Mario Balaz Media Coursework

Production Brief
Preliminary Exercise: using DTP and the image manipulation program, produce the
front page of a new school/college magazine featuring a photograph pf a student in
medium close-up plus some appropriately lay-out text and masthead. Additionally
candidates must produce a DTP mock-up of the layout of the contents page to
demonstrate their grasp of the programme.
Main Task: The front page, contents and double page spread of the music magazine
You will be assessed on 3 aspects of the coursework
Research and planning 20 marks
Production 60 marks
Evaluation 20

Sixth form survey
1.) Are you are female or male?
Male Female
2.) How much money would you spend on a magazine?
3.) what would you be looking for in a magazine?
4.) How much time do you spend reading a magazine?
5.) What type of genre of a film of your favourite?
6.) What is your favourite genre for music?
Nothing £1 to £2 £2 to £3 £3 to £4 £4 to £5
Music Celebrities Sport Products Other, please name:
None 5 to 10 min 10 to 20 min 20 to 30 min Other, please name:
Romantic Action Adventure Sci-Fi Other, Please name:
Rock R&B Hip-HopClassic Heavy MetalDub Step Other, please name:
There were 15 males and 5 females
14 out of 20 people wanted the magazine under £3.
20 out of 28 responses preferred music and sport.
8 out of 19 preferred to read 10 to 20 minutes.
19 of of 31 responses preferred action and adventure.
26 out of 45 chose R&B, DubStep and Hip-Hop as
their favourite genre of music.
Audience Profile
First of all, my target audience will be aimed at male and females who likes music (R&B, Dub step and Hip-Hop).
They are in the socio-economic group E because they are unemployed sixth formers. They do not earn enough
money as socio-economic group C so they would like to buy magazines under £3. This means that this magazines
has to be under £3 and a music magazine. As in results, there were more males than females surveyed so the
magazines will be more concentrated male type magazines but could also have a few of female things.

Line is going across the magazine to show it’s
separated from the bottom of the magazine.
The “why we all love music!” text is smaller than the
heading to reveal that it is a quite scream where as
the heading is massive and the biggest sized font to
show its serious at the same time linking to work
and music.
Barcode is at the bottom
right of the magazine
where magazines usually
put their barcodes.
Price of the magazine is on top of the barcode.
Its lighter than the blue background and the
blazer. This makes it to contrast.
I made the notes even more brighter
and more vivid to stand out of the
magazine.
Iv added a black outline to the circular shape.
This does not contrast within the circle and
colour but does stand out in the background
to give it a better look.
Different font matches the words
underneath the headline. Its white to
contrast background. Font colour
fading into grey and then blue to match
the bright colours and dark colours
around.
Cropped out image and put
in front of the background
layer.
Different font with a different size font
below “BEST STYLES” to show that best
style is more powerful.
The masthead is massive, black and bold
to show contrast and also stands out
As you can see, There’s a
black shadow covering me
on the right hand side of me
covering the edge of the
blazer.
The white outline on the left hand
side of me showing that the side is
more brighter or also to show that
something is lighting me up.
Preliminary Cover Page

Features
I decided to put
features on the left
side of the magazine
contents page because
that’s where its usually
convectional.
Publication and
web link
I decided to put the
publication at the top
because that’s where
its usually put within a
magazine and
sometimes they put
the link at the bottom
of the contents page. I
put it at the top
because it looks more
eye catchy.
Image
This is the image of me
holding a microphone
and dressed in a suit. I
thought that wearing a
suit, suitable for the
audience because it’s a
six form so people
would recognize its
also about education
and also because I'm
holding a microphone,
people can connote
the link between
education and music.
Events
This is where the events
would be at the bottom
right usually and also to
give the students an
opportunity to be
entertained. I put it at the
bottom right because its
usually conventional there.
Preliminary Contents Page

The type of magazine I was thinking of was an classical musical magazine matching with the colour suit I have and also wit the microphone. This is where the image was put into a mise en scene of a
magazine mock cover. First thing I done was to put up the Photoshop programme and open up a white plain background for the scale I wanted it to be. I then imported the image into the white
plain background and then cropped out the image so that I could put it in. I had to carefully remove edges of the image so that I do not ruin the image because it had rigid edges. Secondly I changed
the background colour in order to make it look a bit more stronger. I also added drop shadows at the right side (Black Drop Shadow) and the left side (White Drop Shadow) of my body to show that
I'm leaning on the right side of the magazine and also to show lighting. The masthead is at the top of the magazine to show what it is all about. I added straplines on the left aside of the magazine.
As you can see that the fonts are black and white and the purpose for that was to keep it simple, clear and also contrasts with the background. The barcode is placed on the bottom right of the
magazine with the price on top of it in baby blue colour.
Original After
Comparison Of Images (Cover)

Production
Schedule
week Tasks Description
1/2 • Six form survey
• Preliminary cover page
• Preliminary contents page
• Comparison of images (Cover)
• I will need to do a survey in order to know who my target audience is
• I will create a Preliminary Cover and contents page for the 6 form
• I will make a comparison of the cover from the start and final product
3/4 • Questionnaire
• Audience Profile
• Audience mood board
• I will create a questionnaire in order to know my target audience is
• I will create one slide of a audience profile for who its going to aimed at and
how I want the magazine to be
• I will get images from google and create a mood board
5/6 • Target audience Pages (2)
• Conventional features of a music magazine cover
• I will create 2 pages of magazines institutions and explain who their target
audiences are
• I will analyse 1 music magazine with convectional features
7/8 • Cover Analysis (1,2,3,4) • I will create 4 different cover pages that will be analysed
9/10 • Music planning magazine cover • I will create a page of how the music planning cover layout page would be
11/12 • Contents Analysis (1,2,3) • I will create 3 different Contents pages that will be analysed
13/14 • Music Planning magazine contents • I will create a page of how the music planning contents layout page would be
15/16 • Music planning magazine DPS (Double Page Spread)
• Masthead Design Analysis
• Masthead Planning
• I will create a slide of how the music planning DPS layout page would be
• I will get images of logos of music magazines from google and analyse them
• I will create a page of varieties of different fonts for a masthead
17/18 • Take Images
• Choosing a Cover Image/Editing the cover images
• I will take images with a camera of the person that I am going to choose for the
Cover, Cover and DPS pages
• I will create a page choosing a image for my cover and explain why I chose that
one
• I will compare the edited image and the original image with a description
19/20 • Evaluation • I will finish evaluation and answer all 7 questions

