Evaluation Question 6

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

The magazine that I have created is based off of most other Hip Hop magazines such as Vibe. However the only issue that I think my media product might have is that it features more teenagers well only teenagers rather than middle aged men with gold chains galore written all over it.

My magazine isn't necessarily demographic but similar as it isn't as well known as certain mainstream magazines however it is evident that it is there and I believe that teenagers know about it rather than people that are much older avoiding the idea of it being a niche audience. So I do believe that companies like Vibe and The Source would be publish my magazine to enable them to gather a larger audience than just middle aged men which in turn would increase there popularity amongst other magazines.

With most of the magazines that I have seen since they are well known and popular can afford to seem there product  at prices that would seem ridiculous to any other random magazine. Some Vibe magazines that I have seen sell there product at £5 or even £7.99 however due to my product being no where near that market range I will sell it for 99p and due to this I can start of small and most likely try and work my way up.

In order to make my magazine diverse and not just on paper knowing that my audience is mostly  teenagers and social media is a big thing I will be having my product on different formats enabling myself to have a larger audience. Due to this I can essentially benefit from all areas of the fragmented audience that I will be facing whether it be on social media or as an actual magazine.

Due to this I will be enabling a type of cooperation between my magazine and the social media format of creating  form of technological convergence between the two individual different platforms (Convergence) by doing this I wont just be reliant on one technological format of attracting my audience.

The audience that I have for my targeted audience is very big as it is not segregating my audience in to small categories apart from the age range other than that it is open to all and that's why I think Vibe would distribute my product as it stands out and means something to the public. Furthermore the initial concept of having a teenage music magazine will help attract a larger audience as its something new and it could create a buzz around the magazine essentially making  it go viral.

The initial problem with my magazine is that I wouldn't be sure whether or no it would attract the audience that I'm trying to get, as there is always the possibility that I have portrayed the teenage audience in a bad way and that it wont allow me get the audience that and therefore will make me underachieve. This could be a reason for why this media institution of publisher may reject my product and look elsewhere if I haven't represented the social group correctly therefore it becoming subverted.

However if I have portrayed the social groups I want correctly and also attract an audience along with it there isn't a necessary reason for them to not publish my magazine other than it not suiting the targeted audience that they initially have in mind. What I mean by this is that the targeted audience that I have in mind for my magazine is teen friendly and the content inside of it is the same and therefore doesn't really contain any graphic content that most people wouldn't be okay with.

However looking at the target audience for Vibe there magazine is mainly focused on middle aged men and are made to suite that demographic rather than the audience that I am making my magazine for therefore making it difficult for me to try and get them to produce my magazine product.

Unfortunately media institutions like XXL wouldn't want to publish my magazine due to the demographic being so much more different and would leave my magazine in a complacent state and not attracting any form of audience due to it being outshined and being surrounded by a niche audience that already have a taste for a much different take on Hip hop magazines rather than mine which is new and upcoming.

Evaluation question 7

Final evaluation question from Kanzaer

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Media G321 Question 1 fromKanzaer

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation question 4 from Kanzaer

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation question 5

Evaluation question 5 from Kanzaer

Evaluation Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The reason why I have used teenagers in my magazine is that it enables me to connect with social groups that I would not necessarily have been able to with using the traditional conventions of having a middle aged muscular man with gold chains and rings all over. By coming away from that concept of the traditional basis of a rap magazine it allows me to convey conventions and concepts of the way my product can represent particular social groups.

The model on the main image has a trending hair cut where the sides are cut low and has a moderate amount of hair on the top. Conveying the youthful fashion sense that they have straying away from the normal trim or haircut that people would normally get at a barbers conveying rebellion against the common norms and trends that society have and want to stray away from it and be their own person.

My model is also wearing a designer t-shirt which is Gucci which also conveys uses and gratifications that young social groups have when it comes to the way that they are represented within their outward appearance. Having  designer clothes enables them to feel a sense of power and superiority over everyone else due to them having something other people don't. Along with that the colour of the shirt is purple which has colour connotations of royalty, luxury, power, ambition and wealth which synergizes well with how my media product represents particular social groups and the
 concept of the designer shirt along with my model wearing a fur coat as they convey aristocracy and social class.

