1. Rachel Bownes Candidate
Number: 0141Centre: 33435
Aquinas CollegeAS Media
StudiesOCR G321:
Foundation Portfolio

2. Evaluation

3. 1.What would be the audience for your
Media product?
INDIE
People who
love Indie
Fashion
I
Influences
Gender
People who
love
People who
love Films
People who like
Band
People who
go to gigs

4. What would be the main audience for your
Media product?
My magazine would be aimed at
teens and young adults with an
interest in certain elements of the
Indie genre for example bands
relevant to the particular genre. Artic
Monkeys, Two door cinema, Miles
Kane and the strokes as well as many
others. There will be no fixed genre
so there will be a range of articles
posters. My cover feature band The
Criminals will appeal to people of my
chosen genre the more laid back
indie style

5. What would be the main audience for
your Media product?
The main audience for my magazine would also be fans of such
magazines as NME and enjoy the bands that they include. I would take
influences from NME magazine as well as more mainstream fashion
magazines for ideas on a different perspective when including things to
do with fashion, I would also look at the latest celebrities popular in the
genre who have good eye for the fashion and the lifestyle, celebrities
such as Sky Ferara. I would include things to do with fashion to give a
fresh perspective on the genre and what goes on in the genre. I would
want both genders to read my magazine so I would cover all elements
relating to specific interests of each gender.

6. 2.How does your media product
represent particular social groups?
Ideal Reader My magazines links
to the ideals of a typical indie
reader, with a laid back style I
am able to appeal to the
younger demographic. The way I
use key indie themes throughout
will ensure that my magazine is
relatable
My cover stars the band The
Criminals are placed in the centre of
the page with direct address, the laid
back pose of the band with them
leaning on each other illustrates the
ideals of the indie genre and how the
band embodies that.

7. How does your media product represent
particular social groups?In order to appeal to my particular audience I
had to make the band something that the
reader would want to aspire to. The stars
would show traits that the reader would be
able to relate to and feel like they could be
what the band are. As well as being distinct in
the indie genre the cover stars must show that
they are accessible for a mainstream audience
also in order to appeal to as many consumers
as possible.
My Magazine followed the
convention typical of the Indie
genre. My magazine appeals to
teens and young adults who have
an interest In things specific to the
genre bands, films and clothes.
Therefor in my magazine I
included articles and features with
existing bands like Two Door
Cinema Club and Jake Bugg.
Fever Magazine will
be the latest outlet
for indie teens and
young adults so it will
need to be
appropriate for the
age group and gender
specifics I will include
things for both
gender for example
bands that can be
enjoyed by both male
and female readers.

8. How does your media product represent
particular social groups?
Secondary Cover story for
readers interested in the
solo artist Jake Bugg ‘How
he feels the industry has
changed’ this giving an
insight into Jake Bugg and
his opinions for readers
and fans of the singer.
The Jack White cover story offers
another fan group a chance to
gain a new perspective on this
particular band.
The Kings of Leon cover story
offers fans of the band a
chance to get their take on
there time away from music.

9. 3. Looking back at your preliminary task what
do you feel you have learnt in the progression
to the full product? The transition from my
Aquinas magazine to my
indie music magazine is a
big transition, I have
drafted and redrafted my
front cover for my music
magazine to ensure that I
met the right criteria for
my specific genre. My
final draft included a
change of colour and
styling shown here
For my improved version I
chose to get rid of the banner
at the top of the screen and
have my picture set on plain
whit background, I also
changed my colour scheme to
Red, White Yellow and Black, I
think my chosen colours are
much more edgy and
appropriate for my magazine.
The colours now stand out
and catch the readers eye. I
also chose to change the text
of my Strapline the new and
improved text is genre
appropriate and links in with
the themes and ideas of my
magazine.

10. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?
For My Aquinas College I used:
Digital Camera
Publisher
Altering and manipulating photographs

11. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?
Bold Masthead
Bold Cover lines to
entice reader
Free gift inside- reader
is encouraged to look
in the magazine to get
more details.
A chance to win in
Competition inside aswell
as the free gift will appeal
to the reader the most.
Direct gaze shows the magazine
is addressing the audience
because it would be all things
relatable to an Aquinas student.
Overlapping of the text
onto the picture to show
anchorage.

12. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product? The use of Black for the
promo links to the
competition inside also
with the red Writing the
idea of the chance of
winning in the red or black
challenge. This helps show
anchorage from the cover
to what's inside the
magazine.
The Pull quote used as the
Cover line on the front cover is
showing the kind of magazine
people will be reading an
upbeat and this will make
people want to read more.
The Picture shows
Emma looking
straight into the face
of the reader
showing confidence
and ease. Also the
direct gaze of Emma
is addressing the
reader and making
them want to hear
her story.

13. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?
In order to decide which picture I was
going to use for my front cover I took
four images and two centred and 3 off
at an angle I found that the image of in
the centre of the page was much more
appropriate for my Aquinas magazine.
I found that this image was much
more direct and would be able to
readers.

14. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?

15. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?
For My Aquinas College I used:
Digital Camera
Publisher
Altering and manipulating
photographs

16. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?
Main feature image
Emma posing with her
hand on hip facing
sideways this is
portraying Emma to
be girly and relaxed.
Contents highlight
where we are at in the
magazine. And date
showing a weekly
publication
Headings to show
the differences in
the weeks topics and
what is regularly in
the Aquinas
magazine and what
is weekly included.
Editor’s letter
letting you
know what
new things
are included
weekly.
Pages Number to
show where
everything is in
the magazine.

17. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?
For My Music Magazine I used:
Digital Camera
Publisher
Adobe Photoshop
Altering and manipulating photographs
Daftfont.com
•

18. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?
For my Strapline I
used the website
daftfont.com this
allowed me to
choose from a
different range of
interesting fonts
and pick the
most appropriate
style for my
magazine.
The bold red stands out and helps
to show what is the most important
part of the front cover and goes
alongside the main image to
highlight this weeks cover stars and
their role in that weeks issue. When
readers and fans of the band see
the name The Criminals they will
immediately want to read about
their comeback and how to get
tickets to their comeback concert.

19. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product? To begin the course my analysis
of the NME front cover helped
me to identify all the
conventions of a magazine front
cover so that I had the
understanding for when I made
my front covers for both the
Aquinas Magazine and my
Music magazine.
The transition between my to
attempts at the front cover for
my music magazine I feel is big
my second attempt is more
professional and looks much
more like an appropriate choice
for a magazine to represent the
genre than the first.

20. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?
Colour
scheme –
red yellow
black and
white
Strapline
Barcode
Cover line
Promo
Main
Image –
direct gaze
Masthead
Quote
Date and
issue
Number
Banner

21. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?
My DPS for my Music Magazine consists of my main image of my two cover stars the band The Criminals.
The analysis of the my chosen Double page spreads featuring the lead singer of the pretty wreck less Taylor
Momsen is showing how the layout, style and colour scheme all link to the personality of the star. The
Headline ‘Wild Child’ links to the public image of the cover star Taylor Momsen her rocky style and her Wild
image. The colour scheme of Black, red and white links well to this also as the red connotes danger and the
black connotes darkness and fear. The stand first gives a deeper insight into the personality of Taylor
Momsen something which the readers will use to work out weather they want to read the article or not.

22. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?
Grey Box Stand first
Pull Quote
Page
Number
Main Image
Headline
Dropped Cap

23. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?
Overall I think I have progressed well throughout
the two projects and I have allowed for my work
to progress. I have done this buy learning new
skills for example using the DSLR Camera and
using photo shop. For instance also using Photo
shop to edit pictures using the magic eraser tool.

24. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?

25. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?
• The previous slide showed all my production pieces 1st 2nd and 3rd
draft the progression for each has changed for example

26. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?
• The pictures in the previous slide show my Front cover, double page spread and
contents page alongside my Aquinas magazine contents page and front cover This
shows the gradual progression of my work. The fonts I used for my Aquinas
magazine were basic fonts from the font list on word.
I used Calibri in Italic for my Aquinas magazine and Birth of a Hero for my music
magazine The colour red I used fits in well with my Indie theme.

27. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?
• Other Indie magazines such as NME and Q use the colour red for their
mastheads and I chose to do the same as it showed a key branding
identity between my magazine and More established brands.
I also used White and Yellow
coloured fonts for the secondary
cover stories on black backgrounds
this made them standout to the
reader.

28. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?

29. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product?
• The progression from my Aquinas magazine and my music magazine
has changed a lot for example:
I used more cover
stories on my music
magazine than I did
on my Aquinas
magazine.
Also I chose to crop out my
picture and put borders
around my stories so they
were easier to read against
the background.

