Preliminary task and planning and research

1. OCR Media Studies – AS Level
Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media
Planning & Research
Name: Phoebe Regnault
Candidate Number: 1212
Center Name: St. Andrew’s Catholic School
Center Number:64135
Set Brief - Print
Music Magazine – Production
Preliminary Task Progression and
Planning & Research

2. Section 1) –
Preliminary Task

3. Preliminary Task Progression–
Evidence
Front Cover
Step-by-step
Step 1
I inserted the top blue and yellow
lines by using the shape tool and
placed the St Andrews logo. I used
the eye drop tool to pick out the blue
and yellow and used my gradient tool
to create the background.

4. Step 2
I inserted my text and wrote the name
of my magazine ‘the saints’ as the
,masthead. I changed the font style to
‘Varisty’. Additionally I put the ‘T’ and
‘S’ into capitals to make the stand out.
I then placed my picture of Patrick, I
used my quick selection tool to crop
him. To make sure I selected all of him
I went into quick mask mode, where I
used black to conceal and white to
reveal. My image was to small so by
pressing *cmd t* I was able to resize
the image. By pressing shift at the
same time my picture quality stayed
the same.

5. Step 3
First of all I inserted a white box in
the bottom right. I set my ruler lines
to give me a guide on where I am
going to place my social media logos
and the barcode. I placed my barcode
and resized it. I then placed the social
media logos and moved them to fit
within my ruler lines. Finally I used
my text tool to type the issue, date
and price. I also used my text tool to
write the social media link.

6. Step 4
I inserted the strapline in the say
font as my masthead. I put the
‘saints’ all in capitals to make it
stand out because that is part of
the name of the magazine. I
added a stroke effect of ‘2’ in the
same navy as my masthead to
make the strapline bolder.

7. Step 4
I added my sublines to the left
side of my magazine. These are
the items that will feature in my
magazine. I put these in yellow to
make them different to the rest of
the text but still within the color
scheme.
I also started to add to my main
head line, I used a blue stroke
effect around the text.

8. Step 5
I finished my main headline and
continued to put a stroke effect around
all the text. I made Patrick's name the
biggest because he is the most
important feature within my magazine
as he is the main image. I also changed
the font to the same blue by using my
eye drop tool.

9. Step 6
I replicated the St Andrews logo and
used it to make the bullet points for all
my sublines. I also added one to my
barcode. Additionally I placed small
images that represented my sublines,
such as the Chessington World of
Adventures logo.

10. Step 7
To make my puff promotion I
inserted a circle from my
shape tool, I changed the
color to yellow and added a
blue stroke effect to it. I wrote
‘win’ in the same blue with a
yellow stroke effect. I also
placed a picture on a iPad to
show the reader what they
could win.

11. Preliminary Task Progression–
Evidence
Contents Page
Step-by-step
Step 1
I use the same layout and background as my front
cover. I also copied the background deign of my
front cover of the blue and yellow lines.

12. Step 2
I used my text tool to identify that this
was my contents page as I wrote
‘contents’ for my strapline. I placed the
school logo to split up the two texts. I
put the name of the magazine in the
same font style as my masthead and
enlarged the word ‘contents’ because
the reader would need to find the
page quickly so they know where to
look for articles. This also shoes a
constant style within all the pages
within y magazine.

13. Step 3
I place a photo of Imani in
Photoshop and used my quick
select tool to crop her. Her hair
was difficult so I lowered the
capacity of my brush when I was
in quick mask mode.

14. Step 4
I added features of the magazine, this
included the sub lines mentioned on
the front cover. i used a white box
with a yellow boarder as the
background. I put the title of the
boxes in yellow boxes to make them
standout. I used the shape tool to do
this. I also added briefly what each
page was about and what it included.

15. Step 5
I added the editors information above
my features section. It included the
editors name and contact details of
the magazine. I placed social media
logos to inform the consumer that
‘the saints’ is available on other
platforms of media.

16. Step 6
I used my pen tool to create an area
for my text to go into, to ensure it was
neat and tidy. I wrote my editorial on
word and the copied and pasted it
into Photoshop. When creating my
drop capital I used the same font style
as my masthead and the same blue.

17. Step 7
I inserted my editors photo to show
to the reader a visual image of who
the editor was. I has to crop the
photo to make it fit within my text. I
added a blue boarder around the
picture to separate it from the text.

