Moderator's note

Dear Moderator,
I hope you enjoy looking through my AS media coursework as I put a lot of hard work into it.  I created a front page, contents page and a double page spread of an indie music magazine as this is a genre I am passionate about.   The target audience for my magazine was teenagers and young adults as they seem to be more interested in this genre than other age categories. 
I really enjoyed this project as it gave me an insight into the media industry, specially the music magazine business and what it is like adapting a product to cater to a specific target market. 
I used many different mediums to display my evaluation questions and have split up my blog into sections by using labels making it easier for you to navigate. 
Yours Sincerely,
Hollie Dyes Shepherd
Edgbarrow School
Candidate number: 0104
Centre number: 51111

Question 7

Question 2

Question 1

Double Page Spread

Contents Page Final draft

Front Cover Final draft

Question 3

Question 6

Question 4 & 5

Contents Page draft 4

Double Page spread 4th draft

Photos used throughout magazine

All of the photos I have used throughout my magazine I have taken myself either from planning photo shoots or going to gigs and taking pictures either from the crowd or more recently as a photographer. By using pictures of real musicians that fit the genre of my magazine, I feel as though it makes the magazine seem more professional. 

Double Page spread draft 2

Double Page Spread 3rd draft

Contents Page first draft

Contents page 3rd draft

Front cover draft 1

Front cover 3rd draft

Evalution questions ways of presenting

Evaluation

1.  In what ways does your music magazine use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real music magazines?
   I will present this question on the blog by having the different pages in my magazine annotated and next to existing music magazines of the same genre as my own to show the examiner that I have adopted some of the conventions and applied them to my own product so that it looks more professional and appeals to my target audience.
2. How does your music magazine represent social groups?
   Stereotyping or not?
   For this question I will use Google docs and have a PowerPoint on what stereotypes are and then have stereotypes that are relevant to music magazines (e.g. genres like indie, rock, rap) and which ones I might have used (most likely indie). 
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your music magazine and why?
   For this question I am going to use Prezi as it’s good for presenting ideas clearly and the structure of it flows well.
   I will link it back to my research I did on media institutions and say which ones I would use based on which ones similar music magazines use and whether or not it works well and if they are promoted enough using the institutions that they do. 
4. Who would be the audience for your music magazine? COMIBINE 4 & 5
   Show a survey or feedback and data of people who like magazines of the same genre (go back to research information) and present it on animoto including screenshots of surveys or feedback from potential customers.   
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
   Show a mock up of a social media page e.g. Twitter and other ways I will promote my magazine in the places where my target audience would look. 
   Interview someone who is interested in buying my magazine.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
   Not what technologies you used but how successful and useful they were to what you were using them for e.g. blogger, prezi, serif
    For this question I will present it as a video and upload it to vimeo
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product.   
   I will present this in a similar way to question 1 by having my prelim task annotated and next to my final draft of the music magazine to show the conventions I used and where I went wrong during the prelim task. 

Ways to present it- prezi, videos, social media, windows media, animoto, popplet, padlet  

Dolby

Hollie- making good progress here. The main areas to work on is the layout and codes for the contents and double page as the contents looks a little basic and the DPS has no columns which is key.

Progess update

Today I have thought about what I am going to write about on my double page spread and how I may have to change the layout so that I'm able to have more text. 
I have decided that I am going to write an interview as opposed to an article about the artist as I think this will be more interesting for the audience to read. 

Front cover draft 2

Double Page spread draft 1

Contents Page draft 2

Dolby

Hollie, research into target audience is really important. Think creatively about how you can profile and attract your audience- you can interview and profile them. Look at existing data and graphs to help understand bot who your audience is and how you can market and distribute your magazine.

Product Placement and Audience

My own product placement

This research has helped me to decide a number of things about my magazine.   Mainly how I will distribute my product to the consumer and who my target audience is going to be and how I will market it to them. 

I have decided to sell my product in indie record shops and in UK venues and train stations.  By not selling my magazine in supermarkets I will not be targeting at the masses, just a niche market. 

I will also create a website and an app where you can buy and read copies of the magazine instead of buying hard copies.  The website and app will have up to date news about what is going on in the music industry and will have exclusive interviews and videos of artists that people who have signed up for notifications can access.  

On the website and app, you will be able to sign up for an annual subscription of either hard or digital copies for a cheaper price than it would be to buy a year’s worth of magazines individually. 

To publish the magazine, I will use Bauer Media as lots of widely read magazines use it and it has proved successful so hopefully it would work as well for me.   

 

Audience

The target audience I have chosen, Bauer Media refers to as ‘The Millennials’ ranging from ages 16-34.

