Liam Quinn's Log Book

OCR Media Studies – AS Level
Unit G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media
Preliminary Task, Log Book and Evaluation
Name: Liam Quinn
Candidate Number: 6476
Center Name: St. Paul’s Catholic College
Center Number: 64770
Set Brief - Print
Music Magazine – Production
Preliminary Task Progression, Log Book and
Evaluation

Preliminary Task Progression–
Evidence
Front Cover
Step-by-step

Step 1: I created my heading using the font Varsity Regular
that is found on dafont.com. I used the school logo to
show that my magazine is aimed directly at St Paul’s
Students. I also used the maroon and blue color at the top
of the page because that is the schools colors.
Step 2: I used this as my strapline because I wanted my magazine to seem
like it is a must read on a regular basis. It seems like a really powerful
strapline and contains alliteration – “Most Must” – to make it all the more
memorable.
Step 3: This is my website URL. I used this
because it seems simple for people to
remember. www.saints.co.uk
Step 4: This is a picture of Stanley Revell, who is the
main image of my front cover. I chose him because he
looked like a smart boy. He is shot through the
technical code of a medium close-up.
Step 5: Stanley Revell’s name had a stroke effect to
make it stand out. I also positioned it by his chest
because it was close to the center of the page and I
couldn't’t place it over his face.
Step 6: All magazines need a bar code, so I took one
off the internet to use for my magazine. I placed it at
the bottom right of the front cover.

Step 7: This is the sub-heading for my main
story of the magazine. It features Stanley and
it was placed below his name on his chest.
Step 8: Here on the left is a
picture of two of my cover lines
that I used. I used this because I
thought it had related to St
Paul’s and would be 2 good
topics to talk about.
It was placed on the left side of
my main image.
Step 9: Here is another secondary
story I had used. It talks about A-
Levels which relate to my target
audience (Sixth Form Students). Place
on the top side of the front covers
head.
Step 10: Here are 3
more secondary stories
that I had chosen to be
in my magazine. They
are all about the Sixth
Form and are
appropriate. They are
placed on the right side
of my main image.
Step 12: Here is a
screenshot of my
puff/promotion I used to
help persuade and make
people interested in my
magazine. It is a
competition where
someone could win a free
£30 gift voucher for WH
Smith and is placed above
my social networking sites.
Step 11: Here are my social
networking sites that my
buyers would need if they
wanted to contact me. It
also shows the price of my
magazine that is important
as they need to know how
much it costs
Here is the issue
number in which my
target audience would
want to know. They
would want to know
this so they know
they’re up to date. This
convention also
‘informs’ (Katz) them
when the magazine was
published and it is
located below the
School logo.

Preliminary Task Progression–
Evidence
Contents Page
Step-by-step

Step 5: Above are my categories I had to split
my stories. I used the same layout for both of
them by linking the St Paul’s badge with the
shape the duplicating the layers and adapting
the text to save time.
Step 10: Here are my sub
stories I was talking
about. They we
introduced on my front
cover and had to have a
brief explanation as to
what it’s about. It is
located on the right side
of my page.
Step 1: This is the heading of my contents page. I
wanted to keep it simple so I just called it
contents. It is located above my magazine
masthead at the top of the page.
Step 2: This is the St Paul’s badge
that I included in my contents page.
It is there to indicate that this will be
related to St Paul’s. Located at top
right of page.
Step 3: This is my issue date
which had to be included just to
remind my target audience
when the magazine is
published. Located under
contents heading.
Step 4: This is my magazine
name and was included on
my contents page because it
has to and to show the
reader that it is the Saints
mag. Located under contents
heading.
Step 6: Here is the layout of the bottom
of my contents page. It includes the
strapline from my front cover, along with
the website name and the page number.
Step 7: Picture of my promotion
strategy. The promotion is that
someone will find £30 pounds in
the magazine for WHSMITH.
Located under my editorial.
Step 8: Here is the proof
that I have completed my
editorial. I completed my
editorial after most of my
conventions because I
thought it would be the
easiest. It tells the reader
more about me and the
magazine edition. Located
on left side of page. This
was typed in word
first, then copied and
pasted into the text box
created using the ‘Pen
Tool’ (P) so it fit around
the editor photo.
Step 9: Links to my
magazine’s social
networking sites, I
put it under my
editorial so it can
be noticed much
easily.
Conventions you need to refer to for step
10: Subline, use of the pen tool, eye
dropper/swatches. Etc.

