When I started to create my magazine, I firstly had
to think about how I was going to make it appeal to the audience of the genre I
had chosen as no magazine can continue into production without sales. I used
similar product research to give me a better idea about the typical conventions
of Hip-Hop music magazines and their success. Once I felt I had gathered enough
knowledge I began to create my own magazine with a target audience of people
between the ages of 16-30 of both genders, but mainly males.
The most important characteristic of any magazine is
to establish how you can differentiate yours from others, either competing
against its typical conventions or going with them. I mainly wanted to make my
music magazine stand out on a shelf, however I did take careful consideration
of the Hip-Hop genre’s typical codes and conventions too so that my magazine
didn’t seem too different, therefore looking unprofessional and strange.
Firstly, on my front cover I created a red, bold masthead to make it look
strong, rugged and basic in order to reflect the common connotations of a
masthead but also to establish a brand font and image that would be commonly
recognised within my magazine. Also, for magazines that have an adult target
audience, the colour red is commonly used as it holds connotations of power and
danger as the other Hip- Hop magazine competitors will be scared of our
magazine just as some artists are when the spray a particular rhyme in a
certain verse and this is what keeps rap alive, competition. My model is not
wearing any fancy jewellery or equipment. This connects with the audience as
they know that Alysha Hackett is just like them. The model is holding direct
eye contact with the camera lense which is very common of music magazines as
they believe it creates a personal equality connection between the artist and
the reader. The facial expression also reflects the characteristics of the
artist and implies that they are rebellious and daring. This is appealing to
the audience and therefore lures them into reading it as they want to discover
the story behind the facial expression. Also, the image of my model is a
mid-shot which is very conventional for a Hip-Hop magazine as most producers
decide that mid-shots look best on front covers because it gives the model to
show off their cool clothes and fancy bling. I did decide to follow this
convention by doing so. I then selected the colours of red, black and white
because red holds connotations of energy, power and determination while also
being linked with passion, desire and love, suggesting that my magazine is
different, going against typical conventions of Hip-Hop magazines, white being
youthful, innocent and sophisticated, and black holding connotations of
darkness and maturity. I have seen the colours black and red be used in Hip-Hop
magazines before so typically this is quite conventional. Furthermore, it holds
the conventions of creating a relationship with the reader as when they see
these colours they instantly know that it is my magazine. My magazine also
holds the typical conventions of having a banner at the top and bottom of the
page which will prompt the audience to view our social networking sites which I
will go into more detail later in this evaluation.
Finally, the double page spreads which I have used
to conform to the house colours which I have earlier discussed in order to
create a brand image and reinforce the relationship with the audience.
Furthermore, on the first page I used this as an introductory page which is
very conventional of aHip/Hop magazine as it briefs and introduces the reader
to the article about to be presented. I also created a quirky grid of different
close up shots of my model making ‘silly’ faces and poses. Usually, Hip-Hop
models are quite posed and serious, but my model goes against this convention
in these facial shots, presenting a completely different fun side of the
Hip-Hop genre, while still being able to make the best verses in the industry.The
language used within the main article is what you would normally expect from a
Hip/Hop magazine. It is a tale of the artist life talking about her dark
journey to get her to the top.
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