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

2. My name is:…Raissa Ishagi…………………
Candidate No:…2202………………..

3. Preliminary Project – Research & Planning
• How did you think about target audience?
• I thought about my target audience by looking at the students that attend the college and researching into what other
school magazines were addressing. I thought about who were more likely to read the magazine and the location of it was
the most important aspect to consider. The students at the college are ages 16-19 so I had to consider what they would
want. Although some teachers and parents would read the magazine I had to focus on the main audience which was the
students.
• How did awareness of that audience impact upon your visual
design and choice of language?
• As the audience is teenagers aged 16-19 I had to use quite informal language as really formal language wouldn’t appeal to
them as much. As the audience was not one specific gender I had to use colours that appealed to both genders. I used a lot
of blue which is usually associated with males but I used a female student on the front cover and highlighted some words in
white and yellow to appeal to females as well.
• What key points did you learn about Adobe Photoshop and
InDesign in constructing your artefacts?
• I learned that using Photoshop you can really manipulate images to fit what you want it to be and to give off certain
impression. I also learned that on inDesign there are different tools you can use to help create your product that will help
you to create a good lay out and help you move the features of your magazine around.

4. Preliminary Project
• College Cover • College Contents

5. Reflections & Feedback
• What would you do differently next time?
• I would work more and put more effort into the actual layout and design of the front cover and contents page. I would do
more research into designs and use Photoshop and InDesign to improve the overall design. I would also do more research
to help me decide what to put on the actual front cover.
• What kind of feedback did you get that might influence you?
Feedback such as to make magazine look more like an actual magazine and less like a poster would definitely influence me as I
would focus more on the layout. I have to take note of what attracts the audience and make sure that these features are
present.
• What aspects of your understanding of Adobe Photoshop &
InDesign do you need to improve?
• I need to improve my understanding of how to blend and manipulate pictures properly as the images used in my cover and
contents page didn’t require me to do this much. I also need to practice using the different tools more so that I can gain a
full understanding of what each of them does. I also need to look at more tutorials of the programs to make sure I know
exactly what everything does and what features of my magazine each tool will help me with.

6. The music genre of my music magazine is:
• Genre : POP
• and my chosen title is “Pop Off” because the nature of the genre is
generally quite loud. This is reflected in the name as ‘Pop Off” stands for
the way pop culture is. It will appeal to my target audience as it will excite
them. I also thought it would work because it has the name of genre
included in the name which could easily attract the audience.

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 Line
• The magazine’s I looked at had a similarity • The cover lines that were used in the
in that they didn’t use too many colours. magazines were all to do with the artists
There was usually one colour scheme used in that genre of music and what was
and this is something that I carried into happening around that industry. The
my magazine. The magazines also had one magazines contained other artists names
main artist on the front, using a head shot that were mentioned and had interviews
of them as the main image which is also inside the magazine. They had lines on
what I did. They had the name of the new artists, awards and also what is new
magazine quite big and bright and the on the artists. Many also had slight
name of the main artist also big and bright mentions to the artists personal lives and
and this was a consistent feature in the material.
magazines and I also incorporated this
into my front cover.

9. For my music magazine….
• Target Audience: Teenagers (age 13-18), mainly female, who
listen to popular music/music on the charts. These teens usually are
familiar with the popular artists and celebrities and are interested in the
artists music and lives.
• Frequency: Every month.
• Cover price: 3.50
• Publisher: Bauer
• Unique Selling Point: Exclusive print out of the
singles and albums charts

10. This is the face of the magazine
• Front cover
• This is how it works
• On my front cover I have a main artist,
and the left third regarding him. I used
the Around this I have cover lines on
different pop artists and what is
happening in the industry to appeal to . I
used bright colours through out to appeal
to my target audience. The information on
the front shows that there is a lot of
information inside that the readers want. I
also made sure to note that there was
exclusive content inside. I almost tried to
make sure that everything was in a good
position and it had information such as
price and barcode.

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
• To edit this picture I used photo shop to feather it and change the background of the picture to
white. I did this so that the background of the original picture wouldn’t clash with the
background of my magazine. By making it white it matched the colour of my contents page.

13. And the second one:
• Raw 2 • Final 2
• I decided not to edit this picture as I felt like it was very natural and I didn’t want it to look too
modified. I like the way the light hits the microphone and I felt it added a nice effect to it and
so I didn’t want to lose that by editing it.

14. And the third one:
• Raw 3 • Final 3
• I changed the focus on the picture and made it a bit softer to fit the rest of the pictures on my
contents page. I also took away the border and cropped the picture to make it more centered. I
did this to change the way it looked on the contents page.

15. And the last one:
• Raw 4 • Final 4
• I didn’t edit this picture as I again felt like it would take away from the natural elements in the
photo such as they way the light hits the edge of the stage. I didn’t feel it needed to be edited
as it was raw and goes along with the contents page title that goes with it.

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 tall image of the main artist that is featured
on the front cover. He is the main person on the
contents page as well which shows how the
contents page relates to and follows on from
the front cover.
• The cover lines are split into four categories,
features, news, interviews and regulars. This
helps the reader to easily spot what they want
to read.
• The

18. How does the contents page link back to
the cover page?
• My contents page links back to my cover page because it carries the same
cover lines that were on the cover. The main artist on the cover page is
also the main picture on the contents page and the main story regarding
him can easily be found on the contents page as it has a heading saying
COVER STORY in red. On the cover page there is a list of artists and the
lines on the contents page refer to those artists and give future artists.