Questionnaire
4.) What is your musical hobbies in terms of interments?
7.) How many music concerts have you been to so far?
3.) What would you be looking for in a Hip Hop magazine?
5.) How passionate are you about Hip Hop music? Scale
from 1 to 10. 1= really poor 5= normal 10=obsessed
6.) From the following music artists who are you
most likely to listen to?
1.) How much money would you spend on a magazine?
Nothing £1 to £2 £2 to £3 £3 to £4
2.) Who is your favourite music artist ?
50 Cent Eminem Snoop Dog Dr. Dre
Products Clothing Celebrities Events
Guitar Piano Drum kit percussion
Eminem 50 cent Tyga Tinie Tempah14 out of 20 people wanted the magazine under £3
18 out of 20 people chose Eminem
Tick one or two boxes
19 out of 20 people Clothing and 17 out of 20 people chose Events
15 out of 20 people chose drum kit as there favourite interest
18 out of 20 people said 9
19 out of 20 people chose Eminem
9 people out of 20 said 7

I want my magazine to be like the magazine XXL because I think that the XXL magazine is about
looking cool and being successful. It will be aimed at 16 to 20 year old males that like fashion and
like to become a inspiration to who ever they want to be.
Its most likely going to be aimed at people that are in love with the Hip-Hop culture and industry. I
have analysed RESPECT, VIBE and XXL magazines and out of these magazines I thought that the XXL
magazine is more interesting to me which actually makes me think about aiming it at people near
my age that are interested in fashion and music.
My magazine will be quite similar to XXL but there’s going to be changes with the ethnicity because
its going be UK based. Its going to be mixed with the ethnicity in the UK to their interests. The
types of magazines my audience could buy is VIBE because VIBE is also about looking cool with the
way you look also entertainment. Their buying habits would be looking at celebrities.
Audience Profile

Vibe’s objective is to refer to hot, new and
cool things. This magazine is aimed at 18 to 34
years old approximately which are passionate
about music, fashion, entertainment and
pop-culture industry. Its mostly read by
Black/African American people between the
age of 18 to 34 also the results show that
there's more people employed that are
buying these type of magazines. Furthermore,
more men are reading Vibe’s magazines.
Target Audience: VIBE

RESPECT is a New York-based, quarterly
hip hop and photojournalism magazine
founded in 2009 by Jonathan Rheingold
and edited by RapRadar's Elliott Wilson.
The publication covers hip hop culture,
focusing on music, photography, and
style. As opposed to mainstream hip-hop
magazines, RESPECT.'s aesthetic is more
highbrow which means it focuses more
on how they represent their magazine
through the Hip-Hop culture, targeting a
"sophisticated” and intelligent reader
who desires a publication that speaks to
them with class. Its circulation is
approximately 250,000 per issue.
Target Audience: Respect

Target Audience: XXL
XXL magazine is a Hip-Hop magazine that was
established in 1997 by the former employee of source
magazine and made XXL similar in its style. It self and
source magazine are the most widely read magazine
based on hip hop genre. XXL has branched out into
different magazines such as scratch, hip hop soul and
eye candy. The age group that would read XXL
magazine would be 16 to 25 year olds because they
usually listen to this genre of the music industry also
from my experience, I have seen people wearing stuff
that relate to their favourite music artist which shows
that these people in this society are inspired by this
genre and there for, it matches to what their interests
are which link to the magazine. There are mostly about
78% readers, median of age 27, people that are college
educated 44.7% and African American 67% that read
this magazine. They speak to the rap-music generation
where they are really passionate about the lifestyle.

Straplines- Words
around the magazine
Masthead- Its like
the headline
Colour Choices- a
range of colours
Image- a picture
Splash- the
main story
Tag- they are single
words
Kicker- different font to make
it pop out
Conventional Features of a Music Magazine

Masthead
The masthead would usually be at the top of the magazine but as
you can see, Usher’s head is covering the masthead; there is no
need to show the whole title because it is so popular.
Image
The image of usher is very cool. The clothing and jewellery that
he is wearing represents that he cares about the way he looks.
The glasses and jewellery he is wearing is bling there for, it shows
that it could be aimed at people that love looking cool stuff. His
facial expression is very masculine because his face looks serious.
Colours
The colours on this is very vibrant as you can see that there’s
baby blue, yellow, white, red and more. It could link with music
because music and colours gives you an emotion.
Font
There's 5 fonts on this magazine. This could show that there's an
range of genres. The fonts gives the person to feel what kind of
music industry it fits in with. Some of the fonts are bubbly and
some have straight lines there for, it juxtaposes.
Splash
The splash of the magazine “Swagger”, is the only one that is red
there for it stands out. It links with maybe the ghetto industry
because it looks more like a graffiti font. It could link with the
people that live their life's as young youths.
Cover Analysis 1

Image and Representation:
As you can see, there's a lot of polysemic signs that just come from the money.
The money connotes being wealthy. Especially the big icon 50 Cent sitting on a
pile of money. In fact, the strapline “The future is now” actually fixes the image of
money to be more motivated and the strapline to be anchorage. The strapline
already gives the audience an idea that it is about one thing which makes it less
abstract even though the image of money just it self could be polysemic. Besides,
the handcuff on 50 cents wrist is on one wrist, this reveals that he doesn’t follow
law, the face expression interprets a apathetic suggestion that he is careless
about rules and as an individual doing his own thing, with money, putting
everything else to the side.
The way he sits on the pile of money symbolises that he is the diamond in the
bucket, he’s got power and is also a role model to the audience. This will inspire
people that look up to 50 cent. His cap is on the side showing that he is not
bothered about how he wears it perceived about his own appearance. The white
glow around the 50 cent reveals that he is the star and representing him as a king.
The actual magazine it self shows the a lot of money and really stands out
because its filled up the magazine cover nearly half way. In fact, the colour to the
money and background.
Cover Analysis 2
Straplines:
As you can see, the “THE 100 BEST HIP-HOP WEB SITES”, gives you now web
links to access online which is for the audience that are interested into any
other Hip-Hop industry. Its placed in the top right hand corner with a different
font following along below with it. Further more, the plus sign that involves
other international musical artists are also involved in the magazines for more
options to get interested.
Masthead:
The Masthead is very clear and it is in a big font size. Interestingly, you can see
that 50 Cents head is covering the “L” from the logo. No matter how much they
cover the logo, I'm sure that the target audience would recognize that this
magazine is XXL; its so popular.

