The document is a student's portfolio for their AS Media Studies foundation project. It includes sections on their preliminary research and planning, a draft cover page and contents page for their music magazine, photographs they took and edited for the project, example layouts they researched, and their draft and final versions of the cover page, contents page, and double-page spread interview for their magazine on the rap music genre titled "Rapster". It reflects on the feedback received and modifications made between drafts.

1. AS MEDIA STUDIES
FOUNDATION PORTFOLIO
RESEARCH & PLANNING
CENTRE NO: 11049
ST FRANCIS XAVIER COLLEGE

2. My name is: Ruben Martin
Candidate No:2352

3. Preliminary Project – Research & Planning
• I spoke to members of the college and also spoke to some of my friends who attend the
college to get some feedback on what they would want in the magazine and I already
had a idea of what I wanted to include in my magazine because I am also a student.
Also by being the same age as my target audience this made easier for what I wanted
to include in the front & contents page.
• How did awareness of that audience impact upon your visual
design and choice of language? The awareness of my audience didn’t
really make an impact because me and my target audience are the same age so I
already had in mind what I should do for the design and the type of language I should
use because was already decided before I picked my target audience.
• What key points did you learn about Adobe Photoshop and InDesign
in constructing your artefacts? I learnt how to change the background of an
image in Photoshop by using one or two simple tools like the magic ward and the Lasso
tool. Also InDesign I learnt how to import images from Photoshop and also I learnt how to
use the actual programme as it was my first time using InDesign.

4. Preliminary Project
• College Cover • College Contents

5. Reflections & Feedback
• What would you do differently next time ? Next time I would pick a
different font as feel my font is too childish for the magazine and also I would
use a different colour scheme which is basic but make sure it stands out to the
reader. Also I would use more images that can attract my target audiences
and I would make the front cover look like a magazine more than a poster.
• What kind of feedback did you get that might influence you? I
got feedback from my teacher, that the font I used looked too childish and
something that would be used for a cartoon so for my next magazine I'm
going to use a more mature font so I can grab the attention of more readers.
Also my target audience said I should pick a colour scheme that stands out
more to them.
• What aspects of your understanding of Adobe Photoshop & InDesign do
you need to improve? I need to aspects of both programmes like changing the
background image and knowing how to use the tools so I can have a better outcome in
my next magazine.

6. The music genre of my music magazine is:
• Genre: Rap
• and my chosen title is ‘It’s A Wrap’ which was
changed to ‘Rapster’ because the first title was to
long it sounded boring whereas Rapster was more
catchy and short and referred back to the genre of the
magazine Rap.

7. So I researched this genre of music publication
and studied:
• Model 1 • Model 2

8. What I learned from this was…..
• Cover Design • Cover Lines
•The design of both covers has •The cover lines are catchy and
taught me that the headings have draw the reader in so they can
to be bold and a bright colour so purchase the product because they
they can stand out to the reader. will be eager to read on. The styles
Also the main focus should be a of the fonts are all similar so the
well edited image which shows cover lines don’t look different from
the main artist is being fully each other but they all stand out in
focused on. The colours of the their own because the way they
magazine should have a have been laid out on the front
consistency so they flow together cover.
and it doesn’t look rushed or
anything and the design should
be organised so the reader can
easily find what they want to
read.

9. For my music magazine….
• Target Audience: Young male audience. From
the ages of 17-28 years old.
• Frequency: Monthly issue
• Cover price: £1.99
• Publisher: Harris Publications
• Unique Selling Point: My magazine is the
mainly aimed at a younger generation in the
Rap scene.

10. This is the face of the magazine
• Front cover • This is how it works
•The title of the magazine ‘It’s A
Wrap’ relates back to the genre
showing the audience its all about
Rap music.
•The main cover lie stands out
because its placed in the middle
and the font size is bigger than
others so this stands out as the main
story.
•The tag line at the top of the
magazine shows the readers that
this is a magazine worth reading
and the font colour is white so it
stands out more.

11. Here are the 4 original photographs I
shot for the project……

12. I modified each photograph; here is
the original next to the final version:
• Raw 1
• Final 1
• Here is how I changed the photograph and why:
I chose not to change this image because I felt that the
background was fine and the colours matched and
because it’s not an photograph of a person I chose not to
make any changes.

13. And the second one:
• Raw 2 • Final 2
• Here is how I changed the photograph and why:
This photograph was edited by changing the background
colour and making the lighting brighter. This was done so I
could make the photo blend in with the contents page.

14. And the third one:
• Raw 3 • Final 3
• Here is how I changed the photograph and why
I manipulated the image by using the lasso tool to change
the background to all white and changing the lighting to
make the image more bright.

15. And the last one:
• Raw 4 • Final 4
• Here is how I changed the photograph and why
With my last image I cropped half the image so only one
person could be left in the photograph then I changed the
colour of the background to be all white.

