NAME: DAN HICKMAN

CANDIDATE NUMBER: 2477

CENTRE: 33435 AQUINAS COLLEGE

AS Media StudiesOCR G321: Foundation Portfolio

Brief from OCR Syllabus

Q1: WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE

FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

DemographicMy target audience will be males and females between 16-26

who identify with the punk subculture. I chose this demographic as there is not a wide variety of punk promotion in the media,

so this will appeal to them. I set the age range from 16 upwards as the ideologies attached to this subculture may not be

appropriate for younger audiences; also, a generic convention of the punk music genre is explicit lyrics, which will be

unsuitable to children. This coincides with the fact that the average age of punks/ punk music listeners is young adult, so my magazine will cater for them above all. However, with it being a punk magazine, I must bear in mind the punk era of 1970s/80s Britain, so my magazine will contain influences of

that time to gratify punks from that era, as it was such an iconic period for this subculture.

My readers will also be readers of Kerrang! Magazine and festival/concert goers.

As my magazine is such aimed at such a niche audience, it was hard to attain accurate results from my public survey, as a high proportion (if not all) would not be readers of my magazine. As a result of this, when creating my magazine, I didn’t take direct influence from my survey, but rather from existing magazine covers. However this does not mean I ignored my audience research completely.

For instance:

Q1: WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE

FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

My audience research survey told me that me that my sample group prefer a simple layout with only 1/2 models on the cover. Normally I would follow my audience research as closely as I can in order to make my magazine appealing to as many people as I can; however these choices would contradict the generic conventions of the punk/rock magazines. Therefore I had to go against my research and follow the trends of existing median products.

This is an example of how I did follow my audience research. I used the answers from questions that were genre neutral, as direct influence. For instance, I named my magazine after the most popular choice “Deviant”, and ensured I featured an interview as my main article. I felt it was important to reference my audience survey as I wanted my magazine to be as appealing to people as possible in order for my magazine to be sold.

Q2: HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT

REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

My magazine represents the social group. When organising my shoot, I designed my models to look like the ideal modern day punk. I took the generic conventions of the ‘classic punk’ and fused it with the style clothes worn by modern day punk artists.

I ensured it had all of the typical punk elements such as denim, leather, ripped clothing, tight fitted bottoms and oversized tops. But since my band is a more modern one, I altered the archetypal punk style to make it more contemporary, e.g. I didn’t have the jackets covered with studs and buttons. Above all, however, I was very selective with my models. I wanted people who represented the ideal reader. I made sure they were similar age, same gender as my target audience. This meant that my magazine will specifically appeal to this demographic and can hopefully be an aspiration to my readers. The mise-en-scene of the photo-shoot represents my starts as edgy and indifferent; I wanted my stars to set a trend for my readers to follow.

Q2: HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT

REPRESENT PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUPS?

Coloured hair connotes rebelliousness. Symbolises the revolt against ‘social norm’.

Punk influenced artists with coloured hair: Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance), The Sex Pistols, NOFX .

Make up not only on girls. Generic convention of punk genre. Connotes gender equality and blurred lines between the two genders. Anchors to the magazine as it is aimed at both boys and girls.

Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong, and My Chemical Romance member wearing eyeliner.

Ripped tights – connotes a messy/wild lifestyle. Links to punk concerts and ‘mosh pits’ where there is a crazy atmosphere and a kind of ‘untamed’ lifestyle.

Studded belt – influences of the ‘classic’ punk look.

Q3: WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT

DISTRIBUTE YOUR PRODUCT?

+ As it has a fairly niche audience, my magazine would be published quarterly.

+ My contents page and double page spread both have links to magazine website so my readers can easily find us.

+ Like Kerrang!, I would have a radio station for my magazine. I feel this is a strategic advertising method as it attracts readers to the brands, but it also will attract listeners of Kerrang! Radio to my magazine.

+ My online clothes store (part of the magazine brand) will allow readers to not only come to my brand for music, but for clothes also.

+ Unlike Kerrang!, which is music only, my magazine is based off of punk lifestyle – it features punk music, punk fashion, current events following to subculture, punk icons, punk arts etc.

I would have Bauer Media Group distribute my magazine. This is because it publishes Kerrang! and Q magazine, which would immediately start my magazine off with a good reputation. I would make my magazine a sister magazine to Kerrang! I feel this would be wise as we share a similar audience. By being a sister magazine, it would remove the threat of competition but also bring in more publicity to the magazine than it may have had being an independent magazine. I also think Bauer is a good choice as it is a multi-platform group. This means it focuses on more than one type of media, which will be useful to the promotion of my magazine as it doesn’t just have to be print. My readers can access the magazine online, on an e-reader and also through the radio.

My magazine cover uses the conventions and forms of real existing media products. For example – my magazine was largely based off of Kerrang! magazine as we share a similar audience and style of music.

