EvaluationNathen Russell

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media

products? Header

Masthead

Footer

Main cover lines

Main image

Barcode/price/issue

Cover lines

Rule Of Thirds

Rule Of Thirds

‘The Source’ was one of the first Hip Hop magazines I looked at for inspiration; as you can see my magazine and The Source are very similar; especially with the colours used, techniques (opacity) and the layout.

My header was created by using a simple shape (rectangle) then just resizing it, changing the colour and I also brought down the opacity levels (60%) just like The Source have; I then just added text to the shape with the preferred font that was chosen in my questionnaire and as you can see, just like The Source have done, my text is white so it stands out against the red. It goes across the very top of the magazine, just as a professional magazine would have (The Source).

For my Masthead I’ve used the font, Rockwell Extra Bold. The letters are chunky and sharp to make it stand out on the page. The fact that I’ve added drop shadow makes it stand out even more. I’ve changed the colour of the masthead to white; this works well with the blurred background as it jumps out of the page. The Masthead is at the top of the page, as other professional magazines do (sense of professionalism).

1. Cover

My magazine

The Source

With my cover lines, I’ve been created as I’ve added images to them; each image has its own cover line (story). My cover lines let the reader know what to expect in the magazine; they’re also the main stories within the magazine.

The background shape the cover lines are on top of is the colour red (with the opacity levels turned down to 60%), which matches the header; consistency. The font used for the cover lines is the preferred font my audience suggested in

the questionnaire and I’ve chose to make it white because it stands out on the background and makes it easy to read as well as matching the masthead (consistency).

The main cover lines is the most appealing and biggest story within my magazine. The same with the other cover lines,

this one is placed on a red shape (rectangle, with opacity levels of 60%), the font is the same as well to make it stand

out; however, the text here is a lot bigger, simply because I want the readers to instantly see the main cover lines to

gain their interest in the magazine. The style of this is similar to Hip Hop magazine, ‘The Source’.

The footer of my magazine works the same way as the cover lines and footer; the fact of the white text being on a red

rectangular shape with the opacity levels turned down to 60%; making it stand out. It just displays a list of Hip Hop artists potentially mentioned in the magazine. The style of this technique is very similar to ‘the Source’.

1. Cover

My magazine The Source

My magazine

The Source

The main image on the front cover of my magazine is a medium shot of a male who looks as if he’s within the Hip Hop genre; the fact that his clothing and props (hat and headphones) suit his appearance matches the fact of him being on the front cover of a Hip Hop magazine; makes it look a lot more professional, like ‘The Source’.

The barcode, issue number and price of my magazine is clearly presented in the right bottom third of the page. It makes the magazine sellable and gives feedback to the audience on the price and what issue the magazine is. The font I’ve used for the pricing and issue of my magazine is the same as what I’ve used for the cover lines, header and footer; it makes the cover consistent. Similarly ‘The Source’ has their barcode, issue number and price in the same place (my magazine has a sense of professionalism).

1. Cover

My magazine The Source

My magazine The Source

1. Contents

Title

Rule Of Thirds

Rule Of Thirds

Magazine name

(corporate identity)Contents list

Main (big) imag

e

Headings – page

numbers

For my contents page, I looked at ‘Vibe’ for inspiration. I’ve tried to lay my contents page out the way ‘Vibe’ have and as

you can see, there are strong similarities in the way I’ve got my image down one side, whilst the contents list being on the

other side.

For my masthead, I’ve used the same method as I did on my front cover; create a red shape and turn the opacity levels

down, then adding text. I thought that adding text to the shape would make ‘contents’ stand out a lot more and as you can

see it’s very effective. The idea of having a masthead on the contents, lets the readers know what page their on; as well

as there being a contents list. I’ve used the same text as I have for the cover lines on my front cover; consistency and

professionalism.

I’ve included the name of my magazine on the contents page to emphasize it; make sure the readers know that their

reading my magazine. I’ve presented it at an angle to make it a bit more creative; not the same old boring positioning.

Another reason I’ve added my magazine name to the contents is because I want it to look as professional (corporate

identity) as possible, just like ‘Vibe’ have done.

1. Contents

My magazine Vibe

With my contents list, I’ve mentioned all the most appealing points of what’s in the magazine; the points that the readers are possibly most fond of and the points they’d most like to read. The layout of my contents list is effective as it goes from big to small; follows the shape of my image – this is very similar to the way ‘Vibe’ have laid out their contents page. The font remains the same as my frontcover; consistency and also it works well (stands out) on the background as my background is plain but simple.

