The document describes a student's process of creating components for their own music magazine as part of a media studies coursework assignment. The student produced a front cover, contents page, and double page spread for a pop music magazine called Rhythmix using Adobe Photoshop. The student conducted research on existing pop magazines to understand conventions of design, content, and addressing the target audience. The components feature bright colors, colloquial language, and images of smiling young female models to appeal to the target 14-18 year old female readership. The student evaluates how their work follows magazine conventions and represents their target audience.

1. We were asked to produce our own unique music
magazine for our AS level Media Studies coursework.
We had to make a blog in order to present evidence of
all the research and planning we had carried out and
use Adobe Photoshop to create a front cover, contents
page and double page spread. Now that I have finished
the task I was set, the time has come for me to look
back and evaluate the effectiveness of my work and to
consider how much I have developed as a media
practitioner.
I made a choice at the very start to produce three
components of a music magazine that celebrates pop
music. Pop, as a genre, has very obvious conventions
that are loved by all fans of this type of music. As a pop
fan myself, I was already familiar with these, but I
carried out extensive research into real pop magazines
to deepen my knowledge and to find out how existing
media texts reflect genre through content, design
features and mode of address.
My magazine is called Rhythmix. The front cover,
contents page and double page spread all follow
typical conventions of real pop magazines. They

2. feature bright colours, which entice the readership and
reflect the bright, fun persona of pop. The colour
scheme of my three pieces is mainly pink and orange.
These colours are typical feminine colours, which will
appeal to the youthful readership of my magazine, but
that also match the colours found in existing pop
magazines like ‘We Love Pop’ and ‘Just Pop’.
The colloquial mode of address used within my three
pieces will also entice the readership further. Building
up a relationship between the readership and
magazine is an important thing and an appropriate
mode of address will make the readership feel as
though the magazine is a friend that understands her.
Words such as ‘hotties’, ‘crush’ and ‘fiver’ are used
throughout the three pieces and the audience will
recognise these words so therefore will want to read
the magazine. By using language like this, I have
followed the conventions of pop magazines, as a
similar mode of address is found on the front cover
and inside the pages of ‘We Love Pop’, which features
colloquialisms such as, ‘LOL One Directed’ and ‘’I
snogged 17 girls last Saturday’. I have also followed the
general layout conventions of magazines by placing the
masthead at the top of the frame on my front cover,

3. and the price and barcode in the bottom right hand
corner, where the Western eye goes last. Sell-lines,
meanwhile, surround the main image. My jam-packed
front cover does look pretty ‘busy’, but, again, it is a
common convention of pop magazines to have a
‘chocka-block’ front cover in order to capture the fun,
youthful persona of the typical pop fan and of pop
itself.
It is typical of pop mags to use bright colours, I have
achieved this in my double page spread by using
colours such as, pink, yellow and purple. All of my
images follow the conventions of images found in pop
magazines and use typical pop iconography. The
models’ images make it clear who my target audience
are. All of my models are in close proximity with each
other, they are smiling friendly and giving direct
address. This will make me TA feel like the models are
actually looking/talking to them and the friendly smiles
will draw in the reader and make her feel special and
not intimidated by the pretty girls. My contents page is
also typical of contents pages and follows general
conventions. My contents page also uses bright colours
such as pink and orange which are two very feminine
colours, which, again, will appeal to the reader and lure

4. her in. The image also shows the models looking fun,
feminine and friendly, rather than too flirty or
provocative, making the image more appealing to the
reader, as she will see the girls in this band as potential
friends and role models. It is important for the models
to look like this because it is vital for the reader to feel
welcomed and not be intimidated or jealous of the
models. I have secured a symbiotic link over my three
pieces by using the same gorgeous models, who are
young, about the same age as the target audience
which will heighten appeal and lure readers in. I have
also used the same colour scheme across my three
pieces, including pink and orange which are fun, bright,
youthful colours. However, in my double page spread I
used a different colour scheme of yellow, pink and
purple because it is a common convention of pop
magazines to make subtle changes to their colour
scheme to keep it from being repetitive and boring. I
didn’t want the magazine to be too ‘samey’ as if the
reader was seeing the same colour scheme through
out the magazine she would get bored and eventually
put it down and not continue reading. Through
creating a symbiotic link I have achieved a strong brand
identity and I am sure whenever a girl saw the