Cover Analysis 3
As you can see the mast heads in the magazines may have similarities but also have differences. In the
“RESPECT” masthead you can see that it is within the top on the frame to show that its the most important
also represents that there is no need for it to stand out because its already at the top with a bit of 2pacs head
covering some of the parts to show that people could still recognize it quite quickly. The effect of the
masthead with 2pacs head in front makes the image stand out and to show that the person is important too
where as in the XXL magazine the masthead is not at the top within the frame but is positioned at the top left
hand corner also its not at the edge but has left a gap in between the edge to show that the box is standing
out. The “XXL” masthead has a black outline and white surface within which shows contrast with the red
background colour. This applies the same for the “RESPECT” masthead but with no black outline.
The centre image of RESPECT Magazine is Tupac in a big portrait. The image is grey to represent the loss
when Tupac died. His life story was a bad road even though he made a change in the Hip-Hop industry and
also changed others. He also made change, went against illuminati and groups of people would frame him to
destroy 2pac’s image. This grey effect of Tupac symbolises how bad situations were for him and reveals how
people feel shocked that Tupac died. This effect is easy for 2pac’s fans to understand and have empathy for
him because of his loss. The image is massive and is positioned straight in the middle to show that he is the
main star. Furthermore, the colours of this image is very contrasting. The white and black are juxtaposing
against each other and could symbolise that he is dead and he is a legend. The chain on Tupac really stands
out and symbolises that he was the one to change the society and shows that because he lived in the ghetto
In America from the 1980’s to 1990’s gangs would usually use revolvers. This weapon symbolises power.
As you can see the mast heads in the magazines may have similarities but also have differences. In the “RESPECT” masthead you can see that it is within
the top on the frame to show that its the most important also represents that there is no need for it to stand out because its already at the top with a bit
of 2pacs head covering some of the parts to show that people could still recognize it quite quickly. The effect of the masthead with 2pacs head in front
makes the image stand out and to show that the person is important too where as in the XXL magazine the masthead is not at the top within the frame
but is positioned at the top left hand corner also its not at the edge but has left a gap in between the edge to show that the box is standing out. The “XXL”
masthead has a black outline and white surface within which shows contrast with the red background colour. This applies the same for the “RESPECT”
masthead but with no black outline.
The straplines in RESPECT magazine are linked with the past and presence. In the magazine you have modern rappers and old school rapper 2pac. This
shows that all these modern rappers look up to Tupac. This is a contrast between all the rappers in that magazine which means that they still sell it
because the rappers still exist but not 2pac. The modern rappers are the big stars now and there for their fans still look up to them which means they are
still inspired by them. The message from these strapline sizes represents that the modern rappers are below Tupac and Tupac is irreplaceable like it says.
Also because the strapline “2pac Irreplaceable”, its on its own which Anker's the image; Tupac is on his own where as the other straplines of the legends
are put together. The barcode is at the bottom right of the magazine and isn't really that noticeable

Cover Analysis 4
The XXL masthead is in a large font size and shows that, that is the main thing about
the magazine. Its red and this is a rich colour there for it represents that this is the
top Hip-Hop magazine. The colour is red juxtaposing the “XXL” in white font colour.
The colour red connotes, danger, Swag, blood and even a variety of different life
styles. Also between the two “X”s is a diamond shape but not exactly. Besides, it
could link with the magazine that there is lots of wealthy icons in the magazine.
The centre image is very big and its just the face. Really zoomed in. The face
expression of Jay Z is very serious. His eyes are very concentrated on the audience
that buy this magazine so it looks like he is looking at you. The mode of address really
makes the audience catch more attention. The picture is very clear portraying how
serious the magazine is represented. The magazine is represented as a very simple
format. Not that much things going on. Just simple colours and very serious fonts.
The fonts are very bold. Even the money sign in the “business” already shows what
the magazine is about and money connotes power and serious things. Jay z is wearing
jewellery representing himself as a real Hip-Hop star especially with the chain around
his neck but mostly, it’s the face of Jay Z that stands out of the magazine. If you
realise, the words are pushed to the left side of the magazine and Jay Z left as his
own on the right side which represents that nothing is touching, even words which
link to how untouchable he is. It shows that no one can frame Jay z and ruin his image
as a superstar.
The straplines are bold and are mostly in black. They really stand out with the
background that is white and also its put to the left hand side of the magazine which
means that all straplines are all put to the side squeezed near each other instead of
being all spread out. In fact the squeezed straplines are most likely to get noticed
because they are all near each other contrasting the image of Jay Z put to the right
hand side. The clothing that Jay Z is wearing is grey which kind of fades in with the
white background and hasn’t got a dark colour to it. His earrings that he is wearing
represents the money and links with the business. His chain just makes the whole
magazine look sophisticated. There’s a range of fading's that go from white to black
which makes the magazines lighting fairly shaded. There are high key lighting, low key
lighting and naturalistic lighting.

