2. I had three possible names for my music magazine. These included:
• ILL (ILIVELIFE)
• TURN
• HHW (HIP HOP WORLD)
Out of the three names I have chosen ‘ILIVELIFE’. The reason for this is that I feel it is
the most creative of choices. It isn’t too forward/blunt and is abbreviated into a
slang term ‘ILL’ which is usually associated with hip hop which shows the
relationship between the title and then genre. As it is associated with hip hop it will
appeal to the audience as that is what they will be attracted to. The full name ‘I live
life’ creates connotations about the lifestyle the majority of hip hop artists live. ‘I
live life’ represents a lively lifestyle which most of todays rappers portray through
there hip hop music. Representations of wealth such as expensive clothing and
jewellery are almost always worn by hip hop artists who portray lively lifestyles
through there images, videos and lyrics. ‘ILIVELIFE’ makes you think about a good
life straight away meaning it relates to the image most hip hop artists portray. The
abbreviation ‘ILL’ also makes it relate to the audiences language from the get go
which will draw them into buying the magazine.
3. My music magazine will be about all the happenings in the hip-hop world today
(although all stories will be artificial, artists names will be used). It will cover
interviews, exclusives and give consumers the chance to win competitions such as
winning a free music video which will be shown through the cover lines. However I
plan for my main article on the double page spread to be an interview. I have chosen
to make my magazine about these things due to the results of my research. After
researching big hip hop magazines such as ‘XXL’ and ‘Vibe’ it seemed that hip hop
audiences were mostly interested in new music, reviews and gossip etc. As a hip hop
fan myself it was each to understand what the audience would want and why they
would want these things to be in a magazine they read. It interests the reader as
many artists hold a lot of importance to people lives as music is very important to a
lot of people.
4. I plan for the majority of the magazine to hold the colour scheme of red and white.
However, the front page background of my magazine will be dark due to the
‘dark/gangster’ feel that is usually associated with the hip hop genre. The positioning
of the masthead will be at the top of the magazine, underneath the strapline and it
will take up the whole width of that section. I plan to use the font “Impact” with the ‘I’
in ‘ILIVELIFE’ to be a lower case ‘I’ and to be white, while the ‘Live Life’ will be in red
with a fairly thin white stroke around it. The ‘ILL’ logo will then slightly cover the ‘I’
and the strapline will be above. This can be seen in the image below.
I’ve chosen to design it like this as it is a clear and interesting way to show the
masthead of the magazine. It is large and clear so it is easy to read and understand. It
differentiates from the usual as the ‘I’ is lower case instead of upper case and the
small stroke makes the text stand out compared to the strapline and other text I plan
to put on it which will not have a stroke around it.
5. I have planned for the main image of my
magazine to be an image of a male aged
between 15 & 20 holding/using/being close to
any type of musical equipment such as a
microphone or headphones etc. and dressed in
urban clothing. This is to make it clear that the
magazine is music related, so it should catch the
eyes of the audience.
Considering the image will be using many
conventions of Hip-hop, I believe my target
audience will find the image appealing. It
clearly shows the music related equipment so
the audience can immediately tell the main
genre of the magazine which is music. The sub-
genre is then clear due to the urban clothing
and dark style of the magazine, which will draw
the audience in.
6. I will only have one sub image on the front
cover (excluding the logo) which will be an
image of someone wearing a piece of musical
equipment (headphones) to show the musical
conventions which are associated with hip-hop.
They will be Dre beats headphones which are
created by hip-hop legend Dr. Dre to show the
features included in the magazine and draw in
an audience that could be interested in winning
or having Dre beats. Also the audience of
people who already have Dre beats. This is also
to make the sub-genre clear to the audience
and draw in the appropriate audience to want
to buy the magazine. The logo is an image of a
yellow ‘smiley’ with a thermometer in it’s
mouth to show that it’s ill. This draws in with
the magazines abbreviation for the title “ILL”
which is also hip-hop slang. The effect of this is
that it will make it clear to the audience which
magazine it is and that the abbreviation is ‘ILL’.
7. Representation is shown through the props and
equipment that my images will be
holding/posing with. It is also shown through
mis-en-scene such as the facial expression of
the main image and the costume of the
characters in all images. I plan to show the
usual wealth associated with hip hop artists and
also the urban and expensive clothing. Colour
coordination between clothes is something that
a lot of artists do a lot of the time which is
something I will try and make sure I will
incorporate into my music magazine front page.
8. My target audience will find my front image
appealing as it shows conventions of the hip-
hop sub-genre. It will also includes the features
mostly associated with the representations of
hip-hop such as ‘swag’ which is the dress-
code/costume of the characters in hip hop. This
also includes wealth, arrogance and
intimidation. This is shown through expensive
clothing and jewellery, complimented by
arrogant poses and props.
9. The target audience of my music magazine are
hip hop fans and producers interested in
modern day hip hop music, meaning majority of
the consumers will be teenagers and young
adults. It also broadens out to young music
makers that want the chance to display their
music. I know that this is my target audience as
after my research I realised that it is majorly
young people interested in modern day hip hop
music. The ages would range from 13 - 19.
When researching about my target audience i
realised that people from this age and society
use certain terms of slang which should be
implemented into the language used in
the magazine as a way to attract more
customers; such as 'Ill' and 'Sick' instead of
'Good'
10. One section of the cover lines will only be the
names of artists that will be featured in the
magazine. This will be to draw in the fans of
those artists to want to buy the magazine. The
other cover lines that will feature on the front
page of my magazine will be cover lines
promoting competition opportunities such as
winning a free music video etc. which will also
draw in an audience as it is an incentive to buy
the magazine.
11. My front page fonts will range between three
colours (red, yellow and white) as they are clear
colours which are easy on the eyes and do not
look bad together as red is a strong colour while
yellow is a soft colour. The main cover line will
be the largest text apart from the masthead. All
the over cover lines will be the same size and in
one column as to make the page organised. My
target audience should find this appealing as
they are colours which will catch a persons
attention and they are colours which are usually
associated with hip-hop. Yellow is also
frequently associated with wealth which is
associated with hip-hop making it all link.