5. magazine she would straight away know it was
Rhythmix and she would be unable to not buy the
magazine as it is full of all the things a teenage girls
wants and needs. Below are my 3 pieces. Here, you can
see examples of how I have followed conventions:

6. As you can see my contents page is very similar to a
real pop magazine contents page. There is an image
used of the front cover and arrows are used to say
which article is on which page. This is good because it
is very straight to the point and it makes it easier for
the target audience to navigate their way around the
magazine. It is also a common convention to use puffs
and I have successfully used them in my front cover.
My front cover also includes the price in the top right
hand corner and barcode in the bottom left hand
corner. These two pieces of information are needed on
the mag but are not the most important part therefore
the font used is smaller compared to the other fonts.
On my double page spread I have followed conventions
by adding page numbers, images, text and I even
inserted an image of an arrow with the word ‘more’
written inside it so the readers knew they could turn
the page and read more. This is often seen on pop
magazines.

7. My magazine is aimed at a target audience of
predominately fresh, fun and feminine females aged
between 14 and 18. The readers of my magazine will
be young, feminine girls, who enjoy going out with
friends, social networking, and doing their hair and
makeup. They enjoy reading about the latest gossip in
the celebrity world and love finding out tips on how to
be like their favourite solo artist or girl band
member, who they admire and aspire to be
like. Music is important to the
target audience. They are
constantly listening to music
and they would do anything to
meet their favourite boy band,
who they only ever see in their dreams. The target
audience are always listening to music, whether it is on
their iPod, iPhone or radio. They love to listen to radio
stations such as Kiss 100 and Capital FM to find out if
their fave band or solo artist has hit the top of the
charts! The girls most of all, love buying Rhythmix each
week to catch up on the latest gossip in the celebrity
world and to find out what hot boy is in ‘6 Pac of the
Week’ so they can add it to their collection of posters
on their bedroom wall! It will also satisfy her needs by

8. including up-to-date information about the latest
celebrity ‘break-up’ and all the exclusive gossip on their
favourite pop artists/band. It will include real life
stories, which will entice the reader and will give her
advice on how to stay safe. For example I will include a
story about a girl who was lured in by a 30 year old
man posing to be a 16 year old boy on a chat room
social networking site. This article will include
information on how to avoid certain situations similar
to this one. Safety is part of Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs. The magazine will not only include real life
stories and celebrity gossip but it will also include tips
on how to be the best she can be, with regards her
physical appearance and her friendships. This is also
part of Maslow’s hierarchy; he says that the most
important thing for a person to have is self
actualisation. Therefore this part of the magazine will
allow her to look good and feel good by giving the
latest fashion do’s and don’ts and all the best
information on makeup, given by professionals.
This issue of Rhythmix also includes a “style special”
which gives tips on how to look like the one and only
Lauren Goodger who starred in one of the reader’s
favourite TV show TOWIE. It also says how to do it by

9. spending only a ‘fiver’ this is a good thing as the reader
will not have a full time job or be getting a lot of
money so she loves a good bargain! As mentioned
before, the colours of my 3 pieces will also appeal to
her as they are bright, fun and feminine. The colours
jump right out of the page and lure her in to the point
she cannot put the magazine down! Each story will
appeal to her in one way or another and she will not be
able to get enough of all the gossip and ‘fit lads’. By
using an appropriate mode of address, magazines are
appeal to appeal directly to their target audience.
Rhythmix is a teenage pop magazine and these days,
teenagers use all sorts of slang and colloquial language
and Rhythmix knows all about what to say and how to
say it! They know how to get in with the crowd. The
readership will read the magazine and get lost and
escape from all the realities of her busy life at school
and socialising. The mode of address helps the reader
to do this. The reader will see Rhythmix as a friend and
will enjoy reading the magazine. Examples of mode of
address used are: ‘fit’, ‘lads’, ‘hotties’, ‘shop ‘til you
drop’, ‘1D’ (which is a colloquial, formal, friendly
abbreviation of One Direction),’fiver’ and ‘lush’.

