OCR Media Studies – AS Level

Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media

Log Book

Name: Taylor SabgaCandidate Number: 6485Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic CollegeCenter Number: 64770

Set Brief - Print

Music Magazine – Production

Preliminary Task Progression, Log Book

Preliminary Task Screen Grabs –This is a screen grab of my completed preliminary front cover, the most time consuming part of the front cover was when I had to edit the image of Aaron (my main image) using the tools I used to manipulate the image was the quick selection tool, the eraser and I had to rasterize the image.

The font for my masthead was downloaded from ‘Dafont.com’. I felt that the font fit the purpose of the magazine which is a sixth form based magazine. The font is easy to read and the masthead is visible from a distance which is what I liked about the font as it is easy to read.

The strapline is very simple but yet can help make my magazine stand out to other sixth form magazines as people can see that the verbal code‘best’ has been used.

I rotated the barcode which helped fill the dead space which was there when the barcode was horizontal but now that it is vertical it fills the dead space and allowed me to insert social media logos (Facebook and Twitter).

This is my final version of my preliminary contents page, the most time consuming part of the page was when I had to decide on what layout I was going to do for the page, I decided to use boxes to help fill the ‘dead space’ on the page.

Another time consuming part of the page was editing the image on the page, this included removing the background from the image, making the image sharper by using the effects on Photoshop which helps make the image look sharper and a higher quality.

I took a screen grab of my preliminary front cover and placed it into my contents page, I used the rotate tool to rotate the page to make it take more space up.

I added images from Google images to put inside the boxes I placed onto the page, the images were used because they are motioned on the page and go well with what has been said.

My puff promotion was also used on the page, I put a box behind it to help make it stand out on the page. I also inserted an iTunes logo as the puff promotion was to win iTunes vouchers.

I chose to use the same colourscheme as my front cover to keep my pages consistent. The colour scheme is the same as my school which my magazine is based on. The colour scheme is also very simple as the only colours used are black, maroon and a light blue. I only used a few colours because if I used to many colours it will become hard to read and my magazines of inspiration also only used 3-4 different colours per page.

This is my contents page half completed, I used the ruler tool to help place my shapes in, I used ruler tool to help make my page look more organized and easier to place text in.

Log Book

Music Magazine – Genre research (Hip-Hop)Hip-hop originated from the early

1970s. An artist called ‘Grandfather Flash’. The artist helped the genre be recognised by the mainstream audiences by having hits in the 70s that reached the chart one of which called ‘The Message’.

There are a number of Hip-hop magazines available, these include XXL, The Vibe and The Source. My chosen music magazine (XXL) of inspiration includes ‘star’ (Dyer) rappers from the genre that are well known at that period of time.

Hip-hop was extremely popular in the 90s, which can be backed up with Hip-hop magazine sales in that time period, also the amount of cd sales in the hip – hop genre.

Hip-hop is usually stereotyped as being listened to by a predominantly African American (Hartley) audience. However, the genre is now listened to a wide variety of people age ranges and even ethnicities. My statement can be backed up by statistics of Hip-hop magazines which state that it is bought by more males then females and is bought buy 16-25 year olds from many different ethnic backgrounds (Statistics from Wikipedia).This genre is also stereotyped as being male dominated, however the genre is listened to by a large female audience , this is stereotypical as hip–hop magazines appeal to both male and female audiences. Females reading hip-hop magazines can show how the genre has evolved over the years.

Sources: Wikipedia, XXL.com

Conventions of a Music MagazineThe front page of the magazine for ‘XXL’ is extremely simple in layout and very easy to read.

The non-verbal code of the indent for the magazine can be clearly seen as it is at the top of the page in a bright red background. The logo also stands out because the colour scheme of the front page is in black and white. The right hand side of the logo is partially covered by the rapper ‘Drake’s’ head, which is used by other magazines to give the magazine a high quality finish.

The Unique Selling Point of the music magazine ‘XXL’ is that it is one of the longest running hip-hop magazines that people can buy. The magazine also includes extremely famous rappers which include Drake and lil Wayne.

The strap line of ‘XXL’ can be found on the far left hand corner which denotes 'Hip-Hop on a higher level’, this can connote the magazine is a premium hip-hop magazine and better than its competitors.

On the left of the magazine it has the artists that are included in the magazine. On the right hand side of the magazine it has the stories and interviews that are included inside the magazine.