The image I’ve used on my contents page fits into the genre of Hip Hop as the male model used is presented well; clothing and appearance. The image is a medium shot (captured from the waist) and placed on the right side of the page in order to let the contents list flow on the other side; similar to ‘Vibe’. I’ve cut out the background of my original image using the polygon lasso tool and I just put the edited version on my background; it seems more stronger and your enabled to focus more on the male model. It appears that ‘Vibe’ have done a similar thing with their image.

1. Contents

My magazine Vibe

My magazine Vibe

For my contents list I’ve added headers. These headers are in a different colour so the readers know their outlining the

page references; feedback. The font is the same as the contents list itself; this same technique has also been used by

‘Vibe’; this shows professionalism and consistency.

1. Contents

My magazine Vibe

1. Double page spread

Grab quote

Grab quote

Article (text)

Image

Drop cap Mast head

Headline

1. Double page spreadFor my double page spread, I again looked at ‘Vibe’ for inspiration. I’ve taken some ideas on layout from

‘Vibe’ magazine to create a double page spread that looks professional. As you can see on terms of layout, the magazine

double page spreads are alike.

For my masthead, I’ve tried to use the same approach as I have done for the masthead on my front cover and contents

page; the fact that I’ve kept the red shape behind the text proves this (although the opacity levels are full this time, so the

text looks strong against the black background). Also its noticeable that I’ve used roughly the same colours throughout

the different pages; consistency, The style of font is completely different to ‘Vibe’ but positioned in roughly the same

place.

I’ve included a grab quote on the first page of the article to emphasize what the artist (Little Carlo) has said. This is more

affective as the readers hear what the artist (super star) has to say; like a louder voice. Also I’ve used several more grab

quotes within the article (interview) to make it look as if he’s actually saying it; this is a good method of attracting a wider

audience – they want to hear what a star has to say.

My magazine Vibe

1. Double page spreadThe image I’ve used for my double page spread represents the Hip Hop genre well, as the appearance and

clothing of the model is appropriate and typical. The way I’ve positioned my image to fill a whole page proves to be

professional as when doing my research, I often found most double page spreads were laid out like this just like the ‘Vibe’

one below.

As well as the ‘Vibe’ article including a drop cap, I decided to use one in mine. It lets the readers know where the article

begins; this proves to be affective.

With the article itself, I’ve made mine to be an interview; seems like the obvious thing to do in a Hip Hop magazine; the

audience want to find out about the artist personally.

Lat of all I’ve included a headline on my article unlike ‘Vibe’ because it lets the readers know what the article is based on

and what its going to be about; like a short summary.

My magazine Vibe

For my planning, I created a draft for all of my magazine; front cover, contents and double page spread. I did this to get an idea of what I initially anted my magazine pages to look like and it also gave me a chance to experiment with different layouts and colours.

As you can see my magazine pages are near enough exact to my drafts (my drafts made the process of making my magazine quicker as I had something to work from). When I began to create my magazine I found that some things looked better, so decided to change them.

Also part of my planning revolved around questionnaire results; in order to get suggestions on what my target audience would prefer to see on and within my magazine.

1. Planning

Front cover Contents Double page spread

1. Planning

What title would you prefer for my music magazine?

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Hip2TheHop

Bass Beat Soundz

This question gave me audience feedback on what my target audience would prefer as a title (Hip Hop magazine).

What type of fonts would you prefer for my Hip Hop magazine?

Bauhaus 93 - 7

Berlin Sans FB - 6

Broadway - 3

Eras Demi ITC - 4

Here I discovered what font my target audience would like to see within my magazine.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Representation

My magazine represents teenagers (15 – 19) who are in or into the genre of Hip Hop. The fact that my male model on the front cover looks like the typical figure for Hip Hop rein – forces the representation for this genre. The same with my contents and double page spread; the models have a typical Hip Hop appearance to them, for example, the caps and head phones.

Although I do not have images of female models; who represent the Hip Hop genre, I have mentioned them in my footer. This means my magazine is suitable for both genders; as there are many Hip Hop artists who are females, such as Nicki Minaj.

