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

6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

5.How did you attract/address your audience?

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

My target audience  for Chic’ magazine are 18 to 29 year old's, mainly teenagers to

young adults. This age group show the most interest in Hip Hop music and relate to the artist the most.  They are also the most likely to buy the magazine because they attend most Hip Hop concerts and Festivals with the artists on Chic’ magazine will mostly attend. My audience all into the social class of C2 to E this is where most young adults are placed because they are mostly uneducated, unemployed, or have a small income.

This is a mainstream audience they tend to always be in with the trends, latest fashion and music . In my research and planning I found out that the people who read Hip Hop are mainstream. In terms of gender it is equally for women as it is for males. My research showed that both purchase Hip Hop magazines the same amount.

3.What kind of media institution (publisher) might distribute your media product and why?

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

Question 2 Evaluation from Dani

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

When making my media product I used, developed and challenged lots of different forms and conventions used in many typical Hip Hop music magazines to help me create my professional music magazine. 

To help me create my music magazine, I firstly researched other existing music magazines for example Vibe and XXL. From these two magazines I got the inspiration for the colour palette because I used Red as my title which Vibe does consistently and I also to the red boxes like XXL does frequently use through out there magazine. I broke the conventions of stereotypical magazines by opting to have a two girl group on my front cover something that is very unlikely to see other than the Hip Hop legends for example – TLC, Destinys Child etc.  I also anchored my genre by having the same models on each page (front cover, contents and double page spread) I got this inspiration from Vibe magazine they usually used the same model for each page, making the readers aware who is the star, which I think is really effective. 

With most of these magazines, within the bar code they have twitter, facebook or instagram links to social networking sites. I tried to encode that into my magazine as well. I also made sure that both models were looking directly at the camera inviting the audience in, because I had two models rather than one I made sure that not one over shadowed the other that it was equal space bet. Hip Hop magazines conventionally also have other celebrity names going across the top but to make my magazine stand out I wrote this in a different colour to make sure it stands out and doesn't just blend in with the background.  

Primary Research

I have constructed a interview with a few selected people from my target audience to find out there thoughts and opinions on my magazine designs. I done this so I could be back some feedback to see if my magazine would have a good response.

How often do you read Hip Hop magazines? 

respondent one: Every time a new issue comes out

respondent two: When ever I see a new artist so every couple of months 

respondent three:  Very rarely. They can be boring. 

respondent four: Monthly 

What is your favourite thing about Hip Hop magazines?

respondent one: I enjoy catching up with my favorite artists.

respondent two: I like to see the new artist in the Hip Hop industry.

respondent three: I think Hip Hop magazine are boring most of the time I only read them sometimes.

respondent four: I love all the images and posters inside 

What would you like to see on the front cover?

respondent one: I would like to see a cool background

respondent two: I want to see new interesting faces

respondent three: Sexy ladies to look at

respondent four: Things that are inside the magazine.

How much money would you spend for a Hip Hop magazine?

respondent one: £5.99

respondent two: £6.99

respondent three: £4.99

respondent four: £5.99

What colours would you use?

respondent one: Nothing to bright.

respondent two: Nothing boring

respondent three: Anything that will stand out

respondent four: Colours that match

Final Magazine Cover

Drafts

Magazine Draft

Photo Selections

I liked this photograph because it was showing nice settings in the background. Also the pose suits the stereotypical Hip Hop culture as it is a bit promiscuous.
I didn't use this photograph because you can see the houses and cars in the background and that looks unprofessional and I didn't want my magazine to look or have that type of feel.

I liked this photograph because its a mid/close up showing different angel variety. It shows the model smiling with her had on her face this is a unconventional pose for a Hip Hop magazine. Which I thought may draw attention to the image. And because it is a friendly and light hearted feel to it I thought it would suit being on the contents page.

Use of Kuler.com - Colour Pallet

I chose this colour pallet because I thought it showed a nice variety of colours and these are the most stereotypical conventional colours for a Hip Hop magazines. I thought it would be interesting and eye catching to have this mixture of colours I'm also going to predominately use the colour Red -I got the inspiration for Vibe magazine they do this a lot and there magazine always have the nicest style.





