Production Log 1

This is a screen shot of my magazine cover in production:

I have stuck fairly closley to my plan however I have changed some of the fonts such as the "Dizee Rascal" font. The puff is below the title which is similar to hip-hop magazine The Source.

Audience Research

I showed my moodboard and a recent issue of american hip-hop magazine "The Source" and asked him a series of questions to help understand what a member of my target audience would expect and hope for from a new Grime music magazine. The person I interviewed is also a fan of american hip-hop music. The questions I asked him were:

1. Which elements shown in my moodboard do you feel are most important for the production of a Grime/urban music magazine, and what pictures interest you most?
2. Does this magazine appeal to you?
3. What things do you like, and which things don't you like?
4. Is the price acceptable?

These were his answers:

1. "I'm most interested to hear about the artists I hadn't heard of because I didn't recognise some of them and I really like to hear new and original music. I also was interested by the picture of Kidulthood because I really like that film and I would like to hear about new similar movies. The flag and picture of the streets are important too as they represent culture which really interesting."
2. "Yes but it seems some parts are more catered to an american audience so I'm not really interested in those parts."
3. "I like the parts about the music but the other stuff about art and politics and stuff doesn't really interest me. I like the fact that it talks about stuff like games and stuff too, though."
4. " £3.75 is a bit too expensive but it's probably because it's imported from America."

More Audience Research

I showed my sketches to a member of my target audience and asked him the following questions:

1. Does this magazine appeal to you?
2. Would you purchase this magazine and why?
3. How much would you pay?
4. What would you want it to include?
5. What changes would you make; what are the things you didn't like?
6. Do you like the layout, fonts, colours etc?
7. What do you think of the magazine in general so far?

1. Yes
2. Yes because it's eye-catching and unique; there aren't any other magazine that deal only with urban music from the UK.
3. £2.50 - £3.00
4. Interviews with well-known artists, reviews and information about new and unkown artists.
5. I would add some more pictures to the front cover to make it more exciting, like above the Dizzee Rascal story could be a small picture of Dizee Rascal.
6. Yes they suit the style of the magazine especially the logo which captures the underground feel of grime and r'n'b and stuff like that.
7. I like it and I'd like to see the finished product to know how it turns out.

Time Plan

16th Jan - Take photographs for cover and double page spread
18th Jan - Edit pictures and begin cover
22th Jan - Finish cover
23th Jan - Collect other pictures needed
25th Jan - Begin contents page
1st Feb - Finish contents page
2nd Feb - Write article for double page spread
3/4th Feb - Begin putting together double page spread
11th Feb - Finish double page spread
12th Feb - Check all work and tweak any errors

Initial Planning

I named my magazine "Grime Nation" as grime is a genre specific to England and a large part of Grime culture is closely linked with British culture. I used the bold, thick sans serif font because it reflects the heavy, bassy and loud style of the music. I used a font with cracks in it as this is a popular font used by grime artists and connotes the magazine being "underground". I will use the same orange colour which will contrast with the other dark colours. The sketch of the artists face is only to give a vague idea of the final prduct as in my final draft it will be an extreme close up from a high angle, with part of the artist's face hidden by his cap. The tagline underneath the headline "WILEY" says "the new face of grime" which worls well with the extreme close up of his face. The will only be a small part of the background visible so it will be a dark grey colour. I will use white and red for the text around the main sell as they will stand out well on the grey background the text will only slightly overlap on the artist's face.


I will use a similar font for the word "Contents" but slightly thinner, the rest of the fonts will be a standard sans serif font such as Arial. The background in the text box will black with white text. To the left of this will be boxes which contain pictures relating to the stories in the magazine with page numbers and the what the story is so the reader can quickly skip to this part.

My double page spread will be the cover story about rapper "Wiley" featured on the front page. The large picture will take up the whole front page and overlap onto the second page. Like the image on the front cover it will be a close up taken from a high angle with part of the model's face covered by his cap. The model will be smoking so as to give an atmosphere of relaxation, so that it seems like a very personal and revealing interview. At the bottom end of the first page will be a quote from the interview that says something quite unexpected so that the reader is compelled to read the rest of the article to hear the interviewee expand on this. The model will be shown to look wealthy in the way that he dresses and his body language. The font for the headline will be serif to connote the artist's success, beneath this an introduction to the article, e.g. a summarry of The artist's career so far. Below this will be 3 columns of text which are the main text of the article, equal in size.

