OCR Level 2 National Certificate in Information Technology
Unit 05 Desktop publishing
Practice Model Assignment
Scenario
THIS IS A GUIDED TRIAL ASSIGNMENT THAT WILL HELP YOU PREPARE FOR THE REAL THING.
Klick magazine
A major UK education software company wants to publish a series of free leaflets in
fanzine or magazine format to showcase the DTP capabilities of their software. The
leaflets must be designed by students for students (ages 14+) and will be
distributed to all UK schools and colleges as promotional material to boost program
sales.
The overall series title is ‘Klick’ and submissions are invited in the following
categories:
 Animals
 Entertainment
 Environment
 Fashion and Beauty
 Health
 Hobbies and Crafts
 Music
 Sport
 Travel
The fanzine/magazine must be at least four A4
pages long or equivalent e.g. eight A5 pages. The
masthead should reflect the selected category
e.g. Klick-Dachshunds; Klick-Punks; KlickSkateboard; Klick-Green; Klick-Photo; KlickFlorida.
Submissions should take the form of a proof copy
of the magazine/fanzine that you have produced using DTP software with a review
evaluating how it meets the client brief. The review should explain how you believe
your publication addresses its target audience and purpose, using screenshots to
illustrate your claims.
© Serif Europe
Assignment scenario
1
OCR Level 2 National Certificate in Information Technology
Unit 05 Desktop publishing
Task 1 ‘Klick’ fanzine practice assignment
AO1 Research existing documents and plan a document to meet a client
brief
What you must do
a) Plan your timescales
Read the practice assignment scenario carefully and also all the mini briefs for the project so that you
have a clear overview of what will be expected of you. Keep an open mind for the moment about
which assignment option to follow.
For your first assessment task, you must think about how you will organise yourself to meet the time
deadline for the unit:
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Start by listing the tasks you are required to undertake and breaking them
down into smaller steps or sub-tasks.
Decide how much time you need to allow for each main task and be sure
to factor in enough time to learn new skills and to troubleshoot
unexpected problems or delays outside your control.
Identify milestones in the process – key points when one stage is
complete and you are about to start another – when you should arrange
to show your work to your teacher for feedback.
Add in time to make modifications in response to this review.
Consult and update the time plan on a regular basis: it will help you meet
your target and publishing deadline.
And don’t underestimate how long each task will take.
You should keep referring to your time plan as you work through the project and update it regularly
because it will help you keep on track. It’s a big project, so don’t underestimate how long you need
for each part. Which of the five main tasks do you think will take you longest? The number of subtasks gives a clue.
The DTP Time Plan template will help get you started. It is intended only as a guide to how you
might organize a detailed timescales plan for higher grades. You can modify it in any way you wish or
devise a completely different format. Fill in the start date of your assignment and your final deadline.
You have 40 guided learning hours to complete the assignment. Note down which sub-tasks need
to be done in class and which could be done for homework e.g. some research. Leave the other
information for now and save your plan to the ‘Timescales’ sub-folder of the AO1_ResearchPlan parent
folder as AO1timeplanXXX (replace XXX with your own name or initials).
b) Research existing documents
You must research a range of printed documents and identify the organisations that published them
and their target readership. You should also evaluate the effectiveness of their house styles, layout
and overall design in relation to their content and intended audience. Indicate where this research has
influenced decisions about your own solutions to the assignment brief. Pass candidates can use
witness statements as evidence of research, but for higher grades you should state your sources of
inspiration clearly. The ‘Headliners’ activity and worksheet will help you organise this information.
Update your time plan. Save it with a new version number so that you can track changes e.g.
AO1timeplanXXX2.
© Serif Europe
Assignment scenario
2
OCR Level 2 National Certificate in Information Technology
Unit 05 Desktop publishing
http://www.fazeteen.com/
http://www.fazeteen.com/past.htm
If you plan to follow the ‘Klick’ fanzine model assignment for assessment, this is an example of a
magazine produced by teenagers for teenagers that you could review and use to inform your own
design for higher grades.
C) Plan your document
Read the practice assignment scenario again and decide which subject category of ‘Klick’ you are
going to choose.
Sketch out two alternative designs for your magazine. Your sketches should show two completely
different layouts and house styles for the same two pages e.g. the front cover of the magazine and
one inside page. Each alternative design should not be larger than two A4 pages.