Looking at my media product particular social groups will be able to identify that the model is someone similar to them and that the individual has somewhat similar values and aspirations as them allowing the audience to be able to connect and be subsequently engaged with it representing the norms and values that they have through my product.

My magazine appeals to particular social groups by allowing the readers to have a grasp of the information and the trends that are trending. Through this knowledge it enables the readers to have a sense of security by them finding out about relevant events and conventions that are up to date and them staying well informed which is a sense of self education, by them being able to perceive what is on a magazine and relate it practically to their own life towards the decisions and choices that they make.

Readers also get a sense of entertainment which teenage social groups can also relate to such as emotional release or sexual arousal and also a form of escapism while reading through my media product. Looking at the main image and the other models in my magazine, just by looking at them from a point of view most people would not be able to tell that they are teenagers by the way that they dress and the intimidating looks that some of them have which conveys the way in which how certain individuals want to be portrayed and how my magazine product can represent the different types of social groups.

My product also represents the way that particular social groups trying convey the extent of a lack social interaction that teenage social groups have and the way that they find alternative ways to interact with the world. Furthermore looking at the conventional concepts that are in my magazine it enables it to use the concepts to mirror the original design concepts of having a magazine while converting it into something new essentially having a new take on it, which represents how the particular social groups like to follow the basic guidelines and principles of what other people go by but also by having here little take on how they could improve it.

Looking at my product and the model that I have used for it subverts dominant ideology in the sense of the age range and the way that my model is trying to present himself as intimidating on the front cover. The model is quite young however has an almost condescending look towards the audience representing the way in which teenagers are seen by society as those who seem to be obnoxious.

The ethnicity of my model is Asian which also subverts the initial design concept of having a hip hop magazine. Ethnicity plays a big part in the way that my media product represents social groups as teenagers nowadays are fragmented in the way that they perceive themselves in actuality in relation towards other social groups. In society depending on your ethnicity teenagers believe that you can either become relevant or irrelevant due to the stereotypes that come with your ethnicity. For example most people make fun of Asians due to the way that they talk and have a less amount of respect towards them whereas a white individual would most likely grab some level of respect.

My media product represents teenagers as the model is of a ethnicity that wouldn't generally be seen in a hip hop magazine never the less as a dominant character inside of it. Showing the way in teenagers believe they have to represent themselves as strong and intimidating to gain some level of respect in society.

Remade Contents

Readjusted my magazine pages

Arrived home

Gone on Holiday

Begun writting up my evaluation for my magazine pages.

My pages that I have created for my magazine task

Remaking my front cover photo

While constructing my front cover this was going to be the initial design that I was going to use as it followed the conventions of the genre of the magazine that I have been researching, with the front cover photo being a close up or an extreme close but some of them with medium shots.

As you can see with the image present the mast head for my magazine which is R2G doesn't necessarily have anything wrong with it however, the typography that I have used to match the image along with the rest of my magazine doesn't fit in with the whole hip hop genre.

Looking back over my magazines that I have researched I have noticed that the mast head of my magazine isn't really the same as other magazines. What I mean by this is that looking at Vibe magazines every single letter in the magazine is in capitals and is in bold and big and chunky which really allows it stand out whereas my mast head looks quite misplaced.

Along with my mast head the image that I have used is heavily edited which I have just noticed while constructing the front cover. The individual that I have used looks too flushed as there is a lot of brightness and colour contrasting that I have implemented onto him while using photo shop. Due to this I have begun to re-do the main image and try and keep it as close to the original shot when I first took the picture.

With this experience I have learnt that generally not everything has to be edited to the extent where it looses what it already has.

picking a name for my magazine

The name that I want to use from these along with the new design is R2G I just like the way it looks and the design that I have picked for it. Along with research that I have looked up and talked about previously I believe that this name and design would suit the genre that I am doing for my magazine as it is a new type of hip hop magazine as the people that I have in my magazine are not older men who are generally rough and tough and extremely intimidating however its a sense of Hip hop for that of teenagers to mid 20's

Creating my front page

Image manipulation

These are photos that I have taken for my magazine

Buying Props - Quick Update

On the 28th of February I will be getting paid from my job so then I will be able to buy the necessary props from stores to be able to obtain a certain look for my individuals that I am taking photos of.