Summarry of research into existing magazines

My research has made me realise that American hip-hop magazines tend to focus more on the wealthy side of hip-hop and appeal to materialists, both in the style (fonts, layouts etc.) and in the content (lists of best new products; video games, gadgets, clothes). My magazine will be unique as I will take a different approach, seeing as my magazine is based mostly on "Grime" my magazine will have a more raw urban style and will seem like it is an "underground" magazine. The magazines I have studied have used slang language to appeal to their audience so I will do the same in my magazine however I will use more slang specific to grime music and british culture. I have learned that for my magazine to be engaging to my audience I will have to include articles on other things than music such as movies and clothing specific to my audience. I will also make my magazine cheaper about £2.50-£3.00 so it will be easier to afford to my audience who may have a low income or no income at all.

Audience Profile

My main target audience are 15-22 year old males. The genre of music in my magazine is Grime which as a lesser known genre that is mostly listened to by youth and young adults. They dress casually wearing Nike and Fred Perry clothing with jeans or tracksuit trousers and will have short hair. They will be quite concerned with keeping up with the latest fashions and keen to show of they're new Nike trainers. Most of them will be students at high school or college, if not they may be unemployed or be D or E on the Jicnar scale (lowest grade workers, semi/unskilled manual workers) as they will be very young and new to the world of work. The psychographics of my audience is Underacheivers and Radicals. They're social values are Materialists. They will enjoy mostly grime and american hip-hop however they will also enjoy R&B and some pop artists. They will spend a lot of spare time on facebook and playing video games such as Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto. They will enjoy mostly action movies and comedies such as The Bourne Identity and Pineapple Express, they will also enjoy urban movies such as Kidulthood and 8 Mile as they will feel that they can relate. They will like to socialise, go out on the weekend drinking and partying, putting fun before work. They will have an open mind to things such as drugs.

The video below displays the girtty, urban style of grime music. It glamourises crime and danger in a way similar to a thriller film.

Grime Moodboard

Institution/Publisher research

The publishers of a magazine are the people that make the magazine available to the public for example making sure that it is available to purchase at stores. They also control marketing and advertising of the magazine.The concentration of media ownership is very apparent in the magazine industry as many magazines are owned by the same publisher for example IPC Media own a vast range of magazines ranging from the "indie" rock magazine "NME" to women's magazine such as "Look" and men's magazines such as "Nuts". The fact that NME is owned by a massive coorperation shows that it probably does not have the integrity it claims to as it designed to appeal to a large audience and it's key function is to make money. The NME is the same formula used for every other music magazine, but disguised to seem original, independant and exciting. Organising the company in this way ensures that IPC Media has all areas of msinstream media covered. Independant publishers distribute there magazines on a much smaller scale but appeal to their non-mainstream audiences by selling their magazines in "cooler" places such as music shops, independant book shops etc.

The publisher of XXL Magazine is Harris Publications, a smaller publisher that publishes only a few other magazines that could appeal to the same target audience of young men, an automative mmagazine, basketball magazine etc. Harris Publications strategy is to appeal to a specific target audience and be the leader in that market.

I would have my magazine be published by an independant magazine publisher and sell it in shops such as HMV and Face the music so that the music fans will see it as something real and cool.

Initial Research into Forms and Conventions

I have been researching into different types of music magazines to try to understand what aspects of the magazine appeals to specific audiences and how publishers use this to their advantage. Magazines such as Kerrang! appeal to an audience that likes to consider themselves inidivdual and against the mainstream whereas magazines such as such as Classic FM appeal to an audience that likes to consider themselves m0re sophisticated and upper class with a gentler and softer presentation style.

There are a number of mainstream rap/hip-hop music magazines however these all focus on american hip-hop whereas my magazine will focus only on "Grime" a british sub-genre of rap as there is a gap in the market.