Scan or take screenshots of your sketches depending on whether they were made electronically or by
hand. Consider the relative merits and shortcomings of your alternative designs and decide which is
the most appropriate, giving reasons for your choice. You must also explain which software you
plan to use and why. You could also add a comment to each design explaining what research has
influenced your design decisions. The “My designs” evidence sheet will help you organise this
information. Add screenshots of your two designs. Save the worksheet to your AO1Planning/Research
folder as my_designsXXX (replace XXX with your own initials). For higher marks, you should include
sketches for all pages of your fanzine.
You will also need to begin collecting, writing and creating content for your magazine. Save electronic
resources to your source_texts and source_graphics subfolders and collect printed materials in your
DTP envelope portfolio. This is a major task, so allow plenty of time for it. Keep a record of all your
sources by starting a sources log. You can use the ‘Sources log’ template to do this.
Finally, you must also update and complete your time plan, estimating the time-scales for the whole
project, including this planning stage. Save it with a new version number so that you can track
changes e.g. AO1timeplanXXX3. Are you still on track?
OCR
Please read carefully OCR guidance for this Assessment Objective, referring to the OCR Nationals specification for Unit 05 (2010)
and the relevant explanatory document for revised assessment requirements:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/type/nationals_2010/ict/l2/documents/index.html
Assessment
Objective
AO1
Research existing
documents and plan a
document to meet a
given design brief
© Serif Europe
Pass
Merit
Distinction
Candidates will carry out
limited research on a narrow
range of organisations and
end-users. Candidates provide
limited evidence linking their
research to the designs.
Candidates will produce basic
plans which include sketches
of the design for the front and
at least one inside page of
their publication. There will be
some indication that
timescales for the completion
of the publication have been
considered.
Candidates will carry out
independent research from a
range of sources which they
identify. Candidates provide
evidence linking their research
to the designs. Candidates will
produce plans which include
sketches of the design for all
pages of their publication.
There will be some indication
that timescales have been
considered for each stage of
the development and
completion of the publication.
Candidates will carry out
independent research from a
wide range of sources which
they identify. Candidates
provide clear evidence linking
their research to the designs.
Candidates will produce
detailed plans which include
sketches of the design for all
pages of their publication.
Realistic timescales have been
considered and set for each
stage of the development and
completion of the
publication.
Assignment scenario
3
OCR Level 2 National Certificate in Information Technology
Unit 05 Desktop publishing
Task 2 ‘Klick’ fanzine practice assignment
AO2 Create text styles
What you must do
Open the ‘My designs’ evidence file you completed in Task 1C and use your planned design as a
reference point when undertaking the following tasks for AO2.
Fonts, emphasis, leading and paragraph spacing
Set the styles for your chosen ‘Klick’ magazine using your preferred DTP software. Open your DTP
software e.g. Serif PagePlus and start a new document from scratch as explained in the tutorial.
You must create three separate heading styles, plus a style for the main body text that includes
paragraph spacing and leading for higher grades. Save your document to your AO5prep_for_print
folder in an editable file format (for PagePlus this is *.PPP = PagePlus Publication) with a suitable
filename e.g. Klick_photoXXX (replace XXX with your own initials)
With the ‘My styles’ evidence sheet open, insert screenshots of your font style-sheets. Add notes
explaining what font face, size, emphasis, alignment you have selected and what you intend to use
each style for e.g. article headings, paragraph headings, body text. For higher grades add a comment
explaining why you think your style decisions are appropriate for the purpose and audience of your
document. Save the evidence worksheet as AO2mystylesXXX (replace XXX with your own initials) to
your AO2Styles evidence folder.
Alignment
You must also set text alignment e.g. do you want your columns to be right-, left- or centre-justified?
Take a screenshot of your setting and insert it into the AO2mystylesXXX document.
Indents and bullets
If you plan to indent the first line of paragraphs or have no indent you should also take a screenshot
of this dialog and insert it in the AO2mystylesXXX evidence sheet. For higher grades, customise the
bullets you plan to use and grab another screenshot for your evidence. Save your work again.
Time plan
Open and update your project time-plan, commenting on timescales, including whether you need
extra time or are keeping to deadlines. Add completion dates. Are you still on track? Ask your teacher
for feedback as this is a milestone review point. Save the time-plan with a new version number e.g.
AO1timeplanXXX4.
