Media Coursework Evaluation

By Jake Thorne
 Planning
 To start my Music magazine product, I first needed to do some research and
planning. To start off I had no idea on how to use the Apple Mac software or
Photoshop, so I had to in fact try and teach myself how to use these programs
before I started work on my final project.
 First off all I had to research two Music magazines, for these I chose issue 120
of Big Cheese with HIM on the front that can be seen on the right. This front
cover covers nearly all the convention for a Music magazine: It hat a bold eye
catching anchor title that draws the reader in, and also has hidden
connotations as its called big cheese that portrays the view that it is a big time
magazine its the top one but it also is a funky, different name that could appeal
to a lot of people. Also the Band him are a well known, popular band among
younger people who this magazine is aimed at
(14-25 year olds),. The way the main picture for the main article is positions –
slightly overlapping the title suggest that this is going to be a big important
article about this big band, which links in with the title BIG cheese, so by
having a big picture, you may not need such a clear title, as this is a popular
magazine then people will buy it whether they can see the title or not.
Forms & Conventions
 My media product follow the conventions of a hip-hop and music
magazines and develops them by using a dark black background, with
three contrasting font colours that stand out on this background and
grab the customers/readers attention (red, yellow & white). I also have
a large main image of a model posing as a rapper, the model is posing
in a conventional gangsta/rapper pose – leaning up against a wall with
one leg bent wearing a baseball cap and making a gang sign, after look
at other magazine such a XXL and Vibe I saw this was a convention to
have a rapper posing like this, so to follow this and develop it further I
thought I would have my model making a gang sign that read ‘BLOOD’
indicating he is a member of the Blood ‘gang’.
Props
 The model on the front of my music magazine,
that was posing as a rap artist was wearing props to
make him look like a proper rap star. The props he
was wearing include: Baseball caps, chains, rings,
white vest, baggy jeans. These props are heavily
associated with the hip-hop genre and most artist
wear these items and rap about them. After finding
this out I decided that my model was going to wear
these props when taking the photos for the main
image of my music magazine to make my main
image look like one off of a conventional hip-hop
music magazine. As can be seen below, in these
copies of XXL the Rappers are wearing chains,
jewellery, baggy jeans, baseball caps etc.
Masthead
The mast head I have chosen for my rap magazine is
powerful, bold and contrasting to other rap
magazines, and also to the background I have chosen.
The font I chose was Stencil STD which is a big, bold
font that stand out and I chose it in a light red colour
so it is really bold and eye catching and stands out
from the background, anchoring readers and
customers attention. Because this font is in bold and
capitals, it connotes strength and power, two
conventions of the rap music genre so I thought it wise
to have this font to follow these conventions, it also
makes my typography appropriate for a magazine
following the hip-hop genre.
Colours
In most hip-hop magazines it is conventional to use
three main colours. Conventionally in hip-hop
magazines the colours used will be dark, heavy
masculine colours, that connote power and strength.
The reason for this is because this hip-hop genre is
dominated by males. Because of this I have also
chosen to use three colours (red, yellow/white &
black) these colours are often associated with the male
gender, and as I have black as my back ground the
other colours look good on top of the black as there
are lighter, it makes the text easier to read.
Puffs
 Puffs are conventionally used in all magazines, but only in some hip-
hop magazines. They are commonly used to make the hip-hop
magazine seem better than and stand out from its competition. In one
issue of October 2007 VIBE, a puff on the front cover says ‘MEGA
MUSIC Issue!’ this adds to the brand identity and has become a
conventional aspects of the hip-hop magazine genre , this is because of
increased competition in this industry. For my magazine I sued puffs
and teasers like: ‘HIP-HOP CHARTS RE-VAMPED!’ and ‘WIN
TICKETS TO ICE CUBE LIVE!’ I chose these because, I know as a rap
music fan that the normal charts have barely nay hip-hop in them so I
thought re-vamping the charts and making a new hip-hop chart would
appeal to hip-hop/rap fans and also Ice Cube is one of raps biggest stars
so being able to win tickets to see him live would appeal to all rap fans.
So this would certainly attract my target audience and please them.
Floating Quote
Floating quotes are not normally a convention of hip-hop magazines
but, when I thought up a motto for my magazine (real hip-hop is
real estate) I thought that this would make a very good floating
quote as this would make my artist seem confident and strong
(linking to the stereotypes of rap & hip-hop). My artist is already
posing in a confident pose and looking strong, so to justify this pose
with words I thought the floating quote would be perfect. To enforce
the sense of dominance and power further, I chose to have this
floating quote in red which conveys, power, anger and supremacy,
whilst still matching with the front covers colour scheme. Also I
placed a floating quote on my double page spread (‘I will never be
bought out!’), this is a convention of hip-hop magazines so with this
part I am keeping to the convention of the genre and not breaking it
too much.
Price & barcode
After much discussion with my focus group, the price that most
were happy to pay was £3. so when adding the finishing touches
to my front cover, I took a picture of a barcode, and edited out
the background around it and added that onto my front cover,
then added a small text box with the price in it. Conventionally
all magazines must have a barcode, & price so I had to include
these, and again it is a common convention that these are found
in the bottom right hand corner, so this is where I placed them,
keeping to the conventions. Another convention that is
included in all magazines, not just hip-hop ones is an issue
number and date, so I added these, on the right hand side
beneath the title logo, this is where they are normally found on
magazines.
Contents page
With the contents page I kept it within the same
colour scheme as the front cover (black background)
but I also added a gradient colour of dark red as this
connotes power again. On one side of my contents
page are the pages numbers and the related articles
that can be found on these pages, and on the other
side and some puffs and cover line, this is not a
convention but I thought it would be wise to have
them to keep the readers interest throughout the
magazine. I also wrote and editors note which is a
convention in all magazines.
Conclusion
To conclude I think that once I got going this task
went fairly smoothly, although I did have a few
problems at first with learning how to use Photoshop
and the Apple software. If I were to do this task again,
I would ask my teachers more questions and get
clarified what was required of me sooner, as I sought
help a bit late with this task.