MEDIAEVALUATION

Before creating my magazine, I first did research regarding what makes a magazine appealing and successful. I looked at several magazines and they all helped me understand the certain conventions regarding the construction of a magazine. My magazine uses conventions of real magazines in the sense that my magazine has been inspired by several current magazines based on the hip-hop genre, such as "The Source". Through looking at this magazine in particular I managed to gain inspiration toward the placement of the title block, what style it is done in, the type of central image and overall layout regarding the front cover of the magazine which is regarded as the key part of a mag. I tried to stick to the typical layout of a magazine by following the rule of how dominant the central image must be.My music magazine has used several forms and conventions of real media products. For instance starting with my front cover, the use of the headline artist is used positively. I have used a mid-shot for my central image, capturing the artist’s full expression and part of his body language to appear relaxed and engaged, due to the use of his direct mode of address. I feel the red and white theme used here also alludes to the use of structure, found in hip-hop magazines. I have developed the conventions through this aspect. The strict colour theme shows simplicity and in particularly red is a colour associated heavily in hip-hop, usually being a desired colour to cars and clothes. I have been very direct with my use of colour much like “The Source” magazine which being black and yellow relates to the urban and black-orientated social group related to hip-hop and yellow emphasizing jewellery and wealth. The title of my magazine “The Curl” is inspired by the late-80s era of the genre. The jheri-curl being a famed hairstyle and sported by icons such as Michael Jackson, who had a huge influence on hip-hop, I felt this name was appropriate to bring back the raw memories of hip-hop and adds a value of sentiment to my magazine.

The use of buzz words was limited on my front cover. I had incentives of prize giveaways and used words such as “exclusive” and “inside!” to show that the contents of the magazine were exciting and fulfilling and that my magazine only offered certain contents and bits of information, a useful and common tactic in constructing magazines. Despite this I have challenged several forms and conventions of hip-hop magazines. My artist used for the central image doesn’t sport any jewellery or tattoos and is not posed in front of a car or surrounded by females and is characterised around a more “hipster” influence more than anything, with the use of the scarf and glasses highlighting this. I did this to show diversity within the genre and display the different ways the genre is being experimented with and developed in the modern industry.In regards to the contents page, I kept it very simple and catered to the requirements of a typical music magazine. I focused on keeping the house style in terms of text and colour scheme from the front page being predominantly red and white. The dark background compliments this very well and enables a simple yet effective contents page. I feel I could have added more images on the page however, to give the reader an insight to the tone of my magazine.My feature article catered mainly to the conventions of existing through the construction and structure of the article. I focused on having memorable lines from the article to quote around the pages as a way for the reader to understand the style and overall tone of the article. The introduction page of my article featured my artist blowing smoke, which is common in hip-hop through the glorification of marijuana and I wanted to emphasis on common stereotype of the genre.

My magazine represents the particular social group in relation to rap, so it must be rather urban. My magazine was designed to appeal to a balanced audience, due to the influence of 80s style, so would range between 18-35, which modern day rap primarily appeals to in today's society. I feel there is a honest portrayal of the urban social group inherited from rap due to the concept of the images I’ve used. This is due to the mentioning of drugs, and the in adverted portrayal of it in one of my images which is a common theme in modern hip-hop. The artist used in the central image, has not been decorated with flashy jewellery or top of the range clothing items, so this helps give the audience a sense of relation and belonging which is essential when trying to reach out to the target audience.Seen through aspects within my feature article also, the representation of the social group is clear. The “party lifestyle” that my featured artist touches upon caters to the young and free mentality portrayed by the youth of today highlighted in popular culture. I was inspired mainly but existing artists such as Wiz Khalifa and Rick Ross, who showcase their lives and journeys through social media.

I have previously done research on media institutions and based on the information gathered I would like "IPC Media" to be the media institution to distribute my magazine, which is known for publishing both niche and mainstream magazines. This media group have worked on successful magazines such as NME, which I feel my magazine falls into the category of being rather niche. Over 44% of the population is also noted to read a magazine product of IPC which shows that my magazine will be open to an audience on a greater scale whilst still keeping it's back bone target audience.

The way in which I attracted my audience was gaining an insight toward what people looked for in a media magazine through a questionnaire, which enabled me to cater to them and refine my ideas into the product. Such as, discovering that a headline artists was the popular choice in regards to what people look for in a magazine, I utilised this in the production of my magazine by putting a lot of emphasis on him.

I have learnt several things regarding this project regarding blogging and Photoshop. I believe using a blog to post your work is very useful and offers an easy method of posting work as it is all kept organised and tidy. A blog also dates your progression so you know the production stage and how certain parts of your work have developed. The use of a blog offers so many advantages. For example, I was able to create a poll for the choice of title block I should use for my magazine which I asked people to vote. This made the need of a poll very useful. The dashboard is also very organised and offered me several uses, such as including video links and inserting images in a piece of work. Regarding the use of Photoshop, I have been able to learn how to use different elements of media tools regarding design work. It has shown me various methods with how the construction of a media magazine must be heavily planned and it also offers very easy ways to do more complicated things regarding design. I believe Photoshop has heavily helped me as I have demonstrated in my magazine how to work things I have known and leant this year. For example, I have learnt how to change the opacity with a shape or image, I have learnt how to crop an image to my own satisfaction, I have learnt how to change the texture of an image to add shade and light in different areas of the image. I have previously used Photoshop for other projects, however due to the extensive use of it this year, I feel more comfortable using it. There were also occasions where I used other programs such as Microsoft publisher, PowerPoint and illustrator regarding the design and template of my magazine, but Photoshop was the best programme to use when it came to the overall production, as it offered cleaner finishing and execution to my work.

Throughout the production process regarding my work I feel I have learnt several things which have contributed toward the style of my work. I have been able to look to other styles of magazines and how they relate to the target audience and used them as templates to complete the end product of my magazine. I have learned to extensively use elements of stereotype and social groups as a catalyst toward the production of a form of media.