Note to moderator

Dear Moderator,


For my AS media coursework I was asked to produce a front cover, contents page and a double page spread for a new music magazine. I decided to base my music magazine around the indie/indie rock genre. I chose to do this genre based on target audience feedback and a personal interest for the genre. My target audience is both female and male between the ages of 16 and 25 and I wanted to create an innovative, refreshing magazine that I knew they would enjoy and that clearly reflected my genre of choice. I have added labels to each of my blog posts to try and make it as accessible as possible for you.


Yours Sincerely,
Ella Sheppard, Edgbarrow School
Candidate Number: 0222
Centre Number: 51111

Evaluation Question 7

7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Evaluation Question 6

6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Please click the link below to see my answer to question 6

Powtoon Q6 presentation

Evaluation Questions 4 & 5

4) Who would be the audience for your product?

5) How did you attract/address your target audience?

Created with Padlet

Evaluation Question 3

3) What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why?


In this post I am going to look back through all my previous research and planning and talk about different institutions and publishers I could have used and explain why I have chosen a specific one.

In my research I looked at three main publishing institutions.

• Anthem Publishing
• Baeur Media Group
• Time Inc. (IPC)

It is incredibly important to find the right institution when it comes to publishing any magazine. The magazine needs to ensure it is getting maximum advertising and recognition. I think the institution must have involvement with all possible advertising platforms, whether that be Social Media platforms like Facebook and Twitter etc. or alternatives like Google, Bing and YouTube. Below I have compiled some data and facts from previous  knowledge and new research into possible publishing institutions for my magazine.

Anthem Publishing:

Anthem Publishing, cover two principle markets: Music and Food. They are Britain’s fasting growing publishing company by copy sale revenue, their key brand MusicTech has the UK’s largest multi-platform audience. They are the UK's only publisher of both music making and music listening magazines. Although they are a critically acclaimed publishing company, they are also Britain's second largest independent food magazine publisher. his is not the sector my magazine is involved in and so therefore I do not believe my magazine would really benefit my magazines distribution. 

Baeur Media Group:

Baeur is a European based media company, headquartered in Hamburg and manages the portfolio of over 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations. They are much larger than Anthem Publishing, making an approximate revenue of €2.4 billion per year. They publish magazines like Kerrang!, Q, Closer, Mojo and Empire. Being the biggest, most experienced publishing company it's obvious that this company would be the most suitable for my magazine.

Time INC. (IPC):

Time Inc. formerly known as IPC (International Publishing Corporation) media are another huge publishing brand, publishing over 60 iconic brand of magazine. Whereas their main focus is lifestyle and their largest market is women, they have previously published NME (1950) and so have experience with the music magazine industry. Purely because of the fact the music magazine sector is not their only focus I feel like Nerve would benefit a lot more from working with Baeur Media Group.


In terms of distributors, I feel any shop, newsagent, bookstore that is accessible and sells other magazines would be a suitable place to sell my issue. I have also state din my research that because my magazine is available for monthly subscriptions, their monthly copy would be sent to their home address. I will be using paid circulation which is where the magazine is sold at a set per issue price or the buyer will be given the option to sign up to a monthly subscription and receive a copy through the post on a monthly basis. This is the most common and efficient method of selling and feel it is most suitable for a new music magazine.

Evaluation Question 2

2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I have spoken about how my artist is represented and how I have portrayed other artists and their social groups within my magazine using mise en scene, dialogue and images. Please click the link below to be redirected to my presentation of this answer on popplet.

Evaluation Question 1

1) In what ways does your media product, develop, use or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I will be using Prezi to answer this question. I have aimed to compare my magazine with one of a similar genre and style and focus on the presentation of my artist. I have also evaluated how I challenged codes and conventions and made my magazine unique.

Construction - Final Double Page Spread

I have not made many changes to this page other than changing the contrast on the photo. I think this matches the colour scheme a lot better. I also think adding in the plug line onto the image helped spread out additional text instead of it all being bunched on the right hand side. I did not want to add any text above the text "Nerve Exclusive" because I didn't want the page to look cluttered. Overall, I am pleased with the outcome of this page. and think it matches the other two pages.

Construction - Final Contents Page

This is my favourite page out of all three. I think the layout is clear and concise but it also holds all the necessary information the reader would require. I only made some very slight changes from my third draft as I didn't want to add anything else in as I think most of the space had been filled and I didn't want it to be overwhelming. My target audience also said they did not think any changes needed to be made.

Construction - Final Front Cover

This is my final front cover. I am really pleased with this layout. I think the main cover line stands out so much more. I haven't changed the contents page much throughout the construction stages however I think that from my preliminary task I have developed skills along the way to help me create a end product I am pleased with.

