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?