My magazine layout shares the generic conventions of magazines in my genre. E.g.: + ‘Clustered’ layout – The most striking thing about magazine covers of

my genre (for example Kerrang!) is that the layout isn’t simplistic, it’s an organised mess. There is a lot of overlaying going on and pictures/text boxes being cut off. This to me connotes a sort of riot, something closely liked to the genre. This is what a tried to capture most when designing my page.+ Black and White based colour scheme – the basis for my cover was a simple black and white colour scheme, with added colour on top of that. This way I ensured no clashes, but also allowed for my models and coloured text boxes to stand out. This also anchors it to the genre as a lot of Punk fashion is black based with splashes of different colours.

+ Pull quote – an extremely common trait on all magazine covers is to have a pull quote. This gives the reader an insight into the article which is likely to entice the reader to buy the magazine.

+ To also help sell the magazine, I have used secondary images and headlines inform the potential reader of what to expect in my magazine.

+ The typeface I chose for the masthead I feel fits the genre as it connotes graffiti and has an 80s grunge feel to it.

+ My magazine also challenges the conventions of real media products as my barcode, price and date are placed at the top of the magazine, whereas Kerrang! and other magazines of my genre place theirs at the bottom.

Q4. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT

USE DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

Not only my magazine layout conforms and challenges other existing media products of my genre, but also my dominant image. This was a pivotal part in making my magazine believable. It had to conform to thegeneric conventions of artists in this genre. I feel my models did this

through the use of iconography of the genre. For example:+ Black and coloured hair – a significant trait of Punks is their unnatural

coloured hair. This was important for me in the editing process as I felt it was necessary for at least two of the models to have unnaturally coloured hair, and then the rest black.

+ Denim and leather – Immediately I knew that my models all must be wearing at least one piece of leather or denim as these are highly common materials in the punk genre.

+ Black clothes – as referenced before in the colour scheme section, I made black a very significant colour in my overall colour scheme as it is very gender neutral so it will not disregard any gender from my magazine as it is aimed at all genders (another convention of media products in my genre)

+ Direct gaze personally addresses reader

+ Dark makeup (both genders) – once more I felt it was highly important to ensure that the male member of the band was wearing makeup as well as the girls, as this is a defining convention of the punk genre, and also anchors back to the gender neutral ideology, which helped me stay true to my genre.

+ 3 models – It was very important to me that if I were to make a punk magazine, I would have to feature a band instead of a single artist. This is because there are next to no single artists in the punk genre so I would definitely be featuring a band, despite the fact my audience research suggested only 1 model.

Q4. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

For my contents page, my direct influence was Kerrang!’s contents page. I made this decision for two reasons: firstly I was worried about my contents page being too clustered and hard to navigate. I looked at Kerrang!’s and felt that theirs was simple, yet still had the rock-esque feel to it. Secondly, my magazine is a sister magazine to Kerrang!, so by having similar design anchors it back to Kerrang! and also creates a house style for ‘Bauer Media Group’.

To keep with the Punk/grunge look my magazine has, I added paint splatters to the subheadings – giving it a kind of messy look. Similarly with the contact box. I ensured I used the same typefaces as I had used on my front cover to keep with the house styles. I also did this with the colour scheme, black & white, red and yellow. Following Kerrang!’s style, the dominant image of my contents page was my main article. This would once again highlight to my audience this issue’s main selling point.

My magazine also followed the generic conventions of existing contents page, these include:- Short descriptions of articles to draw the reader to those articles- Issue number/date- Columns- Links to website so the readers can find out more about the brand- Masthead

Q4. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE

, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

My double page spread also uses conventions of a double page spread through the use of:

- Dropped cap- Pull quote as masthead- By line- Introductory paragraph- Stand first

Although I didn’t have a grey box, I furthered the idea and created a mini band bio at the bottom – and idea I got from this double page spread on the left.This enabled me to expand my editing skills by using the colour editor. It also makes it more personal for the reader, as I have included a quote from each of the bandmembers.

My double page spread uses the conventions of other existing media products in my genre. I took a lot of inspiration from existing double page spreads to help make my magazine as realistic as possible. For example:

I wanted to keep continuously use the typeface of my masthead throughout out then magazine, so when I saw that NME had used a similar font for a Lily Allen spread, I used this as influence for positioning and sizing inspiration.

My biggest inspiration of all however, was Kerrang!’s My Chemical Romance spread. I wanted one page to be my band, and then the article on the other side. This, once more, helped me find the right positioning to have the most realistic look.

Q4. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE

, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

Q5: HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR

AUDIENCE?

COLOUR SCHEME

MASTHEAD DATE/PRICE/BARCODE

BANDS

GIVEAWAY

BRIGHT HAIR COLOUR

DIRECT EYE CONTACT

CLUSTERED LAYOUY

THREE MODELS

REOCCURING FONTS

PULL QUOTE

RANGE OF FEATURES

I attracted my audience through:

Q5: HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR

AUDIENCE?