Construction -Third Draft of Double Page Spread

This is my third draft of my double page spread. Out of the three pages I have been working on this is the page I think needs to the most focus when working on my final draft. I like the layout but feel like something is missing from the page. I think I have made good use of the space and think this new image suits the house style a lot better however I might brighten the background and add some more blue tones so it matches with the blue on the right side of the page.

Construction -Third Draft of Contents Page

This is my third draft of my contents page. I think that the extra image and rearrangements of the text make good use of the space provided. I feel like this page advertises my magazine suitably whilst providing the reader with essential information. I am really pleased with both images I have included on this page and think they match the house style well. In terms of my finishing this off I do not think this needs much more work. I am going to ask my target audience and see what feedback they give.



Audience Feedback - I really like his page. I think the colours work really well together and think it looks really professional. The layout is also consistent and adding in the extra image filled the gap and added more dimension to the page.

Construction -Third Draft of Front Cover

This is the third draft of my music magazine's front cover. I think the outline of the plugs make them stand out more but also fills some of the bare space that was left in the previous drafts. I think although the kicker is simple and is not specific to the masthead it clearly states the genre of the magazine and so immediately the audience are aware of the genre within. Again, I think this adds a sense of professionalism and fills some empty space.

Audience Feedback -  I do like this page however I think the cover line needs to be changed. I think that having the plug lines highlighted is a good idea because they stand out amongst the background colours however they are what I am immediately drawn to on the page, not the main cover line. ,Maybe make it bigger or change the font to make it pop out on the page, like the masthead.

Construction - Second Draft of Double Page Spread

I think the interview on this page is realistic and is will be appealing to my target audience. The colour scheme is also matching with the front cover and contents page adding to the consistency of the house style. I want to change the image on the left hand side though because I don't think it stand out enough. I also want to add something into the top left hand corner.

Audience Feedback -
I love the right hand side of the page and think the colour scheme really works. I like the positioning of the text on the left hand side however I don't think that the image works with the colour scheme. I like the concept of having that striking image taking up the whole page but think that colours are too dull and don't really match with the house style of the rest of the magazine.

Construction - Second Draft of Contents page

I really like the new image and think the colour scheme co ordinates with the front cover a lot more, giving a consistent house style.  I also think the Facebook link and prize details make the contents page look more professional.

Audience Feedback - I like the image on this page but think that more of the space needs to be filled. I think adding in some more text and possibly another image would help fill this space. I think that the top right corner also looks a bit bare.

Construction - Second Draft of Front Cover

I wanted to focus on my contents and double page spread with the second draft and with making the house style more consistent. I prefer the text being moved up however I still think this page is missing something. I don't want to add another image to this page because I want the focus to be on the feature image. I might add a slogan or some text under the masthead and possibly change the arrangement of the main cover line. I might add something into the bottom right corner just to fill that gap too.

Audience Feedback - I really like the photo here and think the text arrangement look professional. I think there needs to be something else on the page just to fill a gap, something with some colour might make it more appealing?

Construction - First Draft of Double Page Spread

First Drafts of Double Page Spreads


This first draft is very basic and I am yet to insert the text for the interview however I really like this as a layout. I think it suits the genre of my magazine and is quite unique compared to other music magazines out there. Obviously the photo needs to be changed and the text can definitely be improved but so far I think this is a good starting point.

Above is a more ideal draft of how I want my double page spread to be layed out, I will need to take and edit a photo that fits a similar style to the photo above.

The photo in this draft is one I will definitely not be using I just used it as a template to see how the text would fit together.

Audience Feedback - I really like the style of this page, I think it is unique and matches with the house styles of the previous pages, the front cover in particular. I also like the boldness of the image and think having it take up one whole page is a good idea (I like the style of the first image).I think that the "nerve exclusive" text needs to be adjusted slightly. Maybe try to fill a bit more of the space up in the left hand corner as it looks a bit bare, perhaps adding a web or Facebook page for advertisement. :)

Construction - First Draft of Contents Page

Also using Serif PagePlusX6 I created the first draft of my contents page. As a first draft I like the colour schemes used and the layout of the subheadings and masthead. What I don't like about this page is the feature photo and caption and the layout of the bottom half, for example the editors note and the text. I think it looks quite messy. In future drafts I am definitely going to use a different photo, perhaps a lighter one so I can use plain black text without the white text box surrounding it. I also need to consider what text I am going to put in the "free inside box" and what part of the interview I am going to put in below the feature photo.

Audience Feedback - I think that the house style is good but it doesn't really match with the front cover house style and so i think adding burgundy to the front cover or adding more blue to the contents would create a more noticeable theme. I don't really think the feature photo used really reflects the fact that this is a music magazine and so a different image with a musical element would help with this. I really like the clear titles down the right hand side though as it make's it accessible for the reader and also looks quite professional.

