

As you can see from the examples, the colour scheme
from these magazines are not bright and are colours you
would normally expect from the music they promote.
Other features such as:
•
•
•
•
•
•

The main image, enticing the audience to pick up the
magazine and buy it.
An extra feature at the foot of the magazine which gave
the audience chance to see what posters are inside
Secondary images to show the audience who else features
in the magazine.
Anchorage text to explain what the Double Page Spread
will be about.
Also ‘buzz’ words such as, ‘PLUS!’ and ‘EXCLUSIVE’ both
these words are there to help me sell my magazine to the
correct audience.
In the top right- hand corner of my magazine I have used a
graphic, within this graphic I have text that reads ‘THE UK’S
BIGGEST GIG GUIDE’ it is in bold lettering and in colours
that will stand out from the page so this would hopefully be
one of the first things the reader sees.

Question 4)
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of
real media products?

After finishing the plan of my contents page, I had to pull together some ideas, the main influence for my contents page design
was ‘Kerrang!’ I chose ‘Kerrang!’ because I felt their layout for the contents page was a lot clearer and easier to understand. I
then decided I would continue to use most of the layout for the structure my contents page. As you can see I have used most
conventions of the average contents page, this includes:
• The image layout, I decided to copy where the image would go on my contents page and tried to give it the feel of an actual magazine.
•
•
•
•

•
•

The top left-hand corner is identical too, this includes the texts ‘CONTENTS’ and the date and the issue number, these are all key
conventions to a music magazine and/or any magazine.
I challenged the whole idea of a music magazine as I didn’t want any secondary images placed on my main image, purely because I think
it ruins the feature for the whole magazine.
I have included page numbers so that the reader has a clear indication of where each article is, this is another key convention of any
magazine.
The editors letter I felt gave a personal touch to the magazine and I felt like the reader could interact with the editor and the people
behind the magazine, just by reading it, and this is why I included it.
I made sure I included things like headings above my articles as I think this adds a good structure to the magazine. It makes everything
clear and easily understood.
I made sure everything I put on my magazine was key to the music magazine industry as I wanted it to look as authentic as possible.

Question 4)
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
With my Double Page Spread , I had no real inspiration for what
magazine it would come from, so I featured bits of both within it, most
of the magazines I looked at featured the main image on the left-hand
side, this is what I would do, I placed my chosen image on then lefthand side, but it didn’t feel quite right, I therefore played around with it
for a bit and found out it looked better in black and white, it stood out
from the page. Other key conventions I used were:
• The writing on the right-hand side, this is a key convention of especially
music magazines, but also any magazine. I made sure it was all neat and tidy
and by doing so I found it easier to write everything in columns , as it helped
the structure of the whole spread.
• At the top of the ‘Kerrang’ magazine with ‘Oli Sykes’ in, I found a good key
convention. I really liked the ‘news’ sign at the top, I thought it added I real
touch of individuality.
• In my text I featured a drop cap, I believe that at the beginning of texts in
magazines, they use a drop cap to indicate where the text starts.
• I also featured a subheading for my image, I believe this adds an in-depth
touch to the article you’re reading.
• I made sure that everything was quite plain and to the point as I think
readers are not looking for articles that are full of things that are irrelevant
to the main feature.

Question 5:
How did you attract/address your audience?
• How did you ATTRACT your audience?
When your magazine is on the newsstand with competitors, what
codes, conventions and features have you used to persuade your
primary audience to pick up and buy your product?

•
•
•
•

Bold Masthead
Bright, bold colours
Striking main image
Pug that gives away one main
feature
• Good value for money
• Many features, featured on the
front cover

• Different text sizes to show
importance of articles
• Price clearly stated
• Colour scheme (house style
throughout)
• Brand identity

Audience Research
With my audience research
I found out that most of
my target audience prefer
to wear converse or vans.
From this research I could
easily find things to entice
the audience such as;
showing them new arrivals
at stores or giving them a
guide as to what ‘rock’
celebrities are wearing.

As you can clearly see from these pie
charts we can see that there are lot of
bands that would fall under the ‘rock’
genre and therefore I found a base for
me to start my magazine. This gave me
good indication of what to do.

Mast Head

Features

Unique
selling point
Entices the
audience
Main image

Other articles

Free
giveaway

Price clearly
stated

Secondary images

Question 5:

Gender and Age
Gender:
With my magazine, there is no set ‘ideal’ gender. I
made my magazine suitable for both genders, even
though my main image is of a man, I think if girls are
into the type of music my magazine promotes, they
wouldn’t care.

Age:
I originally planned for my magazine to have a 16+
age rating in case of any ‘explicit’ content inside,
but then thought, they were going to experience
and see it soon anyway. So I thought make it 14+,
this also gives me a more broad audience.

Question 5:

With this, I feel like that the words
‘exclusive’ and ‘give away’ entices
the reader to pick up the magazine,
because they might have a chance
to win a ticket to Download
Festival.

‘Plus’ shows that
there is more
featured inside the
magazine than what is
shown on the front
cover and this gives
makes the reader
want to buy the
magazine, to see what
else is inside.

The word ‘biggest’ makes
the audience feel like
there is no competition. It
is clearly made to stand
out as it is in white circle.

My mast head stands out
because of the way it is a white
font on a black background, this
gives a good contrast to my
magazine.

Question 5:
Colour:
The use of the colour, black, white and red,
compliment each other as the white stands out on
the black and the red also stands out on the black,
these colours work very well and I think pull my
magazine together even more.