My target market is going to be people who listen to indie music who are teenagers to young adults.  This means that I will be able to market a lot on the internet which has been improved with Web 2.0 as communicating with people has been made simpler.  The younger end of the age bracket I am targeting has been online for the majority of their lives and has grown up around fast changing technology so this is the place that they will be more susceptible to my marketing. 

Bauer media has shown me through their research that many of the Millennials like to see and read about the lives of other people through outlets such as social media- (this is why we will make our magazine accessible online) but also that they like to go out and experience things themselves- (this is why I will have competitions to win tickets to concerts and festivals as it will attract the right audience for my magazine).

 

 

 

Design

Magazine analysis

Product Placement

Magazine	Where is it distributed?	What publisher do they use?	Who are their main competitors?	How much is it?	Can you get online copies of it?	What market do they target?
NME	Record shops, train stations, universities	Time IncUK	Q, DIY, Notion	Free physical copy or an annual subscription for £35 (51 issues)	Yes F.O.C	Teenagers, young adults- indie, rock
Uncut	Supermarkets	Time IncUK	Rolling Stone, Q	Digital copies Annual subscription for £37.49 (12 issues)	Yes	Older generations- rock
Rolling Stone	Supermarkets, train stations, WH Smiths	Jann Wenner	Uncut	2 Years: 52 issues + 4 FREE (56 total) for $39.95 1  year: 26 issues + 4 FREE (30 total) for $29.95	Yes	Everyone
Mojo	Supermarkets	Bauer Consumer Media Ltd	NME, Uncut	Annual subscription (12 issues) £43.00	Yes	Teenagers, adults
DIY	Doc Martin stores, indie record shops, UK Venues, clubs		NME, Mojo, Q	£3 per issue or annual subscription (12 issues) for £25	Yes F.O.C	Teenagers, indie
Notion	Online in the UK	NOTION London LTD	NME, DIY,	£1.50 per issue	Yes	Teenagers

evaluation

Prelim Task evaluation

 

1. Did you plan your magazine? If not, what have you learnt about the importance of research and planning?

I didn’t plan my prelim task because I didn’t think it played as important part as it does when it comes to creating a new product for the market.  I have now realised that research needs to be in depth if you want to have a successful product that fits the gap in the market.  You must look at what is already out there and what has worked at making the biggest magazines popular as well as working out where the gaps are for a new product to fit in. 

You must plan your magazine so that it will appeal to your target audience and sell as many copies as you can.  This includes planning your content, colour scheme and your marketing techniques.  You will also need to create a front cover that will be eye- catching to people in your target audience which will include getting a topical cover star and having pugs that will draw in the readers. 

 

 

2. What technology did you use to complete the task and how did you use it?

I used my phone camera to take pictures to be used on the front cover.  I then put the whole magazine cover and contents page together on Serif PagePlus X6 as it is an easy to use and professional-looking software.  I tried to use as many tools as I could, such as the warp tool, the cropping tool, different fonts to fit the image I wanted to create.  I then changed the colour scheme and background to the school colours so people would easily be able recognise what the magazine was about.  If I needed to edit the picture I used on the front cover more I would have used Serif PhotoPlus as this is also easy to use and helps to transform the images into professional looking ones. 

 

 

3. Did you encounter any difficulties? If so, what were they and how did you overcome them?

I found it difficult to fill the space on the front cover without making it look over-crowded.  To solve this problem I looked at other magazines front covers to see what the layout was like and tried to replicate this with my own.   I also found it hard to have the same colour scheme running through the pages as I kept forgetting the exact colour shade.  To overcome this problem I used the colour picking tool so I could choose colours from places I had already used them and change the colour of a new shape. 

Another problem I encountered was trying to make the contents page look interesting and eye-catching without making it look unprofessional and too much like a poster.  To overcome this I made sure the colour scheme was the same as the colour scheme on the front. 

 

 

 

4. How successful was your magazine? Please identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?

I think the colour scheme worked well as it replicates the school’s colours so it can be easily identified as the school’s magazine. It also creates a professional image because the colours work well together and aren’t too bright.

If I was to do it again I would have the image portrait as it makes it easier to work around the picture and play with the space as there is not many options for a landscape image apart from in the centre of the page.  It would also leave room for another small picture somewhere else on the page without it looking over-crowded. 

 

 

5. What have you learnt from completing this task? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework, do you think?

I think this prelim task will help me to complete the rest of my foundation coursework as it has given me experience and shown me what I will need to improve on if I want the magazine to look professional and appeal to my target audience.  

I will definitely need to do more research and planning for the rest of my coursework so I can see what my target market is interested in so I can adapt it for them so I can become more successful.  To get the audiences’ opinions I will create questionnaires and asks for what they would be interested in, not just make it how I want it to be.

I would edit the photos I used more so that they look more professional and eye-catching.  

 

contents page

front cover