My media product is a hip-hop/pop music magazine that represents social groups like gangsters and misbehaving teenagers. It uses symbols of hip-hop culture like graffiti, rapping, DJing and breaking. However, it also represents other groups like the rich or famous who enjoy popular artists. The front cover features a young woman in a snapback hat and fur coat to appeal to students and young people. It was photographed in a park to seem more relatable and less expensive than a studio. Most photos are black and white to imply they were taken at night when older teens socialize, matching the magazine's target audience.

1. Evaluation Question 2
How does your media product
represent particular social groups?

2. My final media product is a hip-hop/pop music magazine and it represents the social groups of
gangsters and misbehaved teenagers allowing them to relate to the magazine and its contents .
This categorised genre is symbolised through graffiti, rapping, DJ-ing and breaking and these four
elements of hip-hop are what the audience will look for in the style of music magazine they like .
Many demographics that listen to hip-hop music and read this genre of magazines do not
however fit into the stereotypical background and so cannot be included in this categorisation
meaning that my magazine has the possibility of representing other social groups such as the
rich or famous because they would be able to relate to some of the more popular artists
included in the snippets on my front cover. When creating my music magazine I combined
conventions from both hip-hop and pop magazines in order to present a mixed genre magazine
that can appeal to more people.

3. The front cover for my hip-hop/pop music magazine
uses symbolism to represent my target audience. The
fact the model on the front cover is a young women
probably a student signifies that I will be aiming for my
product to appeal to that age group. Through mise-en-
scene of her clothes and accessories such as the
snapback and furry jacket it also shows that the type of
people who would be interested in this type of media
product would probably belong to the social
background of a student or young part-time worker
because they would be able to connect more with the
text through fashion trends such as the snapback or
through the similar interests for hip-hop/pop music and
the vintage style.
The use of a park symbolises the inessential need to
have a lot of money because they are free to access to
the public which makes the magazine article more
relatable to my target audience because they feel like
they can connect with the articles model more if they
are of a similar social background. However including
some famous artists articles allows the audience to look
up to them, aspiring to be like them in the future.

4. Another way that I have represented my particular social group is through the use of location in which the
background. Although having taken the photo-shoot at a park rather than in a studio means that the photos look
less professional, it does relate to my audience because a typical reader of a hip-hop magazine have been noticed
to "hang around" parks especially at night. Finally to add onto that point by making most of my photos in black
and white it makes the reader think that they were taken at night which links in to the fact that older teens are
found to be out and about late at night.
Overall my product represents gangsters, hipsters or misbehaved students through Iconography. This is typical
objects or themes from a genre or idea that the audience expect to see. The social groups I think my product will
appeal to follow a particular sense of style whether they shop in expensive sports stores, wearing high top trainers
and hats like the snap back, or if they follow fashion trends in high street shops. By having my model wear a
leather jacket, fashionable glasses and a snap back hat presents her as a usual demographic for my music genre,
hip-hop.