Images

These are some random photos that I took a long time ago and I thought that its also suitable and useful for my music magazine.

I like this photo because it links to a type of Hip Hop where they usually do "B-Boy" dance as well.

These photos were taken on November 27 2010

These two photos can be considered as posters for my magazine.

I like the way that there are buildings shown behind him which relates to the type of urban atmosphere.

These photos were taken on November 28 2010

I like these two photos and i might consider using them for my Contents page.

The use of the buildings and cars in the background adds to the urban effect. And the way that the door behind the model has a touch of grafitti on it which adds to the Hip Hop culture.

I particularly picked this model because he currently owns 14 pairs of shoes that links to a type of Hip Hop clothing.

These are the shoes that he used during the photoshoot.

These shoes can be used for advertising as some readers likes to copy what the models are wearing.

The location is in Birmingham although the reader wouldnt notice this. There is no special props used but the costume is well thought out as the model is wearing high-top shoes which is very Hip Hop like.

These photos are taken from London 02 Arena.

I think that this can be applied on my magazine probably at the Front Cover or Contents page. Readers who usually goes to a concert would automatically know where this is. This could then capture them and would be eager to know who was performing at the Arena.  

These photos are taken on the 7th December 2010.

These photos were taken in Northfield town as we wait for the bus to come.

I like this picture because of the way that the background is in a different proportion.

These photos were taken inside my school.

I do not like these two photos because I do not like the way that the model is not looking to the camera. Also, the camera is already set on black and white which I believe that the colour is too dark.

These photos were taken on the 8th December 2010.

These were actually taken outside our school on the playground.

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These are some images that I could use for my magazine.

As you can see, I already experimented with some of the photos by setting the camera to be in black and white to add a classic touch to it.  

I barely used props during the photoshoot as I only want to focus on the location. I did not organise the photoshoot in the studio as I took the photos outside; to add life on the magazine.

The costume for my model is set to me in an R&B/HipHop style so that the magazine is obvious for the readers. As it is a December/January issue, his costume will be in winter fashion.

I might use the one with the buses on the background to add a touch of urban into it; and also my model's position is just right for a front cover. (see asterisk)

For the double page spread the photo that i might use is this one:

I really like this one because its daring and it reinforces to the theme of my magazine. I might consider editting this photo because i think that the colour is too plain.

My Music Magazine Logo - URBAN BEAT

 this is my first attempt of making the masthead.

I changed the colour in this one to show that the masthead colour can change depending on what the model is wearing to fit in with the house style.

I decided to change the BEAT style by adding some squares on top of the word. I like this idea because it looks like a equaliser which links to the music theme. Also, it looks like a building linking to an urban-like.

I did this masthead by using Paint and on a website called http://www.picnik.com/

I find this website to be very useful because it provides a variety of texts which is very useful in my design. The text that I used are: 'based 02', 'extravaganza' and 'you are loved' 

This would be my final masthead idea.



Vibe magazine Analysis

An example of an R&B/Hip Hop front magazine would look like this:

VIBE is an example of an R&B/Hip Hop magazine. I really like this front cover because of the house style. The use of colour is simple yet sophisticated. I could adopt this technique on my magazine.

The masthead is very bold and the colour contrasts to the grey. The cover line on the left "'AIN'T NO SUCH...SNITCH'", defines the simple red and black house style by making the apostrophe black and red for text. The puffs used are very clear and the the style font is in bold so that it can be easily seen by the readers. They placed their website on the bottom right hand corner of the magazine to give more information to the readers. The close up image defines the model's features which gives a harsh urban feel which also emphasises it as the model gives the reader a direct eye contact. The use of monochrome image helps the layout to be attractive and eye catching. In this case, they made the masthead red as it is eye catching for everyones eyes. As you can see, they did not placed the barcode on the front page, maybe they are suggesting that it is not very important so that it does not ruin the picture. The model is not wearing a typical Hip Hop clothing which subverts stereotype of rappers. They could have place the barcode inside the magazine or at the back. I could consider not placing any barcode aswell.  

