2. Title of magazine
I have chosen the title “B&R: The official hip-hop and
R&B industry magazine” as an abbreviation for Beats
and Rhymes because, apart from being a play on the
term R&B it is a simple and practical title describing
what R&B and hip-hop music is all about.
3. Choice of Genre
I have chosen the genre hip-hop, as I already have knowledge
within the industry as well as it being my most preferable genre of
music. It also reflects my own personal style and character.
Overall it would know what to expect from a hip hop magazine
as I have read publications such as Vibe.
4. Target audience
The stereotypical audience for hip-hop is Caribbean males. However I have decided to
challenge this by aiming my magazine at a wider range of audience:
Both males and females between the ages of 16-21
However I have also decided to use a white female on the cover of my magazine rather then
afro Caribbean male, this is because I would like to produce a magazine that will attract a wide
range of audience.
5. Initial ideas for Front Cover
I have decided to use a close up of a white female, she will be dressed in simple attire
rather than the revealing clothes and people will be able to focus on her rather than
her physique. This also suggests female dominance rather than the typical male. I have
also decided to use black, white and green to be the main color scheme of the
magazine this is because the colors are neutral and would attract both sexes. The color
black connotes power and sophistication which relates back to the central image as
well as the professional aspect of my magazine. The color white associates with purity
and beauty, this relates back to the central image as the model will not be revealing
much skin. And finally the color green connotes life and balance this suggests that it is
a neutral color that would appeal to both males and females. The featured stories I am
hoping to add would be hip hop based. The main article will be a expose on the
female on the cover and the featured artists will be within the hip hop genre. E.g. Jay
Z, Rihanna .. As my research has shown they are the artists that they are currently
listening to.
6. Initial ideas for My Contents page
For my contents page, I am planning to have the masthead ‘B&R’ in a somehow
faded from and the word contents will be located next to it. This reminds the readers of
the name of the magazine as it will be the first issue. I will also be placing the features
on the right side of the page with sub headings underneath followed by a brief
description of what each section will be talking about. This gives the readers and
insight to the contents and guides them to immediately locate what articles interest
them the most. Whilst on the other side of the page I will be adding a dominant image
assisted by 3 smaller images with page numbers next to them, giving the readers a
visual effect. I will be adding a personal editors note, this allows the magazine to be a
direct mode of address and adds a personal touch.
7. Initial ideas for my article
For my double page spread I plan on doing an interview/expose on a female artist different to
the one on the front cover. I will also make sure that she is dressed differently to the outfit she has
on, in the cover page( clothes, shoes, make-up ..) the interview will be about the ‘rising star’ as
she is a new artist to the hip-hop field. It will be image dominated image as well as four different
snap shots located either behind or next to the dominant image. This is because I want to give
the readers a visual representation of the artist would also appeal to the younger readership I
intend to attract.
8. Initial ideas for photographs
The front cover photography, I have decided to use a
medium shot of my female artist. For the contents I will use
the dominant image of an MCU shot of the artist. However
I have also chosen to have 3 other images, which will be
close ups of different features of the magazines, I will use a
mixture of males and females to show the magazine can
also attract males. Lastly for the double page spread, I
want to use 4 different camera shots, to express the artist in
the interview, I have chosen to use four various shots of the
artist. It may be a combination of four shots of the same
size or a dominant image followed by three shots in the
background. Furthermore I have used these shot types, as
they most commonly found within hip hop magazines. I’ll
probably go for a plain background as I want all the focus
to be directed at the artists.