'Calvin'. This is the font I'm going to use through out my magazine I believe it anchors my genre well and it's fun and lively to look at and read with a urban twist. I think this font is un-conventional but it will make my magazine stand out more.

Inspirations

This was an magazine of Lana Del Rey was an inspiration for my magazine. 

She had gotten a lot of attention for this magazine cover for her lack of clothing, sensual position and being covered in diamonds she was framed for the male gaze in this magazine. I tried to imitate this but being as respectable as I could be. I put my models in the same pose but instead they were wearing sexy black dresses instead of being naked. One of my models are also wearing a lot of jewellery embellishments to  imitate the richness of the diamonds and the other models is doing the same head position having sightly titled to the side.  I think that I have made an good attempt with trying to re create the image of Lana Del Rey's photo shoot and hopefully the same people who were attracted to this magazine would also be attracted to mine. 

Top Five Final Magazine Pictures

 I'm in the decision of choosing my front cover and double page spread pictures. These are the five pictures that have made the cut and that I want to use, with each of these pictures I have an variety of angels and poses that are both edgy and creative which will catch the attention the audience.

In the first shot the the top we have an Canted angle/Dutch Tilt witch is quite uncommon for an hip hop magazine genre and it breaks conventions of normal shots. I would like to use this picture for my front cover, its cool, and edgy and as it brings focus to there had and the sign that they are making which is very mainstream.

In the second picture we have an high angle shot with the two artist looking up to the camera which have the audience seeing the clothing that they are wearing and which will invite the readers in more because they are looking down at the two artist. I'm also going to crop out the background because it makes it look messy and informal and replace it with an brick wall setting to match the others.

The third picture is an typical mid shot and the artist are wearing sexy black dresses which is deliberately framed for the male gaze. The picture conforms to the conventions of hip hop magazines for readers will be familiar with this type of picture and want to read more.

The fourth picture on the bottom left side have the there hands in the cameras why blocking the there view. This is a good picture as it is shoes an of poses and it has there hands in focus and close up its an interesting and an unique design.

The picture on the bottom right is an typical convention hip hop setting sitting on a brick wall looking directly at the camera with a straight non smiling face which conforms to one of the conventions to hip hop. It also gives the reader an opportunity to see the surrounding and see where they are living and seeing the the artist have come from.

Overall, I'm really pleased with my images I can have stuck to my magazine proposal and I have used an selection of different cinematography and which is both fun an appealing to readers.

 

Masthead Analyse

I asked over 20 people what was the first word or phrase they thought when hearing the title of my Masthead Chic' Magazine and the this was the response I was given. I'm quite happy with this response as I received quite positive results and I will continue to use this title.

Photoshoot Plan

Institutional Research

XXL is a American Hip Hop magazine published and founded by Harris Publications, in 1997. The target audience for XXL magazine would be young adults for example 16 -34 year old's because most of the time they have quite sexual pictures, which mature readers may appreciate. They have the most current artist on the front cover, so they can connect and relate to the currant generation more. In addition to that they sometimes have a 'throw back' magazine that is dedicated to the 'old school rappers' for example - Tupac, which over 25 audiences will enjoy widening there target audiences.

XXL has a circulation of 204, 459. They have a lot of convergences as you can see at the bottom of their  website http://www.xxlmag.com/ for example - Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and more. XXL is a monthly issue that goes all around America, which is why their readers are mainly of a African American background, which is the same as Vibe magazine because the celebrities on the cover relate to them the most.

Costume for XXL has a lot of variety, it goes from women in their underwear to men in suits. This is because it focuses on the target audiences for example - audiences are more likely to buy a naked women and a clothed man another than the other way round.  Women are mostly framed for the male gaze. 

   
Vibe is a music and entertainment magazine founded by producer Quincy Jones. Vibe is targeted to 18 to 34 year old's young adults as sometimes Vibe cover photos can be quite explicit and sexual - too much for younger readers.  This target audience is mature enough to appreciate the music and the photographs that are inside the magazine. Vibe currently has a circulation of 250, 000 and publishes six times a year with seven regional editions, so its quite frequently published and has a good audience. 71.3% of the audience is made of African - Americans because this magazine is mainly full of hip hop stars which this culture would enjoy reading about. Vibes, convergence consist of a website link, and a twitter and facebook page, they are mostly online based to get a wider range of people looking at there magazine.