Masthead
Strapline
Image
Strapline
Strapline
Barcode
Main article
Date/Price
Music Magazine Planning Cover
Strapline
Strapline

The XXL little masthead in the corner is so much smaller than its original font in the
front of the magazine cover but as you can see, the XXL logo of this content page is
not at the top of the magazine and replaced with “the A-side” This is very interesting
because usually the XXL masthead is the main thing about the magazine.
The Contents page it self is very contrasting and simple using no more than 3 fonts. It
has straight lines giving us a feeling that it is very sophisticated and modern. The
features with the brackets are sans-serif portraying that the magazine is all about
being slick and sophisticated.
The red arrow at the bottom left is opposite the XXL logo on the top right which adds
a bit of a different look instead of having black all the way. The effect of that is that it
makes it stand out and also contrasts the white background. The red arrow is a fast-
forward that you would se on the old tape radios and the logo encourages the
audience to flick through pages.
The Black thick line going across the middle of the magazine beside 50 cent stands
out meaning that information is being separated and symbolise that there is a huge
difference between the two side information. If the thick line wasn’t there or just a
think line then It wouldn’t really look like its two different separate information but
the same so just the fact the thick line makes a huge difference to the human eye.
The range of colours and amount chosen is not a lot. As you can see there's more
black, white fonts colours and not a lot of red colours meaning that the red stands
out because there more black and white that filled on the mise en scene.
I think that because 50 cent is wearing a black shirt and cap, the writing and thick
shapes are mostly chosen to be next to him; it looks like the writing and 5o sent is
behind Soulja Boy, this creates the content page to stand out from Soulja Boy being
put right in front of the contents page especially as a big image. If Soulja Boy wasn’t
in front of 50 Cent, then it would look like an flat image.
The month is on the top right which contrast against the black thick line. Its very
clear that it has its own space where there is nothing else bothering or overlapping
wit thee for its eye catchy and gets caught really quickly.
All the way at the bottom, there's an website link which is very clear because of the
amount of plain white background there for, its also in bold meaning that the
purpose for that is to make it stand out.
Following along the left to the bottom, you have all the features to pages you can
access and look at which are the main information for the magazine that the
audience need.
Contents Page Analysis 1

The month is very clear and turns out to be next to the logo. Its
white and it contrasts with the red background.
As you can see there's not a lot of things going on this contents
page and that’s what makes it interesting because its kept simple
and clear because the amount of space that is there.
The fashion feature and information is not separated by a line or
any kind of line that separates information but as you can see they
used his arm to act as a line to separate the information. If there
was a line put into the arm part, I think that there's no need for it
and also it could be distracting if it was there because there would
be too much going on around that area especially with them
bracelets so its already clear that there is no need for a line.
There are 3 fonts used in this contents page with a mixture of bold,
italics and lower cases which gives the contents page a different
look otherwise, if it didn’t have any other different fonts then it
could quite boring I would say.
The image is huge and is the only image out of the whole contents
page and that shows that’s its pretty clear about this person that he
is into fashion wearing all these chains.
This word “Fashion” in the contents page has an arrow next to it
facing on the right showing that its trying to communicate that its
clear its about this person making it anchorage with all these chains
on a big image representing how fashion could be used. The arrow
and the word “Fashion” just fixes the image.
Clearly in the top corner the vibe logo is very small and in the
background you can see the first letter V part of the logo which is
placed in the middle top area but this means that they don’t really
need the whole logo VIBE because its so popular also maybe
because there was not that much space with the “CONTENTS” logo
so they decided to put the “V” behind the “CONTENTS” on another
layer.

As you can see, you see that the big star usher is
standing on the right side of the magazine in a grey
background.
He has one of his hands in the pocket and there for
it shows that he thinks he could be cool also in fact
that the image is a large one, the image is what's its
focused on and also could represent what the
magazine is aimed for.
The large image allows the reader to directly look at
the image because its in a big scale. He is also
wearing a leather coat and has this urban style
which is usually people that like Hip-Hop which
could be relevant. The gradient of the colour grey in
the background is dark on the top left corner which
then fades more lighter as it goes to the bottom
right corner.
The features are aligned to the left which then gives
the picture of Usher to stand out and have its own
personal space making it look isolated.
The features only have three different colours and
there for, makes it look different. If the fonts colours
look all the same then it would make the contents
page look boring so using different colours would
make it stand out more and also contrast with the
background.

Music Magazine Planning Contents
IMAGE
EVENTS
REVIEWS
FEATURES
DATE
HYPECONTENTS

Main Image:
As you can see, Florence
is wearing all black
which could look a bit
sexual and flirty using
mode of address to
show that she is looking
at you. In fact, she has
her leg of the American
flag showing that she
really does love America
linking to the feature
“got the love”. Also,
“got the love” links to
her song because she
named her song got the
love. This is the reason
why they would put her
there instead of
somebody else because
she could be patriotic.
Also because the image
is following along with
the second page, if it
making is look
minimalist because its
big and allows to have
space in the double
spread page.
Feature Heading:
The feature heading
“USA got the love” have
2 fonts in it. “USA” is
bold and big following
along to the next page
and “got the love” is in
italics.
Article:
The article is put to the bottom right hand corner on the second page following along with
white space in-between 3 columns. The purpose for that is that if there was lines or text
boxes, it would look more cluttered.
Columns:
There are 3 columns on the bottom right hand corner making it look more pushed to the
corner because they separated the image so that there is more space and for it to be more
eye catchy letting you know exactly what is where on the double page spread.
Subheading:
The subheading font
is bigger than the
articles font and is
placed below the “A”
of “USA” making it
stand out. As you can
see, it looks like from
the left top hand
corner, the fonts go
smaller as they go
along to the bottom
right hand corner.
Furthermore, the
subheading links
with the pic from the
quote “America at
her feet” suggesting
that she is the
dominate female of
America.
First Letter:
The first letter is in a Italic
font and also is the same
font size as “got the love”. It
links together making it look
continuous through the
article so in the article, it
could say information about
her having love for America
or by America.
Double Page Spread (1)