30. Looking back at your preliminary task what do
you feel you have learnt in the progression to
the full product? For my contents page
I included a lot more
content. I included a
band index within my
music magazine and
a subscription as an
extra. My Aquinas
has much less in
regards to articles
and interviews
whereas my Music
magazine is article
based.
My Music magazine content
is straight and inline
therefor making it more
professional looking.

31. 4. In what way Does your media product use,
develop or the challenge the conventions of
real media products?

32. In what way Does your media product use,
develop or the challenge the conventions of
real media products?
The three examples on the previous slide offer typical examples of an indie magazine both
stylistically and with content. The three chosen magazines NME, Q and Indie are very different in a
lot of ways and I feel that my magazine Fever is most like NME magazine. I think that my magazine
and NME magazine show similarities in layout, colour scheme and in their themes. For example the
cover stars on NME Arctic Monkeys are shown to be very cool and laid back meaning the image
reflects accurately the personality and the style of the band and its music, which is what my
magazine is also trying to do. The cover stars on all three of my example magazine covers. Have a
common style they are all shown to be laid back and relaxed, I recreated this with my magazine
cover. My cover stars are

33. In what way Does your media product use,
develop or the challenge the conventions of
real media products?
The NME cover on the left sows
The Arctic monkeys at the
beginning of their music career.
The strapline ‘From the rubble
to the Ritz shows how the band
have found fame an stardom
because of their music.
The NME cover on the right
shows how the band has
changed after a break in music.
The new look highlights the
change the ban as gone through
and that the band are back with
a new sound and a new look.

34. In what way Does your media product use,
develop or the challenge the conventions of
real media products?
1st Draft

35. In what way Does your media product use,
develop or the challenge the conventions of
real media products?
2ND Draft

36. In what way Does your media product use,
develop or the challenge the conventions of
real media products?
My magazine uses a unique font to catch the eye
of the reader the magazine’s masthead ‘Fever’ I
used font style Birth of a hero which
complimented my genre well. The red colour I
chose is bold and will stand out to readers and
fans of Indie. Like Magazines NME and Q I used
the colour scheme of Red, Black and White. Using
a plane background all the key conventions
standout for example the Pull quote fro the Article
inside ‘We’re Back', the ‘Promo’ and the
‘Secondary cover stories.’

37. In what way Does your media product use,
develop or the challenge the conventions of
real media products?
Main Image
The Main Image shows to the reader that
it will be the main story in the magazine
that week and the biggest image entices
the reader to go straight for that
particular article.
Like NME Magazine I included a
band index in my contents page
this show all the other bands that
have been included in that
particular issue.
The Masthead
is included
again in the top
left corner of
the page
included on
every page it is
a crucial part of
the magazine.
The headings
included in the
contents ‘NEWS’
‘ARTIST’ and
‘COVER’ all make
it easy to find
what you are
most interested
in reading.

38. In what way Does your media product use,
develop or the challenge the conventions of
real media products?
The date is, like in other
well known music
magazines included as a
key convention.
I also included a chance to
subscribe to my magazine so that
readers can get monthly additions
of Fever magazine. form of
Branding my magazine.
I chose to put the page
numbers in a red so that it
would stand out to the
reader so they can choose
easily what they want to
read.
The editors letter is also a key
feature in a magazine
contents page and I chose to
put it in the centre of my page
under the image of m two
cover stars.

39. In what way Does your media product use,
develope or the challenge the conventions of
real media products?
The Stand first gives
information to the reader
about what is to come in
the article this has given
an insight into the bands
history talking about the
break up and the
reformation of half of the
band.
The pull quote from
the interview is used
to break up the article
‘We talk about the
good times its like
therapy.’ This quote is
used to catch the
readers eye and make
them want to read
on.
The page numbers
are use as
anchorage and link
to the contents
page. Also The use
of the magazine
name is a branding
across the magazine
I included the
grey box as a
one of the key
conventions.
Instead of using a quote for
headline of my article I chose
to use the name of the band
to allow for a link to the front
cover and the contents page.