Extra artists:
The use of extra artists shows that my
magazine can offer a wide range of artist
coverage, also when the reader is finished
reading about the main article they have
something else to read.

Main Image:
With my main image, I made sure it stood
out from the rest of the magazine. I also
made sure it went with my colour scheme
and luckily it had a red background and with
a bit of work, I made it look darker so the red
would stand out more.

Question 5:
The heading for the contents page is
in the same font and the same
colours as the whole of the
magazine. This sets a good house
style.

The use of an image, draws
the audience to flick
through the magazine, to
see what the rest of the
magazine is like.

The white writing on the red
background makes the
heading stand out so people
can easily see where
everything is.

‘WIN’ this word gives the
reader a chance to get
involved with the
magazine, it also makes
the reader want to
participate.

Question 5:
Heading for the main article and
it shows the reader what the
article is going to be about.

Gives the reader
an insight into how
they feel about the
band but also life
in general.

This helps the reader
understand what is
happening and what the
article is about.

Shows the audience/reader who
the article is about.

Question 5:

The repetitive colour scheme throughout consists of; red, white and black. These
colours represent the type of genre I want to promote in my magazine.
The white on the black stands out and then the red on the white also stands out.
This makes the magazine more appealing so the audience buy it.

Question 6:
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this
product?

Publisher: Front Cover

With my front cover it took me a
while to decide what I wanted on
the front, I decided to use this
image as I felt it represented what
my magazine was about. It gave a
good colour scheme as it matched
the red and black.

Publisher: Contents Page

With my contents page I
realised that darker the
better. I enhanced my
image by changing the
lighting. It added a good
effect to my work.

Publisher: Double Page Spread

I made sure that my image stood
out from the page and by doing
so I thought switch the image
round and change into black and
white, I thought the black and
white added a really good effect
to the Double Page Spread.

Question 7:
Looking back at your preliminary task (Aquinas College magazine), what do you feel
you have learnt in the progression to the full product?

Front Cover: Practice Draft.

From my first draft to my final piece I feel
like I have been able to achieve lots more
skills, this includes being able to use
publisher in an effective way. I have quickly
learned about key magazine conventions;
masthead, barcode and price etc. I think
this had reflected through my three
magazine front covers.

My first front cover design is plain and
boring and this would not stand out to
someone walking past. I feel like there are
not enough magazine conventions within
my first design. The colour scheme
represents the genre of music my magazine
is trying to promote. (Rock/Heavy Metal)

With my second design for my front cover I
decided to stick with the same image but move all
of the conventions around a little. With this I still
was unsure about the magazine on a whole. I was
unhappy with it, it looked boring. I made sure I
added a few more key features.

My final piece I was extremely happy with, I felt like it
was complete after trying so long to improve it , as
you can see I added more conventions e.g. the poster
special and the secondary image at the bottom, I also
added a caption to explain the main image. My skills
that I have learned helped me understand how
Microsoft Publisher worked and this ensured I got my
potential out of it.

Colour schemes are important when trying to represent different ideologies
within any type of magazine. With my magazine front covers I tried to keep to
the same colour scheme as I think it worked. The red, white and black all stood
out. When designing my final piece I added more of the red colour, this is
because it could reflect on the attitude the artist on the front cover may have.

Contents Page
With my contents page I stuck with the main
colour scheme of red, white and black, this is
so it was more recognisable because it now
had a house style. My main image is of the
same band that features on the front of my
front cover, I decided to use this picture
because I feel like it sets off a good feel for
the magazine. I chose to take the theme of
the Kerrang contents page idea and turn it
into my own. I made the heading boxes red
with white text because

Double Page Spread

with my first design I felt like it was quite there. I felt there
was something missing.

Evaluating my Aquinas Magazine

Technologies used:
• Publisher
• Digital Camera
• Altering and manipulating
photos.
• Photoshop

Evaluating my Aquinas Magazine

Strapline- this entices the reader to
read the magazine. Gives the reader an
excuse to open the magazine. ‘WIN!!’
this is in capitals to emphasis that it is
free and all you have to do is enter.

Features- gives the

Masthead- is overlapping
the main images hair,
contrast of the lettering 70%

Pug- this also gives the reader and
excuse to open the magazine as
they are getting something for free,
it is in a star to make it stand out on
the page.

reader and insight as to
what it featured in the
magazine, it also gives
page numbers so it is easy
for the reader to find the
article they want to read.

Photography
The main image is not centre, and is
pushing left. Georgia’s eyes are not
looking directly at the camera and are
looking right, this shows that she is
shy and hiding away.

The image is placed on a white
background to make it stand out, also
it is to make the lettering stand out
too. This created negative space, and
makes it all stand out.
I used photo shop to cut out the
background of the main image.

Choosing a cover photo.
I decided not to use
this picture either as
I wanted one cover
star not three

I changed my mind a
lot on deciding who to
have as my cover star. I
felt like his picture was
not right for the front
cover.

I felt like this picture was
good as it portrayed her
personality by looking
away.

Contents Page
Technologies used:
•
•
•
•

Publisher
Digital Camera
Altering Photos
Photo shop.

I added a editors letter
to give an interaction
with the audience.
Also gives a bit of
detail about the
magazine itself

I made sure that the page
numbers were fairly larger
than the text, this is so the
reader can easily identify with
the articles

I incorporated the
Aquinas logo to make it
link with my colour
scheme. ‘A’ ‘M’

My evaluation

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