The document summarizes the conventions used in a magazine product focusing on hip hop culture. It discusses using iconic images and logos of popular artists to attract the target audience. The target audience is identified as predominantly young, male readers of ABC1 social status interested in hip hop music. Stereotypical elements of hip hop like references to crime, wealth, and "streetwise" imagery are employed to appeal to this audience. Both similarities like featuring artists, and differences in layout compared to other magazines are discussed.

1. Evaluation Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?

2. Finished Product- Base Magazine

3. Conventions Of Real Media Products My magazine has many forms of conventions that are noticeable in other types of Print media. In terms of using features that other magazines have, this consists of things such As; page numbers, barcode, issue, date, large logo, other main articles presented and A key photograph of an idealistic character that people may aspire to be. This then Appeals to my target audience as I use a character who is easily recognised with a Headline article and this will make them want to buy it. My front page uses a lot of other magazine conventions as it consists of one main Picture, large logo, one main article and all side articles. In terms of lexis, my magazine Also follows these conventions. The lexis must link to my magazine genre as well As the stereotypes of any magazine. For example “exclusive” is a keyword that A lot of magazines use to make their own magazine stand out from others as that Story or picture is only accessible in their magazine. My contents has its own Idiosyncratic style in terms of font. The layout of the font is fairly original and will Be featured in every contents so it will become a feature that is recognised by all Readers. My contents also challenges the conventions of other products as the contents Is supposed to inform the reader to what is featured in the magazine, but my contents Still has emphasis on the key character as I have a large photo of the artist and the Information below. My double page spread also follows this layout, as the photo covers The majority of both of the pages.

4. Highlighting Conventions In My Product

5. BOLD ICONIC LOGO: Magazine title stands Behind the person to Put the emphasis on Tupac. The logo is bold And black to enhance the Colours from the background As well as making it stand out. Colour black has connotations of death and nothingness, in this case can be linked to main article and the idea of insanity. The picture of the performer matches the key idea of the main article as being crazy as he's in a stray jacket. Colour white of the stray jacket is iconic and is easily recognised. The connotations of white juxtapose this costume as white has connotations of peace and angelic ideologies. PUN; pun is used to add a sense of humour. E.g “h-oops” when linking to basketball player Shaquille O'Neal. Target audience is represented here as the main story is about hip hop legend and a sub story of sport. Red has connotations such as Blood, death, stop and pain. This May be linked to the stereotypes of Hip hop. Also at this present time When the picture was taken, east coast And west coast were at a musical culture war with 2 rappers fighting each other. (biggie, 2pac) Low key lighting on the Performers face but the Stray jacket is illuminated Almost as a technique of Anchorage to link to main Article. Image takes up large space Due to Tupac being such an Iconic figure. Little amount of writing. It attracts the target audience to pick the magazine up. Common layout, consumer Knows where to look for Magazine logo. Logo stands out And attracts reader. “ Is tupac crazy?” bold and bigger font That “…jus misunderstood” attracts reader To pick up the magazine, represents him As crazy. Another iconic figure stands above the logo/title So that it is easily noticed. Only two other articles on front cover, Puts emphasis on tupac and represents target audience As both other articles are to do with sport. Target audience Seems to be predominately young and male.

6. The font is idiosyncratic and is part of their “ house style”, this gives them their own personal look to the magazine. It is also very appealing and is used to attract the magazines target audience. Small logo, insists that the idiosyncratic style of the “contents” is so personal to their magazine that the consumer will already know what product they are reading. The “rappers” jewellery has many representations, the chain itself insists wealth associated with the music industry. The chain medallion also represents a stereotype of Hip Hop genre. The medallion its self is a person encrusted with diamonds, but the person has a balaclava on which is a military accessory. This links with the stereotype of Hip Hop as being violent, animalistic and to have a big influence and correlation with crime. The balaclava also insists that the rapper has a new identity and that he is trying to hide something. Also he is showing his gold teeth that has connotations of savagery and animalistic features. The picture of the rapper is in the centre of the page to put emphasis on the artist. May insist that the magazine is exclusive for having a picture of that particular artist or it may insist that there is an article about him. The tattoos have mixed representations. Some tattoos are perceived as being lower class but this is juxtaposed by the artists wealth and tax bracket. Due to his money he is socially classed in the AB rank. It also gives the artist his own identity and gives him a sense of individualism. Typical layout of a contents page, shows all articles listed on the side and the page number. Big “V” in the background to show the brand of the magazine Has typical conventions of a magazine has designer and page number down the bottom. Red background has connotations of death and blood which may also represent a stereotype of the Hip Hop genre.