Main Image:
The main image is
not spread across
the second page
because it’s not
minimalistic. As you
can see, there's red
lighting starting the
left side of the
double page spread
fading into baby
blue. If the red
lighting was going to
end on the right side
of the first page, it
would really not look
that nice because
there would be too
much red colours
around the middle
area so they decided
to spread the red
colours evenly
through the double
page spread.
Article:
The articles are placed on the second page
of the double page spread to show the
audience that that image is completely
separate and non-minimalistic.
Columns:
The columns are
evenly spread out on
the second page
from the top to the
bottom making it
look more
busy/cluttered.
Feature Heading:
The feature heading is
placed all the way at the
top of the second page
“The Most Exciting People
In Music”. Its very clear
and its placed right in the
top middle.
White Space:
The white space
in between all the
articles are not
really spaced out
because there's
so much
information
making it look
cluttered but it
still has white
spacing making it
look clear that
there’s
paragraphs.
First Letter:
The First letter is very big making it
stand out and also because its
black, it contrast. Also, the big “J”
on the second page could symbolise
that the whole double page spread
could be just about Jay Z. A
interview for the a big icon.
Double Page Spread (2)

Music Magazine Planning DPS
Image
JACK
WALKER
Quote
4443

Masthead Designs Analysis
The XXL logo is very bold with
white writing and red background
which makes it contrast. The edge
of the letters are not really sharp
but have a bit curve to it making it
look more bubbly I would say.
The VIBE logo is very simple black. One colour and
one font. This could symbolise how serious they are
about their music magazine representing who they
are as a music industry. However, the “V” in the logo
is quiet slanted and it is not as a normal v would
look like but just that little slanted part of the v
makes it look different.
The Q logo is more of a middle
classed based magazine so its
going to have this sophisticated
look to it to attract the
audience. The O shape of the
letter Q is very simple on the
outside but if you have a look on
the middle, there’s an another O
shaped circle but rotated on a
different angle and making it
thin too that’s why the top of
the Q and bottom is thinner
than the sides right and left. Just
this two circles gave it a
different look to the Q making it
look more creative also the serif
part blending in the O shape
makes it look like a Q but it
shows that the middle classed
audience like it slick and
sophisticated and posh.
The BLENDER logo is just simple black but
now this logo has more curved edges
meaning no sharp edges and also it looks
like a more like a smooth font representing
something about the magazine that is going to
be all about being slick and smooth.
The RESPECT logo is also about
being serious. At the end of respect
you see a full stop which shows
that, that’s all they want and that’s
how the magazine is going to be
represented. The colour red on the
back ground could symbolise maybe
a warning and also that they have
power so just from this logo you see
high status from the Hip-Hop
industry.

Masthead Planning
Britannic Bold
Candara
Impact
Express SF
Terminal
Stencil Std
English157 BT
Freestyle Script
Harlow Solid Italic
French111 BT
Embassy BT
I have list of Bold fonts and italic fonts. I decided to go for the bold because the
italic is not conventional on a Hip-Hop magazine also because the impact font, it
is bold, big and clear with soft edges. This is what makes the magazine look
simple and just makes it look more straight and clear to read which is what
makes it stand out. Also I chose for it to bed red because red is a rich colour and
is one of the most common colour used in magazines.

Images
These are the photos that I have took of Jack Walker to put into my Cover, Contents and DPS page. I tried taking pics of jack walker to do
different kind of poses such as holding the headphones, holding the tie, standing to sides or just looking straight into the lenses. I wanted
him to do the poses that it looks more cool when he is put into a cover, contents and DPS. I tried tilting the camera too so I can have
different perspectives of the photos.

Choosing a Cover Image
This is the image that I have chosen. I have chosen this because his body language anchors the cool side of the
Hip-Hop culture and usually this is the kind of pose that you expect to see within a Hip-Hop magazine. You
wouldn’t usually see a man in a suit in a Hip-Hop magazine but because he is wearing the Streets by 50 ANC
headphones, it links with Hip-Hop because 50 cent is a Hip-Hop king of the underground rapper. Furthermore,
its also because he is posing on the side which is one of the common poses people do so overall, I think that
this image is a good image. You can see that he is looking straight at you and that’s called direct mode of
address which makes it more catchy for the reader and also because he is in the middle which makes it easier
to crop the background.

Editing My Cover Image
As you can see, I have the non edited photo on the left and the edited version on the right. The things that I have changed was
the contrast because it makes the colours look more darker and stronger which makes the photo look more darker in some
areas and lighter in some areas which contrast. I done this because if I didn’t, the photo wouldn’t really look professional and
wont have any strong colours and I don’t want that in the cover so it has to look more strong and quality. When I put the
contrast up, I also put the brightness bit higher because when I just put the contrast, it could look over contrasted so I had to
add brightness in order to balance the image colours. Another thing that I have done was the background was cut because I
didn’t like the background on the first image on the left; there's creases and it doesn't look that bright so the background is what
makes the person stand out in order to get a great image so I did cut the background so that it looks more bright at the back but
using Photoshop to cut our the image wasn’t easy due to the background on the edge of the person that wasn’t cut so I had to
zoom in to cut it carefully and give the image a sharp edge to it. Lastly as you can see, the bottom of the image was a bit cut due
to the bar on the cover page.

Evaluation of cover
1.)In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?
Use Of Conventions
I have used a number of conventions, which are what you'd expect to see within the mise en scene of a
magazine so that it looks like a professional magazine and real as possible. I chose the masthead to be at
the top because magazines use mastheads at the top of the magazine massively and also because its big,
it dominates the whole cover and magazine and there for on the other hand the masthead is eye catchy
which mean that it is easy to spot. I chose the masthead to be “HYPE” because I thought that this could
portray the whole magazine that its full of amazing pages ands that it sounds like they really care about
how the masthead sounds and there for gives the magazine a style. I used straplines in conventional
areas and there for males it seem like a real life magazine. As you can see that the straplines are in
different fonts and size and colours. Also thought that strapline in a bar or just a bar itself is what
sometimes make a magazine look more better because it gives it variety of shapes within the mise en
scene.
Developing Conventions
One of the things I have developed was the straplines of the artist on the right hand side of the
magazines. As you can see the straplines of the XXL magazine on the right hand side has no light opacity
boxes behind it so on the hype magazine is what I decided to do so that the straplines stand out more
and looks more like a puff. Another thing is that I put Jack into a suit when I wanted him to be in casual
cool clothes such as a snapback and a hoodie. But because he is a white hip-hop star, it wouldn’t
necessarily anchor the Hip-Hop theme. Another thing would be the plus sign on the 50 cent magazine. I
changed that into words instead of a sign so this is what gave me that idea.
Challenging Conventions
The thing that is interesting is that it’s a man in a suit in a hip-hop magazine and you wouldn't be likely to
see that in a magazine especially in Hip-Hop magazines. In Hip-Hop magazines, you are most likely to see
stars in bling, and urban clothing style like you would see in reality media in urban cities.
Also because usually Hip-Hop comes from an African background and you wouldn't usually see a white
person in a Hip-Hop magazine back then but now because there is white rappers, its now considered that
they can be in a Hip-Hop magazine.