OCR
Please read carefully OCR guidance for this Assessment Objective, referring to the OCR Nationals specification for Unit 05
(2010) and the relevant explanatory document for revised assessment requirements:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/type/nationals_2010/ict/l2/documents/index.html
Assessment
Pass
Merit
Distinction
Objective
Candidates will generate at
Candidates will create at least
AO2
Candidates create at least
least three text styles in the
three text styles in the DTP
three text styles in the DTP
DTP software adhering
software adhering to the
Create text styles
software. For each text style
to the identified house style.
identified house style. For
they will set font type, size,
At least one text style will for
each text style they will set
emphasis and alignment as a
the body
font type,
minimum.
text. Leading, and paragraph
size, emphasis and alignment
The following will be set at
spacing or
as a minimum.
least once across the three
indents will be set
The following will be set at
text styles:
appropriately for the
least once across the three
• leading
© Serif Europe
Assignment scenario
4
OCR Level 2 National Certificate in Information Technology
• kerning
• paragraph spacing or
indents
Each text style will be used at
least once in the publication.
Unit 05 Desktop publishing
text styles:
• leading
• kerning
• paragraph spacing or
indents
• tabs
• bulleted or numbered list
Each text style will be used at
least once in the publication.
The styles will be suitable for
use in the
publication and will meet the
requirements of the client
brief. Most styles will be
consistently applied.
body text. For each style they
will set font type, size,
emphasis and alignment as a
minimum.
The following will be set at
least once:
• kerning
• paragraph spacing or
indents
• tabs
• bulleted or numbered list
Each text style will be used at
least once in the publication.
The styles will be suitable for
use in the publication and will
meet the requirements of the
brief. The body text style and
at least one other style will be
used consistently throughout
the publication.
Task 3 ‘Klick’ fanzine practice assignment
AO3 Select and use tools in desktop publishing
What you must do
a) Create a layout grid in DTP
Refer to the ‘My designs’ evidence file you completed in Task 1C when undertaking the following
task.
Open the editable DTP file you saved in Task 2 e.g. Klick_photoXXX and set margins, page orientation,
gutter and number of pages for the document. Create a suitable grid for your pages to determine the
number of columns. Take screenshots of the process and insert them in a new document as evidence
of what you have done. Save the document to your AO3layout_tools folder as MyLayoutXXX (replace
XXX with your own initials).
b) Create text frames in DTP
Open the editable DTP file you saved in Task 3a e.g. Klick_photoXXX. Create text frames for pages
and add text content as appropriate. This must be both new text that you type in directly (headings,
captions, pull-quotes for example), and prepared text that you import from content that you have
copied and saved, or written yourself. (See Section 1, Task 1c) Don’t forget to acknowledge text from
secondary sources in your sources log. Save your work regularly.
Introduce pre-prepared graphics such as images into the layout, and position and format them. As
with all secondary sources, make sure that you have acknowledged the origin of all graphics you have
not created yourself in your sources log.
The final publication should provide enough evidence of your use of text and graphics, but you may
want to add screenshots of these steps to the MyLayoutXXX file you created in the last task. Save
and close your editable DTP file. Update your project time plan. Review your work with your teacher.
© Serif Europe
Assignment scenario
5
OCR Level 2 National Certificate in Information Technology
Unit 05 Desktop publishing
OCR
Please read carefully OCR guidance for this Assessment Objective, referring to the OCR Nationals specification for
Unit 05 (2010) and the relevant explanatory document for revised assessment requirements:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/type/nationals_2010/ict/l2/documents/index.html
Assessment
Objective
AO3
Select and use tools in
desktop publishing
software
Pass
Merit
Distinction
Candidates will produce a
document using a desktop
publishing package.
There will be limited use of
facilities, imported text
and imported graphics.
Candidates will produce a
detailed document which
mostly meets the demands
of the brief using a
desktop
publishing package.
There will be good use of
facilities, imported text
and imported graphics.
Candidates will produce a
detailed document which
fully meets the demands
of the brief using a
desktop publishing
package.
There will be good use of
facilities, imported text
and imported graphics and
all will be used
appropriately.
Task 4 ‘Klick’ fanzine practice assignment
AO4 Use drawing tools included with DTP software to create basic shapes
for inclusion in your completed publication
What you must do
Open the editable file for your assignment document in your DTP program. Use the software’s
integrated tools to add design elements to your publication. You should include a variety of the
following features:
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2D shapes (with fills)
layered elements
decorative lines
borders
artistic text
grouped elements
cropped elements
For a basic pass mark, you must at least include the first two features, but higher grades require a
wider range (check the specifications in the table below). The final publication should provide enough
evidence of your use of DTP drawing tools, but you may want to add screenshots of these steps to
the MyLayoutXXX file you created in the last task. Save your work in its editable format. Your
publication is now ready to prepare for printing. Update your project time plan and review your work
with your teacher.
