The document provides an evaluation of a media studies student's media product portfolio. [1] It describes the key elements of the magazine created for the portfolio, including the front cover, contents page, and double page spread. [2] Conventions from real magazines such as cover lines, images, and layouts were used. [3] The intended audience is described as teenagers interested in hip hop/R&B music.

1. AS MEDIA STUDIES
G321 FOUNDATION PORTFOLIO
EVALUATION
By Tia Seymour

2. 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms
and conventions of real media products?
The Front Cover
My magazine incorporates generic conventions through the use of a clear layout displaying a masthead creating a unique and individual brand for the
product, which implies the magazine is for those into music especially of hip/hop and rnb genre, the name titled as ‘Bass’ which is referring to the rhythm
and baselines of rnbs music. The use of frequent cover lines was also greatly considered through my product with lines such as ‘50 songs of the summer',
'From the Streets to Making Beats. Tricky G’ using a sense of rhyme in order to relate back to the idea of Hip Hop Rap artists rhyming their lyrics, to create a
more long lasting effect on their target audience whilst sharing personal experiences similarly to the content of the article. The main focus however was the
main cover line presenting my artist ‘Flossy B’ as an overpowering and dominant in the issue through a main image of herself placed central on the front
cover and a bold statement ‘’I’m just me’’ underneath the text of her name. Barcodes and a date were placed to reveal whether the magazine was
weekly/monthly etc while a price was chosen through the feedback from my audience research questionnaire through the process of creating the
magazine.
http://tiarianna.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/final-proof.html#!/2013/02/final-proof.html
A quote was used similarly to other magazines out in the market to
create a strong personal connection between the artist and her fan
base/demographic. The idea was taken from ‘Blender Magazine’
where Alicia Keys featured on the front.

3. (continued)
The Contents Page- Through the development of the Contents page conventions such as titled
page numbers and a editors note were present in the product in order to reflect a diverse and familiar
magazine out in the market. Colours throughout were kept within the house style with a shade of pink, white
and black. Additional features such as links for social networking sites such as Facebook and twitter gave the
target audience the opportunity to search for further updates or information. Flossy B was again the main
focus similarly to other issues of magazines as the image had taken up half of the page.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-
rPre2_IMTRA/URzzUS1hopI/AAAAAAAAAic/Z_kCaZojYNs/s1600/base+magazine+contents+final.jpg
Inspiration came from the Q magazine’s contents in the sense that they’re cover stars feature once again in the
contents page. The titles of pages were left with a white background to give the impression that they were
almost like labels, edgy and rough. The idea came from a music magazine that lily allen featured in.

4. (continued)
Double Page Spread- Through the Double Page Spread I edited an image in black and white to
replicate the effect that Lady Gaga’s image had on myself in Q Magazine. The image appeared professional and
realistic to the audience. http://tiarianna.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/content-of-double-page-
spread.html#!/2012/12/content-of-double-page-spread.html The idea was then posted on my blog indicating
that I had carefully considered and studied various magazines double page images and layouts. The article itself
was planned through reading Taylor Swifts edition of the rolling stones where I found the article began with a
description of her rise to fame which I decided to incorporate into mine. I also studied the visual content of the
double page spread and images which could be used for my product.
http://tiarianna.blogspot.co.uk/?view=magazine#!/2012/11/rolling-stones-taylor-swift.html
Promotion of the artists debut single was added at the bottom to reveal the magazines support for the artist .
The Questions asked focused on the her successes.
The use of highlighting various
letters whilst keeping others
black was constructed through
studying vibes text in there front
covers.
http://tiarianna.blogspot.co.uk/
2013/01/possible-features-for-
bass-magazine.html

5. 2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My magazine targets mainly teenagers who mainly listen to hip hop/rnb. My Cover Star has been represented as
an individual black female artist which I feel has came across through the whole product. In rnb artists such as
Rihanna and Beyonce they have been displayed as ‘fierce’ ‘sexy’ and unstoppable, all three elements in which I
wanted to portray. The Female has definitely been portrayed as the most dominant and powerful sex through the
use of bold statements such as the cover line ‘I’m just Me’ and fun, natural shot revealing that she's in fact like
everybody else and in touch with the latest fashion styles and trends.
Stereotypes of the dominant male in hip hop have been challenged relating back to the now success of more
female urban artists and there impact on music.
http://tiarianna.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/identity-of-cover-star.html
The link is of other urban artists image and persona that I researched and greatly considered.
http://tiarianna.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/rihanna.html
This entry shows that from the beginning I have considered rihannas image to reflect through my artists.

6. 3.What kind of Institution might distribute your media product?
Bauer Media- Is a UK based media group distributing magazines such as Grazia,Heat,Closer and Empire. My
magazine ‘Bass’ would be one of the Uks leading Hip Hop/Rnb music magazines which therefore means it
would need to be distributed successfully and be up against other music magazines of various genres including
kerrang. Bauer Media would then give my magazine the opportunity to sell effectively and compete in a
competitive market due to the magazines unique and individual approach to urban music. It would be the first
urban magazine to be apart of Bauer Media Group.

7. 4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
• My target audience was females and males ranging from 16-25 as the magazine will focus on the latest
young, hip and diverse musical talent in the urban industry with exclusive interviews and behind the scenes
info. My audience has been based around the type of demographic 'Vibe' Magazine may attract-young
individuals who have a love and passion for hip hop/RnB music and possibly are trying to get into the
industry through producing and writing their own music. Other Magazines similar to my own include the
US Hip Hop/Rnb magazine ‘Vibe’ and ‘Rap Up’ which cater to the same audience I am targeting.