The main image is in black and white which has been put in black and white with the hue saturation tool to make the image more effective on the stage. The colourof the image compliments the text colour, the main headline is in gold and the image helps the main headline stand out on the page.

Publisher research -The music magazine XXL is published by Harris Publications. The magazine is released 6 times every year, which connotes that the magazine is a special magazine to readers as it is less frequent compared to its competitors vibe and the source as they release a new magazine every month. For my magazine I will use a similar release pattern as it is a very successful

Harris Publications is an American consumer-magazine publisher in New York. It publishes many magazines and genres, they include fitness magazines and financial magazines.

XXL magazine currently has around 210,000 copies in circulation, this is a low number compared to other magazines such as vibe as that currently has 800,000 magazines in circulation (statistics from Wikipedia).

Another USP of XXL, based on this secondary research, is that is does not include just one genre of music, it includes R&B and Hip-hop also Rap. Therefore the audience would find the hybridity of the magazine very appealing.

Magazine of inspiration – XXL • My magazine of inspiration will be an XXL magazine,

this is because it is a hip-hop themed magazine. Also XXL magazine is a good magazine to use because its magazines pages are fairly basic and will be fairly simple to ‘repeat’ some of the conventions from the magazine.

• The XXL magazine front cover is easy to read and appeals to its target audiences, an example of how it appeals to its demographic would be the images used on the front cover, the colour scheme used and the language that is also being used.

Target Audience –

The target audience for XXL magazine can be denoted as for young adults (16-25) who enjoy rap/Hip-Hop music. I believe this is clearly shown by the main image of artists on the front cover such as Drake this is because it ‘signifies’ the way the main artist presents itself. XXL magazine allows the reader to show empathy towards the celebrity of the double page spread within the issue, this is because they are reading an interview about them. Also a double page interview can help develop a close ‘personal relationship’ (Katz) with the Rapper.

What is the USP of this magazine?

From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP of XXL is that they focus on exclusives with international and well-respected artists on the front cover and in general throughout the magazine where they have interviews with that specific artist or band. An example of this would be Drake, a well respected Rapper known internationally, interviews and exclusives will be a very strong USP because he has a very large fan base. Readers and fans look up to this male rapper which means it can help engage them to read XXL magazine. Also the USP of a good and well known rapper helps the reader to develop a better sense of ‘Personal Identification’. The promotion of the media product would appeal to the reader because that way the audience can connect with their favorite artists and rappers.

Ideas for my Magazine name

Brainstorming Ideas

Hip-Hop Latest

Fresh Rappers

Drop Mag

Holla.

Trap Mag

Swag Mag.

The Drop

DTB (Drop The Beat)

Ideas for magazine -

• The magazine will include exclusive interviews. • The magazine will be called DTB. (Drop The Beat). • As my magazine of inspiration (XXL) has a list of rappers

on the front cover which I should consider.• The magazine colour scheme should only include a

maximum number of 3 different colours.• I should also include a form of promotion as it is my

first ever issue, an example would be a free mix tape of the of a rapper in the magazine before they were famous.

• My magazine should also follow the basic conventions of a hip-hop magazine such as including many well known rappers and exclusive interviews with them.

Audience Feedback -

The results collected The results collected tell me how I should create my magazine and what I should and should’t do.

Question one tells me that I should have a good main headline over a good main image, this is because 3 people who completed the survey said I should have a good main headline, however this question also told me to have a good main image as 3 people said that a main image is important to a magazine.

Question two tells me to include a puff promotion on magazine as it will help entice readers to buy my magazine. However 3 people who completed the survey said it depends on what promotions that are on offer.

Question three tells me that my magazine should have good use of colours to help it stand out to other magazines, however 3 people answered saying that the magazine should have a good front cover to help stand out to other magazines.

Question 4 tells me that I should target my magazine at teenagers, however 3 people responded saying that I should target my magazine at young adults (18-30 year olds). This shows that my magazine should appeal to teenagers as well as young adults, I can do this by using language stereotypically used by these age groups.

Question 5 asks people if the price of the magazine was high (£6) but the quality of the magazine was high also would they consider buying it, 7/8 people responded by saying ‘no’, this shows that I will not price my magazine at a high price point and keep the price fairly low.

Question 6 tells me that the images used can help appeal to both genders, this question also tells me that the language used can help appeal to both males and females along with the use of colours.

Question 7 tells me that the use of colours will make the first impression of the page, this means the colour scheme I use will have to be good as it will be the first impression of lots of people.