Step 11: Here are more
details I added below my
editorial so that if the readers
wanted to contact me to give
me feedback about the
magazine they will know how
to reach me. This is an
example of my intention to
build a ‘personal relationship’
(Katz) with my readers as
well.
Step 12: The jpeg of my signature
below my editorial is to show the
readers proof that I am in fact the
editor of the Saints magazine.

Established Magazine for my Research
Masthead
Front Cover Image
Puff/ Competition
Main Heading
Barcode/Date and
Issue –
Cover Lines
There are conventions
missing such as a
strapline.
This should be included
as it is a way for the
magazine to attract the
readers.
The inclusion of
Thumbnail images are
another convention
that has not been
included in this Q
magazine. It is not a
major part of a
magazine but could
make the magazine
stand out a bit more.
Web address

Target Audience –
The target audience for Q magazine can be denoted as a rock/indie magazine from looking at the
front cover, this is stereotypically personal identification (Katz). I would say Q magazine is aimed
at ages 16-30, mainly a male gender (Hartley’s seven subjective). Another denotation is that it is
normally aimed at social climbers as people are looking and trying to improve their lifestyle by
listening to songs that actually are meaningful (Maslow hierarchy of needs). In social economic
needs I would say that Q magazine’s class is from a range to A-C1. This is because they have a
huge reputation.
What is the USP of this magazine?
From the research completed into this media product, I think the USP for Q magazine is that they
don’t just sell one genre, this makes them stand out in front of all the other magazines as they
sell many genres such as rock/indie, hip hop. Their front cover is extremely impressive which
persuades people to buy it. If a magazine has some very vibrant colors on the front cover and it is
significantly laid out then they will get more readers.

Publisher research
Q magazine is very popular and has won many awards for best front cover of the year. Q’s editor is Paul
Rees and their publisher is Bauer Media Group and is published every month since October 1986.
Q magazine costs a total of £3.90, they don’t have a specific audience as it covers many different music
genres, from heavy metal to rock, even hip hop. Bauer Media operates in 15 countries across the world
and was founded in 1875. Q is UK’s number one actively purchased music magazine, there are mainly
about quality and character. 97% of their readers rate the magazine to be quality, their audience are
mostly young and affluent. They have a varied age group for their magazine as they are not specifically
one genre of music. Majority of their audience are aged 15-24 with a percentage of 35.5%. 68.3% of
their audience are males. The ABC1 profile is a chart, it means that 70% of that profile are Q readers.
Sources:
http://magazines.bauermediaadvertising.co
m/magazines/detail/Q
http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/brands/q

Music Magazine – Genre research –
Hip Hop
• The chosen sub-genre I have chosen for my magazine is
hip-hop. This is because it is widely targeted at ages 16-
25.
• Stereotypically rap magazines are mainly bought and
listened to by a male gender. This is because most rap
songs have violence and abusive words in them, as well
as misogynistic themes that female listeners might be
offended by. People have come to know that males are
the violent gender of the two and will most likely be
the ones to listen to hip hop, whereas the women
gender would most likely prefer Pop music.

Music Magazine – Genre research –
Hip Hop
There are many hip-hop genre based magazines and I will be mainly
looking at XXL and briefly on Vibe. This is because XXL has a really good
reputation as a magazine as they release exclusive information on the
top artists. Vibe is another magazine with great reputation, it is slightly
less popular than XXL but is still up there. Rap as made and is targeted
for ages 16 to mid 20s and the generation will still be growing up. XXL
magazine is successful as they release around 11 issues per year which
is keeping in touch with the audience. Vibe has a quarterly frequency
which means it is published every other month which is roughly
around 6 issues a year. It is a lot less when compared with XXL who are
much bigger and successful music magazine business.
Sources - http://10williamsm.weebly.com/xxl-magazine-facts.html
http://www.newsstand.co.uk/555-Urban-Music-Magazines/5313-
Subscribe-to-VIBE-Magazine-Subscription.aspx