© Serif Europe
Assignment scenario
6
OCR Level 2 National Certificate in Information Technology
Unit 05 Desktop publishing
OCR
Please read carefully OCR guidance for this Assessment Objective, referring to the OCR Nationals specification for
Unit 05 (2010) and the relevant explanatory document for revised assessment requirements:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/type/nationals_2010/ict/l2/documents/index.html
Assessment
Objective
Pass
Merit
Distinction
AO4
Use drawing tools
included with desktop
publishing software to
create basic shapes for
inclusion in your
completed publication
Candidates will use at least
three different drawing
tools and at least two
other features in the
desktop publishing
software to enhance the
publication. They will
combine at least four
objects to create a more
complex whole and use
grouping and layering at
least once.
Candidates will use at least
three different drawing
tools to create effective
shapes that enhance the
publication. They will
change the default
formatting (e.g. border
style, fill effect) at least
once. They will use at
least two other features
to enhance the
publication. They will
combine at least six
objects to create a
complex whole which will
be effective. They will use
grouping and layering
effectively at least once.
Candidates will use at least
five different drawing tools
to create shapes that
enhance the publication.
They will change the
default formatting (e.g.
border style, fill effect) at
least twice. They will use
at least two other features
effectively to enhance the
publication. They will
combine at least six
objects to create a
complex whole which will
be effective. They will use
grouping and layering
effectively at least once.
The tools and features
used will suit the needs of
the brief and the intended
audience.
Task 5 ‘Klick’ fanzine practice assignment
AO5 Review and evaluate the publication and prepare it for printing
What you must do
Is your publication fit for purpose? Is it accurate and error-free? The quality and appropriateness of
your final publication will have a major effect on your final grade for this Assessment Objective. In
order to complete your assignment, you must follow these steps:
Proofing
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© Serif Europe
Spell-check the document in PagePlus and make any corrections.
Is the document set to UK English or US? It will make a big difference!
Use the text composition tools from the Tools menu in PagePlus to proof your fanzine
(word count, spell-checking, thesaurus, and proof reader) even if you also used AutoCorrect and Underline spelling mistakes as you type proofing options as you
worked.
Proof-read it again on screen for grammar, punctuation and spelling mistakes, missing
graphics, and layout problems
Check that text flows correctly from frame to frame and that there is no hidden overflow
text at the bottom of any frames
Make corrections and adjustments
Print a draft hard copy and proof it yourself, checking for any mistakes, inaccuracies and
colour differences.
Ask a teacher or other adult with good grammar, punctuation and spelling to proof the
draft.
Make final revisions.
Assignment scenario
7
OCR Level 2 National Certificate in Information Technology
Unit 05 Desktop publishing
Prepping
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Open the editable version of your publication in your DTP software and export it in PDF
format. Save this file to your A05PrepforPrint folder.
Print a best quality proof copy of your publication for your portfolio.
Reporting
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Using the information gathered in your research, write a short report explaining, with examples
you’re your publication, how the content of your fanzine meets the client brief and is suitable for the
target audience. Save this to your A05PrepforPrint folder as A05reportXXX.
Congratulations! You have completed your assignment.
OCR
Please read carefully OCR guidance for this Assessment Objective, referring to the OCR Nationals specification for
Unit 05 (2010) and the relevant explanatory document for revised assessment requirements:
http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/type/nationals_2010/ict/l2/documents/index.html
Assessment
Objective
AO5
Review and evaluate
the publication and
prepare it for printing
© Serif Europe
Pass
Merit
Distinction
Candidates will use at least
one automatic checking
facility or one visual
checking facility to proof
their publication. They will
check that the content is
fit for purpose. If problems
are identified, some
corrections will be made.
One publication will be
printed as a proof copy.
They will explain how the
content in their finished
publication meets the
client brief.
Candidates will use at least
one automatic checking
facility and at least one
visual checking facility to
proof their publication.
They will check that the
content is fit for purpose
and intended audience.
If problems are identified,
corrections will be made.
One copy of the
publication will be printed
as a final proof copy. The
final publication will be
mostly error free and will
meet most of the
requirements of the brief.
They will explain how the
content in their finished
publication meets the
client brief and is suitable
for the target audience.
Candidates will use a
range of automatic and
visual checking facilities to
proof their publication.
They will check that the
content is fit for purpose
and intended audience.
If problems are identified,
all corrections will be
made. One copy of the
publication will be printed
as a final proof copy. The
final publication will be
virtually error free and will
meet the requirements of
the brief. They will explain,
using examples from their
publication, how the
content in their finished
publication meets the
client brief and is suitable
for the target audience.
Assignment scenario
8