Improvements towards the photos

With the photos that I have taken there are a number of improvements that I can make with them. With the photos with the two individuals in the studio room the main issue that I had was that the lighting was not really flushed out between the two and it was evident that the lighting was aimed directly at their faces not at the rest of their bodies not providing enough lighting towards the entirety of the rest of the photos.


Furthermore with the photos of the individual standing in front of a car if I wanted to cut out the frame of the two of them and place them in a different environment I wouldn't be able to do so. The reason as to why is that the car bonnet was reflecting the backgrounds of the area that they were currently in so having that image inside of a desert for example would be ridiculous as it would show sand around the exterior of the car but then the reflection is then showing concrete walls and grass.


With the clothes that the same individual was wearing standing in front of the car bonnet the problem that I had was that the top half of him looked great with the black jacket but then the bottom half of him didn't really follow through with the design motion for clothing. It looked as if he was wearing jogging bottoms or rather than him wearing jeans which could be more suitable for that photo shoot.


With the images of the two individuals in the studio the problem that I had with most of the photos is that I cut out the top half of their heads in some of the shots or shook the camera as I pressed the snap button to take the photo which was my fault. Further the individual that was on the left was wearing a regular jumper which didn't really go with what the other individual was wearing and because of this one looked better than the other which didn't really work with the initial design of what I wanted for my magazine.


Now with this I will be retaking these photos with better lighting better help and also assistance of better photography students and teachers to help me obtain the right ideas and captures of what I want for my photos.


I wanted to have the main image as either a close up shot of someone's face or rather the other one that didn't go so well which had the individual sitting on the fur chair which then use to much photo-shop which would not suite the ideas that I had.

Photo shots

Front cover plan design

As I was doing some research over the past couple of days I found some magazines over the internet that intrigued as there initial design matched mine with their front cover design. What I wanted was that the front cover of my magazine to be a close up image of an individuals face and having them making direct address. I have images below of where I got this idea from and also some examples of it.

 

 With these magazines the design idea really caught me rather than just having two individuals that were standing in the photo booth practically bathing in jewelry. I knew that kind of shot wasn't practical enough for me to get done at school as I wouldn't know where to get that kind of jewelry from. Throughout the past couple of days I have asked peers family members about it but no one has that kind of jewelry to match it.

I think one of the ones that I would like to take a few design hints from is the XXL magazine below, the main image is in the shot and also has some jewelry and its not to an extent to where people feel intimidated by the level or quality of the jewelry he's wearing and even with that the jewelry he has is silver. The individual is also making direct address which is one of the ideas that I wanted to have while making my own front cover but also the way that the image doesn't really completely blend in with the rest of the magazine as if he's trying to break away from it a little bit really kinds of stands out as the image of Drake for the VIBE magazine shows how he blends completely into the magazine which does also have a strange way of allowing himself to become immersed into the magazine while the XXL magazines main image try's to break away in a sense.

Rough Drawings of my ideas

These are rough drawings of the ideas for my images that I had in mind. the first one is the main image sitting down on a chair showing his status and connotations of that chair being his throne along with the fur jacket showing some of this aristocracy in a sense. The second drawing is the idea that I spoke about with the individual looking into a mirror to see the reflection of himself or his true self in a sense.

Risk assessment

The risks that are present with m magazine are pretty minimal, as the shots that I am taking will not put anyone in any impending danger such as having me myself stand on top of a ladder to try and get a shot of the person balancing on one leg on top of a table. As I have stated in my plan the shots that I will have revolve around someone sitting in a chair which the only risk would be them rocking backwards and falling off. Another risk would be me taking a shot of the individual in the public as I may have to get he consent of individuals just incase I don't annoy someone as they didn't want there photo to be taken.

Plan for my Photography

With the task at hand of taking photos to be used for my magazines front page contents page and double page spread I will need to use the camera that is currently at school, as of now I currently do not have the means to take photos at home and I know that taking the photos with a phone would result in my downfall as I would have low quality and pixelated photos.

For Hip hop magazine looking at the other conventions of related magazines most of there front covers tend to have men who are dressed in a way that makes them look excessive as in anyone's day to day life no body would wear that amount of jewelry or even the type of clothing that they were wearing. For example the latest magazines that I have analyzed shows two men standing next to each other wearing thick coats with fur and loads of jewelry such as gold rings about 10 watches loads of chains tattoos no vests on showing the abs and so forth.

