Note to examiner

This is my AS Media Coursework blog. Over the last four months, I have been involved with multiple task in order to create a Hip hop/rap music magazine. During this period of time, I have developed many skills and learnt new things that will help me going further forward. I hope that you enjoy the work that you find through my blog. The labels on the side tool bar will help to direct you to the desired pieces of work you are intending to review.

Final Cover Page

Final Contents Page

Final Double Page Spread

Preliminary work

This is my first attempt at making a school magazine

Evaluation 1

Evaluation 2

Evaluation 3

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

A media institution company is an important company that markets and distributes the product. This company is vital part of the magazine publishing process as its entirely responsible for the profits and success the magazine could potentially gain. There are multiple different media institution companies that have had much success such as: IPC Media and Bauer Media group. From my research I have decided upon Bauer Media group being the company responsible for my magazines distribution. It’s a German based company that has had a hand in the success of over 600 magazines worldwide and sells around 65 million magazine issues each year. Due to its experience and successful magazines (Kerrang, Q Magazine) I have decided this company will be chosen to market, produce and distribute my media product.

In order to fund my magazine, the founders will have to put forward their own finances as well as requesting loans/funds of other cooperation’s such as Bauer and as times passes, pay off the debt. Another way is to display the magazine to the public and gives those with financial interest a chance to buy shares of the magazine helping to fund its monthly release. Other ways to finance the product is offering subscription service that gives the reader the monthly magazine for a set fee. Finally the price of my magazine is of a premium standard and with the success of Bauer, the distribution and selling of the magazine will be successful meaning the money generated from that can go back into recreating, paying wages, distributing etc.

Evaluation 4

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media project would range from ages 16-28 as the hip hop genre is very diverse appeals to many different generations of people. Although hip hop deals with mature themes, there is still a large percentage of younger teenage listeners meaning I had to make my age range higher to capture to all. However, I estimate that the majority of the readers will be people within their late teens in collage/university as my genre is very popular amongst that age group and people that age have a more passionate approach to things such as music. My magazine audience is predominately created with the male gender being the one it’s marketed at as the genre of music is more popular amongst men. The vast majority of the audience will listen to mainstream hip hop/rap artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West, Eminem, and J. Cole etc. My target media product audience would have a keen interest in branded clothing. Brands such as Ralph Lauren, Stone Island, Adidas, Nike, Gucci etc would be popular amongst my target audience as they want their appearance to be as good as possible. Using the website UKTribes.com, I researched and specified the types of people/groups that would be interested or associated with my magazines genre. These groups are Young alts; they’re less into mainstream music and listen to more meaningful messaged songs giving perspectives on life which is a big part of hip hop/rap. The next group is Uban artists; similar to young alts but there actions are more influenced by the genre. They prefer rap and fashion is a big thing to them. Stylers are a big part of the audience. They’re seen as cool in society and listen to music such as hip hop/rap and finally we have Trackies and Wasteman. Trackies are people who are laid back about and listen to calm, deep meaning sons such as rap soul music. And Wasteman are rebellious, loud, dodgy members of society who take pride in the interest in the genre. Each of these groups make up the largest proportion of the hip hop/rap fan base meaning I needed to cater to all these genres to be successful.

Evaluation 5

Evaluation 6

Q7 finished from Sahil-Jahangir

Evaluation 7

     This question was answered on Photoshop.

Magazine Development Screenshots

Changes

When first starting the project, i had originally brainstormed a lot of ideas that I intended to carry through to my final draft. However after reaserch, planning and advice, i made a considerable amount of chnages that I Believe have significanltly helped with my final magazine. things such as going outoors to do a photo shoot instead of doing it in a studio helped to improve the quality, look and make it clearer the genre of my magazine. Changing my magazine masthead from 'GOSPEL' to 'CABLE' after much reaserch and consideration of public opinion. my original color scheme was changed from a simple pallet of white, grey and balck too adding red, yellow, green and other colors. the feedback I was given by my fellow peers also influeneced me to make many changes such as the layout of my contents page and the images of artists i used.