Through the representation of my magazine, I want the audience to gain passion or start to like (if they don’t) the Hip Hop genre through the music. Hip Hop appears to be urban and some people dislike the fact that the music some what aggressive and through the representation of my magazine, I want people to see the other side; my article is a good source to let people know what Hip Hop really is.

Some features that represent the Hip Hop genre through my magazine include:- Image (front cover)

Representation

Eye contact s strong – looking straight at the camera

Representing the Hip Hop genre – use of props (headphones) shows this

Again, representing the Hip Hop genre well as his appearance is typical - hat

His pose represents Hip Hop as he seems confident (hand in pocket) and serious

Some features that represent the Hip Hop genre through my magazine include:- My contents list – use of font (contents page)

Representation

The font I’ve used represents Hip Hop well as it looks a bit urbanised and suites the genre (its also the font that my audience decided on in my questionnaire)

The content within my text represents Hip Hop as it refers to Hip Hop events and things related to Hip Hop

Representation

The image clearly represents Hip Hop as the accessories and appearance of the model is strongly linked. The fact that he has head phones and a cap strongly emphasize Hip Hop.

My grab quote represents Hip Hop as its referring to a theme of it; rap. The quote is emphasizing what rap is and the passion. The readers get to take in what the artist has said which causes to be more affective.

3. What kind of media institution might

distribute your media product and why?

Bauer

According to my research, Its clear that ‘Bauer’ are the best institution to distribute my magazine as they have a wide range of music magazines that have been successful already; some of these include: Kerrang and Q. Also the fact that these are different genres of music widens the audience, unlike ‘IPC’ who concentrate on the genre of women.

- Kerrang (rock magazine)

- Q (UK’s biggest selling music magazine)

My target audience is those who are into the genre of Hip Hop age ranged between 15 – 25. Although ‘Bauer’ do not have any Hip Hop magazines within there industry, I think there’s space for this to be as they seem to already have published successful music magazines, as you can see above.

Bauer

Its obvious that ‘Bauer’ have been successful with music magazines as I’ve said already, UK’s top selling magazine ‘Q’ has been successful, hence it being UK’s number one. Also the really popular ‘Kerrang’ has been successful.

I want to talk more about ‘Q’ to emphasize the fact that they’ve distributed a top selling magazine.

‘Q’ is a popular music magazine published once a month in the UK. The first issue was released in 1986 setting itself apart from much of the other music press with monthly releases and higher standards of printing and photography.

Since the first issue, 1986, ‘Q’ has been a popular selling music magazine as the total circulation is 80,418. This proves to be successful as its also the UK’s top selling music magazine.

Bauer

The success of Bauer and their music magazines is why I think they’d be the right media institution to distribute my Hip Hop magazine. Although they haven't got a Hip Hop music magazine within their institution, I think that they could make it work. The Hip Hop fan base is growing faster and faster with new artists coming in with new talents (for example: Drake, Nicki Minaj, Tyga etc). The fact that ‘Bauer’ have made ‘Q’ the best selling music magazine in the UK is the reason I think their the best institution for my magazine.

Now Hip Hop is a much more popular genre; this allows more space within institutions to promote the Hip Hop genre so that the audience will gain more interest; potential of Hip Hop to be much more popular in the media industry.

Bauer have proven to be the best media institution for my Hip Hop magazine but there are many rivals out there. One of these are IPC who have been successful over the past 50 years with there number one magazine, ‘NME’. Although ‘Q’ magazine is the UK’s number one selling magazine with a higher circulation then IPC’s ‘NME’, they still cause a threat as there currently the UK’s leading consumer magazine.

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

As you can see on my magazine pages, the models are all young males with a Hip Hop appearance. This is noticeable that my target audience are young males between the age of 15 – 25 as the models I’ve used emphasize this. My magazine represents these males in a positive way, simply because their appearance is strongly linked to the Hip Hop genre and what I’m trying to achieve is a Hip Hop magazine.

However, I’ve tried to broaden my audience by trying to attract female readers as well as males. I’ve included female Hip Hop artists to represent Hip Hop as a unisex genre. The Hip Hop genre is a mix of male and female talent:

http://www.hiphoparchive.org/prepare-yourself/women-hiphop

4.

What is your favourite type of music?

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Classical

Rock

Hip Hop

Indie

Pop

Whilst researching, Its obvious that there are a mix of genders who enjoy Hip Hop music as my questionnaire consisted of asking about 50% of males and 50% of females.