XXL Worldwide is a magazine about American hip-hop music as well as culture. The name is a reference to hip-hop slang words such as "massive" and "phat" mean "good" or "cool". The fonts are mostly sans serif fonts with upper case letters, however a serif font is used for the headline "DEF JAM 25" this is to connote that the Def Jam label is prestigious. The people on the cover are all artists from the Def Jam label. The colour scheme is red and black with a white background, this helps the bold text stand out. The content is mostly about hip-hop music, with interviews, reviews of CDs and a retrospective of the Def Jam label. It also features articles on hip-hop culture for example there are articles on sneakers, video games and clothing. XXL uses mostly standard language however it throuws hip-hop slang in every now and again. Most of the pictures are of hip-hop artists and a lot of these shots are taken upwards to make them seem bigger and tougher to help portray the "gangsta" image. Serif fonts are used to connote the prestigious history of the Def Jam label.

The next magazine I will analyse is The Source. This magazine is also abou hip-hop music and culture. The front cover displays the "classy", "wealthy" side of hip-hop culture whereas the cover of XXL displays the tough, gang-like, tough image. The black and grey colour scheme connotes class and sophistication, as Snoop Dogg is one of the older and more respected hip-hop artists. The fonts used are simple and mostly white is used except for some straplines and the name of the cover article "SNOOP". Like XXL the source features lots of articles on products such as gadgets, clothing, video games etc. This fits in with the materialistic sensibilites of hip-hop culture and also the target audience for hip-hop is traditionally young men who are also the people that would be interested in things such as video games, gadgets and hip-hop style clothing. The style of the layout inside the magazine is minimalistic with white backgrounds and pictures in square boxes surrounded by text. Some serif fonts are used to connote class and sophistication.


"Vibe" magazine is more of a focussed hardcore rap magazine. It uses the stamp at the top of the cover "The Real Rap" to distinguish itself from other hip-hop magazines that include other things outside of rap such as R 'n' B and culture. The main image of the front cover is the rapper Eminem who has a serious, slightly aggressive expression and a tough pose with arms folded, which connotes the mascuiline, agressive side of rap music. The fonts used are bold, sans serif fonts with a red and black colour scheme which helps add to the hard image.

Main Task: Magazines

In this task we are going to create a music magazine based on a specific genre of music. Our deadlines are as follows:

• Research and planning - 8th January 2010


• Production - 12th February 2010


• Evaluation - 5th March 2010
  

One magazine I have considered is Kerrang! Magazine

This magazine is aimed at 13-18 year olds as it features fairly mainstream rock bands. They will be slightly more male. It is seen as kind of "rebellious" so would appeall to post-modernists. It will mostly appeal to radicals. It is aimed at an audience who listens to non-mainsteam music. The fact that the band on the front cover is wearing suits in some ways pokes fun at upper class business type people because they are dressed in suits but have long hair and are covered in tattoos. Being a music magazine, the main contents are music news, concert and album reviews and interviews.

This magazine is aimed at an older audience aged about 40-60. They will be apirers and succeeders and probaby traditionalists. On the Jicnar scale I would expect them to be A or B. The magazine is quite expensive compared to the previous magazine which only costs £2.20, this magazine costs £4.25. This is because people who read this magzine will probably be wealthy and it includes a free CD so they will pay extra for this. This magazine is quite upmarket and for people who take classical music seriously and probably play it themselves. The contents of the magazine will include interviews, articles, reviews etc.

This magazine is aimed at a young audience aged about 16-25 and male. They will be radicals or underacheivers and post modernists or materialists. They will probably be still in education or C,D or possibly C2 on the Jicnar scale. This magazine will contain interviews, news, CD/DVD reviews and features. This magazine is for people who don't like most mainstream music and are seriously into hip-hop music.