10. My magazine typically represents young females. You
can see this through my three pieces. As you can see,
they are all at ease with each other’s company. They
smile brightly and have laid back body language. In the
front cover a long shot is used and shows them all
standing next to each other to one side, the contents
page includes a birds-eye shot of them lying on the
floor with their beautifully coloured hair sprawled out
around them and the double page spread includes a
medium shot of them standing next to each other with
their bodies slightly tilted. All the girls are smiling and
look content with life. They all look at ease with each
other and in no way look intimidating. The way the
girls are standing side by side with bright eyes and
smiling faces invite the reader in and will make her
want to read the article about this up-to-date, fresh,

11. new band who are ready to take over the pop world!
The images show how confident they are and they
prove that young females can be successful and
beautiful. The models present this representation by
giving direct address which suggests confidence and
self assurance. The costumes the models are wearing
are also representative of young females today. They
are wearing patterned leggings, which are the height of
fashion in today’s society. The leggings show off their
fun, quirky and individual personality. The models are
also wearing black and white long sleeve t-shirts which
reflect the fact that there are no ‘grey areas’ within
what they want to achieve. They’re star image is either
black or white and they are determined to be big and
successful; there is no room for failure. The three
pieces reinforce accepted stereotypes about what girls
like and what girls enjoy doing, e.g. fashion, make up,
gossip, romance, and wholesome boys. However, some
older people who are not ‘in with the crowd’ may
criticise this and say that the female gender amounts
to more and that we should be encouraging teenage
and young girls to see this, but I disagree with this
because I know for a fact that the things listed above
are what teenage girls are interested in: my research

12. has proven this and in order to keep my audience
happy and to keep circulation figures high, I will
provide my audience with what they are interested in.
The double page spread article highlights the fact they
are new to the scene and ready to “mix it up.” The fact
file on them is simple but tells the readership
everything they would want to know about them, such
as all their favourite things. Even though these girls are
young they know what they want and they are ready to
take over and let all their dreams come true. The girls
are incontrol and ambitious. They are new to the scene
and want to make a good impression. The double page
spread includes a fact file on the girls. This makes the
girls even more appealing to the readers because this
can make them more relatable. If the girl band like
what the readers like it will make the readers like them
even more. The double page spread has a lure, it gives
the reader the chance to win the girl band’s debut

13. album so this is yet another reason for the target
audience to read the magazine. As you can clearly see
the models are confident, in control and ambitious and
this whole representation is made across the two
pages.
The media institution I have chosen to use to own and
distribute my magazine is Hearst Magazines UK. It is a
successful company that has been around for years. It
was established in 1910 by William Randolph Hearst

14. and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hearst
Corporation, one of the largest diversified media
companies. The institution owns a whole host of
successful magazines, such as: Reveal, Cosmopolitan,
Elle, House Beautiful and Good House Keeping.
The company is the largest digital publisher in the UK,
it’s reach extends to 1 in 3 UK women and 1 in 4 UK
adults. The portfolio comprises 20 magazines and 20
digital properties and it’s world class brands are
available on multiple platforms. Hearst Magazines UK
is so successful and because of it’s success it is likely to
have the capital to profitably launch my magazine and
promote it. I would be able to hold events to showcase
the magazine, such as a launch party, and later along
the line, awards ceremonies for categories such as
‘Best Male Pop Act’.
Hearst Magazines UK has experience in a range of
areas that would allow my magazine to be successful.
They know how to effectively run a magazine and
launch it properly. They know what to do when
circulation figures start to fall. For example in July 2010
Cosmopolitans circulation figures went down so they
revamped the magazine. This worked very well and the