19. Key points of contents page
• How have you made the reader want to read on? The lines on the
contents page only give a taster to what is on the article and don’t give too much away therefore it makes
the reader want to turn to the pages to find out the full story. Some articles also have headings such as
‘New talent’ which makes it seem new and exclusive which would make the reader want to find out about
it.
• What are the links between images and words? The images used connect with lines
underneath them. Such as the picture of the stage connects to an article called ‘behind the stage’ which is a feature of the
magazine that would appear in other issues. Also the article on studio tips from successful artists is accompanied by a
picture of a standard studio microphone which would attract readers who use studios.
• What determines the dominant stories?
• The dominant stories are determined by what was on the cover page, for example the main story on the
contents page was the main story from the cover page. You can tell this by the heading and the change in
colour. Also from the use of bold text.
• How have you gone about ordering the information on the page?
• I used headings to section the articles on my contents page. The articles are sectioned under
features, news, interviews & regulars. This was to make it easier for the reader to find
whichever article they want to read & for them to find the things that come in to every issue.

20. How does the contents page flag up your
double page spread?
The contents page flags up the double page spread as the largest photo on the page is of the
main artist which is on the double page spread. The cover line that refers to the double page
spread gives a brief insight into what the article on the double page spread is going to talk
about. It links directly and does not give any misconceptions of what is on the double page
therefore the reader is more likely to keep reading when they start as it will be exactly what
they expected from the cover line on the contents page. The cover line also links directly to the
introduction at the beginning of the double page spread.

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

22. This is why I think that double spread
works
• I think this double page spread works because it gives the reader a clear picture of the main artist so they
immediately know who it is. I also think the title is quite large which would also attract the reader.
• Another feature of the page that works is the brief introduction to the artist and to the interview. This
attracts the audience and gives them an insight into what is on the rest of the page.
• I think the use a larger quote also makes the page work because this is another feature that would attract
the audience and this is probably going to be the first bit of the interview that they read so by having that
small quote to attract them, it sets them up for the rest of the contents on the page.
• I also think the layout of the text works because the colour is black and against the white background it is
very easy to read. I also think it works because it is in a clear font and you can easily distinguish the
questions from the answers and this is very important because if a text is not easy to read then the
audience are likely to not actually read it.
• The fact that there isn’t too much going on in the pages also make it work because it’s clear where
everything is and what everything is so the reader doesn’t get confused and doesn’t find themselves not
knowing where to look. This is very important for having a successful product.
• I also think that the questions asked are ones that fans of this artist and readers would like to know the
answer to and would find interest in.

23. This is my double-page spread

24. This is how my double page spread works
• I think my double page spread works because its clear to the reader that it is the same
artist that has been the main feature of the front cover and contents page. This means the
reader is likely to read the page as it is something that’s been almost advertised in the
beginning sections of the magazine.
• The pictures on the page are only of the main artist and the page has the artists name at
the top which again clarifies the reader on what the article is about.
• Before the interview begins there is a very brief introduction to the artist, his background,
and some topics that are discussed in the interview which can attract the reader to read
the rest of the page and also to inform them.
• The interview layout is very systematic and in a quite chronological order which makes it
easy to read.
• The interview focuses directly on the questions the audience would like to know the
answers to which means it is likely to keep the readers attention throughout.
• After the interview there is a section on the main artists tour dates and information on
how to get updates from them which is convention of magazine articles. This will also be
of use to the reader which is why it works well.

25. This is how all three components are
linked together….
My front cover, contents page and double page spread have various features that link them
together. The main feature is the presence of the main artist. The photos of the artist are the main
feature on all of the pages as he appears consistently and clearly among all the pages. There is
direct links between the front cover and the contents page that lead to the double page spread.
The description of the interview on the front cover is similar to the one on the contents page and
that also continues into the introduction on the double page spread and the interview itself on the
page.

26. This is my re-drafted cover page
• Cover Page • Key modifications from
feedback
• After receiving feedback there is various things I
changed about my cover page. The main thing I
changed was the colour scheme. My first cover
page was very pink and this would only appeal
to half of my target audience. To make it more
appealing I changed the colours to black, white,
red and yellow as these are quite neutral
colours that appeal to both genders.
• I also changed the font of the main artists name
to make it stand out more as previously it
blended in with the rest of the page quite easily.
• I also added design features such as the double
lines between cover lines to make the cover
more professional.
• I also changed and cut out some cover lines to
make them appeal to my audience better and so
that they are more relevant to the genre.

27. This is my re-drafted contents page
• Cover Page • Key modifications from
feedback
• I changed the overall design of the contents
page as I didn’t feel the first one looked
professional enough. I added back colours
behind the headings of the different sections on
the page and I also added a “in every issue”
section so that regular readers would be able to
locate these.
I modified this one to make sure that all the
cover lines where in line with each other and
spread out equally. I also made sure the titles of
the cover lines were bold so that it was easy for
the reader to see and locate. I also changed the
font and size of the numbers to fit the page.
I also changed the image of the main artist to fit
the new layout better than the previous image
did.

28. This is my re-drafted double spread
• Double spread

29. Key modifications to double spread from
feedback
• To improve my double page spread I firstly added a relevant title as the first page I did didn’t
have this. Along with this I re-wrote the introduction before the interview to make it more
relevant. I also changed the font and position to make sure it fitted better with the overall
page. As well as this I added a larger quotation from the article which I found is a convention
of double page spread interviews in magazines after doing some research. This added to the
professionalism of the page.
• I cut down the interview by about one question to allow room for a box containing some tour
dates, website and information on how to get updates from the artist. This was another
convention of music magazines that I found and it is very important in terms of supplying the
reader with all the information they require.
• In making these changes I had to change the layout slightly to make sure everything fit. I also
changed some of the colour of text and font to make it easier for the reader to read. I also
made minor changes such as the position of the page numbers to make it again, more
professional.

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