18. Section 2) – Log Book

19. Music Magazine – Genre research
source; http://www.magforum.com/glossies/music_magazines.htm
• NME mobile website grew 85% year
on year, with nearly 40% of its total
online audience now reading on
mobile in 2014
•an estimated
248,000 adults read
Mojo
•an estimated
150,000
adults read
Top of the
Pops
• The les popular classical music
magazine, With a readership of
over 20,000.
• Q magazine
is most
popular for
music in
2015

20. Established Magazine for my Research
Masthead- The masthead has a bright red background which
makes it very eye catching. This is important as it can catch the
attention of passers and stands out form the rest of the page.
Cover lines- These give the reader a glimpse of what the
magazine includes and what they could read about. The cover lines
include artists names which is the star appeal of the magazine
(Richard Dyer)
Promotional- The connotation behind ’20th anniversary special’
, is used as an incentive for the reader to buy this issue as it is special
Main Headline- This helps the reader see what the main
focus if of the that issue of the magazine, the word ‘Beyonce’
highlights that the magazine will have content and information on
Beyonce, which her fans will respond well to
Main Image- the main image has a famous artist on the front
cover, Beyonce which is the star appeal (Richard Dyer), it also
signifies to the reader who the main article is usually about
Barcode/ price/date /issue

21. Target audience;
The majority of Q’s magazine readers are male, for the with the percentage
for men being 66.2%. The statistics also show that 83.8% of the readers are
15-44 years of age. ‘Q Magazine’ targets their audience and keeps them
interested by getting their favourite bands, involving current artist, being
included by popular UK festivals, this makes the magazine very popular
resulting in a large following by young adults.
What is the USP of this magazine?
From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP of ‘Q’ is
it is an alternative music magazine. Q magazine does not really have a set
genre of music, its main interest is new releases and upcoming artists they
also base on interviews, this means they have a very large target audience.

22. Publisher research
http://magazines.bauermediaadvertising.com/magazines/detail/Q
http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/brands/q
Publisher; Bauer media
Q selectively publish their magazines based on renowned rock and roll bands.
Consequently their target market are mainly teens and young adults aged 15-25, who
appreciate reading about rock.
This target audience has given Q magazine 339,000 readers and in 2014 48,353 copies
were distributed.
Q was founded in 1986 by Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were dismayed by
the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music
buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology. Q was first published by
the EMAP media group in October 1986.

23. Conventions of a Music Magazine
Masthead- The masthead has a bright red background which
makes it very eye catching. This is important as it can catch the
attention of passers and stands out form the rest of the page.
Cover lines- These give the reader a glimpse of what the magazine
includes and what they could read about. The cover lines include artists names
which is the star appeal of the magazine (Richard Dyer)
Promotional- The connotation behind ‘collect all 5 special covers, is
used as an incentive for the reader to continue to read ‘XXL’
Main Headline- This helps the reader see what the main focus if of
the that issue of the magazine, the number “40’ highlights that the magazine
will have a lot of content within it about all the ages of Hip Hop.
Main Image- the main image has a famous artist on the front cover
which is the star appeal (Richard Dyer), it also signifies to the reader who the
main article is usually about
Barcode/ price/date /issue

24. Target Audience
The general target audience for XXL has a median age of 27, magazine is 78%
male reader, 44.7% college buyers, and 67% African Americans. Those who
have an interest in fashion, tattoos and music will buy this magazine.
What is the USP of this magazine?
From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP is XXL
take a mature, advance and intelligent approach to hip hop music. XXL
updates with hip hops news and targets the people that live and listen for
urban music. They produce at magazine with up to date information about
the hottest hip hop artists at the current time. Of this magazine the unique
selling point is Jay Z on the front cover as he adds ‘star appeal’ and would
appeal to the target audience.

26. Publisher research
Publisher; Townsquare Media
Founded in 1997, XXL is an American hip-hop magazine, Priced at $5.99 XXL is the
number 1 selling magazine, which outsells magazines like Rolling Stone, Vibe, and
spin.
Their assets include 309 radio stations and more than 325 local websites in 66 U.S
,markets, they have approximately 550 live events with nearly 18 million attending
each year in the U.S and Canada.
Townsquare media say that they ‘’Townsquare Cares, a non-profit organization that
seeks to better the lives of troops and their families”