Shotlist

Here is the shot-list featuring four potential images for my cover page, contents page and double page spread. These shots do not vary much in positioning as I have a rough idea for what my main images will look like.

Feedback from Flatplan

I asked two girls about their thoughts on my flatplan. They both agreed that the most eye-catching and interesting page was the double page spread as the image on it was large and bold. They said that these were the pages that were most like pages of actual hip-hop magazines as they were minimal yet bold with simplicity.

 One girl stated that the cover page should have been less condensed with sub-headings as, "a less busy" cover page would follow conventions of a hip-hop magazine. Furthermore, both girls really liked my contents page as it featured a very bold large image of an artist which is popular to the genre of hip-hop. However, one girls said that the main colour of red should have been featured on the contents page as this would have reinforced an element of continuity.

Flat Plan

Here is what I aim for what my cover, contents and double page spread to look like. After creating a basic design for my magazine, I had decided to call my magazine "AUX IN" because it is catchy and short and has an underlying message of independence and uniqueness to the reader. An auxiliary cable enables people to plug their own devices into a sound system which ultimately enables them to choose their preferred music type.

Visual Moodboard

This is my visual mood-board featuring some keywords associated with my chosen genre of hip-hop.

Artist Profile

Jasmela Lingam is 19 years old and currently lives in South London but aims to move to London where she can be closer to recording studios and the buzz of the music industry. She runs a successful blog which showcases her singing talents and has many international readers. As her audience is growing at a speedy rate, more and more companies and independent business have reached out to Jasmela (Jessie), to promote their brand. As she is seen as an online star, many people see her as a fashion icon as she shares her outfits on a daily basis on the social media platform - Instagram. 

Her fashion choices mainly consist of vibrant colours with bold statement jewellery. She never wears the same outfit twice because she constantly DIYs her own garments as she has a fashion and art diploma from Croydon College and knows her way around a sewing machine very well. She loves wearing bomber jackets, skinny jeans and DR Martins. She manages to go thrift shopping at charity shops on a monthly basis as she regularly finds

great clothing pieces.

She grew up in a very strict household where she initially wasn't allowed to pursue a career of arts. She managed to get her parents to agree on her choices of becoming a hip-hop artist but they don't support her financially anymore. 

She loves M.I.A, Kanye West and Jay Sean and aspires to be the next big thing for the Hip-Hop genre. After going to Glastonbury this summer, she realised that she would love to live a life dedi

cated to music and delivering her message of spreading positivity. 

Analysis of Research Findings - Videos

I made this video on Animoto and saved text as images with the help of Microsoft PowerPoint.

Analysis Of Research Findings - Survey

Audience Research Questionnaire-
I created an online survey on SurveyMonkey (which 15 people in total answered) for my first form of audience research.

 The first question I asked was "Which genre of music appeals to you?". This is the feedback I received.

The majority of my target audience preferred both Pop and R&B. As this was the most preffered I have chosen to make my magazine in the genre of R&B however, I also would like to include elements of hip-hop as I believe these two genres are similar and this fusion would ultimately appeal to more people.

The second question I asked was "What artist related new would you like to know about?". This is the response I received.

The majority of people said that they would prefer seeing gossip in music magazines as well as personal life interviews. This means I will include quite a few features including gossip related stories and I will also include pull quotes on the front cover, which appear interesting and shocking.

The third question I asked was "Which colour scheme is most appealing for a music magazine?" This is the feedback I received.

From the option I had given, the majority of people responded that their favourite colour scheme was red and white as well as yellow and black, Information from my other forms of audience research suggests that colour schemes and contrasting colours, play a big part in audience approval and attractiveness to the eye.

The fourth question I asked was, "How much are you willing to pay for a music magazine?". Here are the results I received.

The majority of people would prefer to pay between £2 to £3 as my main audience are students, This would be a suitable budget for a music magazine.

The fifth question I asked was, "How often would you purchase a music magazine?". These are the results I received.

The majority would prefer to buy music magazines monthly. Some people stated that they would do so as this would allow publishers enough time to find stories worthy of publishing.

The sixth question I asked was "What draws your attention to a magazine cover?". These are the results that I had received.

The majority of people said that the main image is what their attention is drawn to. This includes costume choices and shock tactics which make audiences look twice at magazine covers. This is what the audience sees first, therefore the main image should definitely be striking and bold. 

Focus Group For Audience Research on Contents Pages

I recorded an interview with two girls aged 18 and 16 and asked them some questions. The first question I asked was "Which contents page is your favourite and why?". One girl responded that her favourite contents page was the 1st as she liked the use of the black and white effects against the red of the heart as she thought it contrasted well and added something different to the page. The other girl responded that her favourite contents page was the 2nd as it had bold, "eye-catching" colours.

The two girls both thought that all contents pages were of a hip-hop genre as the artists used were evidently related to the genre as they are all "well known". Other than this, the fashion choices made by the artists enabled them to distiguish the genre of hip-hop. Large chains used in the second page make it particularly obvious.

I then asked what other features make the genre evident. They both agreed on the fact that the shock tactics used for particularly the 1st and 2nd magazine, stood out and made these magazines more eye-catching and may encourage the reader to read about the contents.

Reader Profile

I used "Canva" to create this poster type image of my ideal reader.

