Ayo Adetoye

Front Page Statement of Intent

I had three possible names for my music magazine. These included:• ILL (ILIVELIFE)• TURN• HHW (HIP HOP WORLD)Out of the three names I have chosen ‘ILIVELIFE’. The reason for this is that I feel it is the most creative of choices. It isn’t too forward/blunt and is abbreviated into a slang term ‘ILL’ which is usually associated with hip hop which shows the relationship between the title and then genre. As it is associated with hip hop it will appeal to the audience as that is what they will be attracted to. The full name ‘I live life’ creates connotations about the lifestyle the majority of hip hop artists live. ‘I live life’ represents a lively lifestyle which most of todays rappers portray through there hip hop music. Representations of wealth such as expensive clothing and jewellery are almost always worn by hip hop artists who portray lively lifestyles through there images, videos and lyrics. ‘ILIVELIFE’ makes you think about a good life straight away meaning it relates to the image most hip hop artists portray. The abbreviation ‘ILL’ also makes it relate to the audiences language from the get go which will draw them into buying the magazine.

My music magazine will be about all the happenings in the hip-hop world today (although all stories will be artificial, artists names will be used). It will cover interviews, exclusives and give consumers the chance to win competitions such as winning a free music video which will be shown through the cover lines. However I plan for my main article on the double page spread to be an interview. I have chosen to make my magazine about these things due to the results of my research. After researching big hip hop magazines such as ‘XXL’ and ‘Vibe’ it seemed that hip hop audiences were mostly interested in new music, reviews and gossip etc. As a hip hop fan myself it was each to understand what the audience would want and why they would want these things to be in a magazine they read. It interests the reader as many artists hold a lot of importance to people lives as music is very important to a lot of people.

I plan for the majority of the magazine to hold the colour scheme of red and white. However, the front page background of my magazine will be dark due to the ‘dark/gangster’ feel that is usually associated with the hip hop genre. The positioning of the masthead will be at the top of the magazine, underneath the strapline and it will take up the whole width of that section. I plan to use the font “Impact” with the ‘I’ in ‘ILIVELIFE’ to be a lower case ‘I’ and to be white, while the ‘Live Life’ will be in red with a fairly thin white stroke around it. The ‘ILL’ logo will then slightly cover the ‘I’ and the strapline will be above. This can be seen in the image below.

I’ve chosen to design it like this as it is a clear and interesting way to show the masthead of the magazine. It is large and clear so it is easy to read and understand. It differentiates from the usual as the ‘I’ is lower case instead of upper case and the small stroke makes the text stand out compared to the strapline and other text I plan to put on it which will not have a stroke around it.

I have planned for the main image of my magazine to be an image of a male aged between 15 & 20 holding/using/being close to any type of musical equipment such as a microphone or headphones etc. and dressed in urban clothing. This is to make it clear that the magazine is music related, so it should catch the eyes of the audience.Considering the image will be using many conventions of Hip-hop, I believe my target audience will find the image appealing. It clearly shows the music related equipment so the audience can immediately tell the main genre of the magazine which is music. The sub-genre is then clear due to the urban clothing and dark style of the magazine, which will draw the audience in.

WHAT will be the dominant image

on your magazine cover? WHY will

you be using this image(s)?

I will only have one sub image on the front cover (excluding the logo) which will be an image of someone wearing a piece of musical equipment (headphones) to show the musical conventions which are associated with hip-hop. They will be Dre beats headphones which are created by hip-hop legend Dr. Dre to show the features included in the magazine and draw in an audience that could be interested in winning or having Dre beats. Also the audience of people who already have Dre beats. This is also to make the sub-genre clear to the audience and draw in the appropriate audience to want to buy the magazine. The logo is an image of a yellow ‘smiley’ with a thermometer in it’s mouth to show that it’s ill. This draws in with the magazines abbreviation for the title “ILL” which is also hip-hop slang. The effect of this is that it will make it clear to the audience which magazine it is and that the abbreviation is ‘ILL’.

WHAT image/images

will you be including on

your music magazine front

cover?

Representation is shown through the props and equipment that my images will be holding/posing with. It is also shown through mis-en-scene such as the facial expression of the main image and the costume of the characters in all images. I plan to show the usual wealth associated with hip hop artists and also the urban and expensive clothing. Colour coordination between clothes is something that a lot of artists do a lot of the time which is something I will try and make sure I will incorporate into my music magazine front page.

WHAT are your thoughts on

REPRESENTATION as regards your

image/images and WHY?

My target audience will find my front image appealing as it shows conventions of the hip-hop sub-genre. It will also includes the features mostly associated with the representations of hip-hop such as ‘swag’ which is the dress-code/costume of the characters in hip hop. This also includes wealth, arrogance and intimidation. This is shown through expensive clothing and jewellery, complimented by arrogant poses and props.

WILL your target audience find

your front image

appealing? WHY OR WHY

NOT?

The target audience of my music magazine are hip hop fans and producers interested in modern day hip hop music, meaning majority of the consumers will be teenagers and young adults. It also broadens out to young music makers that want the chance to display their music. I know that this is my target audience as after my research I realised that it is majorly young people interested in modern day hip hop music. The ages would range from 13 - 19. When researching about my target audience i realised that people from this age and society use certain terms of slang which should be implemented into the language used in the magazine as a way to attract more customers; such as 'Ill' and 'Sick' instead of 'Good'

WHO is the potential target

audience for your magazine? HOW

do you know?

One section of the cover lines will only be the names of artists that will be featured in the magazine. This will be to draw in the fans of those artists to want to buy the magazine. The other cover lines that will feature on the front page of my magazine will be cover lines promoting competition opportunities such as winning a free music video etc. which will also draw in an audience as it is an incentive to buy the magazine.

WHAT stories will be found in the

magazine, as depicted by your

chosen cover lines? HOW do those

articles relate to the title of your music

magazine?

My front page fonts will range between three colours (red, yellow and white) as they are clear colours which are easy on the eyes and do not look bad together as red is a strong colour while yellow is a soft colour. The main cover line will be the largest text apart from the masthead. All the over cover lines will be the same size and in one column as to make the page organised. My target audience should find this appealing as they are colours which will catch a persons attention and they are colours which are usually associated with hip-hop. Yellow is also frequently associated with wealth which is associated with hip-hop making it all link.

HOW many different fonts (style, colour

and size) will you be using for your front

cover? Will your target audience find

these appealing? WHY OR WHY NOT?

END