EvaluationWho? What? When? Where? Why? How?

Finished Product- Base Magazine

Conventions Of Real Media Products

My magazine has many forms of conventions that are noticeable in other types of Print media. In terms of using features that other magazines have, this consists of things suchAs; page numbers, barcode, issue, date, large logo, other main articles presented andA key photograph of an idealistic character that people may aspire to be. This thenAppeals to my target audience as I use a character who is easily recognised with a Headline article and this will make them want to buy it. My front page uses a lot of other magazine conventions as it consists of one main Picture, large logo, one main article and all side articles. In terms of lexis, my magazineAlso follows these conventions. The lexis must link to my magazine genre as well As the stereotypes of any magazine. For example “exclusive” is a keyword that A lot of magazines use to make their own magazine stand out from others as thatStory or picture is only accessible in their magazine. My contents has its own Idiosyncratic style in terms of font. The layout of the font is fairly original and willBe featured in every contents so it will become a feature that is recognised by allReaders. My contents also challenges the conventions of other products as the contentsIs supposed to inform the reader to what is featured in the magazine, but my contentsStill has emphasis on the key character as I have a large photo of the artist and theInformation below. My double page spread also follows this layout, as the photo coversThe majority of both of the pages.

Highlighting Conventions In My Product

BOLD ICONIC LOGO:Magazine title stands Behind the person to Put the emphasis onTupac. The logo is boldAnd black to enhance theColours from the backgroundAs well as making it stand out. Colour black has connotations of death and nothingness, in this case can be linked to main article and the idea of insanity. The picture of the performer

matches the key idea of the main article as being crazy as he's in a stray jacket. Colour white of the stray jacket is iconic and is easily recognised. The connotations of white juxtapose this costume as white has connotations of peace and angelic ideologies.

PUN; pun is used to add a sense of humour. E.g “h-oops” when linking to basketball player Shaquille O'Neal. Target audience is represented here as the main story is about hip hop legend and a sub story of sport.

Red has connotations such as Blood, death, stop and pain. ThisMay be linked to the stereotypes of Hip hop. Also at this present timeWhen the picture was taken, east coastAnd west coast were at a musical culture war with 2 rappers fighting each other. (biggie, 2pac)

Low key lighting on thePerformers face but theStray jacket is illuminatedAlmost as a technique of Anchorage to link to mainArticle.

Image takes up large spaceDue to Tupac being such an Iconic figure. Little amount of writing.It attracts the target audience to pick the magazine up.

Common layout, consumerKnows where to look forMagazine logo. Logo stands outAnd attracts reader.

“Is tupac crazy?” bold and bigger fontThat “…jus misunderstood” attracts readerTo pick up the magazine, represents himAs crazy.

Another iconic figure stands above the logo/titleSo that it is easily noticed.

Only two other articles on front cover,Puts emphasis on tupac and represents target audienceAs both other articles are to do with sport. Target audienceSeems to be predominately young and male.

The font is idiosyncratic and is part of their“house style”, this gives them their ownpersonal look to the magazine. It is also very appealing and is used to attract the magazines target audience.

Small logo, insists that the idiosyncratic styleof the “contents” is so personal to their magazine that the consumer will already knowwhat product they are reading.

The “rappers” jewellery has many representations, the chain itselfinsists wealth associated with the music industry. The chain medallion also represents a stereotype of Hip Hop genre. Themedallion its self is a person encrusted with diamonds, but theperson has a balaclava on which is a military accessory. Thislinks with the stereotype of Hip Hop as being violent, animalistic and tohave a big influence and correlation with crime. The balaclava also insists that the rapper has a new identity and that he is trying to hide something.Also he is showing his gold teeth that has connotations of savagery and animalistic features.

The picture of the rapper is in the centre of thepage to put emphasis on the artist. May insistthat the magazine is exclusive for having a picture of that particular artist or it may insist thatthere is an article about him.

The tattoos have mixedrepresentations. Some tattoosare perceived as being lower classbut this is juxtaposed by the artistswealth and tax bracket. Due to hismoney he is socially classed in the AB rank. It also gives the artist hisown identity and gives him a senseof individualism.