40. 5.How did you attract/ address your
audience?
ATTRACT
◌ Direct gaze / Eye contact with the audience
◌ Straight faced a relaxed but serious look on their faces
◌ Unique selling point – the weekly stars the Criminals
◌ Birth of a hero font used throughout giving the magazine an individual identification
◌ Magazine name FEVER the biggest font on the page to show what is the most important thing on the page

41. How did you attract/ address your
audience?
I used bold colours red, black and white to ensure that my magazine
was eye catching also I used colours appropriate to my chosen genre.
The blocked colours give off a certain theme to my magazine from the
connotations of colour the red symbolising the boldness of my
magazine enticing people who embody those qualities.
From my main image my cover stars give of a laid back relaxed vibe
which shows how my magazine would be different each week with
each different cover star. However the cover stars are portraying this
image to show people what their music is like and Fever magazine is
promoting that image.

42. How did you attract/ address your
audience?
• I used the font Birth of a Hero this as my main font throughout. I felt
that this particular font embodied the style I wanted for my magazine
edgy but not to over the top I want it to be simple and easy for the
reader to associate with my chosen genre.
I also chose the name fever because
I thought this would again be edgy
and something different for the
reader and would help to make my
magazine stand out.

43. How did you attract/ address your
audience?
• I used colloquial language that the reader would understand. This
then made the magazine much more relatable for its target audience
and much more interesting to the reader, so that they wouldn’t get
bored reading it and go and look for something else. The language
used also is a lot more in keeping with the tone of the magazine this
way, it doesn’t sound like it isn’t well suited. It suits the genre the
style and each weekly story.
The Secondary cover
stories are all
relevant to my
specific Indie
audience.

44. How did you attract/ address your
audience?
Would you buy this magazine?
YES NO
After completing a survey I
collected my information and
learnt that overall as a result of
content and style more people
would choose to purchase and
read my magazine. This meant
that my magazine brand could
branch out into other fields and
become even more popular.

45. 6. What kind of institution Might distribute
your product?
I feel that my magazine would benefit for being a weekly publication. I
think that by using this avenue to get magazine out to the masses I
would create a larger fan base than something which is Monthly I feel
that more people would here about my magazine because more people
would be reading it and would be able to spread the word.

46. What kind of institution Might distribute
your product?
For the distribution of my magazine
I would use a sister company I
would start of with something like
mix mag then with a little more time
and recognition would want to
branch out to something more
relevant to the theme like NME.

47. What kind of institution Might distribute your
product?
. I would price my magazine at around £2.50 with an ideal of gaining I
large fan base straight away. Therefore keeping it cheap will ensure
this.
I would also put
advertising in the
magazine for things
like concerts new
film releases and
upcoming summer
festivals.

48. What kind of institution Might distribute
your product?
• I researched Different Indie Magazines such as NME to get inspiration
for my publication. IPC MEDIA is a leading
production company
with more than 60
media products, online
on mobile and printed
magazines.
It is also the publisher of
NME magazine. My
magazine being on the
same media distribution
platform as NME would
allow for it to become a
well known brand
around the world like
NME.

49. What kind of institution Might distribute
your product?
• The Magazine’s statement is Everything Indie right here. This is
showing that with my magazine is key in the Indie genre and that
everything you need to know is in this magazine. The fact that it
states all you need to know is in this magazine shows how it can
attract readers and build up a fan base.

50. What kind of institution Might distribute
your product?
I would sell Merchandise
with Magazine logos on
them. Things like wrist
bands headphones and
T- shirts . Also I would
create an app for tablets
and iPhones that will take
you straight to the
website. This would help
to inform people who
may not already know
about fever magazine.

51. What kind of institution Might distribute
your product?
Merchandise

52. What kind of institution Might distribute
your product?
•APPS

53. 7. What have you learnt about Technologies
from the process of constructing this product?
• Photoshop:

54. What have you learnt about Technologies
from the process of constructing this product?
This was my finished version of
my main cover image. I cut out
the background using the magic
eraser tool. This allowed me to
have a white background on my
magazine frontcover. I then
overlapped the image with the
masthead.
I overlapped my cover
stars and my
Masthead to show
that they are the
most important part
of that particular
issue.

55. What have you learnt about Technologies
from the process of constructing this product?

56. What have you learnt about Technologies
from the process of constructing this product?
• I used a DSLR Camera to get my images for my magazine. I tried
multiple different shots for my pictures before I settled on my chosen
images.
Image 1 I thought
was more
appropriate for a
secondary image on
my DPS because it
illustrates a more
fun side of my cover
stars ,a photo which
illustrates them
more out side off
being a band.
This image is
very similar to
the one I chose
but the
positioning is
different. In this
one Emma is on
the left instead
of the right and
much closer to
him.