8. 5. How did you attract/address your audience?
Colours- The use of colour was evident applying tones such as a bubblegum pink,black and white because they
appealed to the female audience that the weekly issue was targetting- a fierce, dependent and successful
young artist. The Pink emphasised the feminine and insightful side of the issue whilst the black for the
masthead and contents implied a bold and strong statement all which hip hop/rnb music display through their
lyrical content.
Masthead- ‘Bass’ is appealing to a target audience as it refers to one of the key elements in creating an urban
track. It also however implies the magazine has a cool,fresh and modern vibe to it.
Language/Register- The language I have used is similar to those seen in a ‘popular magazine’s incorporating an
informal approach creating a personal connection through not only the interview however the editors note
while also keeping a level of sophistication and fluency as the magazine is for 16 years plus, both males and
females. The level of connection would then create a more successful and exclusive read for the demographic.
Exclusives- None were used however links of the magazines facebook and twitter addresses were present at
the bottom of the contents page in order for the target audience to have updates

9. (continued)
Images- http://tiarianna.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/draft-of-photography.html
The use of images throughout the magazine were all of the main cover star ‘Flossy B’ once again highlighting
her importance and career in the urban industry. Shots of herself were individually unique as I wanted to
capture various aspects of he personality through different angles and visual effects. The use of a leopard
print background created an almost fierce and strong character emphasising a possible alter ego or stage
presence my artist may apply to her carrer.
The Costume and Make Up was
also greatly considered through
planning the clothing ‘Flossy B’
T would wear to represent her as an
artist and appeal to her fan base
and target audience. The Zebra
blazer was an essential item as it
added style, individuality to her
and made her appear almost as a
fashion icon with the leopard print
Shot One- Displaying her also in the backdrop.
flirtatious and daring side as Shot Two- Revealing her
she make strong direct mode childish side through http://tiarianna.blogspot.co.uk/201
of address the geeky glasses and 2/11/logo-draft.html
beanie.

10. 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of
constructing the product?
Through constructing the product various elements of software including Publisher and Paint. Net were used to edit photos and construct a
layout. In order to achieve a quality and professional product my IT skills needed to further be developed where I found my strengths and
weaknesses.
Strengths- Publisher
• Being Familiar with the software and cropping/re-sizing images/text
• Applying simple effects on images imported from documents
•Accessing a Print Preview to see how the page will appear in full A4 View
•Being able to see construction lines
•Strengths-Paint.Net
•Files being saved as a J.PEG to upload onto my blog profile
•Applying a change in texts colour/background
•Adding a new layer
Weaknesses-Publisher
•Being able to get a good quality image when cropped
•Being able to fit everything on one page
•Weaknesses- Paint.Net
•Takes up alot of time to edit small touches such as feathering and the magic wand
•Its easy to get confused with layers if they aren’t all named

11. (continued)
Through the process of creating the front cover, contents page and double page spread various copies of
sketches were drawn of the layout I had in mind for each page. In order for a final copy to be constructed
various ideas had to be deliberated due to the difficulty of creating them or a simple change in mind. Below
are the drafts of all elements of the magazines and the reasons for not choosing them.
http://tiarianna.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/draft-of-magazine-front-cover.html - http://tiarianna.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/contents-page-draft.html
The front cover draft included a selling The Draft of the contents was
line which I later didn't include in the final kept fairly the same having the
copy due to a lack of space available cover star as the main image
above the masthead and I wanted it to be and content page numbers
the main focus- ‘Bass’ below however the editors
note was placed in the middle.
The draft in comparison was
slightly more structured and
organised however i wanted
the page to be a bit rough and
untidy relating to the genre.
http://tiarianna.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/double-page- The double page drafts were found the most
spread-hand-drawn-draft.html difficult to pick from as they all were going to be
difficult to construct which therefore lead me to
pick none of the hand-drawn designs however
the blog entry provides evidence for planning of
my product

12. (continued)
The Contents page also differs to the final product as there is more colour present as I felt I
was more familiar with the target audience my magazine was being targeted at while the
school magazine was slightly more challenging to construct as it was for a smaller range from
ages 16-18 therefore the content had to relate to sixth form only, not a wider age gap. The
use of websites were however a similarity as when I first began the construction i knew in my
final product web addresses were something I wanted to include.
Final Product
Preliminary
The images have also been
edited in my final product in
comparison to the school
magazine showing my
development in skills
through ICT.

13. 7. Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have
learnt in the progression from it to the full product
I feel through the development of my product my IT skills have improved significantly in comparison to the beginning of the
front cover. Firstly I was unable to even crop an image in paint.net therefore my preliminary task, resulted in being created
in publisher as it was the most familiar with the software. Below is my final magazine product and the school magazine
exercise which shows a great improvement in my ability to place various cover lines more appropriately, and spaced out and
the understanding of the magazines conventions as on my full product a barcode, price and dateline is present in
comparison to my school magazine.
The Masthead is also
larger to reveal the
brands importance and
keeps to a regular colour
scheme.
Preliminary Final Product

14. The use of blogger also enabled me to create a
record of evidence and planning towards the final
product through posting an entry and recording
my level of progress from the beginning of the
coursework until the end. When adding blogs
they could be edited or removed if they were
unnecessary however each blog uploaded helped
me get a step closer to my magazine. It was easy,
accessible and meant no sheets/sketches had to
be in a folder where sheets may have gotten
lost/misplaced. Entries such as drafts and re-
drafts helped me to see what other information
could be added.

15. Overall, I feel my products fits to the brief as I researched various magazines from my
chosen genre ad artists in which I could replicate for my magazine in order for the product
to appeal to the same demographic. Also through drafting of magazine names, layout I was
able to see what would work and what possibly wouldn't studying not only the magazine of
my genre however more rock/pop products such as ‘Q’. The use of conventions were also
used effectively as I was able to include various cover lines relating back to the genre and
create a strong photograph for the front cover.