1. By Jake Thorne Media Coursework Evaluation

2. To start my Music magazine product, I first needed to do some research and planning. To start off I had no idea on how to use the Apple Mac software or Photoshop, so I had to in fact try and teach myself how to use these programs before I started work on my final project. First off all I had to research two Music magazines, for these I chose issue 120 of Big Cheese with HIM on the front that can be seen on the right. This front cover covers nearly all the convention for a Music magazine: It hat a bold eye catching anchor title that draws the reader in, and also has hidden connotations as its called big cheese that portrays the view that it is a big time magazine its the top one but it also is a funky, different name that could appeal to a lot of people. Also the Band him are a well known, popular band among younger people who this magazine is aimed at (14-25 year olds),. The way the main picture for the main article is positions – slightly overlapping the title suggest that this is going to be a big important article about this big band, which links in with the title BIG cheese, so by having a big picture, you may not need such a clear title, as this is a popular magazine then people will buy it whether they can see the title or not. Planning

3. My media product follow the conventions of a hip-hop and music magazines and develops them by using a dark black background, with three contrasting font colours that stand out on this background and grab the customers/readers attention (red, yellow & white). I also have a large main image of a model posing as a rapper, the model is posing in a conventional gangsta/rapper pose – leaning up against a wall with one leg bent wearing a baseball cap and making a gang sign, after look at other magazine such a XXL and Vibe I saw this was a convention to have a rapper posing like this, so to follow this and develop it further I thought I would have my model making a gang sign that read ‘BLOOD’ indicating he is a member of the Blood ‘gang’. Forms & Conventions

4. The model on the front of my music magazine, that was posing as a rap artist was wearing props to make him look like a proper rap star. The props he was wearing include: Baseball caps, chains, rings, white vest, baggy jeans. These props are heavily associated with the hip-hop genre and most artist wear these items and rap about them. After finding this out I decided that my model was going to wear these props when taking the photos for the main image of my music magazine to make my main image look like one off of a conventional hip-hop music magazine. As can be seen below, in these copies of XXL the Rappers are wearing chains, jewellery, baggy jeans, baseball caps etc. Props

5. The mast head I have chosen for my rap magazine is powerful, bold and contrasting to other rap magazines, and also to the background I have chosen. The font I chose was Stencil STD which is a big, bold font that stand out and I chose it in a light red colour so it is really bold and eye catching and stands out from the background, anchoring readers and customers attention. Because this font is in bold and capitals, it connotes strength and power, two conventions of the rap music genre so I thought it wise to have this font to follow these conventions, it also makes my typography appropriate for a magazine following the hip-hop genre. Masthead

6. In most hip-hop magazines it is conventional to use three main colours. Conventionally in hip-hop magazines the colours used will be dark, heavy masculine colours, that connote power and strength. The reason for this is because this hip-hop genre is dominated by males. Because of this I have also chosen to use three colours (red, yellow/white & black) these colours are often associated with the male gender, and as I have black as my back ground the other colours look good on top of the black as there are lighter, it makes the text easier to read. Colours

7. Puffs are conventionally used in all magazines, but only in some hip-hop magazines. They are commonly used to make the hip-hop magazine seem better than and stand out from its competition. In one issue of October 2007 VIBE, a puff on the front cover says ‘MEGA MUSIC Issue!’ this adds to the brand identity and has become a conventional aspects of the hip-hop magazine genre , this is because of increased competition in this industry. For my magazine I sued puffs and teasers like: ‘HIP-HOP CHARTS RE-VAMPED!’ and ‘WIN TICKETS TO ICE CUBE LIVE!’ I chose these because, I know as a rap music fan that the normal charts have barely nay hip-hop in them so I thought re-vamping the charts and making a new hip-hop chart would appeal to hip-hop/rap fans and also Ice Cube is one of raps biggest stars so being able to win tickets to see him live would appeal to all rap fans. So this would certainly attract my target audience and please them. Puffs

8. Floating quotes are not normally a convention of hip-hop magazines but, when I thought up a motto for my magazine (real hip-hop is real estate) I thought that this would make a very good floating quote as this would make my artist seem confident and strong (linking to the stereotypes of rap & hip-hop). My artist is already posing in a confident pose and looking strong, so to justify this pose with words I thought the floating quote would be perfect. To enforce the sense of dominance and power further, I chose to have this floating quote in red which conveys, power, anger and supremacy, whilst still matching with the front covers colour scheme. Also I placed a floating quote on my double page spread (‘I will never be bought out!’), this is a convention of hip-hop magazines so with this part I am keeping to the convention of the genre and not breaking it too much. Floating Quote

9. After much discussion with my focus group, the price that most were happy to pay was £3. so when adding the finishing touches to my front cover, I took a picture of a barcode, and edited out the background around it and added that onto my front cover, then added a small text box with the price in it. Conventionally all magazines must have a barcode, & price so I had to include these, and again it is a common convention that these are found in the bottom right hand corner, so this is where I placed them, keeping to the conventions. Another convention that is included in all magazines, not just hip-hop ones is an issue number and date, so I added these, on the right hand side beneath the title logo, this is where they are normally found on magazines. Price & barcode

10. With the contents page I kept it within the same colour scheme as the front cover (black background) but I also added a gradient colour of dark red as this connotes power again. On one side of my contents page are the pages numbers and the related articles that can be found on these pages, and on the other side and some puffs and cover line, this is not a convention but I thought it would be wise to have them to keep the readers interest throughout the magazine. I also wrote and editors note which is a convention in all magazines. Contents page

11. To conclude I think that once I got going this task went fairly smoothly, although I did have a few problems at first with learning how to use Photoshop and the Apple software. If I were to do this task again, I would ask my teachers more questions and get clarified what was required of me sooner, as I sought help a bit late with this task. Conclusion