Typical layout of acontents page, shows all articles listed on the sideand the page number.

Big “V” in the background to show thebrand of the magazine

Has typical conventions of a magazinehas designer and page number down the bottom.

Red background hasconnotations of death and blood which mayalso represent a stereotype of the Hip Hop genre.

Social Groups-Target Audience

Although Hip Hop artists are commonly associated with crime, they are ranked in the A social status due to their high income. I have targeted ABC1 in which I am able to reach most “classes” of society. My artist follows these social groups in terms of props and appearance as he is wearing a gas mask and bullet proof jacket Along with “bling”. This follows the stereotypes and conventions of the genre as well asThe social groups. Also in terms of lexis, “Militant” is used on my front cover whichFollows these stereotypes and the explicit lyrics that Hip Hop artists portray in Contemporary Hip Hop. This appeals to my target audience as it portrays my artist to be“tough” and “ruthless”. In a small picture featured on my double page spread of my artist Standing against a brick wall, this has connotations of my artist being “street wise” and bricks denote being strong and have a hard structure which may link to my artist. The Gas mask and bullet proof jacket is an idiosyncratic feature of my artist and follows the Representation of the “Militant” article title. “Kartel” is also linked with gangs and smallBusinesses which furthers the stereotype of Hip Hop being crime driven.

Most people say that the Hip Hop industry targets predominantly teenaged males in which I followed their opinion, due to the stereotyped “immaturity” and “anti-social” behavior of teenagers I think that is why they are attracted to the genre as it is commonly linked with crime, guns, cars and women of which boys are commonly stereotyped to like

i believe that it is important to identify my target audience in which then i can use to decide for my target audience for my own magazine. Graeme Burton identifies the difference between socially grouped audience via age, gender, social status, race, location etc. This is his first classification. His second consists of grouping media audiences via relationship with media for example film goers, games console players, consistent magazine buyers etc. He uses both of these ideas to identify his audience and enable him to determine a target audience for that type of media.

I have used Graeme Burtons theory to help me identify my audience and help me determine what my target audience is for my Hip Hop magazine. I can base the identfication socially or relationship with the media in which is the 2 ideoligies Burton promotes. I then follow generic conventions of this type of magazine and use stereotypes to enable me to reach my target audience. For example i will research VIBE magazine as this is the contemporary Hip Hop magazine, i will look at their target audience and from that i will then identify my target audience and then begin planning to be able to reach this target audience.

Hartley further identifies the importance of:• self: audiences can be grouped by their aspirations, etc. for example, if you target ambitious people (musicians?), you can offer a motive such as performance enhancement.• nation: the country a group comes from and its style. Most western societies (e.g. Britain, America, France) follow common ideals, such as work hard to achieve your aims. Cultural Imperialism refers to the influence of American Media values on the world, e.g. Hip Hop=Big Chains and Crime are the common semantic field. Other cultures follow different values. I will be using contemporary western values.

My magazine will need the use of both categories for me to determine the identity of my target audience. For example i will identify the difference between socially grouped audiences;age- 16-24gender-MaleRace-Mixed (all ethnicities)Household Income-£14k($)/£40k($)Location- America/EnglandSocial Status Classification-ABC1I based my identification of audiences through the audiences relationship with the media. Due to the technological advancement of Web2.0 I wanted to adapt my magazine and promote a multi platform magazine. As print is in decline i should consider promoting an internet site on my magazine cover. I will have to look at the relationship between consumers using the internet to gain their contemporary music knowledge and their relationship with buying the magazines to get the knowledge. I will also have to look at the stereotypes and the conventions of the Hip Hop music genre.

Target Audience And How I Chose It

Most Attractive?

✔VSWhen identifying my target audience, many found that the one with the Article linking to the artist/photograph was more effective in terms ofAttracting the target audience and wanting to buy it. Therefore I used thisConcept and linked my main article to my main picture…My picture “my artist” in a gas mask and bullet proof vest with an expensive“bling” watch, of which fit the stereotypes of my genre which is Hip Hop.The main article is “militant mentality” which then links to the photo as wellAs the stereotypes of crime, guns and ruthlessness.