15. figures rose again. The company also know how to
deliver audiences to advertisers efficiently.
The institution also has a brilliant reputation; this will
hopefully be carried through to my own magazine. The
excellence of the brand and its world class status will
be extended to my own product. Their reputation will
mean that advertisers and audiences will trust the
magazine more.
Hearst Magazines UK currently distributes magazines
to 1 in 3 UK women and owns a number of magazines
exclusively aimed at a female readership, e.g.
Cosmopolitan, Elle and Reveal. This means that they
understand and know how to appeal to females
through including things such as fashion, beauty and
makeup throughout the content. My magazine is
aimed at a female audience and Hearst Magazines UK
will be aware of what needs to be done in order that
her needs are fulfilled.
The company currently own a website called
‘SugarScape’, a magazine aimed at young female
audience, covering gossip and news related to the likes
of One Direction and Conor Maynard, along with music
information and fashion advice. This is great news, as it

16. relates directly to the content of my magazine. Hearst
Magazines UK clearly has experience in appealing to a
young female readership and providing the kind of
material that my magazine will cover. What is even
better is that, because this is a website, there is a gap
in Hearst Magazines UK’s portfolio for a print magazine
covering the same material. My magazine will fill that
gap and flourish because of the institution’s wealth of
experience.
Due to the presence of ‘SugarScape’ in Hearst
Magazines UK’s brand portfolio, this means that they
will have an existing link with advertisers who promote
products aimed at a female youth audience. Hearst
Magazines UK will also have experience of delivering
audiences to advertisers through the distribution of
media packs. The same advertisers can be recruited for
my magazine.
Throughout the process of constructing my products I
have learnt many new technical skills and improved
many of the ones I already had. I learnt how to set up a
blog and upload images, text and videos on to this. At
first, I found it rather hard to use because it was new
to me and not something i was used to using but as I
became more accustomed to using it and after I

17. received help from my friends and class teacher I was
eventually capable of navigating my own way around
the site and learning all the fun and interesting things
you can do to make your blog the best it can be. There
are many advantages to using a blog. They enable you
to keep all your work organised and to show the
‘journey’ you have gone through as a media
practitioner. In addition to this, blogs are multimedia
and so allow the presentation of work to be more
interesting and creative. Updating and editing a blog is
also possible. However, I am a sucker for old fashion
things and part of me would have loved to produce
some sort of portfolio/scrap book to have all my work
it. At the same time, nonetheless, I can see the benefits
of blogging and am glad that I have learnt how to work
a blog properly; I have no doubt that I will make use of
this skill in the future.
Throughout this project, I also learnt how to use a
website called ‘SlideShare’ this website came in really
handy and allowed me to upload my work to my blog
in an easier and more sufficient way. I uploaded all of
my analyses via slide share and my case study. It was a
good way to get my work on to my blog however, I
don’t think I like the way it made my presentation

18. because it made the text very small and in some cases
not readable so for all my overviews I uploaded them
straight to my blog instead of going via SlideShare.
The practical demands of the Foundation Portfolio
project have enabled me to improve my skills on
Adobe Photoshop too. I used Adobe Photoshop
previously at GCSE to make fragrance ads, so this time
around I knew the basic skills, such as how to add text
layers and text effects and how to adjust the saturation
and hue on an image. Whilst using it for this project, I
learnt new things such as how to effectively use the
magic wand tool and the shape tool. The magic wand
tool helped me to eliminate parts of an image I didn’t
want, such as the background on the image that
features on my double page spread, and the shape tool
allowed me to create all the funky shapes I have on my
three pieces, which in turn resulted in my pieces
following the codes and conventions of pop magazines
more successfully; pop magazines use these shapes
liberally to create a fun feel. When comparing how I
felt using the programme at GCSE level, I can see that,
during this project, I was more confident and
experimental using the software, which allowed me to
make use of it in a more effective, creative and daring

19. way. The completion of the preliminary task, which I
will discuss in the next section of this evaluation, really
helped me to feel this confidence at the main task
stage. I am now a complete Photoshop convert and can
see that there are countless things you can do with
Adobe Photoshop and it is a brilliant way to edit and
perfect photos.
My photography skills have also improved as a result of
carrying out this project; I have learnt how to take
images in a more effective and creative way. Again, it
comes down to confidence and bravery! At GCSE level,
I played it safe. For this project, I played with tilted
frames and bird’s eye shots and became creative with
the camera, which enabled me to produce shots that
were in keeping with the fun persona and brand
identity of my magazine. I strongly believe in the
importance of getting the quality of the raw images
just right, as it will affect the overall feel and excellence
of the finished products. By approaching the ‘shoot’
with a clear idea of the effect I wanted to create, but
also a touch of daring, I was able to produce great
shots that I could really work well with. At the same
time, however, I have learnt that photography is not
just about taking wonderful photos; there is so much