My magazine

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My magazine follows the main conventions of real media with all the basic elements of a magazine front cover; a mast head, cover lines, puff, screamers, freebies, prices etc. I used a puff like many other magazines however my puff is quite unusual as it is humorous and is supposed to emphasise the light hearted nature of my magazine; “The hippest, illest, most doped out student magazine in Worcester!” The colours look contrasted to some of the other colours on the cover, this is intentional to draw more attention to it and add a sense of unpredictability.
The mast head says “PULSE” in an electricity style font which fits well with the theme of the magazine which is exciting and fun. The juxtaposition of the electric font with the calm colour purple makes the magazine seem exciting yet relaxed so that the reader can feel more comfortable.
I made sure that my magazine did not have a formal look so I did not use any serif fonts and tried to use interesting fonts and styles that fit the subject matter for example the “Top 10 Video Games” is written in blue old-school video game style writing, small details like this make the overall result more aesthetically pleasing to the reader.
The cover line “Sex, drugs and avoiding mould” is a humorous play on the well known phrase “Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll” this further connotes the playful image to the reader and will attract some readers simply out of curiosity.
I have included a screamer “FREEBIES!” which stands out to the reader and makes them think they may get something for free that makes the purchase worth while. I have chosen concert tickets because it fits in well with the interests of my chosen target audience. I used red because it stands out and fits well the rest of my colour scheme.
At the bottom is the cover line “Music: Cheapest places to download music” the “music” part in light green to show this is the subject, it catches your eye, then “Cheapest places to download music” is in red to show this is the description of what is inside the article.
On the right side is the cover line: “Top 10: Legal Highs” this title is in a rounded font in blue which is very relaxed so that the reader doesn’t feel intimidated before reading.
My contents page uses similar themes but sticks to the single column style with pictures relating to the articles at the side.
The energetic look to my magazine is similar to that of magazines like Kerrang which is also a magazine aimed primarily at teenagers it also uses different colours and fonts to create an exciting and rebellious feel.

My magazine challenges the classic convention of the boring, strictly formal student magazine and presents a more fun and exciting publication that is more appropriate for a late teen audience, whilst still using some forms and conventions such as giving students advice and information useful for everyday life.
If I were to change one thing about my magazine I would make the colour scheme more consistent.

How did you attract/address your audience?

My magazine is a “student magazine” meaning it should be attractive for all students which is a very large spectrum of people so it was a difficult task to try to appeal to all these types. I did so by including very broad subjects that are enjoyed by the masses (e.g. music and video games) and also intriguing and humorous cover lines such as “Sex, drugs and avoiding mould”. The main sell of the magazine is the picture of the girl; she appears to be to be the average female student which will appeal to girls as there are many things they can relate to, boys may find her attractive and will also be attracted by the cover lines.
I used lots of bright colours so that the cover could be eye-catching and not look like a boring, generic student magazine readers might expect.
The mast head has the title “PULSE” in an electricity-like font which connotes energy and an exciting atmosphere. The puff at the top of the cover is designed to promote the magazine in a way that makes the reader interested, mine uses humour by using over the top slang; “The hippest, illest, most doped out student magazine in Worcester!”. This further gets across the light-hearted nature of the publication.
The first cover line, “Sex, drugs and avoiding mould” is an article providing advice on sexual health, drugs and cleanliness, especially important in summer time as many students will attend music festivals. Sexual health can give students the facts they need to know about things such as STIs and contraception without talking down to them and Drugs can explain the different types of drugs, classes and the dangers that come with them. The title is a play on words from the famous phrase “Sex, drugs and rock n’ roll”; this article has a mixture of humour and useful advice. Many of these issues some students would be too embarrassed or nervous to ask anyone about so may want to purchase this magazine to get this information without having to endure the embarrassment.
My second cover line, “Top 10 Video Games” appeals mostly to male audiences however the article will be split into the top 5 “hardcore” games that will appeal mostly to males such as Gears Of War, Call Of Duty, Metal Gear Solid, Ninja Gaiden and Grand Theft Auto for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 and the top 5 casual games that will appeal to a broader average audience such as Mario Kart, Brain Training, Nintendogs, Wii Sports and Wii Fit for the Nintendo Wii and DS. This way it would please gamers as well as giving non-gamers some interesting ideas on things they might like.
I have included a freebies section in which the readers can win concert tickets to the performance of their choice; this will appeal to most readers as music is extremely popular with my target age group.
Underneath this is another music related article: “The cheapest places to download music”. I feel this would be very popular with my target audience as music is very popular with them and students are often without a lot of money to spend on frivolities such as music and can sometimes be tempted to download illegally. In this article I could compare websites/programs such as iTunes as Napster to determine which offers the better deals.
I included the final cover line “Top 10 legal highs” in a partly humorous way but as there has recently been a lot of buzz around legal high culture and this could clear up rumours and give students the truth about it.
On the contents page are pictures of actor Seth Rogan and actress Scarlett Johansson. Both these people appear in films aimed towards a teenage audience and are seen as role models whom young people aspire to be like when they are older. Seth Rogan has written and starred in many films relatable to teenagers such as Superbad which deals with common teenage woes such as first time sex, unpopularity and alcohol whilst still being a comedy. Scarlett Johansson will be an idol for females and have a great deal of sex appeal for the males, she is also starring in the up-coming blockbuster “Iron Man 2” which many teens will be extremely hyped up about.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My audience for this magazine would be teens aged 16-19 both male and female with a wide range of possible interests; I tried to make the magazine as accessible as possible to a variety of different types of students.