Audience Research with a Focus group

I interviewed three girls for my focus group audience research interview and they were all 17. I asked them questions based around the four hip-hop magazine covers I showed them and they gave me interesting feedback in terms of what they liked and preferred. The first question I asked them was, "Which magazine do you like the best and why?". The first interviewee said that she liked the 'VIBE' magazine featuring Jhene Aiko on the cover as the colours were bright, "attracted" the audience and contrasted well with one another.

The second interviewee said that her favourite magazine cover was the "#5" magazine cover featuring Nicki Minaj. She particularly liked this cover as the image was "big",clear and the focal point on the magazine. She also liked the fact that the text "didn't clash with the colour of the background" and that it was clear to read at a glance.

The third interviewee stated that her favourite magazine cover was the one featuring The Game. She enjoyed the use of the contrasting colours on the minimal background as this made the information on the cover explicit.

All three interviewees mentioned that the colours used were a very important part of choosing their favourites as this is what stands out first.

The three interviewee said that they would all pay around £3 for the magazines as they are all students with a limited budget and they all thought that this was a conventional price to pay for music magazines.

Genre Research

http://prezi.com/szcckp8rnvun/present/?auth_key=7mtsmmb&follow=vvm9dema8prv

Here is a prezi describing the history of Hip-Hop and the careers of some hip-hop artists. Further below are some music videos from artists of  the hip-hop genre.

I really like this music video as the main artist is wearing clothing that I would like to use on my model for my contents page. The overall theme of the music video is very colourful and loud. The mise-en-scene featured includes big chains, heavy makeup and cars. I hope to use some of these features in my magazine as I am attempting to follow this convention to achieve a similar effect.


This music video featured a very casual choice of costume and limited make up for the actors used. The main artist in the music video exposes his upper body throughout the music video and this also enables viewers to view his tattoos. I will include this feature of mise-en-scene in my magazine and I may also try to put temporary tattoos on my model to further the theme of the hip-hop genre.

This music video featured use of lights in the mise-en-scene to put emphasis of the main artist. I will include this element as it would look very eye-catching and bold on the front cover or even on the contents page to draw attention to special features.

 

Market Research-Magazines on The Shelves

This video explains the use of some conventions in magazines and how they are important in conveying genres and information about the magazine.

Audience Research into Hip-Hop Artists

I asked 38 people from my target audience to state their favourite hip-hop artists from the artists I had mentioned. Most people choose more contemporary artists as their favourite and one person stated that they chose the artist "M.I.A" because of her "urban genre of music and alternative choice of aesthetics". Another person said that they had chosen Kanye West because "he uses shock tactics in his music and appearance, this brings forth controversy but it's all great for his name and label". As most of my audience is keen on the hip-hop and R&B genre, I have chosen this genre for my magazine as I will be able to obtain feedback from them when making decisions regarding my magazine. I have presented this information in an excel bar-chart as it is a clear format to present data.

Audience Research Questionnaire

To conduct one form of audience research, I used the online questionnaire generating website, "Survey Monkey". This website enabled me to receive secondary data from people from my chosen age range - that is 16-21. The questions I mentioned covered a range of topics, (from prices to colour schemes). The results I receive from this survey should enable me to have a better insight into the likes and dislikes of my chosen audience; this should effectively give me a helpful guideline on how I should create my music magazine.

I asked the question "What genre of music appeals to you?" to find out what kind of music, the audience group I had the most access to, liked the best. The most liked genre type will be chosen for my music magazine, this would make sense as I would always be able to ask for their opinions on images, colour, fonts, etc.

 I asked the question "what artist news would you like to know about?", in order to have an idea of what to put in my cover page as subtitles and pull quotes and headings for contents pages. The option which is most popular will appear more frequently in my cover, contents and front page.

I asked the question "Which colour scheme is most appealing for a R&B music magazine as at this point in time, I was hoping to create a R&B magazine based on my audience, I asked about preferred colour schemes as, I found out in my focus group for audience research that the majority of people preferred covers and contents pages with vivid, eye catching and contrasting colours, 

I shared the URL for my survey on social platforms such as Twitter and WhatsApp as the people using these websites are within my audience age range and will offer me useful feedback,

Introductory Brief

During the course of this project I will be creating a front cover, contents page and double page spread about the genre of music of my choice. I will be updating this blog regularly with new briefs and my progress will be displayed alongside this. Furthermore I will be looking into magazine conventions  and market research surrounding magazines of varying genres.

I personally enjoy listening to R&B, Rap, Pop and Indie Rock. I believe this genre of music will definitely influence my magazine format and the aesthetics. I was particularly drawn to magazines such as "NME" because of the contrasting colours and alternative format of positing of subtitles and pull quotes. I also liked the "Clash" magazine because of it's minimalist approach to design and text ; similarly the alternative conventions used with "Complex" magazine in regard to the positioning of the model were particularity eye-catching and interesting.

I have been looking at magazines from a variety of genres to get a feel of what kind of formatting works well and appeals to specific audiences. Some concerns for me that may arise during the course of completing my coursework may include factors such as time. I am hoping to improve my time management skills in order to keep on top on deadlines and personal targets, I will also create a schedule for when I should update my blog as this would save me time when harder blog-posts are due. I would set aside time for corrections for previous blog entries and then set aside time for new blog entries and research into new topics and layout methods such a Prezi and Slidely. Another factor of concern for me would be making silly mistakes such as typing errors or using Photoshop tools ineffectively.