20. more to it, such as careful planning of mise-en-scene
elements, such as location and costume. These things
have an enormous impact on the finished product and
my finished pieces are successful because I planned
these carefully first. You also have to make sure there
are no shadows and no inappropriate objects in the
frame that you don’t want to be there. I have slowly
but surely mastered the art of taking photos and I am
very proud of the images I took for this specific project.
I took many images for this task so I had a variety to
choose from when making my three products. When
selecting my final pieces, I chose the images that
featured poses that reflected unity between the girls in
the band and that captured the fun, youthful feel of my
magazine. It was great to have the freedom to pick the
‘cream of the crop’, which is a luxury that some of my
peers, who only took a minimal number of images, did
not have. I think the process has made me confident
and skilled in selecting the right and most appropriate
images from a selection, a challenge I found really
difficult at GCSE level. Below are the images I didn’t
use:
(ADD IMAGES I DIDNT USE)

21. Looking back at my preliminary task, I feel I have
learnt, improved and achieved a lot since then and
through completing the main task. I have successfully
got to know the target audience my magazine was
aimed at, and followed general conventions to stay
safe and be sure the magazine would appeal to them.
When comparing my preliminary task to my main task
there are certain things you can notice such as lighting,
mise-en-scene elements and mode of address. For
example, in my main task I focused a lot more on
costume. The costume that the model wears is a very
important part of the image because it can show case
their personality and star image. I also improved the
lighting and composition of the models in my main task
because in my preliminary ask the image was rather
dark and my model looked very simple regarding the
way she stands and bleakly smiles. In terms of mode of
address, I have found it a lot easier and more
manageable with my pop mag in comparison to my
school mag. This is because pop mags have such a
distinctive mode of address. Research into existing
media texts allowed me to become more familiar with
this. With the preliminary task, there were no real
points of reference; I had to second guess which mode

22. of address to use to some extent in the school mag. In
my main task I was also more experimental with tools
in Photoshop which allowed my main pieces to look
more professional and aesthetically pleasing.
When comparing my preliminary contents page to my
main contents page I have made a number of
improvements. For starters, I created my preliminary
task on
a
word document therefore I was
unable to edit the text and image in a way I would have
liked to. The preliminary contents page is very
unprofessional compared to my main task contents
page and you can see evidence of this below:

23. In terms of my double page spread I cannot really
comment as I didn’t make one in the preliminary task.
However, producing one really allowed me to learn
more about magazine journalism and to extend my
creative wings. Again, if this challenge had been set at
preliminary level, I would have found it hard because I
was not as experienced, I didn’t have enough existing
media texts to guide you me and even though I used
Photoshop before I was not as creative and I could not
use it to the quality and extent I can now and my skills
on Photoshop have now flourished.
On a reflective note, I have learnt how to operate as a
practitioner. I have an obvious aptitude for creativity
and the ability to replicate media conventions. Next
year, however, I think I shall have the confidence to
challenge conventions and ‘not play it safe.’ Next year,
for my A2 Levels I want to have the freedom and

24. bravery to not follow typical conventions and make the
film trailer unique and inimitable!
Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed making the front
cover, contents page and double page spread of the
make-believe magazine Rhythmix. I have thoroughly
improved my knowledge on magazine conventions not
only pop magazines but indie and house music
magazines. My understanding of how to use mode of
address and iconography for effect has improved and I
also believe my knowledge and use of media
terminology is getting better and better! I now am fully
aware of how to successfully appeal to target
audiences no matter what age group they are. I have
also improved my practical and creative skills by
perfecting all of my pieces. Furthermore, I think I have
enjoyed this project so much because my dream career
is to be an editor or journalist for a magazine, so this
task was right up my street and I truly believe I have
lucratively perfected my final products and I am very
proud of them.