Evaluation of contents page
1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?
Use Of Conventions
I have a few conventions of what you expect on a contents page. I put the features on the left of the contents
page because this is what magazines usually do. It gives space for any other conventions to be put in when the
features are aligned to the left with the events guide merging with information. Putting one thing to the side,
makes your eye concentrate on that part of the magazine. Also, I have Numbers for the features in bold and a
bigger font size than the features information. This allows the features to look more sophisticated and usually
makes it stand out. Usually you would also see the website links at the bottom of the contents page with a bar
in order to distribute this product or any other links that relate to the magazine. You would also see that there
would be a few pictures on the contents page and one of them would be big to portray that one of the pictures
is the main story within the magazine. I put Jack Walker in big so that it stands out and shows that he is the
main story in that magazine. You could see that the Layout of the contents to what you expect.
At the bottom of the ‘the B-Side’, you would see that there is a black bar at the bottom of the page with also a
frame going all the way around. On my contents page, I do not have a frame going around the mise en scene
but as you can see that I put the black bar all the way at the bottom. The bar was adjusted to a smaller depth
which makes it thinner but the thing that I have developed was adding in web links into the black bar in order
to show that it is a section of web links and also because it stand out. Another thing that I have changed was
the colour on the “contents” which is the letter ‘e’ in white and rest in red. In magazines you wouldn’t usually
see that. You would only see headings and mastheads in one simple colour going the same all the way. I have
changed this because there is a line that separates the information from the images. On the top of the right
hand corner, it has a white background and on the left it has a grey background and there for I wanted to make
the “contents” word look more eye catchy with the white colour that contrasts to the background.
The interesting thing about the second magazine is that the layout was different to conventional layout on a
contents page. I don’t see enough features on that contents page and there for makes it unique. Besides, the
images layouts were interesting too because there's more than one image and it keeps it all simple and big on
the page instead of lots of information.

Evaluation of Double Page Spread
1.) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real
media products?
Use Of Conventions
There are some conventions that I have used for the double page spread that you would expect to see in
a professional magazine convention. Usually in a double page spread you see that there is one big image
on the DPS. It would usually be on 1 page or it would just run across the whole two pages with the text
in front or following to the edge of the image. The thing that I have done was putting the image across
two pages with the text on the edges of the image. As you can see, I have added a drop shadow on the
image which shows that there is a background behind him. The drop shadow allows the person to stand
out more and also because its darker and transparent, the drop shadow makes the person stand out the
image. The image of Jack is what you would expect to see in a DPS because that’s the main focus of the
DPS which the text anchors what the image is about. Further more, the heading “JACK WALKER” is a
heading which is the main thing that shows what's it focusing on. Its in big and its in blue with all the
text below including the quote.
One of the things that I have added was the border line with the patterns in transparent grey. The thing
that made me that was that on the second DPS you see that there’s white dots going around the DPS as
a borderline. So I went on google and got an image that had graffiti patterns that I could use for the DPS
but because it wasn’t transparent, I had to make it transparent for it to fade it into the DPS of mine. I
thought that because Jack hasn’t got any instrument to portray that that the magazine is about music, I
decided to add the patterns of graffiti which communicates the word Hip-Hop because usually the Hip-
Hop theme of Hip-Hip industry is all about how the symbolise the Hip-Hop music and usually people
that do graffiti are usually the people that listen to Hip-Hop music and people that from urban cities.
The image of the graffiti, Is placed behind the text and the image of jack.it starts at the bottom of the
border line which is white and as it goes up it goes transparent grey.
Another thing would be the article on the right side on the magazine which is In a small font. In a article
you wouldn’t see big size font because it would take up space.
The interesting thing is that the background on my double page spread is the patterns which is what you
won't see in a hip-hop magazine. Magazines usually have plain backgrounds to keep it simple but
because I have a Hip-Hop theme, I decided to make it a bit different rather than having a plain black or
white background and also because it links with the Hip-Hop music theme.

Evaluation of cover
2.)How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The Image
The main image is the focus of the whole page which dominates any
other convention on the page. I wanted the main image to represent
16-20 year old males in a masculine strapping way. The way 50 cent
looks is powerful and looks like he is materialistic but in some of the
photos, he looks macho and that shows the masculinity in him
especially in suit. My music magazine is not just a music magazine but
also a fashion magazine. Dressing up well wont really effect anything in
general but surely can gain respect which is what I want in my
magazine. I wanted the audience to look up to a model to inspire and
be like him so I put Jack into a suit which is unusual for a Hip-Hop
magazine cover but that’s what makes it different. Adding a bit of
different tips to the magazine cover changes the audiences
interpretation in a magazine is a good way for the audience to know. I
chose a male teenager because I wanted my overall front cover to
have a masculine, British and American feel which matches the
colours on the front cover. His facial expression is neutral but also
shows positivity in his pose because he is facing side ways and he look
confident about him self and that’s how I want the audience to feel. I
tried making the model have a similar pose to 50 Cent but changed the
position of his arms holding the headphones which suggest that he is
only interested and passionate about the Hip-Hop music.
Strapline
I think the straplines I have used represent men in a certain way. The
strapline ‘How Jack Walker rose to conquer the hip-hop hierarchy’ is
like a guide for the audience, for people to look up to him and want to
be like him. Its almost as if the strapline is trying to make you do
something in order to make you become that person to have the life
like Jack Walker. As you can see the font colour is in white with a black
bar behind it in a low opacity which makes the white font stand out
and that could portray its importance.