 This is an example of an R&B/Hip Hop Contents Page magazine:

The contents page is very simple and clear as they placed the text on one side only. As you can see the letter "V" which stand for VIBE is placed behind the contents title so that the page can still be recognise by the reader. The use of typography for the title CONTENTS is very sophisticated as it is in block capital letters, it is also in black which draws attention to the page. I believe that they use this fragmented style throughout every issue in their magazines. The model gives a natural, ghetto which provides an urban feel. A random woman hand comes out behind his back which suggests that every girl/woman adores him as the woman touches the heart broche. The heart is left red so that it stands out on the page. The image is in black and white so that the house style stays the same.

For my contents page, I might also consider just adding one image just like this one so the reader can focus on that single photo. there are only little texts on this as i also might adopt it on my magazine.

This is an Example of an R&B/Hip Hop Double Page Spread magazine:

The black and white effect of the smaller images continues to follow the house style of the magazine. The texts are well organised using columns which showing professionalism as articles are usually in columns. The large image is particularly striking as the model gives an eye contact to the readers. The larger image is left in colour whereas other images are in black and white so that she stands out well on the page. This double page spread contains a blue colour which links to what the model is wearing.  The use of typography at the top left corner is fragmented just like at the contents page. I could also to this for my magazine to follow the house style of the magazine.
I like the way how this issue follows the house style of the magazine by having black and white throughout the magazine. I could adopt this on my magazine by using the same colours and house style on each pages.

Publication Plan

I am going to consider many different factors by beginning to construct my front cover, contents page and double page spread.


Title: URBAN BEAT
positioning statement/selling line: Hip Hop Is Not Dead
Genre: R&B/Hip Hop
Frequency: Monthly
Audience: Male and female age between 16 - 28
Distribution: http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/
Price: £3.49


Rationale: the main purpose of this magazine is to inform the readers about the new released music, and also by including artists interviews and reviews of the famous artists to make the magazine buyable.


Style: URBAN BEAT will target a young audience ranging from 16 - 28. Obviously, this magazine is for R&B/Hip Hop listens. The language will be informal so that the target audience can relate to the magazine fully.


Regular Content:


To attract the target audience, I will need to include interesting articles about the artists.
I have come up with some ideas that I think would attract my audience:


- Freebies
- Editors Letter
- Competitions (Quizzes etc)
- UK music chart


Feature Content:


These are some examples of featured articles that I could add in my magazine.


- Interview with 'Rihanna'
- Album review of 'Jay-Z: The Blueprint 3'
- Poster
- Interview with (the front cover model)
- Upcoming festivals
- Exclusive music information
- Letters and comments


House Style:


Cover lines - Text: Impact; size: 18 - 20; colour: black/white
Headlines - Text: Impact; size: 28 - 36; colour: depends on what colour the model is wearing
Captions - Text: Arial Black; size: 12 - 14; colour: black/white
Features first paragraph - Text: Arial Black; size: 12 -14; colour: black/white
News first paragraph - Text: Arial Black; size: 12 -14; colour: black/white
Body text - Text: Impact; size: 36 - 72
Colour Scheme - depends on what colour the model is wearing

Masthead Ideas

I have been thinking about the masthead title for my music magazine.

Because the genre of my magazine is R&B/Hip Hop, I want my masthead to relate on the genre.

First, I associated the word 'music' into different words. I used a thesaurus and came out with the word 'TUNE'. I like this name but I think that it is too common to use. 
I thought outside the box and instead of associating the word 'music' into my magazine, I replaced this into what an R&B/Hip Hop culture would be like. So I thought of the word 'street' and used the thesaurus again and came out with the word 'URBAN'. I really like this word as it links to a Hip Hop culture-like.
I am not entirely happy with the word yet as I think that it feels incomplete with just the word 'URBAN'.
I want the audience to know that this is a music magazine, so I thought that I could add the word 'MUSIC', so that it looks like this: 'URBAN MUSIC'. At the moment, I am not fully feeling this name, therefore, I changed the word 'music' into 'BEAT'.
As a result, I like the name 'URBAN BEAT' as it links to the type of music that I am aiming at doing.