7. “ Exclusive ” shows That the magazine Has a feature that Other magazines Don’t. It almost acts as A superlative creating An idea that this Magazine is the best. Large photo of a contemporary Artist following the stereotypes Of the Hip Hop genre as he is Wearing a gas mask and bullet Proof jacket as well as a large Watch. This shows that it has Stereotypes of crime, money, Militancy, ruthlessness and Power. Typical conventions of a Magazine were added like Barcode, issue, date etc. Lexical choices specifically Made so that it has some sort Of pragatics or semantics with The Hip Hop Genre. This also Links the article to the appearance of The artist making it appeal more to the Target audience. Contemporary Hip Hop Icons used on front cover To attract target audience Aswell as giving the magazine Its own exclusive represntation Large logo of the magazine Behind the artist to show that The music is the priority of the Magazine as well as representing The magazine to be powerful and popular

8. Similarities And Differences In terms of similarities and differences, my product has many Conventions that you would expect to see in a magazine of this Genre. There are many similar aspects as well as many Differences. They both have a large photograph of popular, Contemporary artists that promote the stereotypes of the music Genre. For example on the right you see an artist with a large Diamanté medallion of a man in a balaclava. The semantics of A balaclava would suggest this artist is representing that he is Involved with crime or some sort of militancy. The colloquial lexical term “goon” relates to almost a “partner in crime”. This suggests He is part of a gang. In my product you can see that I have used the idea of having A key popular contemporary artist on my contents page. Also I have followed the stereotypes of the Hip Hop genre as my artist Is dressed in a bullet proof jacket and gas mask representing him As militant. In terms of the font and layout my product has a Different and idiosyncratic style in terms of how the “CONTENST” Is laid out. Also My contents doesn’ t include everything that is in The magazine, its only shows the key features that are Exclusive To BASE magazine. I also included more logos of my magazine And another picture of my artist incase he isn’t easily recognized, It also put emphasis on the artist of that genre.

9. Social Groups-Target Audience Although Hip Hop artists are commonly associated with crime, they are ranked in the A social status due to their high income. I have targeted ABC1 in which I am able to reach most “classes” of society. My artist follows these social groups in terms of props and appearance as he is wearing a gas mask and bullet proof jacket Along with “bling”. This follows the stereotypes and conventions of the genre as well as The social groups. Also in terms of lexis, “Militant” is used on my front cover which Follows these stereotypes and the explicit lyrics that Hip Hop artists portray in Contemporary Hip Hop. This appeals to my target audience as it portrays my artist to be “ tough” and “ruthless”. In a small picture featured on my double page spread of my artist Standing against a brick wall, this has connotations of my artist being “street wise” and bricks denote being strong and have a hard structure which may link to my artist. The Gas mask and bullet proof jacket is an idiosyncratic feature of my artist and follows the Representation of the “Militant” article title. “ Kartel ” is also linked with gangs and small Businesses which furthers the stereotype of Hip Hop being crime driven. Most people say that the Hip Hop industry targets predominantly teenaged males in which I followed their opinion, due to the stereotyped “immaturity” and “anti-social” behavior of teenagers I think that is why they are attracted to the genre as it is commonly linked with crime, guns, cars and women of which boys are commonly stereotyped to like

10. i believe that it is important to identify my target audience in which then i can use to decide for my target audience for my own magazine. Graeme Burton identifies the difference between socially grouped audience via age, gender, social status, race, location etc. This is his first classification. His second consists of grouping media audiences via relationship with media for example film goers, games console players, consistent magazine buyers etc. He uses both of these ideas to identify his audience and enable him to determine a target audience for that type of media. I have used Graeme Burtons theory to help me identify my audience and help me determine what my target audience is for my Hip Hop magazine. I can base the identfication socially or relationship with the media in which is the 2 ideoligies Burton promotes. I then follow generic conventions of this type of magazine and use stereotypes to enable me to reach my target audience. For example i will research VIBE magazine as this is the contemporary Hip Hop magazine, i will look at their target audience and from that i will then identify my target audience and then begin planning to be able to reach this target audience. Hartley further identifies the importance of:• self: audiences can be grouped by their aspirations, etc. for example, if you target ambitious people (musicians?), you can offer a motive such as performance enhancement.• nation: the country a group comes from and its style. Most western societies (e.g. Britain, America, France) follow common ideals, such as work hard to achieve your aims. Cultural Imperialism refers to the influence of American Media values on the world, e.g. Hip Hop=Big Chains and Crime are the common semantic field. Other cultures follow different values. I will be using contemporary western values. My magazine will need the use of both categories for me to determine the identity of my target audience. For example i will identify the difference between socially grouped audiences; age- 16-24 gender-Male Race-Mixed (all ethnicities) Household Income-£14k($)/£40k($) Location- America/England Social Status Classification-ABC1 I based my identification of audiences through the audiences relationship with the media. Due to the technological advancement of Web2.0 I wanted to adapt my magazine and promote a multi platform magazine. As print is in decline i should consider promoting an internet site on my magazine cover. I will have to look at the relationship between consumers using the internet to gain their contemporary music knowledge and their relationship with buying the magazines to get the knowledge. I will also have to look at the stereotypes and the conventions of the Hip Hop music genre. Target Audience And How I Chose It

11. Most Attractive? ✔ VS When identifying my target audience, many found that the one with the Article linking to the artist/photograph was more effective in terms of Attracting the target audience and wanting to buy it. Therefore I used this Concept and linked my main article to my main picture… My picture “my artist” in a gas mask and bullet proof vest with an expensive “ bling” watch, of which fit the stereotypes of my genre which is Hip Hop. The main article is “militant mentality” which then links to the photo as well As the stereotypes of crime, guns and ruthlessness.

12. What Attracts You To A Magazine? What Price? This was another chart that determined the outcome of my magazine. This survey showed that the majority of people were more attracted to The colour and image more than anything else. This is why I put Emphasis on these 2 features. The colour acted as a sense of achorage As it linked the key article to the picture. This also helped to introduce My own idiosyncratic style making my magazine more appealing therefore Attracting my target audience and making it more “buyable”.

13. Distribution Of My Magazine As I want my magazine to be a multi-format product, I will target 2 distributor's; 1 for an online “ emagazine ” and the other for my print magazine. I want my magazine to be adapt to the technological advancement of Web2.0 As print media is in decline. This means that my magazine can be accessible Anywhere through the use of the internet. This will need a slightly different design To fit the online typical conventions such as interactivity features. I also want an international distributor to distribute my print type magazine, I want it To be international so that it can gain popularity, profit but also represent the Contemporary music genre of Hip Hop. 1. In terms of distribution I will use COMAG who are the worlds largest magazine Distributor. They are jointly owned by NATMAG and CONDE NAST. NATMAG Is owned by Heart Corporation. I chose this distributor as they are trust worthy, Popular, well known, and distribute many magazine world wide. They don’ t have Many music magazine distributions, and none of the Hip Hop genre, so I think This will create a symbiotic relation as they reach a wider audience, as well as Myself benefitting by getting my magazine distributed world wide by a well known Prestigious magazine distributor. 2. Another distributor I would like to use is DENNIS. This is for one specific reason. I want my magazine to also adapt to the technological advancement of web2.0. So I want my magazine to be multi modal and not just have a print format. DENNIS Currently distribute a daily “ emag ” called “ monkey ” this is rising popularity and has a target Audience of 18-24 which is around my region. DENNIS is a relatively small company but has A lot of potential, so I think this would benefit us both

14. Technology I Have Used Cameras, editing software, computers, mac’s, lighting equipment, props Throughout the media AS course I have used many different technologies to Help make my work the best it can be to my ability. I have used high mega-pixel Cameras for the best focus and better picture quality.editing software such as Adobe Photoshop Elements as well asComputers and mac’s to help me to edit these images to give it a sleek Professional look. I also used lighting equipment to create a sense of chiascuro Lighting and give the images a better, professional effect. In terms of props I needed to use props that fit the conventions and stereotypes of my music genre. For example it has stereotypes of crime, Guns, money, “bling” women etc. So I focused on the “crime, guns and money”. Above is an example of how I developed skills to be able to edit images on Editing software. I used Adobe Photoshop Elements to do this.

15. Retrospective-Preliminary To Main Product These are 2 very basic productions Representing the typical conventions You would see in a magazine in terms Of layout, photos, structure, articles, Font etc. I had a very basic knowledge of editing Software and this is what I could produce. Throughout the production I improved on my basic skills, learning how to edit And manipulate images to fit your genre or ideologies of the magazine. For example On my final front cover, I edited my “artist” to have a plain black background and I darkened the gas mask to get a more “malevolent” effect as well as brightening And sharpening the colours on his watch and bullet proof vest. This was to Emphasize the stereotypes that fit the genre and to juxtapose the colours giving An effect.. I also learnt “basic rules” to creating a magazine, for example not to Use too many different fonts, conflicting “kid-like” colours. Also to link the articles To the image to give a professional representation.

16. In my final piece I have used more bold, bright, and larger fonts to introduce The key articles in my magazine. This is used to help attract the target audience As well as give the product a professional look. All of the colours I have used link to something else in the magazine to give it A professional appearance. For example the “Militant mentality” article links to the Logo of the magazine to show that it is only exclusive to this magazine aswell as Having pragmatics of blood and death which links to the Hip Hop stereotypes. The colours also link the what the artist is wearing putting emphasis on the photo. In terms of layout they both have the same conventions of a layout and look fairly The same. I wanted to have my own idiosyncratic style in terms of layout. This is Easily noticeable on my contents page. But on my front cover I wanted my artist To be the emphasis, and from that I can attract my target audience.

17. Thank You