The costume for Vibe is usually very smart, unusual or in some cases nothing at all. It always shocks people, but this is why Vibe is such an international success. The target for this magazine are 18 - 34 year old's who are listeners to the Hip Hop and RnB genre. Those are type of audiences that would be interested in this of magazine. Black African American are the predominate ethnic race who purchase this magazine. As the Rap and Hip - Hop culture relates to them the most and a monitory of artist are from the same areas e.g. - L.A, New York and Atlanta etc.

Vibe is aimed at both males and females. The number of males that consume this magazine is 50.5% and females is 49.5% having a magazine aimed at both audience sells the magazine more and gives it more publicity. 

Genre Research

Target audience 
Hip Hop magazines are preliminary 18 to 30 year old's - mostly young adults. Those are Hip Hop's magazine main target audience,as they are the people who are mainly interested in these type of issues and gossip. Also this target audience feel like they can relate to the artist, as most of the styles in this magazines are mainstream and appeal to them the most.

 Iconography  
Hip Hop conventions are the  cool, sexy and collective look. As you can see in these images Hip Hop can be both sexual and smart. The common iconography for Hip Hop are Diamonds, Gold chains, Glamour and Sexual themes e.g. high heels.  They always have a prop to make the artist stand out more and making the target audience wanting to purchase it.

Representation: 
Women are often portrayed as sex symbols for Hip Hop magazines, they are often objectified and framed for the male gaze. As you can see in the images they are wearing a lack of clothing and are both in very sexual positions making them look less educated and having them look more exposed which would make more sells  and bring more attention towards the magazines- as sex does sell. Where as, males are represented are strong characters who are 'one top'  of there music and improving having them look composed together. There are definitely some sexist views in the Hip Hop genre but it also does sell. 


Ethnicity 
The predominate ethnicity for this magazines are black African Americans as most of the artists who are in Hip Hop have started from there position and are from there area and background. For example, audiences will relate to an artist like T.I because he is from Atlanta he is a success story because he did start for the bottom this give him an big following in that part. 

Ages 
Ages in the Hip Hop are mostly young adults as they feel like they connect with the music the most and can relate to what the artist are speaking about. Hip Hop Magazines have a huge following of both males and females with 50% being males and 40% being female it shows that both genders enjoy reading these types of magazines and magazines appeal to all genders.

Body Positions 
Body positions using the my two images as examples: Naya Rivera (at the bottom) is in a very sexual and leaning over, hand on head head type of look looking very inviting and making the audience (both males and females) look at her elongated body. Having females wanting to have her body and having males want to the be with her as she looks very sexy.We also have T.I in a very conventional position of him in a mid shot of him smiling which connects to the text saying "Has the last laugh". Both magazines are both eye catching but for different reasons I'm going to take some of these techniques and put it into my own magazine as they do attract attention. 
Costume

The costume with the Hip Hop genre are for women barely clothed but the conventions are quite cool, and mainstream they usually are dressed in something that everyone does want to wear.  It adds to the conventions to the rich lifestyle. 


I have two images of Miley Cyrus it shows the variety of images for the front cover to the double page spread this is interesting for the readers as you can see a lot different images. This is something I'm going to do when creating my magazine I'm going to have my models in different clothing and positions keeping my magazines interesting.








The history of the Hip Hop genre came from 'old school'. .Hip-hop culture originated in New York among black and Latino ghetto it was there ways of communicating this ways their street culture. Before the 90's Hip Hop was called old school and that was more street dancing popping and locking. After the 90's a new type of Hip Hop was founded with a younger more sexy feel to it and since then it has expanded to what it is today.

.Key record labels have to be Def Jam, Island, Maybach records these are the top labels that everyone whats to be apart of they have the big superstars like Beyonce. Rihanna and etc. Hip Hop genre always have top artist making people love and respect it more. With Hip Hop you know what your going to get and it never disappoints. 

This is a mood board that I've created is to show the history of hip hop and the genre from famous artist e.g - Biggie, Tupac and other rappers who have made a huge musical impact on rappers today.

These are popular music website people go on.
http://www.vibe.com/  
http://www.xxlmag.com/

Four Annotations