Presumably my target audience of males and females who fit into the Hip Hop genre like listening to the well known selection of Hip Hop artists in my magazine, such as Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Katy B and Rick Ross. All of these artists represent Hip Hop in a good way as they represent the wide interest in the style of music and the way both genders are fond of this.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

To help get my audiences point of view on what they would like on my magazine, I carried out a questionnaire summarising the attractions on my magazine. Some of these features include the colours, what they would prefer on my magazine (articles, new music etc) and the styles of font.

What sort of things would you like to see in a music magazine?

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Images

Gossip

Events

Competitions

This is what my audience preferred to see within my magazine; images. What you can see on my magazine is a selection of images that have been edited in ways to attract my audience more.

What type of fonts would you prefer for my Hip Hop magazine?

Bauhaus 93 - 7

Berlin Sans FB -

6

Broadway - 3

Eras Demi ITC

- 4

Here from my questionnaire I have a set of results that determine the font my audience prefer to see within my magazine; as you can see they have chosen ‘Bauhaus 93’ which I have actually used within my magazine.

5.Model looking straight at the camera – imposing figure; wherever you move, his eyes follow.

My use of colours contrast well with each other (white and red) and also contrast well with the background; stands out – eye catching.

The positing of the model is placed well; coming out of the side and the pose of the model causing a lot of attraction as it appears he’s confident – good role model.

Again with the colours; merge well together with the background as well. The use o a limited colour palette proves to be consistent.

My masthead is striking (attractive) as it catches the eye. Its vibrant and also the colours fall through from the palette; consistency and professionalism.

This image is similar to the one on my front cover as the model appears to be looking straight at the camera – giving a good vibe; confident.

Also the outline around the image makes it that more striking and it stands out – the colour also fits into the palette – consistency.

The use of the grab quotes with the consistent colours is appealing to the readers and the title is bold and striking – consistency as the colours are within the palette.

5.

The main cover line attracts the audience by letting them know the main and biggest story within my magazine; makes them want to look inside and find out.

The fact that the first issue has been dropped in price, instantly reels in readers (they see it as a bargain) and there’s a bigger chance of more copies being sold.

As the main cover lines, the header attracts the audience; information on Hip Hop artists are inside the magazine which makes people want to look inside and again find out.

My masthead is bold, large which makes it stand out. It can be seen from a distance because of the chucky text which attracts the audience; they can notice my magazine.

The same with my main cover lines, my additional cover lines attract the audience mainly because of the images but also because there are short summaries of what’s inside.

The fact that I have included a set of Hip Hop artists on my footer creates attraction as the audience are interested.

Hip Hop appearance; looking straight at the camera.

5.

Like I’ve said before, the masthead here is bold and vibrant which attracts the audience; catches the eye.

My contents list is full of short summaries of what’s included in the magazine. This makes the audience want to look inside; the fact that I’ve included events in this list increases the chance of my audience wanting to find out more and look inside my magazine.

Hip Hop appearance; looking straight at the camera.

5.The way I’ve created my title to be bold and eye catching makes it attractive; once the audience see the title, there’s potential that they would want to read the article.

The article itself is full of information on the artist. The fact that it’s full of answers and grab quotes from the artists his self makes it attractive to my audience; they want to read it.

Said by the artist himself – attraction/interest.

This image creates attraction; the fact that its outlines with a vibrant border attracts the eye.

Hip Hop appearance; looking straight at the camera.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of

constructing this product? (Screenshots will help to illustrate this)

Here I have used the quick selection tool; as you can see the icon above is the quick selection tool and this tool is used for selecting an object quickly. As you can see I have selected the male model .

After using the quick selection tool to select the model, I then made things easier by clicking inverse, which selects the remaining background.

Then I used the blur tool to blur out the background I selected by clicking inverse. As you can see the affect is really good as it makes the model the focal point of the whole image (this will be used on my front cover – I want the readers to pay attention to the model).

Here I’ve created a new page for my magazine (front cover). As you can see the size is A4. Once my page was created I then inserted my edited image; the image fits nicely on the page with the proportion scaling well – the width of the model pretty much fits across the page and there’s space above the model for the masthead. Also I inserted the image onto a new layer to make organisation and editing easier when the page starts to fill up.