The psychographics of my target audience will be radicals as students like to think of themselves as unique individuals and my magazine appeals to these people with articles such as “Sex, drugs and avoiding mould” this shows a rebellious attitude as well as appealing to their sense of humour. It may also appeal to underachievers as it presents a view of college life that is fun and light-hearted rather than a strictly standard student newsletter. The variety of my different articles appeals to many different types of student around college for example “Free concert tickets” will appeal to music fans, “Top 10 Video Games” will appeal to video game fans etc. The inclusion of these sorts of things means the magazine has wide appeal, even someone who was not interested in a student magazine could pick it up and enjoy an article about music, film, general interest stories etc.

The title “PULSE” is appealing to young people as it connotes a fast paced and energetic lifestyle, it may make the reader think of the fast pulse of the heart as you are doing something fun and exciting. The “Top 10 legal highs” article is a good way of showing students that will take drugs a safer way of having fun; this will intrigue these kinds of people to want to try it even if they think nothing will happen. This article is intended to be humorous rather than serious. Inside on the contents there are pictures of actor Seth Rogan and actress Scarlett Johansson with corresponding articles, these actors are very famous and most readers will be familiar with their work.

The social values of my audience would include hedonists due to the playful and fast paced nature of the magazine and articles about things of their interest, as well as post-materialists and post-modernists. Students do not really appear on Jicnar’s scale however if they were to be grouped in this scale they would come under D, semi and unskilled manual workers as many students have part time jobs in places such as shops and fast food restaurants.

The first magazine we are analysing is called 'International Student Magzine'
this magazine does not have a barcode, because we are under the assumption that the magazine is free within the college, or wherever it is handed out.
The masthead is in a Serif Font which connates a formal approach to college life, also it may have been used as it is easy to read. The font has a red letter at the beginning of each word which could connate importance of the magazine or to make it
The main picture shows a midshot of 5 students of both sexes and different races which connotes equality.
This magazine doesn't have a screamer that it is not a commercial magazine trying to get people to buy it, also connoting it is more honest than most magazines.
The coverlines reads '2007 Chung-Ang University' along with infomation about when the magazine was intended to given out. The font is reversed out so it stand out so the important infomation it is able to be seen easily.
There are also no websites, neither is there a puff. This is also shows that this magazine is not directly aimed at a commercial audience.
I don't like this magazine because it is very plain and doesn't have a proper target audience other than a student but there are different types of students, also there is no information about what is in the magazine, such as articles and anything that goes on within the college or university.

The second magazine I am analysing is called 'Chinese Student'
This magazine also does not have a barcode showing that it is given out at college for no price.
There is a puff at the top of the magaxine saying 'your regular guide to study worldwide'.
This font is written on a grey background with the chinese translation next to it so english and chinese fluent people are able to read it.
The masthead is in a bright orange, with the chinese translation next too it in black. Neither of the fonts are in a Sans Serif font, which connates an informal approach to reeaders of the magazine. It also makes the reader want to lookinside the magazine because the masthead is not boring so that would lead people to believe that the rest of the magazine is not boring or bland.
This also links in with the background colour of the magazine. It is a bright blue with a pattern on which connates a feeling of fun because the background is not boring either, and fits in with the rest of the cover and the colour scheme all matches up. The orange and blue connate a feeling of happiness and possibly the sun and the sky. The text being the sun, in its orange colour and the background being the sky in its blue colour.
The main picture on the front of the magazine denotes 6 chinese students, to fit in with the name of the magazine, of both sexes which again provokes a feeling of equality. The photograph is taken from above so the students are looking up to the camera which shows informality. The clothes they are wearing also fit in with the informal feel of the magazine because they are wearing young persons clothing and sunglasses etc.
The coverlines of the magazine are places around the main picture but being careful not to cover the faces of the students. These coverlines are in blue and red colours fitting in with the whole colour scheme of the magazine.
There is also a website link at the bottom of the cover which could connote that there is more infomation to be given about the college and the magazine.

i am jack

i am jack and i am 16, i love to go to the gym every day so that i can have hard abs boii