I used a visual thesaurus to create mind maps of the word 'urban' and 'music'.
I found this website useful because it helps you find interesting words.

http://www.visualthesaurus.com/

Questionnaire for my R&B/Hip Hop Magazine

All these questions were asked by 15 people between the age range of 16 - 25.

These are the results:

 

1. What should a R&B/Hip Hop magazine should include? the responses are:

Exclusives interviews

Music artists/bands

New released music

Album review

UK music chart

Letters and Comments Freebies Most people answered freebies on this section.          2. Majority of the people said that rougly, they would be willing to spend money at about £1.00 - £1.99. I might not be able to follow this as the price could depend on what kind of magazine it is. It this case, my music magazine would be like an NME/KERRANG standard.          3. Most people said that they buy an R&B/Hip Hop magazine weekly. However, this actually depends on what type of genre a certain audience listens to. So it is a good thing that the majority of them listens to R&B/Hip Hop.           4. 9 out of 15 people says that they would join a competition. I might consider having this on the front cover of a magazine or at the Contents page.            5. 6 people prefers the magazine to have a few small images around the magazine, but also 6 people likes havong a lot of small images around the front cover. In my view, when designing a front cover magazine, I think I should only put a FEW small images around the magazine.           6. Majority says that when reading a double page spread about an artist/band, they prefer reading it as a story format rather than Q&A. I might consider making my double page spread as an Q&A.           7. Most of the people ticked 'yes' for this question. I should consider adding a concert adverts on the front cover of the magazine.          8. 13 out of 15 people say that they would like to have free posters in a magazine. I should consider mentioning this on the front cover of the magazine.         9. 6 people said that they find out new songs by watching TV; 4 by asking their friends; 2 by watching videos in YouTube, and 3 put others saying that they listen to radio.

Remake, Remodel - VIBE Magazine

For this magazine, I have taken the VIBE magazine theme to relate to the kind of genre that I want to achieve: R&B/Hip Hop.

I manipulated the VIBE masthead on the top of the magazine to follow the codes and conventions, and also to follows the house style of VIBE.

The masthead is blocked by the main image because I feel like the company is very known in the industry, and also I want the reader to focus more on the image rather than the masthead.

I placed the barcode on the bottom right corner of the magazine including the price and issue date, to follow the codes and conventions.

The main image is suggesting a message that he is cool as he tries to lift his hood up and also links to his cover line. Even though he is wearing shades in this image, you can still tell that he is looking straight to the audience to entice the reader to buy this magazine. I placed his stage name by his face so that the reader will know who he is. And I also placed a sub heading by his name saying 'the new star in the hood.' Originally, the quote 'star in the hood' is by Tinchy Stryder which suggests that Jaybee has over taken his place.

On the main image, I added a shining spark on his earings to reflect his 'star in the hood' cover line suggesting that he is new and just starting to be famous.

Also, the name 'Jaybee' is in an Edwardian Script text so that it would stand out on the front cover.

For the cover lines, I placed a lot of famous artists names so that the reader are eager to buy this magazine. I also added humour on one of the cover lines about Eminem: (50+ songs to download 10 to delete)

I followed the codes and conventions of a magazine by placing the main selling line on the bottom right side of the magazine. The selling line is clearly about Nicki and Drake as the text is in bold and big. The word 'love' is in an Edwardian Script text to emphasise the flow of love that Nicki and Drake are.

On the top of the masthead, I placed a sky line about Jay Z (a famous rapper), which suggest a puff because it says that the story is 'untold' which makes the reader eager to read it.

The bottom skyline is about christmas to relate to the month that this issue is in which is December.

The colour scheme that I used are white, blue and red. The red colour is used on some text to reflect to the house style but also to emphasise some words like 'NEW','naugthy' and 'love.'

I used Publisher and Paint to creates this. I actually found it hard placing the masthead behind the main image but eventually I done it. In the future, I should learn how to use Adobe Photoshop so that my final product will look more professional.