OCR Media Studies – AS LevelUnit G321: Foundation Portfolio in MediaPreliminary Task, Log Book and Evaluation

Name: Ethan FernandesCandidate Number: 7082Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic CollegeCenter Number: 64770

Set Brief - Print

Music Magazine – Production

Preliminary Task Progression, Log

Book and Evaluation

Preliminary Task Progression– EvidenceFront CoverStep-by-step

Front CoverDraft

The first thing I did was add a background. I had to use the gradient overlay with a radial background reversed from the centre with a gradual black to white shade. I wanted this background to complement the main image as it shows some glow to the main image. I then made a start on the main image I used the quick selection tool to remove the background of the original image to put my created background as the new background image.

Next I went to dafont.com to find a suitable font for this page. After I found a few I used them for the masthead, cover lines sublines and strapline. I then placed in the colours that I wanted to include for my colour scheme, and I made sure my star of the front cover had similar clothing on, but also make sure the colours represent the school. Therefore I made it maroon and grey.

Finally I added the barcode, QR code which goes directly to my blog page and some convergence such as facebook, twitter Instagram and also the school logo. After doing this I made a few adjustments to the main image and made the image more brighter to complement the main story. ‘Jakes bright future’

Preliminary Task Progression– EvidenceContents PageStep-by-step

Contents page Draft

Same as the front cover it was much easier for me to make the contents page as I had all the colours saved in my swatches, and it was very easy to move my background image across to the contents page. I also copied the same strokes from the front cover at the bottom

I then typed up an editorial for my contents page In word and then pasted it in photoshop. I also made the contents with circles with numbers in them to make it stand out. I also added my own picture for the editorial for the audience to know who it is that has made this magazine.

Finally I added in the title and finished off everything to a good standard. I added the same QR code from the front too.

Section 1) – Log Book

Music Magazine – Genre research (Rock/Alternative and Indie

YOU MUST insert anything you can find about this genre – secondary sources (quotes from articles; statistics; other magazine front covers)

These statistics show that NME magazine has a readership of 289,000 adults in the year of 2012. These figures have been increased in the last 2 years. These figures however can still be used as we see that the majority of NME’s magazine is male and only a small percentage is female. This is because NME have a target audience of males from the age of 20+ and would appeal to someone living in the UK and would belong to the social grade ABC1.

On average NME have around 369,000 readers this year and sell about 38,486 units per year making around £96,215 through magazines sales (magazine prices are £2.50 on average). Recent statistics have shown that the overall NME magazine sales have dropped by a least 20% in the last year which is mostly likely due to having several online pages that feature most of the information in the magazine (e.g. Their own website, Facebook, Twitter etc). This feature lets the audience buy the magazine on the go with ease.

Established Magazine for my Research

Missing ConventionsConvergence: Why is this important?Convergence lets the audience to share what they're reading, this makes it much easier and simple to also upsell the magazine as others see this magazine and could be attracted to it. Convergence is also a USP.

Masthead’NME’- Its big bold and hasA bold colour to make it visible.Win tickets freePromotion- These big promotion are worth a lot of money which can attract a larger audience.Star Appeal- A well known indie band

Barcode

Cover lines- Shows whatMore this magazine has

Date/Price/Issue Number

QR code

Convergence- website of the Magazine

StraplineMiniature Mast head

Conventions of a Music MagazineFront Cover

Masthead

Date

StraplineNew MusicalExpress

Barcode

Issue/Price £2.50Web Address

www.nme.comPromotion(USP)Win tickets to Reading festival which is an expensive event

Star AppealArctic Monkeys, a famous indie band known to many teens and young adultsHeadlineMain Story of the issue. Cover Lines

Showing what else is included in this issue of NME magazine.

The Target Audience:The target audience for this magazine is mainly British males aged 17-30.

The target audience would have to be of a middle class as C1, C2 as the price for this magazine is £2.50

The Band index is also included in every contents page and every single issue of NME magazine. This could be a USP for the magazine as no other magazines do this. This could also be the reason why people buy this magazine and by including it, it offers more than magazines such as ‘Q’ do.

The articles in the contents page are all under different specific different headings which makes it easier for the reader to find out what they are looking for. They are in a bold font that stands out and is easy to readThe mini article is included in the contents page to show an idea of what the readers will expect to see on the double page and is intended to make them want to buy it.