Construction - First Draft of Front Cover

Using Serif PagePlusX6 I created the first draft of my front cover.
I am not entirely happy with it, I think the font could be adjusted however am quite pleased with the style and photo as a first draft.

Target Audience feedback:

I really like the cover photo, I think it stands out and looks professional. However I do think that the text needs rearranging and the main cover line needs to stand out so I think it would be useful if the font was changed and made larger.

Construction - Fonts

First Stage  of Construction-




As this is the early stages of drafting, I am aiming to create the basis for my magazine, initially starting with fonts and the basic layout of my front cover. I have selected my 4 favourite fonts from Serif PagePlusX6 (some of which were in my initial questionnaire). I will be asking a small group of people that fit into my target market and asking them for their opinions on the fonts featured below.

Person 1 - I really like the top left font because it looks professional and think it will suit the style of the magazine.

Person 2 - I think the 1st or 3rd font would be most suitable for an indie/indie rock magazine. I think either will look particularly effective with a plain background.

Person 3 - I like the second one the most because I think it is quite different compared to other fonts that might be on a music magazine. I think if it is enlarged it will also look quite sophisticated.

Person 4 - The 1st font is my favourite because I think it will look good with a busy or plain background and will stand out amongst any images.

I will be using the first font 'Bodoni MT Poster Compressed' it is my favourite and was most popular with my target market.

These were the possible fonts that I could use for the plugs and main cover line. I don't like the bottom font (Jagger SF) as I think it is too bold and could take attention away from other features on the page. I think the 2nd font (Bernhard BdCn BT) has a similar effect. I think the 1st (Agency FB) and 3rd (DFKai-SB) fonts are quite similar to the font of the masthead and so I think that either would be suitable. I am going to use both in my drafts to see which one I prefer.



Test Shots and Mise en Scene

Test Shots and Mise en Scene:



Because I am only at the planning stage I only wanted to experiment with different angles and lighting to begin to get a picture of what sort of image I want on my front cover. I don’t think that I will be using any of the below images as my final image, as they would need to be edited and I am not completely happy with the lighting in any of them, despite this I will be photo shopping my favourites and may possibly be using them in my drafts. In the way of mise en scene, I want the clothing of the artist to be minimalistic (like the clothing in the test shots) however I want the makeup to look quite dramatic (which I obviously didn’t focus on in the test shots). In order to ensure the focus of the cover is the artists face. I did not use any props or many different looks in my test shots and I think that having a prop such as a guitar helps to fill more of the page and establishes the magazine as a music magazine, just from sitting on the shelf. Therefore, I might add in a prop when creating my drafts and ask for audience feedback.   I also want a clear background (preferably of a light colour). The reason for this is because I want to feature image to stand out amongst the texts. I  have definitely decided that I want the my front cover story and image to be a new, upcoming female artist as not only did my market research suggest that the audience would be interested in having new artists in the magazine but because there are not many female indie/indie rock artists, leaving a gap in the market. The double page spread will be an introducing article, in the style of an interview, discussing the artists new EP.



Test Shots:

I took these photos on my iPhone. I like the fourth shot (bottom left) and the fifth shot (bottom middle) the most because I think they could be edited to make them look quite professional. However I think the lighting could be much brighter, I am looking for quite stark lighting because I think it suits the genre and style of magazine I am creating. It is possible I might use some of these shots in drafting just as a basis however I wont be using these as my final photos.

I took these photos on two different cameras (Olympus and FinePix) just to see if I could improve the overall quality. However I actually prefer the photos I originally took on my phone, I think that the below images are not suitable because they are not properly promoting my artist and do not think that enough lighting is present.

Layouts -

Front cover:

These are two very basic but possible layouts, I do not want writing covering the whole page and so at the minute I do prefer the first layout and I will most likely use it as a basis for constructing drafts, however I will construct both and a range of others when creating drafts and ask my target audience which they prefer. I really like the style of 'Clash' Magazine front covers and so I would like to make the style of my front cover similar.

Contents page:

Again these are two basic designs, however I want my contents page to be eligible and clear for the reader and not too crowded and messy, although I think this style does give off the "indie" vibe, the results from my market research show that a "sharp, clean" style would be preferred, in saying this I will be using the second style as a plan layout for my drafts.

Double page spread:

I found the double page spread much harder to plan layouts for because I think the layout will come together during the drafting stages when all the components are added together. However, I have created a couple of generic ideas for what one of my drafts could look like, I personally prefer the first idea as I think having a whole side dedicated to a photo is quite unique compared to other magazines, I also like the way it looked in "Acoustic" magazine which I analysed.