What Attracts You To A Magazine? What Price?

This was another chart that determined the outcome of my magazine.This survey showed that the majority of people were more attracted toThe colour and image more than anything else. This is why I putEmphasis on these 2 features. The colour acted as a sense of achorageAs it linked the key article to the picture. This also helped to introduceMy own idiosyncratic style making my magazine more appealing thereforeAttracting my target audience and making it more “buyable”.

Distribution Of My Magazine

As I want my magazine to be a multi-format product, I will target 2 distributor's;1 for an online “emagazine” and the other for my print magazine.I want my magazine to be adapt to the technological advancement of Web2.0As print media is in decline. This means that my magazine can be accessibleAnywhere through the use of the internet. This will need a slightly different designTo fit the online typical conventions such as interactivity features. I also want an international distributor to distribute my print type magazine, I want itTo be international so that it can gain popularity, profit but also represent theContemporary music genre of Hip Hop.

1. In terms of distribution I will use COMAG who are the worlds largest magazineDistributor. They are jointly owned by NATMAG and CONDE NAST. NATMAGIs owned by Heart Corporation. I chose this distributor as they are trust worthy,Popular, well known, and distribute many magazine world wide. They don’t haveMany music magazine distributions, and none of the Hip Hop genre, so I thinkThis will create a symbiotic relation as they reach a wider audience, as well as Myself benefitting by getting my magazine distributed world wide by a well knownPrestigious magazine distributor.2. Another distributor I would like to use is DENNIS. This is for one specific reason.I want my magazine to also adapt to the technological advancement of web2.0.So I want my magazine to be multi modal and not just have a print format. DENNISCurrently distribute a daily “emag” called “monkey” this is rising popularity and has a targetAudience of 18-24 which is around my region. DENNIS is a relatively small company but hasA lot of potential, so I think this would benefit us both

Technology I Have Used

Cameras, editing software, computers, mac’s, lighting equipment, props

Throughout the media AS course I have used many different technologies toHelp make my work the best it can be to my ability. I have used high mega-pixelCameras for the best focus and better picture quality.editing software such as Adobe Photoshop Elements as well asComputers and mac’s to help me to edit these images to give it a sleek Professional look. I also used lighting equipment to create a sense of chiascuro Lighting and give the images a better, professional effect. In terms of props I needed to use props that fit the conventionsand stereotypes of my music genre. For example it has stereotypes of crime, Guns, money, “bling” women etc. So I focused on the “crime, guns and money”.Above is an example of how I developed skills to be able to edit images on Editing software. I used Adobe Photoshop Elements to do this.

Retrospective-Preliminary To Main Product

These are 2 very basic productionsRepresenting the typical conventionsYou would see in a magazine in termsOf layout, photos, structure, articles,Font etc.

I had a very basic knowledge of editingSoftware and this is what I could produce.

Throughout the production I improved on my basic skills, learning how to editAnd manipulate images to fit your genre or ideologies of the magazine. For exampleOn my final front cover, I edited my “artist” to have a plain black background and I darkened the gas mask to get a more “malevolent” effect as well as brighteningAnd sharpening the colours on his watch and bullet proof vest. This was toEmphasize the stereotypes that fit the genre and to juxtapose the colours givingAn effect.. I also learnt “basic rules” to creating a magazine, for example not toUse too many different fonts, conflicting “kid-like” colours. Also to link the articlesTo the image to give a professional representation.

In my final piece I have used more bold, bright, and larger fonts to introduceThe key articles in my magazine. This is used to help attract the target audienceAs well as give the product a professional look. All of the colours I have used link to something else in the magazine to give itA professional appearance. For example the “Militant mentality” article links to theLogo of the magazine to show that it is only exclusive to this magazine aswell asHaving pragmatics of blood and death which links to the Hip Hop stereotypes.The colours also link the what the artist is wearing putting emphasis on the photo.In terms of layout they both have the same conventions of a layout and look fairly The same. I wanted to have my own idiosyncratic style in terms of layout. This isEasily noticeable on my contents page. But on my front cover I wanted my artistTo be the emphasis, and from that I can attract my target audience.

Thank You