Advertisement for subscription is included to try and make people subscribe, therefore the magazine company would make more money. The contents page is a page that every reader will look at so by including it on here there is more chance of it being noticed

Conventions of a Music MagazineContents Page

This image supports the main image on the front cover showing it has been continued onto the contents page and has a brief summary below it

This magazine has included its masthead in the contents page which links to the front cover, It also says ‘This week’ which appears in every NME contents page emphasizing they are current events

Conventions of a Music MagazineDouble Page

The use of props is very important. They have guitars in this image which is required as it is part of their identity as a band and is a clear indication of the indie genre

The use of a pull quote is to grab the readerships attention quickly to give them a clue of what the article contains if they are skim reading and like what the quote says.

The Vaccines is a famous indie alternative rock music band. This supports the genre of the magazine

In the main image of the double page, the lead singer is placed in the front of the band. He is the lead singer and as he is more popular, putting him in the center of attention makes it more appealing to the target audience and makes the article more obvious who it is about.

The quote says “We are a pop band and we want to be a pop band” which you don’t expect from The Vaccines as they are not a pop band. This therefore might interest the readers in knowing more about what it is that the Vaccines are talking about in this article and encourages them to read more.

The article cant be too long because the target audience of both NME and the Vaccines are more interested in to images and big news with bold text instead of long stories. Therefore the picture is much bigger to give the text a smaller place and makes it look short and snappy.

NME uses a simple sans serif font style for the title of the article as the band uses the same font in their own performance and albums. This also gives the article a straightforward feel. Which is appealing to the target audience. The heading is in a large font so it stands out to the readers as it is the only large font writing on the page. Furthermore, The Vaccines being the only large font on the page shows exactly where the audience can start reading from. This helps as it is very catchy and can be noticed easily even though there is a big picture right next to it.

Target Audience The target audience for this magazine are mainly teens, and adults aged 17-30 (Hartley). The magazine can appeal to young teens because it is a ‘Social Climber” (Mazlow) for young teens to see what’s new and what’s trending. Also some can ‘Personally identify’ themselves by looking at either images or reading stories about other people having the same issues as them. This magazine is also a ‘Surveillance’ Katz which provide information to the readers about the stuff going on. Interviews from the magazine can educate the audiences about their favorite stars because most stars in a magazine usually have their own brand and promote their clothing, accessories in magazines to reach out to the audience. This can ‘inform’ the audience more about their favorite stars.

What is the USP of this magazine? From the research done in this magazine and deconstructing NME magazines right to the bone, I think the USP of the magazine NME is that they provide a lot of information and background knowledge about the rock/indie genre. It also features a lot of interviews with famous artists to get their audiences to learn about these stars. Secondly, the use of star appeal, using The horrors a well known rock band that is one of the most famous rock bands of this time. The image of the horrors is spread across the whole magazine which makes it a center of attention and easy to focus on and the audience easily notices this. Also the magazine offers a great promotion “ Win tickets to Reading” which is a very popular event that takes place in the summer every year and is very expensive. A magazine willing to do this is surely to be bought by a lot of people. NME magazines also use a mid to close up shots on the front cover and the main character/s are usually looking directly at you (camera) which creates a ‘personal relationship’ with the artists and the audience

Publisher researchNME is published by Time Inc. and IPC media. The first issue of NME magazine was published on 7th March 1952 and it has now been over 60 years ever since. Over these years NME has changed its genre from decade to decade. In the 70s it was focused on punk rock like the Jam, the clash, and in the 90s until today it has been a wider variety. But mainly Rock, Alternative and Indie music.

Time Inc. is global therefore NME is available in most countries

NME Readership Profile-Male: 69%-Female: 31%-Full time employed: 52%-Part time workers: 7%-Still studying: 29%-Readership: 369,000-Circulation: 40,948

On average NME Readers spend per year-£152 on footwear-£532 on clothes-£66 on DVD’s-£170 on digital cameras-£1229 on music equipment

IPC media creates content for multiple platforms across prints, online, mobile, tablets and events.

Research for my magazine

Under 96%

10 to 1747%18 to 24

29%

25 to 3418%

What is your age?

Under 910 to 1718 to 2425 to 3435 and above

Male60%

Female40%

What is your gender?

MaleFemale

10%20%20

%35%

10%

5%

How much would you spend on a

magazine?I don’t buy magazines

£0.01 - £0.99

£1.00 - £1.99 £2.00 - 2.99£3.00 - 3.99 £4.00 or more

16%

32%32%

20%

What do you want to see in a maga-

zine? NewsInterviewsPromotionsFamous artists

Planning my magazine pages: Photos

More photos are on the blog in ‘Still image originals’