Mood Boards

Mood Board #1

I created this mood board as inspiration to what colours/themes i may want to think about when drafting and planning my magazine. The images and colours used purposely evoke the indie style. This mood board will not influence the style of my magazine Whilst some of the colours in the mood board may not be the ones I actually use in my music magazine, I think it represents the indie/indie rock genre and does provide ideas to include in my magazine.

Mood Board #2

I created another mood board of magazine covers that I liked, again to use as inspiration but also to hopefully help me in my drafting stages when I am deciding on layouts. I will not necessarily be using any of the styles featured below however I might use similar ideas for the composition of my images and texts. Clash magazine is my favourite layout and I definitely want to use a similar, minimalistic style in the drafting of my magazine covers. I think having a vibrant background and having quite a bland feature photo (or vice versa) contrasts well to create quite a sophisticated look.

Planning of Fonts and Magazine Title

I created a Prezi about the title of my magazine and possible fonts I could use within my magazine.

Click the link below to view it.



Fonts and magazine title

 

Planning of Colour Schemes

I created an Emaze presentation about my first stage of planning, about the colour schemes I will be using in my music magazines.


Click the link below to view it.


Emaze Presentation - Colour Schemes

Secondary Research

Secondary Research-



Using mainly the internet and sources like The Guardian and existing presentations on sites like Prezi, I conducted some research into already existing music magazines in order to help me gain a better idea of the industry, as well as this I think that the data I gathered will come in useful when planning.



I first looked at prices of magazines on the whole to give myself an idea of where music magazines sit in comparison to other magazines.



Prices-

I went to the website Statista which gathers statistics from over 18,000 sources, providing relatively reliable information.

Compared to 13 other magazine types, music magazines appear to be in the top sector of the price range. With the average price for a (rock) magazine being £3.66 I should be considering competitive pricing strategies, as well as my questionnaire findings. This is for a music magazine about the rock genre, and rock is much more popular than indie/indie rock and so I should think about the prices of other indie magazines as well.



Product Placement-

Some of the magazines I have looked at like Clash and NME are independent magazines and so they actually publish and platform themselves. Other publishers I have found include Anthem Publishing, who cover two principle markets: Music and Food. They are Britain’s fasting growing publishing company by copy sale revenue, their key brand MusicTech has the UK’s largest multi-platform audience. Bauer Media Group are another publishing company however are much larger than Anthem Publishing, making an approximate revenue of €2.4 billion per year. They publish magazines like Kerrang!, Q, Closer, Mojo and Empire. Time Inc. formerly known as IPC (International Publishing Corporation) media are another huge publishing brand, publishing over 60 iconic brand of magazine. Whereas their main focus is lifestyle and their largest market is women, they have previously published NME (1950). This company has experience with the publishing of music magazines and with their main focus being lifestyle and home, there would be little competition between other music magazines being published by Time Inc.



Distribution-

I did some research into where magazines are distributed. Magazines are highly accessible and can be bought via email and can be downloaded online. However they are also sold in the usual places like supermarkets, newsagents, bookstores and stationery stores. Accessibility is important in order to ensure that the product is reaching a large as audience as possible. I looked at the 3 main categories of distribution: paid circulation, non-paid circulation and controlled circulation. Paid circulation is where the magazine would be sold at a set per issue price or the buyer will be given the option to sign up to a monthly subscription and receive a copy through the post on a monthly basis. This is probably the most common and efficient method of distribution for both the institution and audience. Non - paid circulation means that issues are given away for free (Rewind magazine is given away in Camden/Covent Garden), although this would be good for advertisement and the placing of my magazine, no profit will be made. Controlled circulation also involves giving away the magazine but is usually determined by a survey and is distributed only to qualifying readers. I will be giving audiences the option to either purchase the issue individually or to sign up to a subscription where they will receive a copy each month through the post. Although I believe accessibility is important, the magazine will not be available online because it is new in the market and I don’t think it is necessary for the type of magazine.



Popularity-

The Guardian provided this list of the top 10 music magazines. (UK only) Despite being relatively old results (2006) after looking at other website, the general trend that the rock genre is dominating is still the same. The data underneath each brand shows the increase or decrease in the circulation of that magazine between January and June 2006. This data has come in useful when coming to the decision of what genre I wanted my magazine to be. Firstly, with rock dominating, there is a gap in the market for the indie/indie rock genre. Q magazine is published by Bauer Media Group do not specialise in a specific genre, they just focus on famous artists. More recent research (July-Dec 2013) has shown that Q’s circulation had massively decreased 52,781, however this is due to not only the fall in music magazine sales in general but because Q tend to focus on the popularity of bands and artists rather their music and a specific genre.