This is when I created my masthead. I chose a font that would represent Hip Hop (looked at Hip Hop magazines for ideas) and then changed the colour, size and style. For more affect I decided to add drop shadow to my masthead; I did this by clicking on “fx” then “drop shadow”. As you can see the layer style box has a lot of options in there; these are just for editing, for example you could adjust the drop shadow so it would be at an angle or more darker, with shadow etc. I also did this process when creating my slogan (selling line).

Here I’m creating my header. All I did is insert a shape (rectangle), resize it to the width of the page, change the colour; as you can see here I am changing the shape red. To add more affect, I changed the opacity levels down to 60%. During my research, I seen that one magazine used this affect and though it looked good so gave it a try on my magazine. I positioned the header at the top of the page where is should be (I will later add text). As always this is on a new layer to prevent things getting mixed up or lost.

This is when I added text to the header. The font I chose was what my audience picked in the questionnaire I made. I think the font I’ve used (Bauhaus 93) represents Hip Hop because of the style of lettering. I also resized the font to a reasonable size where it fits within the header. To make my magazine cover consistent, I decided to make the text colour white (like the masthead) as it’s a bold colour what stands out against the background.

These are my cover lines, anchored by images. With the red shapes, I used the same techniques as I did with my header (completely the same). With my images, I edited them the same way I did with my main image (blurred the background etc) to make them look consistent. I then just inserted them onto new layers and positioned them on the red shape. With my cover lines, I used the same font as my header and the same colour; consistency and professionalism (limited colour palette). My cover lines just summarise a story about the artist in the pictures. To position these I used the same method as the images, each cover line had an individual layer.

This is my main cover line. This font is the same as the font on my other cover lines and header but because I want this to stand out more to make readers read this, I increased the size quite a lot; because the text is big and bold it makes it eye-catching and this is the story within the magazine that would be the most appealing to readers overall. With the red shapes, again the same process as the others. Note the use of layers as well.

This is just the price badge. As you can see I’ve created an offer increase the chance of people buying my magazine. As my text and red shapes on my cover, this is also done in the same way. As my magazine takes shape, you can see that its consistent because of the use of text and style. Also note how I’ve used limited colours throughout (limited colour palette. Also there’s a screen print of all the different layers I used for the price badge.

This is the legal way of purchasing a magazine; barcode. I got this barcode from the internet but added text for the price and issue number. I kept the font and colour the same here but just decreased the size to fit in proportion to the barcode to make it look like a professional one. I also used separate layers for the text and the actual barcode.

My footer includes a series of popular Hip Hop artists, females and males to balance it out; this is good representation as I’m presenting Hip Hop through males as well as females. With my footer, I used the same method when creating my header but this time just made small individual shapes for a better affect. Note how many layers I’ve used to just create a small thing, although it looks affective. With the text, again the same as all my other text on the page, colour, style and font.

Here I’ve used the gradient tool to blend different shades of grey for my background. As you can see I’ve stretched the gradient tool diagonally to create an affect. I got my inspiration from Vibe magazine and used this technique for mine; its makes it look professional. Also as I’ve been doing throughout my editing, I’ve used a single layer for the background.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full

product?

Looking at my preliminary magazine and my new magazine, I can see a lot of improvements. My new Hip Hop magazine looks so much more professional; the use of layout (rule of thirds), colour and content is much more consistent and it contrasts and fits in well together. My preliminary magazine looks plain, the page is empty and the quality is overall poor; the cover lines don’t look professional and everything clashes (although the layout and colour palette are up to standards). I can evidently see the use of Photoshop tools have been used in a much better way then I used them in my preliminary task as my new Hip Hop magazine looks so much more professional. Another thing that makes my new magazine look professional is the consistency throughout (colours, images, genre and layout.

7.

The use of using a header

Masthead – use of drop shadow, more attractive, eye catching font; professional

Cover lines much more professional, attractive font, use of background shapes (makes text stand out) and use of adding images into cover lines

Better quality image, use of editing (more appealing), taken better, angle

Barcode positioned better; font more linked in o suit barcode, more professional

More professional footer, more attractive, use of colour, font and style

Rule of thirds seen more on the new magazine (magic ‘C’)

Consistency; colour palette, layout

Better use of layers

7.

Masthead – more professional, use of colour, font

Including my magazine name on the contents page, consistency, professionalism

Contents list more fluent, use of font, colours, consistency

One big image, more professional, stands out more, better quality, use of editing

Better use of layers

Consistency; colour palette, layout

Background more appealing, use of tools and editing, professional