Main image
The main image for the contents page represents men in a confident way. The
mise-en-scene, such as his outfit, facial expression, body language all help the
way men presented in this way. His costume is him in a suit which is what you
would expect in a formal high class magazine but because of his body language,
it changes that high class perspective and changes your interpretation of him as
being a young man who wants to enjoy himself and as you can see his facial
expression looks like he is proud about where he is . The models face expression
is quite natural and neutral. He is also looking straight at the camera which looks
like he is looking at you which is direct mode of address.
Events guide
The music events guide box says a lot
about men and their hobbies. Some
people would just buy a magazine just for
events that they want to go to and that
represents men as being into music and
want to take a road into the music career.
This allows the audience to keep up to
date with the latest news/music and for
people that are interested in tracks and
albums.
Web links
The web links which is at the bottom of the contents page presents men as people who are interested in social
networking sites. I thought that maybe if id put a website of the institution “HYPE”, they can search it up and
read the magazine online instead of reading the magazine in your hand. Also the web. Also I have put a
Facebook web link which is for people that like to communicate and interact on the website.

Background
The background is one of the ways that show that the magazine is about Hip-Hop. As
you can see its supposed to be graffiti patterns on a wall but I changed it into a low
opacity grey colour to match the white background. In urban cities we see a lot of
graffiti done on walls usually caused by gangs or just people that want to symbolise
something or can be used as a message for the society to know. I chose this
background theme because I wanted to link it with Hip-Hop and Hip-Hop has this
urban feel top it especially in music.
Main image
This image presents males as being self-confident and he looks very
disciplined which alters the way the audience would think about him. The
fact that the model is wearing a sui, this connotes that men have power
and they are dominate. Also because jacks arm goes over takes the next
page a bit, this could suggest that everything is his and he is taking over or
maybe taking rising to the top. The direct mode of address makes it look
like he is confident in himself.
Quote
The quote “…it was full of gangs and conflict” is like a message to the males that
it just doesn’t happen in his area but happens everywhere and even though he
has struggled, it connotes that even starting from streets, you can get your
dream that you want and that’s it is possible to achieve. So this quote could let
the people know to be more aware about them self's.

Evaluation
3.) What kind of media institution might distribute your
media product and why?
I think that the media institution ‘XXL’ would distribute
my media product. The reason why is that its all about
the music business and XXL is the biggest Hip-Hop music
magazine which they are passionate about the Hip-Hop
lifestyle. In XXL they aim at people who are 16 to 25 years
old and its mixed with people that are 78% readers,
people that are college educated (44.7%) and African
American’s which is 67% that read this magazine. Jack is
a young person within the HYPE magazine and he is the
role of people that are still into education. I would say
that the magazine I have produced is closer to the XXL
magazine than the RESPECT magazine; Respect isn't
world wide and is only based in America but XXL is
distributed in the UK too.

Evaluation
4.) Who would be the audience for your media
product?
My audience is black or white males aged 16 to
20 that like fashion and people that really enjoy
music or do music as a living. In my features
there will be me talking about musical events
happening so that people could come and join
and see what the Hip-Hop industry is about.
There would be addresses of links to artist such
as a Facebook page where people could keep
up to date. In the features there would be
some parts where I talk about swag which is a
style that usually people in urban cities dress
like and that will appeal to them. Also I have
found out some research of how many people
listen to Hip-Hop. The Hip-Hop industry has
taken the music industry very far and lots of
people who listen to Hip Hop music is twenty-
four million people ranging in age from
nineteen to thirty-four. These listeners
represent all nationalities, all religions, and all
ethnic groups.

Evaluation of cover
5.) How did you attract/address your audience?
From my research I learnt a lot about certain conventions that are altered so they
appeal to males. Firstly, it is conventional for a magazine that is aimed at men, for
the masthead to be coloured with a masculine colour such as a dark red. The font is
kept simple, big and bold which then keeps it clear for the user. Therefore I decided
to use the font Impact and colour the whole word ‘HYPE’ in Darker red because it’s a
rich dark colour. Usually a lot of different magazines have red in their fonts so I
decided to use that because it’s the common colour that stands out. This will make
the audience to look straight at the top because its eye catchy.
This is not what you would see in a magazine with thin lines going through
the word because its not conventional but because its different, it stands
out; that’s the only font singled out in the magazine which makes it unique
and interesting. I chose this font because it has this urban feel to it where
as my masthead is just simple and plain connoting the simplicity of the
magazine. I thought that maybe this could anchor the cool music side.
The Straplines are kept in a small font size and this shows the juxtaposition
of these font sizes because the masthead is massive same as the word
“superstar” but this portrays the variety of fonts I have used to put in areas
of the magazines where I thought it was right to put in.
The Only vivid colour on the cover which makes it stand out and is placed
on the top left below the masthead which also juxtaposes the font size but
it balances out because of the vivid colour baby blue of “SMS” and the
font size of “HYPE.

In the features box, you have 5 colours in there but they completely contrast. This makes the
reader understand why I have done the fonts in those colours. In the features area, you have the
white headings to show it’s a section for example, what the page is about so it gives the audience
to not read the whole text but anyway I have done the text below the headings of the features in
black to show a little brief sentence about that page. The features side allows the person to look
directly into one side and find what page they find interesting so I tried keeping the features area
simple but also adding colours to it so that it stands out. I thought adding a grey background colour
mirrors the red colour on the big “H” behind Jack which gives it a nice sharp edge.
I decided to add a events box because it’s a music magazine and that’s what
people that are into music expect to see because Hip-Hop is big and people
would want to see massive stars so I think that this is a good way of
distributing the Hip-Hop industry and keeping the audience satisfied. I
thought that because if there was no events or prizes to win to excite the
audience, then that could put them off so keeping the audience excited is a
good way of keeping them up to date with the Hip-Hop Industry.
The big “H” behind Jack is red but in a lower opacity which keeps it soft and makes it look
smooth. In fact, because the “H” is right in the middle behind jack, it has the edges that align
with Jack hands and because it’s a low opacity “H”, it keeps the edges smooth and soft to make
Jack stand out even more because Jack in that image had a strong contrast and brightness level.
The “H” is also massive which stands for the masthead “HYPE” which is nearly about the same
height as Jack.
This is the bar above that is located at the very bottom of the contents page and shows all the
links to the institution HYPE. It has a black background with all one of the most popular website
“Facebook” where lots of people socialise which is a good way of distributing this product HYPE.