Final Magazine Test Shots

5 magazine analysis

peer assesment on first draft

Magazine Draft

60 min magazine

Hand Drawn Mock Ups of Magazine Design

My Feed back comments

Article Mock Up

This is my first attempt at my article that will most likely change by the time comes for the real one.

Test Shots

These are the best shots that i took from my first test photo shoot.

Pitch Feed back

20 song playlist

25 word pitch notes

Hip Hop aimed 16-25 appealing to more young adults. Inspired clash (simplistic style/colors) Feature known/newest artists, modern/up to date with times. £4.99

Magazine distributer

The international publishing corporation also known as “ICP” is a British media publishing company that is centered in London. They are a notoriously famous company as they are publishers to a number of very successful magazines of all genres. One example is NME which is which one of the biggest and most successful British magazines across Britain. I have chosen to partner with IPC as there as their ever-growing experience and numerous successes shows that they are capable of marketing my magazine to become well know and financially successful. 

photographers reaserch

Terry Richardson

Out of all the photographers I have researched, terry Richardson is my favorite. This is mainly because of how he only used plain white backgrounds and focus more on the person used in the image rather than what’s in the background keeping all the attention on them. Also the white background makes his photography look neater and professional which is what I want my magazine to aspire to be. I like how the styles of his photos are so crisp/clean and you can clearly see the emotion of the model/person being used in the photograph. Although his photo style appears simple, I find it very eye catching and think is style of photography will suit my magazine cover. Here are some examples of his work:

My Audience Profile

My magazine is Marketed for people around the age of 16 to 28. However, from my research, i predict that the majority of the audience will be in their late teens and likely to be at college/university as my intended genre is popular with that age group.  Around 70% of the readers will be male and 30% female. My magazine audience will be an individual who is into Hip Hop and R&B. They are keen music listeners and are interested in discovering new music and artists. They have an interest in the latest street clothing and respected/popular brands like Adidas, Ralph Lauren etc.

audience reaserch

From the research I have conducted using UK tribes; I have discovered that there is a wide variety of types of people interested in Hip Hop/R&B which means my magazine will have to be suitable for a number of audiences. Young alts are a large part of my target audience. They prefer less mainstream music and listen to alternate music with deeper and meaningful messages giving them different views/perspectives of life. Uban Artists are a fast growing group and are similar to young alts but are more deeply into/affected by the genre and views/behaviour have an impact on society and younger generations. There preferred genre is rap, beating boking, UK grime. Fashion is also a big part of Uban artists as they take interest and pride in what they wear. Stylers are a big part of Hip Hop/R&B audience. They take interest in what here favourite stars are wearing and aspire to look as good as them. They are seen as cool in society and listen to “cool” music like Hip Hop/R&B. another audience group are trackies. They are people who are laid back about life and listen to calming/relaxing songs. Finally, watsteman are the typical rebellious, loud and dodgy members of society who take pride in their love for Hip Hop/R&B. in order to market my magazine to a wide range of people, I believe that I will have to use a combination of all these groups to make the best possible magazine to suit may people.

Mood Board

Fashion styles relavant to my genre

Hip hop/R&B has gone through big changes fashion changes over the years. It has evolved from scruffy, bright colored, baggy clothing to more neat and professional look. The top five most popular brands used by famous artists around the globe are: Gucci, Nike, Prada, Versace and Adidas. Fashion is becoming more involved within the hip hop/R&B industry as contracts are signed between artist and companies to wear their clothing in music videos, in public; during shows etc. an example of this is Stormzy who has a close relationship with Adidas. Also shoes are a big part of fashion in the genre I am making my magazine on so it’s important I use the correct legitimate branding to get the best possible look. As I’m aiming for my magazine to be more professional and neat looking, it is important that I get the clothing right in my photos. If have decided to go with a more modernized, smart/casual clothing to suit more modern times. Here are some examples of the clothing styles I intend to use: