NEW CONTENTS PAGE EVALUATION…

In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Due to the negative audience feedback I received from the previous contents page I created which I tried to incorporate from the layout of an Vibe magazine contents page I created a new contents page.

Looking at other magazines I found contents pages usually had a lot going on in terms of the layout and therefore wanted my magazine to reflect this.

Here is an idea of the type of layout I have tried to incorporate from another magazine….

You can see here that my contents page is reflective in terms of the layout of an actual magazine contents page, this can be seen through the varied position of pictures and text and generally through the fact that my magazine contents page looks like there is a lot going on.

Contents page Title- I have kept my title, simple and eye-catching using the Gills Sans Ultra Bold font. I feel white is a colour associated with hip hop as it reflects the “cool” “calm” aspects of it therefore I coloured the word Contents in white. For both the contents page title and the Mast Head I used the same font. This was to keep a constant continuity of the magazine allowing it to look like the same magazine, a vital convention of magazines. I continued with the Gills Sans Ultra Bold text as I felt it looked simple but effective. Also it made it easier to stick to my house style as I used this text for the mast head. It also seems to be a font which has the cool aspect and feel due to the way it looks. Although the font for the contents text remained the same I changed the colours to cause my magazine to look more diverse. I felt adding the gold outer glow to the word contents caused it to look more professional and improved the basic appearance; gold is a colour which depicts wealth, money and bling factors heavily associated with hip hop, I felt the gold would cause aspirers to feel as though the content within my contents page was these factors persuading them to read on and as a result attracting my audience. Finally I have placed the title contents in the middle of the page, this causes it to draw the audience in and makes it easier for the audience to navigate themselves.

Like my title this title is very simple, also again it is placed at the top in the centre making it easier for the audience to navigate themselves, again the title for this masthead is very bold and simple.

Issue Number and Date- This is basic information about the magazine which keeps the audience informed, it also allows them to be up to date with the magazine. On other magazines I found that the Issue number and date was usually near the contents title, I kept with this convention by placing my issue number and date just above the contents title where it is clear, concise and easy to identify.

As you can see here the issue number and date is near the title that is referring to the contents page.

Editors comment- I found that the editors comment was a convention used on some magazines and as a result used an editors comment on my contents page. Editors comments are an effective way of attracting the audience as they build up a sort of relationship between the editor and audience, this relationship therefore causes the audience to purchase the magazine again For the comment I used a white background to cause it to stand out, furthermore I added a signature to cause it to look genuine. Furthermore reading the editors comment gives the audience a brief idea of the magazine as a whole and as a result determines whether or not they read on.

On other magazines I found that articles and other topics within the magazine were put together in categories and split up based on these categories, to conform with this convention I clearly labelled the subheadings for each of these categories by adding a white box behind the subheading representing each category, this not only caused my magazine to look more colourful, diverse and therefore attractive but also made it clear and concise and easier for the audience to find specific articles and topics.

As I have chosen to sell the hip hop genre within my magazine I have tried to comply with factors related to people in to hip hop and therefore have tried to imitate and reflect their idiolect by using the word swag to represent the clothing section within my magazine instead of clothing, swag is a word used a lot within hip hop and defines an individuals appearance ,style, or the way he or she presents them selves. This has allowed me to keep my magazine specific to its audience.

Page numbers- On other magazines I found page numbers were distinguished from the text in order to cause the magazine to appear clearer and to allow the audience to navigate more easily, this would be done by causing the page numbers to be bolder than the text or changing the colour of the page numbers, as you can see I have done this by colouring the text white and the page numbers. Furthermore when deciding what page each topic would go on I had to be careful as I found featured articles were usually placed in the forties, fifties and sixties and I have therefore numbered my articles in accordance to this.

FREEBIE

On the front cover of my magazine I advertised a free CD cover that would be present within my magazine, freebies are an effective way of attracting the audience as they lure them in to buying the magazine. I placed the actual CD on the contents page, this actually challenged a convention of music magazines as CD’s are usually placed on the cover. Placing the CD on the contents page enabled me to increase the content I included on the front cover of the magazine, I felt that having more content on the cover of my magazine made it more interesting increasing the chances of the audience being attracted.

IMAGE

For the image on my magazine I feel I have developed codes and conventions of a magazine as well as made use of them, I have conventionally placed the image by the article it represents which has made it clear that the article is representative of this image, I also found that when articles were accompanied by certain images the background of the article would be different from the background of the rest of the articles, I therefore coloured the background of the article for this image white. I feel I have developed conventions of a magazine by my image being a form of advertising as well as an image accompanying an article, this would as a result allow me to advertise and promote a product as well.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Idiolect- Here the word swag has been used as a sub heading to represent clothing within my magazine. As my magazine is represented at the younger target market specifically people in to hip hop I have tried to imitate their speech and dialect which has allowed me successfully represent them and enabled them to relate to my magazine.

Here you can see the word swag has been used in another popular hip hop magazine aimed at the younger target, here it is also representing the clothing section within the magazine.

Props- Here you can see my artist is wearing a cap, this represents my social group as hip hop stars and aspirers usually include caps as part of their attire. This ha in turn allowed me to imitate the clothing of my social group and as a result allowed me to represent them as well as allow them to relate to my magazine.

Here is an image from a popular hip hop magazine on which the model is wearing a cap.

The image on the contents page of my magazine is of a Nike trainer, there are elements within this image which represent my social group. The trainer is a designer brand, through research I found that designer brands are a significant aspect of the hip hop genre and are adored as well as worn by aspirers. Using this trainer has as a result enabled me to represent my target audience through appearance and what they like.

WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

As my magazine is of the hip hop genre, a genre I feel is very much associated with street life, I feel my magazine will be targeted at the younger market aged between 16-24. This is because people in to hip hop are usually very young and current, as I have previously mentioned they tend to follow the trend. Typical hip hop aspirers would be in to my magazine, they would be very much in to designer clothes and having the latest gadgets. As my audience would be in to current gadgets and clothes I feel a suitable advert in my magazine (if I had one) would be of a pair of designer trainers, clothes or even the latest gadgets. Adverts are an important part of a magazine as they provide the money for the magazine to actually be made. Although hip hop is considered very much an urban genre and aimed more at people within these areas (due to its origins and lifestyle) I feel people from other social classes may be attracted to my magazine, these could be aspirers from the upper class market increasing my target audience.

Age 16-24

Gender- Male and Female

Ethnicity- I believe my magazine will appeal to a number of ethnic groups as todays youngsters seem to have created a culture of their own which hip is a part of, this culture does not take in to consideration peoples ethnicities.

The audience for my media product would clearly be people who are in to hip hop due to the house style I have selected gold, red, white and black. Gold is a colour which depicts wealth and power, white is a colour which represent cool, black portrays style power and authority and finally red portrays danger and rebellion which is usually considered cool. These are all aspects which the hip hop genre is comprised of and as a result represent my audience who my media product is for.

Designer trainers- Nike is a brand particularly popular with the younger generation especially youngsters in to hip hop, this as a result is another element which shows my product is for people in to hip hop.

How did you attract/address your audience?

For the contents title I added a gold outer glow, I felt this described and represented the content within my contents page like gold, this was important as gold is a colour which represents wealth and bling which are significant elements within hip hop, I felt this was effective as it would as a result attract the audience as they would feel what they are reading is very valuable.

I have made my magazine clear and concise by adding white backgrounds to the subheadings which represent each section, this would in turn make my magazine easy to understand and navigate, the easier the magazine to navigate the happier my target audience further attracting my audience.

Through research I found that hip hop aspirers are in to designer brands, I therefore used this to my advantage by having a designer trainer on my contents page, this allowed me to address as well as attract my audience as people within hip hop usually aspire to be wealthy and to fulfil this aspiration wear and adore designer brands, as a using a trainer has allowed me to address my target audience by representing them as well as attract them by including within my magazine what they like.

Freebie- On the cover of my magazine I advertised a free CD within my magazine, through research I found that freebies were an effective way of luring people in to buying products as people love receiving things for free, using this freebie has therefore allowed me to attract my audience through enticing them in to buying my magazine.