Magazine cover/contents research

RWD: TARGET AUDIENCE: The target audience is mainly aimed at teenagers/young people who are familiar to the grime scene.WHAT IS RWD(Rewind magazine)?: It is British based magazine which features news, interviews and charts on hip hop, RnB, UK garage, music. RWD Magazine became a well known name in UK underground urban music circles in mid to late 2003. This coincided with the rise of a new urban music genre, which later became popularly referred to as Grime. The magazine provided a platform for developing unsigned artists to get their names and faces into every popular underground music outlet.ANALYIS :The masthead is situated along the top of the magazine. The cover follows the typical conventions of a magazine, however, the main image over laps the title which breaks the conventions just slightly. The simplicity of the cover implies that it is targeted to a niche audience. This is because the cover lines list names of grime artists and only people who are familiar with the genre will understand.

The angle of the gaze is at the consumer. This suggests that it is targeted at them because it is looking at them.

The cover lines do not consist of interesting font. It is very basic. This is effective because it gives it a simplistic look. This links to the genre because it suggests that they are only focused on the music and not the image.

This cover doesn’t really have “cover lines.” It mainly consists of a list of grime artists who are successful. This attracts the target audience because these are current up and coming artists.

D101: TARGET AUDIENCE: The target audience is mainly aimed at teenagers/young people who are familiar to the grime scene.WHAT IS RWD(Rewind magazine)?: It is British based magazine which features news, interviews and charts on hip hop, RnB, UK garage, music. RWD Magazine became a well known name in UK underground urban music circles in mid to late 2003. This coincided with the rise of a new urban music genre, which later became popularly referred to as Grime. The magazine provided a platform for developing unsigned artists to get their names and faces into every popular underground music outlet.ANALYIS :The masthead is situated along the top of the magazine. The cover follows the typical conventions of a magazine, however, the main image over laps the title which breaks the conventions just slightly. The simplicity of the cover implies that it is targeted to a niche audience. This is because the cover lines list names of grime artists and only people who are familiar with the genre will understand.

Consists of 3 layers. The first being the one with the masthead. The second is the main image which over laps the masthead. The cover lines is the last layer and it falls on top of everything.

The colour of the font matches those of the image. This makes the magazine look fun and interesting to read.

The angle of gaze is at the consumer. The facial expression is very urban because it gives an “I don’t care look” that many people in the target audience usually do in pictures. The “B” sign which is done with his fingers also relates to the target audience. This is because they are knowledgeable about gang culture and they know that certain letters made with their fingers represent something

Mastheads

Rewind: The masthead is an emblem and an analogy to a rewind button. This makes the masthead more significant because the target audience will be familiar with this logo.D101: The masthead is in 3D.It appears to be translucent and transparent to create an urban effect. The skyline on top of the masthead is promoting the magazine suggesting that if you “don’t know” get to know about D101.Both mastheads consist of the same size. It is positioned along the top of the page and they have both been sent to the back of the main image. This somehow relates to the genre because it shows that they are rebellious

The rewind sign is a significant part of the masthead. The text is slightly 3D to make it look unique.

Mid shot of young Jeezy. The angle of gaze is at the consumer. This attracts the target audience because it makes it more personal.

Young Jeezy has a toothpick in his mouth. This suggests that he has a laid back attitude. This relates to the magazine genre because people that do hip hop and RnB have a very laid back attitude. The main image overlaps the masthead which breaks the conventions slightly. This suggests that the target audience is reliable because they are familiar with the magazine. The big bold ‘VIBE’ heading is in block capitals with a clear font and clear colour making it easy to see and stand out. The composition of the magazine is set out with the figure being central on the page and informative text on top of Young Jeezy and either side of his body. It is clear that 3 different layers are used to set out the front cover. The title of the magazine is the first layer, then the figure of Young Jeezy is the second layer, and lastly the informative text is on top of that. The layering is effective because it makes the cover look less flat and more raised which makes the magazine stand out more and catches people’s eyes more.

Masthead is big and bold .The colour contrasts with the background

There are roughly 6-7 cover lines which consists of nearly the same font. This is successful because it makes the front cover look neat and presentable.

Names of artists related to the genre is at the top of the cover. This attracts the target audience because it acts like a teaser to the audience. This implies that the magazine will be of their interest because these famous artists are in it.

The target audience is mainly aimed at the fans of hip hop/rap music . It is also appeals a bit more to young adults as this genre of music is more popular amongst the younger generation. It is also aimed at fans of the whole hip hop culture not just the music which is to do with things such as dress sense. Masthead : The magazine cover has its own significant logo. Its on the upper left side of the page and consists of bold capital letters. The name “XXL” relates to the genre of the magazine because it suggests that the genre is big and successful. Main Image The main image consists of a leading artist in the music industry . Using 50 cent attracts the target audience because he is successful in his music. The main image is a close up of his face. He has a stern facial expression which suggests he’s serious about his music. His angle of gaze is straight at the consumer, this attracts the target audience because it implies that he is looking at them.Cover lines: The essential articles inside the magazine are stated through sell lines, these are seen at the right hand side of the cover. The left third contains the main feature article (“The power of 50”), as this is the core part of what is inside the magazine. The colour scheme is white ,black and blue. Along with the sharpened image , it gives 50 cent a heroic/comic book look.

Cover lines consist of the same font. The font size is smaller than its usual size. I think it was made to be small so the main cover line can stand out more.

The only font which seems to be of the same size of the masthead. I think this size was used as a “one off” because it is a special edition.

Sharpened image of 50 cent. Eye contact with consumer. Masthead is bold. The

audience can identify that this the company logo because the colour stays the same, even when there is an evident colour

scheme on the cover.

Both of their angle of gaze is at the consumer, which suggest that it is targeted at them because it makes it more personal. It also emphasises their “badman” attitude and implies their not afraid of looking at people in the eye.

They both have layers to give the cover a 3D effect. Vibe magazine has 3 layers whereas XXL has two. The use of layers is successful because it implies that the magazine will be filled with a lot of entertainment and news.

They both use successful, current hip hop artists which helps target the audience. This suggests that the magazines are updated with the music industry.

Both magazines has one main image on the cover