Conventions of a Music Magazine – Front
Cover
Masthead – This is effective as it tells the readers who this magazine was
produced by, the font is huge and bold in front of a red background. The use
of the colour red connotes danger which is what most people stereotype
rappers to be these days.
Main Headline – The main story anchors the non-verbal code of the
main image and is carefully positioned towards the bottom of the page. The
verbal code “Living the Good Life” connotes that rappers in the industry are
living the fast life, earning tons of money from their rap albums. Most
rappers are also stereotyped to be extreme when they get hold of
money, they usually get dragged into illegal stuff.
Cover Lines – The low opacity “name dropping” of other ‘star’ figures
in the rap genre is effective because it is giving the insight of what artists
to expect inside the magazine. If they have big and bold names in the
background it would attract fans from those artists. I would repeat this
convention as it makes the magazine look unique from other magazines
as the background really stands out
Main Image – This is positioned in the middle of the page
and takes up the majority of the page, including slightly
overlapping the masthead. This picture is unique and
effective because of the use of the props across the side of
his face. There could be some effects already applied to the
image such as a small drop shadow to the side of his face.
Barcode – Lets the audience know how much the magazine
costs and has been rotated to fit along side the magazine so it
doesn’t interfere with the image too much.
Strapline – There is a strapline used on the top left side of the
magazine, the strapline is used to connote how good the
magazine is by saying “Hip-hop on A higher level”.

Conventions of a Music Magazine –
Contents Page
Headline – The headline of the contents page
is “the A-side” which is effective as it connotes
as if the rap industry is on top of all other
genres. Being called the A team is usually
related to being the best team. Here it is calling
rap the A-side being the best genre. It is in a
huge bold black font which stands out at the
top of the page.
Issue – Date of issue release in front over
attractive black box below the headline. This is
great for the contents page is it is reminding the
audience when this issue was released, for this
magazine it is November 2010.
Cover Lines – The cover lines on the side of
the picture is well structures and for each cover
line there is a bold title to connotes what it is
roughly going to be about. There is also a pen
tool being used to position these cover lines to
the side of the picture, this is so it doesn’t
overlap the main image.
Cover Image – This cover image is really
effective for this genre of the magazine, it is
an image with a caption in the middle of it.
They look gangster which connotes how
most rappers are seen to be like with their
“gangs”. Both characters have an
intimidating look to them as they look
towards the camera.
Page numbers – The page numbers are
found at the bottom of the page and next
to the cover lines. It is good that the cover
lines have page numbers listed next to
them to present where to find them. It is
important that the page numbers are in
order so it is easier to find what page.
Website address– The website of the
XXL is located at the bottom of the page in
a black box. It is located to the right of the
page number where it could be seen easily.

Conventions of a Music Magazine – Double
Page
Masthead – This is effective as it tells the readers who this magazine was
produced by, the font is huge and bold in front of a red background. The use
of the colour red connotes danger which is what most people stereotype
rappers to be these days.
Page Numbers –
They are important so that the
readers know what page they are
on, contents page will normally
show what is on each page so the
reader knows what to expect.
Main Image –
This is effective as it is normally always a picture of the artist that is
being interviewed. Effective pictures can give off a sense of
intimidation which is good as rappers are stereotypically meant to be
“hard”. The colour red connotes danger and evil, this then could
mean that possibly the rapper can be dangerous in certain situations.
Maybe a danger to the rap industry and other rappers.
Quotes – Quotes are used
in magazines to present
and inform the reader of
what the rapper had said
in the interview. Normally
they are inspirational
quotes for the reader, this
one is also inspirational as
it connotes the fact that
anything can be achieved if
you work at it.
Differentiation – This is because in the interview there are different
colours used to present who is talking. For the interview he is
presented in white writing when asking questions, whereas the
rapper who is P4trick is presented in blue. This connotes the
importance of the colours when in a interview as it is a must that
the reader understands who is talking.