16. Here are a couple of research models for
my contents page…

17. This is my contents page
• Contents Page • These are key features…
•The boxes which have been
filled with colour is a key
feature so the reader can see
the important topics of the
magazine.
•The four images chosen are
important because they link
back to the front cover and
the stories of that are in the
magazine.
•The colour is also a key feature
because the red is a consistent
colour which has been used
from the front cover onto the
contents page.

18. How does the contents page link
back to the cover page?
•The contents page
links back to the front
cover because the
main artist has been
used twice so the
readers know this is the
main topic of the
magazine.
•The colour scheme
used on the front cover
has been transferred
onto the contents
page so there’s a
consistency so both
pages can match.
•The cover stories used on the front cover have been included on the
contents page with similar fonts so everything is consistent and flows
with each other.

19. Key points of contents page
• How have you made the reader want to read on? I’ve made the reader
want to carry on reading by giving them a little bit of information.
Under the sub-heading of the features I’ve gave an insight into what
the article is about and why it is interesting so the reader can get
drawn and not bored.
• What are the links between images and words? The images are linked
back to the words by the page number I’ve placed on the image
linking it back to the features which also have the page numbers of
what each article is about.
• What determines the dominant stories? The image of the main artist
has been used on the front cover and I used another image of the
artist and the first feature is about the artists interview on the double
page spread to show this is the main article of the magazine.
• How have you gone about ordering the information on the page? The
research I done on other magazines I took into consideration and
used their style but mixed it with my own ideas by putting information
under the sub-headings and having text and photographs in
different columns .

20. How does the contents page flag up your
double page spread?
My double page spread is going
to include a full interview on my
main artist I have chosen for my
magazine, this is flagged up
through my contents page
because I have included the
main artist and the page
numbers of the double page
spread where the interview is
going to be.

21. Here’s an example of an inspiring double
page spread…

22. This is why I think that double spread
works
•The image of the artist
has been enlarged and
takes half of the page
emphasising to the
reader that artist is the
main topic.
•The artists name ‘The
Game’ is in capitals
and bold black text so
this stands out to the
reader showing them
he’s the main focus
and the heading is in a
bold gold font so this
stands out from the rest
of the paper to show its
•The magazine has the start of the
•An extract from the chosen a simple interview.
interview has been taken colour scheme which
out so the reader can have flows and this works
insight into the interview and because the reader
what they will be reading will not be lost by too
about. many colours.

23. This is my double-page spread

24. This is how my double page •The use of two images
spread works emphasise who the main
focus of the magazine is
and who the interview is
on.
•The use of the word
‘Exclusive’ draws the
readers in to know what
is important.
•The image of the artist
wearing blue works with
the text that has been
placed around it
because the font colour
is blue so it stands out to
the reader.
•The use of the same font works because there is a •The yellow background on
consistency on the double page spread to keep the the title helps because it
reader, reading so they don’t get distracted by too helps the title stand out to
many things happening. the reader.

25. This is how all three components are linked together….
•There is a consistency of the
colour scheme flowing from
the front cover to the double
page spread to keep
everything the same and so
no other colours clash.
•The photograph of the main
artist being used throughout
the product helps the reader
be reminded of the main
topic of the magazine.
•The cover lines being carried on from
the front to the contents keeps a
consistency going through the
magazine so nothing new is brought in
half way through the product.

26. This is my re-drafted cover page
• Key modifications from feedback
• Cover Page Draft
•From the feedback
given I was told there
was too much dead
space so I got rid of the
dead space by
organising and adding
more information.
•Also the colour of the
background wasn’t
edited so I changed
the colour of the
background of the
photograph because
the colour before was
clashing with the font
and colours chosen.
Final
•Also I changed the name of the
•The colour scheme chosen previous magazine as the chosen name was
was too boring so I changed the too long and ‘Rapster’ was catchy.
colour scheme to brighter colours so
the cover could stand out to the
reader.

27. This is my re-drafted contents page • Key modifications from feedback:
• Cover Page
• My first contents page didn’t have a solid
background colour, so I changed my
background to ‘red’ because it looked like
a poster.
• Also I took some
text out because
the text on my
previous contents
page overtook
the page so I cut
out text.
• Also the boxes
which had the text
in I added different
colours into the
boxes so each box
could stand out as
they contained
different
Final
information.
•Also the pictures used are more organised
because on the previous draft the pictures Draft 1
were scattered all over the page and just
put anywhere on the page.

28. This is my re-drafted double spread

29. Key modifications to double spread from feedback
•From the first draft I changed the
fonts used because they didn’t link
back to the contents and front
cover so for everything to be linked
I used similar or the same fonts
FINAL throughout the magazine so
everything could be linked.
•On the final product I changed the
colour font of the questions so the
questions could stand out from the
answers because everything was
the same colour.
•The same colour scheme has been
used throughout so the banner title
I changed it to a brighter yellow to
link back to the previous pages and
so the title could stand out also.
DRAFT

30. Evaluation
• You can find my blog here:
http://rubensmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/
You can find my evaluation with responses to the 7 questions
here: http://rubensmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/