I feel like the fact that the stars of my main article are upcoming musicians, would attract readers to my magazine. They might be intrigued as to who this new band are and if they like them or not.

The ‘giveaway’ flash would lure a possible reader in as they want to know what they can get from buying the magazine.

The pull quote (taken from the main article) might intrigue a reader as they will want to know the context behind the quote. What reaction? Who didn’t? Like what? This enigma is what might persuade the reader to buy the magazine.

The ‘Plus’ bar at the bottom of the cover might attract the reader, not just because of it’s bright colours and flashes, but one of those bands may be a favourite of the potential reader, so they would want to buy the magazine to read about their favourite band.

Q5: HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR

AUDIENCE?

I addressed my audience mainly through my cover stars. They are something my readers would aspire to be like, so I wanted them to be relatable. The direct eye contact addresses the reader personally, making it appear that they’re looking at you. Their general appearance connotes a sense of rebelliousness and transcends the idea of ‘breaking the norm’; e.g. coloured hair and the male model wearing make up. This is reinforced by the masthead ‘Deviant’, which means “departing from usual or accepted standards, especially in social or sexual behaviour.” My magazine is promoting the idea that it’s okay to be different and to break away from the mainstream ideals publicised by many media articles in pop culture.

This can also be seen in my font choices: the font I used to bring attention to something was ‘Destroy’, the grunge, washed out look it has represents this idea of breaking through, and ‘destroying’ social norms.

My colour scheme is in keeping with this ideal also. The black and white basis could be seen to connote a blank canvas, representing the idea you can style yourself however you want to. However the splashes of red and yellow could be seen to connote danger and rebellion, but similarly happiness and love. This reinforces the idea of diversity.

I felt it was an extremely important concept to endorse, as this ideology of breaking social norms is the main concept behind the punk subculture. Since my magazine is based off of, and targeted at, the subculture, I needed to represent the ideal to make my magazine as relatable as possible.

Q5: WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM

THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTNG THIS PRODUCT

I acquired many skills from using Photoshop, however the main thing I learnt from the process of constructing this product was how to remove a green-screen background.

Q5: WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM

THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTNG THIS PRODUCT

Firstly, before I removed the background, I had to ‘punkify’ my models. This was the most important part as my models had to conform to the generic conventions of the punk subculture.

To do this I coloured each of our hairs, as brown is a very ordinary and common hair colour, therefore I made them either black or coloured as, from my research, these were the two main colours of punk stars. I did this on a photo editing website named ‘ipiccy.com’. I also made other amendments to my models in order to make them conform to the punk genre. These include:

Eye contacts

Eye liner

Ear ring

Darkened lip colour

Q5: LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM THIS TO THE FINAL PRODUCT?

MY PRACTICE COVER:

Technologies Used:+ Microsoft Publisher+ Photo Editing

Websites+ Digital Cameras

Q5: LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM THIS TO THE FINAL PRODUCT?

STRENGTHS:

Pull quote – used to lure the reader into wanting to read the dominant article. Black circle flash makes it stand out. Green quotation marks keep to the green/yellow/red on black and white colour scheme.

Bold typeface accentuates masthead. Colour scheme sticks to house style. Bolded ‘A’ to anchors back to the original Aquinas logo where the A is red. Typeface is typical generic rock-style font. The grunge and broken letters connote rage and animated attitude that is often associated with the rock genre.

Generic Conventions – My model conformed to the generic conventions of a rock star. This is seen through the coloured hair (connoting recklessness and rebelliousness) and wearing a leather jacket. Her direct gaze lures the reader in.

Strap Line at the bottom of the page encourages the reader inside and lures them in with the freebie. Not only this but it serves another purpose of separating up the cover. I acts as a sort of book end to my cover. This once more, is a generic convention of music magazines.

Q5: LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM THIS TO THE FINAL PRODUCT?

WEAKNESSES:

The cover lines are a big weakness of my cover as they blend too much into the dominant image and do not stand out. This is where I feel my magazine has improved the most as, by researching other existing media products, I found a way to make my cover lines stand out. This was by putting a coloured box behind the text. Not only did this make it stand out, but also added to the punk look.

Although my dominant image conformed to the generic conventions of a rock star, my model was very pale and tat reflected of the flash, leaving my dominant image too bright. To resolve this, I went to a photo editing sight to try and darken it, however that just made my model yellow.From this, I have learnt a way to do this on Photoshop, which ends in a desired result.

Q5: LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK, WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM THIS TO THE FINAL PRODUCT?

I felt when designing my contents page that it was important to organise them into columns and grids, this meant it was easier for the reader to navigate through.

I followed the main generic conventions of a contents page, e.g.:

• Date• Masthead• Pictures• Cover lines• Additional info under headings

Although my contents page followed these conventions, I felt it was very simplistic and basic. This contradicted the ideologies of the rock genre, which is very ostentatious and in your face. This is how I feel I progressed in making my contents page.