The patterns in the background is what makes the white background stand
out because you got dark shaded areas on the border and page but because
it runs across the whole page it makes it look different compared to any
other background on a double page spread and this is what you wouldn't
usually see in a double page spread. I thought that because my target
audience is 16 to 20 year old males that are into Hip-Hop and fashion, this
will appeal to them because it’s a graffiti and that maybe could have a
relationship to where they live or how they live their life's.
The “JACK WALKER” is in capitals which suggest importance as well as the
boldness and font size. This shows that JACK is the only important person
on that focus but because its got strips within the font, this could suggest
maybe some kind of flashing light effect which connotes that he is a
superstar and that’s a unique font that you probably wouldn’t see in any
other magazines. Its also in the same colour blue as his suit to portray the
link. The “JACK WALKER” word nearly covers half way through one page to
show to level of important and that’s what stands out the page because
its massive with extra little black lines on the left and right of the word
“JACK” which I thought could symbolise the hands of his.
This is the image on the double page spread and is the biggest feature on the DPS. As you
can see, his facial expression anchors everything about him. He looks very positive and you
can tell by the way he is look through direct mode of address. His eyebrows are raised to
show that he stands tall and his hands on his head suggesting his stressful times he has
been through but on the other hand it connotes that he has just gone for his dream and is
proud about what he has accomplished. The direct mode of address makes people want to
look at his eyes and his facial expression. Further more, you can see that he is standing
straight and not facing side ways so it shows his whole body and suit. This suggests the
power of Jack.

Evaluation
6.) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product
With the camera I have learnt how to take the photos in different perspectives/Angles in order to take
photos such a mid shot, close up shot and long shot of the person. I thought that just because of a
plain background, it makes a huge difference to the image that is taken because the image would look
more clear instead of taking a picture with lots of props at the background so a plain background
singles the person which makes the person stand out and contrast from the background. Also lighting
is important because you want dark areas and light areas to make the image balance. If the image has
no high key or low key lighting, the image would look like a image taken from a phone so the lighting
is important in order to take great professional images.
In Adobe Photoshop, I have learnt that sometimes this programme is good for lots of things but
when you have an very good image there’s no need to do much to the image if the photo is already
well shot but if the image is not that good enough as you think it is, Adobe Photoshop is a good way
of fixing, developing or changing the image. I had images that were not good as I thought it was so I
decided to use this programme to change the contrast, brightness, cropping and adding extra things
such as the background, colours and text to the image. For example if you didn’t like the background
lighting, then you could crop that out and just put a background that can be edited to make it look
realistic.
In InDesign, I thought that this was the easiest way to produce my double page spread because you
can get on whole page that have constructive lines to show the equality of two pages within one and
that allowed me to put everything neatly within the DPS. This makes the DPS look more balanced out
and there for keeps it simple but it was sometimes hard to use because it’s a bit different from Adobe
Photoshop because it was lay out differently so this programme took more time to create the DPS
where as the Adobe Photoshop programme was more organised and clearly presented so I know how
to use it properly. I think that adding borders to the background is much more simple because you
don’t have a list of layers like Adobe Photoshop does but in this all you have to do is click on ‘send to
back’ so I think that was useful.

Evaluation of cover
7.) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?
Looking back on my sixth form magazine I feel as if I have learnt a lot of skills,
knowledge and understanding on how front covers are set out and presented.
First of all, my first preliminary task of the cover, I believe it to be good at the first
start because it looks conventional and actually looks like magazine not a poster or
a leaflet. I have already had an idea of how the preliminary task should look like
ion my head and that's why it ended up like that. I thought about how should I
make it musical so I added a micro-phone to show the music side and also the
music notes. I tried contrasting the font size on the first preliminary task and it
worked because if all the fonts were the same font size, then it wouldn’t look as if
a professional magazine so you need varieties of font sizes. I didn’t really like the
lighting on the preliminary task because the image wasn’t strong in terms of
contrast and brightness so I added lighting on the side of me to show where the
perspective of lighting is coming from but its kind of ruined the face because that’s
not how naturalistic lighting looks like so in comparison the thing that I didn’t add
on the final cover was lighting but this time I added the brightness and contrast
which made the image look more sharp and strong so this made a high difference
to the image. On the preliminary task the splash didn't really stand out but
because the fonts were serif, it stand out communicating with the theme of the 6
form. I learnt that on a magazine, in should keep everything squashed together
and try keep the magazine look more conventional with simplicity but because it
was tricky, some parts didn't go right to make a perfect magazine. I think I have
improved on the way magazines are laid out and how I could create a feature in a
way to target my audience to have the interpretation that I want them to focus on.
The improvement overall has improved a lot because I used different tools to
create that final product whereas I didn’t use a lot of tools for my preliminary task
cover.

7.) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have
learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
As you can see, on my preliminary task of contents page, it is not
professional and looks rushed. There isn't that much colours to it and
the image is just a normal photo taken with a camera which has no
edits to it what so ever. There’s only two different types of fonts which
are bold but don’t have any good look to it. I still have the sense of
layout to it but it wasn’t done properly which made it look basic. I
have added a few pictures to it such as the Harris Academy Greenwich
logo and the Car park logo behind the “WIN” word. I would say I have
used a couple of skills to create the preliminary task such as the Car
park logo with a low opacity which I have changed. There isn’t any
contrast on the contents page and there it will not grab the audiences
interest. On my final product of contents page, I have learnt a lot
about how to make it look professional. I have used a lot of strong
dark and bright colours to make it stand out such as white, grey, red,
blue and any other colours you see in the mise en scene of my final
contents page. The image was cropped out so Jack has a better
background with a “H” behind him and extra images to make look
more interesting instead of too much information on it. I have also
learnt that the bars/lines should be thick or thin to make the contents
page look more Hip-Hop style instead of thin lines that are usually
used in classic high class magazines.

Mario Balaz Media Coursework

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