Now in my college I doubt that there is anyone that has the natural look or physique that these men have or that is shown in related magazines. However for my magazine I  don't need them to take of there tops to show there abs or anything of the such. For my magazine I would like to have my main image for the front cover possibly sitting on a furry chair with him making direct address but also showing his hands on either side of the chairs arms rest showing of the rings on his finger and so forth.

For the contents page I would like to have a shot of the individual looking into a mirror but there wont be any reflection within the mirror of that individual. This is to show that is the individual that he is portraying really him, or I could do the reverse where he is wearing normal clothing in the reflection show that's his true self.

For the Double page spread I would like to have an image of just a close up show of an individuals face for my magazine, or have a shot of them walking in public but the rest of the public is blurred out.

My brand eye for my hip hop magazine

Photography Planning

For my hip hop magazine for my main image I would like to have someone who is wearing dark clothing or multiple colours. The reason as to why is that with most hip hop or rap magazines I notice that almost always there is someone who is in complete black which could be just the way the dress but I think it could be deeper than that.

The reason that I think that is that with some people when they are wearing certain clothing they do tend to feel more relaxed or somewhat more important or higher of status because of them wearing expensive clothing as silly as it may seem. However this has become a trend and with most of the magazines there does always tend to be a dark scheme to it or a light one. So following that pattern I would like someone who is in all black to be in my magazine.

For the camera shot of my magazine I am going to have it shot in a low angle, the reason as to why is that it will make the main image look more of a powerful figure that immediately grabs your attention and demands respect in a sense. Further more I would like my image to make direct address as it would help with the main image being more status worthy and also catching the eye of viewers.

As for the place where the camera shot for my main image will be taken I would prefer it to be with him standing on a stage or a platform or if not that then with him having a purple background behind which I can either manipulate or create in real life. The reason as to why I would like to have a purple background if I couldn't have the stage platform is that purple tends to have colour connotations of aristocracy which I do believe would go well with the individual being intimidating to him appearing to be high of status.

The stage platform would be ideal as it would look like he is performing at the time which would help get across the image of him being a hip hop artist, not only that if I could also get the main image to hold a microphone would be ideal.

XXL brand eye hip hop

Front cover analysis

            This another magazine that I was able to receive after trading with my peers, this is a magazine that I haven't seen before as it isn't really available or sold in most stores which I found out as I did some extensive research as I went out to most of the stores that I presumed that would have music magazines to see if this magazine would be there but it wasn't. The shops I went to were WHSMITH and Waterstones, although this range of stores are very limited I did find that these shops were local and distant.

Now the two individuals who are the main image for this magazine are Young Thug and Gucci Mane. These two are placed on top of the brands identity showing that they are of more importance and more value than the mast head of this magazine. The initial colour of the brand identity for this magazine is white and red has connotations of purity and passion but also malice and power. These two combinations are quite strange when looking at it in terms of their connotation textual meanings  but they look eye pleasing when they are put together which makes sense why they would go well and that they would get many complaints using these two colours.

Further more the colour text of for this magazine when it wants to highlight key names or important information tends to be in Gold. I believe that is to convey the way that these individuals or the important information should be looked at. These individuals with their names in gold could be seen as idols or inspirations or role models to certain people. So placing their names in gold could relay the contextual idea of them being essentially kings. I got this idea from the man on the left hand side of the magazine who is wearing purple. Purple has connotations of aristocracy which in a sense puts an individual above the rest as they show their sense of status and stature that allows them to be above the normal individuals.

This magazines front cover does also follow the conventions of having sub headings across the magazine on the top left hand corner, however that isn't always a convention as some magazines prefer having sub headings in the middle range of the magazine. Another magazine convention that they have used is having the barcode at the bottom left hand corner of the magazine which is a norm that I have come to terms with when seeing magazines.

These two individuals are covered in rings and gold chains which does look a bit much in terms of normal jewelry that people would wear on a day to day basis but this could be them trying to prove a point to the normal readers that see this magazine that they aren't the same as them.

Q magazine Brand Eye analysis.