1. Formal Proposal
Title of my magazine:
I have decided to call my R&B/Hip-hop magazine ‘Urban.’ I have decided to go with this
name because it’s short and catchy so it would be memorable to the target audience. The
name also refers to the style of music that the magazine will contain. The connotations of
this would be heavily populated, fashion and style.
Choice of genre:
The main genre of my magazine will be R&B. However I am also going to include other styles
of music such as Hip-hop, Rap and Soul. This way the magazine will be aimed at a wider
target audience and it will be of interest to more people.These genres of music are of an
interest to me and this way I will know what to include in my magazine.
Target Audience:
My magazine is going to be aimed at 16-19 year olds of both genders. I hope to achieve a
magazine that will be aimed at both males and females and not just dominantly males. I am
going to conform to the stereotypical conventions of a Hip-hop magazine as this will attract
the appropriate target audience. By doing this I am going to include images of an Afro
Caribbean male.
Initial ideas for the front cover:
For my front cover I am planning to have a medium shot of an Afro Caribbean male who is
dressed in urban style clothing. This will reflect the style of music that the magazine is based
on. The colour I am going to use for the masthead will be the colour red as this connotes
passion as many artists of this genre are passionate about their music. I will also include the
colour red throughout the magazine as this will maintain the house style. The cover lines
that I will include on the cover will be about exclusive interviews with popular artists and
also other artists/groups that are featured in the magazine. Other cover lines I will include
will be competition prizes to be won as this would involve the reader.
Initial ideas for the contents page:
For my contents page I will include 2-4 images that will be related to what the magazine will
include. One of the images will be more dominant than the others. This will be of the same
person that will be on the front cover of my magazine to represent that he is the main focus
of my magazine. I will include 2 or 3 other images that will be smaller. This is because it will
give the audience an insight into what to expect. I will include what the magazine features
and this will be categorised under suitable headings. The masthead will be placed at the top
as well as the word contents. The masthead will be the same size; font and colour as the
front to keep the house style of the magazine the same. The word contents will be a
different colour to distinguish the masthead to the contents.
Initial ideas for my double page spread:
For the double page spread I intend to do an interview with the main cover guy. The
interview will include questions about the style of genre he portrays, what he’s currently

2. working on and an inside scoop on his personal life. The text will take up half of the page
and the image will dominate the other page. This will ensure that the reader doesn’t lose
interest as they don’t want to read a strictly text based article. The image will also be there
to anchor the text.
Initial ideas for photographs:
The image on the front cover I have decided to use is going to be a medium shot of my male
artist. For the contents I will use a medium close up of the same artist that features on the
front cover. I will also include other various images that associate to the particular genre. I
will use the same artist to feature on my double page spread as he will be the main focus of
the article. The facial expression that will be portrayed will be a serious look; also the way in
which he will be positioned will reflect his rebellion.