Target Audience –
The target readership for XXL magazine can be denoted to be targeted at a age group of 16-25
(Hartley), this is because its genre is hip hop. ‘Personal identification’ (Katz) is evident on the front cover
deconstructed becuas emany of the readers may be able to identify with some of the issues Big Sean
will discuss in the interview – both personal and professional. The rap music genre is culturally very
significant and some people around the world want to be like their favorite rap artist so they dress
similar to them and follow the trends they are setting (Social Climbers – Maslow).
In terms of socio-economic needs, XXL’s target audience would be stereotypically put into the ‘D’
categroy. The ‘D’ section stands for semi-skilled to unskilled workers. This is because rap has a lot of
abusive/violent words involved within the songs, because of this people will think that only unskilled
people would be using language such as this and listening to music about hardship, poverty and other
tough social issues.
What is the USP of this magazine?
Having completed other research into this media product, I think the USP is that they focus a lot
on the amount of rappers they have to show. To have a lot of rappers to talk about in their
magazine engages a huge target audience, this is because there are many fans of different
rappers. Also the main story could fit well with the USP of this magazine, this is because the main
headline is usually presented in the middle of the page and occasionally uses the verbal code
“EXCLUSIVE” to grab the customers attention, in particular a pass along audience, because they
will get curious as to what the main story will be about.

Publisher research
• XXL Magazine is an American hip-hop magazine published by Harris Publications
which was founded in 1997. It is an bi-monthly magazine which means that it is
published every 2 months. XXL is a music magazine that is read mainly by males
than females. This is because the genre is hip-hop and is very explicit in different
ways. It is majority based at young adults because the genre appeals to them the
most. There are 11 issues per year, the readership of XXL magazine consists of;
78% male, a median age of 27, with roughly 5.3million views on their page
www.xxlmag.com and a circulation of 205,000-210,000. You can also subscribe to
XXL magazine, you can have all magazines in a year for $24 or you can pay for 2
year subscription which is $36
Source - http://10williamsm.weebly.com/xxl-magazine-facts.html

Audience Feedback -
This is question 1 of my survey, the
question was about what people
thought was the most important
feature on my front page. It came out
that 54.55% of the people who
answered said that A powerful Image
would be the most important.
Because of this percentage I will try
my hardest to capture a powerful
image for my front cover.

For question 2 I asked what would
stop people from buying a magazine.
I got 22 replies back and 14 of those
replies voted for price. 63.64% of the
audience targeted for price to be a
problem with magazines. Because of
this I will try to keep the price of
magazine low and affordable for my
targeted audience.

Question 3 was me asking what
genre they all preferred. I got 22
replies back after sending the survey
to a wide range of different people.
The results were pretty close but it
came back that most people liked
Pop music, 8 people responded for
Pop which is 36.36%. But personally I
don’t like pop music as much so I
chose to use the second most like
genre which was Hip-Hop.

This is my question 4 of the survey I
had uploaded, the question was
entirely about me asking what my
age group should be. This was a good
question cause it really determined
what kind of language I was going to
use in the magazine. The percentage
was high for the age group which was
chosen, the age group was 15-19
with 77.27%. Because of this I have
decided that my age group will be old
teenagers to young adults and will
use the language suitable for them.

Question 5 is about what my USP for
my magazine should be, because of
this question I have decided to use
promotion as my USP. Promotion had
40.91% of the responses and I will
now have to think of good
promotions to attract customers to
buy my magazine.

For question 6 I asked what should
include in the double page
spread, 72.73% of people chose
interview which connotes the
importance of a interview in a double
page. I needed to write up an
interview anyway for my double page
and had decided pre-hand that I was
going to do it. This question was fully
dedicated for me to get more ideas
to put onto my double page, history
of artist would be included into my
interview.

Ideas for my Music Magazine
Brainstormed
names for my
Magazine
Gash
Smash Up Hits
Bash Up
Swag Up
New Sounds
Swag
Rap AttackReplay
Old Skool
Chiddy Bang
Bang Pure

Ideas for Magazine
• My magazine will contain an interview of a up rising
rapper. I will be placing many different pictures of
artists posing on my front cover around the side for
cover stories.
• I have chosen my magazine name to be “Pure”. I have
to buy a magazine of inspiration for this.
• I will only use a maximum of 3 colours for my magazine
as it keeps the magazine professional and simple.
• I should have a promotion to persuade people to buy
my magazine. Maybe they get a chance to win tickets
to see a rapper live.

Liam Quinn's Log Book

More Related Content

What's hot

Similar to Liam Quinn's Log Book

More from Liam Quinn

Recently uploaded

Liam Quinn's Log Book

Editor's Notes