Music Magazine Front CoverStatement of Intent

After careful but brief analysis of hip-hop magazines I have noticed that magazines tend to be aimed mainly at men with the secondary audience being women. When women are placed on hip-hop magazines, most of the time they are dressed provocatively, this is not a very good example to a younger generation, I aim to create a magazine to inspire my young female hip-hop audience. I have found a magazine that demonstrates what I am against (see bellow) This magazine is called ‘King’. Although King magazine features only women, they seem to only be projected in a sexy and provocative light, this is to attract the magazines male audience.

The masthead on this magazine is called ‘The women of King’ this again supports my theory that this magazine makes women seem in-superior to men. Never-the-less this is a successful magazine, I aim to make a similar magazine, however I am mainly going to change the audience.

Masthead

This was my previous masthead ‘Hoops’. This name was inspired by an item of jewellery, I wanted the name to attract females because I am subverting the generic conventions of hip-hop magazines as most of the time they are being created for a male based audience.The font is golden and embalmed, this is because I wanted to capture a 3D- gold effect- just like gold hoop earrings. The font is in graffiti style this is because I wanted to reinforce the idea of the magazine being about hip-hop. It was also very important to me that the name of the masthead is short and catchy, this is so it is easy to remember.

Masthead

The name of my front cover will be called ‘QUEEN’ I have called my magazine this because the name straight away empowers women, which is my main aim along with presenting a hip-hop magazine. According to my research of hip-hip magazines the preliminary audience base is mainly men aged between 17- 45, I especially looked at a hip-hop magazines that are successful and male based, this lead me to look at ‘KING’ magazine; from this I was inspired to subvert the generic convention.

King Magazine masthead

My masthead will be place at the upper left corner of my magazine, in my research this is where it was placed, I aim for my magazine

masthead to be catchy and different; it is important that it is because this is how my audience would recognise my magazine. I have looked at the website dafont and have looked at different font ideas and styles; I have looked at italics or serif fonts especially, this is because to me it connotes sophistication and it looks very feminine compared to the

‘KING’ sans serif font which is more masculine. However due to student criticism I have realised that unless this is bevelled it does no really look

catchy or stand out, especially since I have decided on a plain block colour such as black or gold, as I want to keep it simple.

Masthead ideas:

Black or gold masthead colourItalic sans serif font

These fonts are all serif and my ideas for a masthead, however it wouldn't really stand out against an image and to me its is not bold or catchy enough to be adapted to be made into a masthead.

Another masthead ideaMy masthead is named ‘QUEEN’, I have experimented with different ideas and looked at different ways I can play with letters. I have stumbled across a hip- hop artist -Eminem’s album cover and I am inspired by the way the ‘E’ is backwards, I want to adopt this idea and make one of my ‘E’s backwards as well, I have drawn a sketch of how I want my masthead to look by expanding on the Eminem idea.

I will use serif font, but reverse the ‘E’ I can do this in Photoshop

On Photoshop:

Perhaps I could add a crown and play around some more. The reason the Eminem music cover work is because the letter N is next to it. The font used on the Eminem album and the font I have is very similar, the effect on the album cover is gritty hence why I will not be adopting that style, but it could also connote hip-hop. To add more femininity and reinforce the name I want to incorporate a crown.

Main image

The overall image will be manipulated on Photoshop so that it is catchier or appears better than before. The main image is very important, this is because it would give my audience an idea about the content in my magazine, and a very good image would lure my audience in, whereas a bad image would have a reverse effect. Also an image can attract particular audiences, my image has to have some relation to my target audience, to make my dominant image attract my audience I will make sure women are represented positively by making sure they are dressed in the latest trends and styles, it is important that they are dressed in a way that would inspire my audience. This would intern make my audience feel like they can relate to the picture and then would lead them to read the content of what is in the magazine, it would also give them an idea of what is in the magazine.

My main image will be of a female who is wearing attractive but not provocative clothing. The picture I had originally chosen was interesting because of the background and her apparel, however I cannot use this because she has no hip-hop equipment such as micro-phones or headphones. It is important that the age of the model is appropriate, so nobody too young or too old but between my target age range. Ethnicity is not important to me although black people are mainly featured on hip-hop magazines.

Previous main image

Cover LinesI know who my target audience is and what they are looking for because of my

research, it is essential that my front magazine cover reflects this. My cover lines will also be another means of luring my target audience in, I could use catch lines

relating to specific topics from my research: Mainly music and gossip but also school and relationships. I could also use cover lines that involve my audience,

like how to possibly win ‘beats headphones’ this would be of notice to my audience as this item would be of interest to my audience. Not only will my

audience get information on hip-hop but other issues as well, this would give them a variety to read which would make my music magazine more appealing. To

attract my audience with the cover lines I will be using at least 3 font sizes and styles, the bigger the font size the more important the topic is, the font will not

tell my audience about the genre, it would only attract them.

Latest gossipHow to win Beats headphones

Cover LinesThis cover line includes 2 font sizes along with two colours, this works effectively because it shows the importance of the cover line and emphasises the ‘shocking’ sex scandals, I will uses a variety of font sizes to attract my audience and signify importance of a cover line.

This is an effective cover line because it is big bold bright and red. I am very fond of this cover line because colloquial language is used which directly and only understood by the target audience. I can use a colloquial term that would make my magazine appear more genuine.

A list form of different artists is displayed. I want to use this because it would broaden my target audience and advertise who will be featured in my magazine.

I will be a lining my cover lines on the left hand side of my magazine page. The colour scheme here is bright and attractive I want my colour scheme to be distinctive also. Perhaps colours like red could be used, this is a bold and vibrant colour that is very attractive.