Evalution Question Seven

Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?


When creating a school magazine for my preliminary task, I had a completely different approach to the one taken in my main task. In the process of creating my school magazine, I was basing all elements on what i personally thought looked 'OK', not once did I take into account the desires of my audience, and I did little more than briefly look at other products in the same area.

When researching for my main product however, I realized that there is a lot to be learned from other magazines in the same genre, and that any successful magazine must cater for a specific target audience. This new approach to my work ensured that I created everything properly, following codes and conventions I had previously seen and knew to be successful.
In creating my main task, my magazine's image was more planned and more conventional than my school magazines image. When planning the picture for my main work I took into consideration everything I had learned, this approach contrasts heavily with the plan for my preliminary picture, which I just took with no previous thought or planning.
I also learned that when creating the layout for a magazine, you must again concentrate on what the audience want, and not simply fit everything in the space that seems to look best. You have to know the conventions, and follow them.
I learnt that when writing cover lines and a masthead, I must again, follow convention. If I was to redo my preliminary task now with all my newly learned skills, I would use different fonts, such as ones that resemble casual handwriting or the ones you find on school science equipment labels, in a hope to represent the content of the magazine, and its audience. I would not do what I did before learning about audience needs and representation, and just pick one that looked fairly good.



When editing images in my preliminary task, I didn't really understand what tools to use and where to use them, which resulted in a poorly cut picture that I then blurred and subsequently had to create a cover line to fit my new blurred image. This lack of planning need to improvise and work around mistakes was removed as I learned more about how the technologies I was using worked. In my main task I could cut and shape images exactly how I wanted them.
Another area where improvement can be credited to things I have learned is my contents page. My old contents page was extremely rushed and contained absolutely no planning. This cause the entire page to be quite poor in quality. This made me realize that leaving work so late would ensure failure, and so from then on I learned to manage my time better and work with more care, free from a fast approaching deadline.



Overall I think that my main product is much better designed due to advances in skill, more sensitive to genre, conventions, target audience needs and audience representation that my preliminary task was due to the things I had learned from progression between the two.

Evalution Question Six

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

My product was created with the hardware of only an Apple Mac and a Sony camera.

All my work was created on the Adobe Photoshop software. I had previously used Photoshop before starting this course but had little knowledge of it, however in creating my product, I have learnt the software in greater detail, enabling me to create more advanced work and solve problems that I would have had to previously work around.

Tools discovered during the process of creating my magazine that I have used:



I learned to use Blogger when creating my product. Blogger was a useful tool for helping me track and record my progress. This enabled me to manage my time efficiently and get a clear perspective on how well I was doing. In addition to this, blogger allowed communication and receive feedback from classmates. I could then act on this to improve my product.

Evalution Question Five

How did you attract/address your audience?

I believe I have attracted and addressed my target audience through emulating the codes and conventions I have seen in other products aimed at the same audience. In taking ideas from many other Hip-Hop magazines, as well as other Hip-Hop media, I believe I have created a product that successfully attracts and addresses my target audience.

My audience will be attracted to my magazine as it offers the conventions of other Hip-Hop magazines proven to be successful.

These conventions are used by the former leading magazine in the Hip-Hop genre, Vibe. Here are some of the conventions seen in Vibe that I have developed in order to attract my audience.




My magazine also keeps a consistent colour theme, something that all Hip-Hop magazines do, making my magazine more appealing to my target audience. Aside from the conventional aspects, my magazine does however hold many features unconventional of Hip-Hop magazines, I believe this to be my magazines unique selling point. I think that as my magazine pulls ideas from other magazine genres like rock and indie, it becomes more rounded and not purely focused on Hip-Hop alone. I think this will be appealing to many people as it is something not currently available. I hope that in not looking like an entirely conventional Hip-Hop magazine, I can attract a wider audience and retain the hardcore Hip-Hop lovers through my use of many Hip-Hop conventions.

Some of my magazines unconventional aspects:


As well as the above, my magazine's contents page is very unconventional of a Hip-Hop magazine and much more like an indie magazine. I can fit more on the page that way and i think it looks better. I believe that in doing this I am creating a better magazine as my audience can see a straight forward contents. I think that a magazine with this feature will attract the audience more as it offers more diversity within the magazine. Conventions of Hip-Hop can still be seen on my contents page in the way that I have stuck to my colour theme, but I have mixed it up with Indie conventions to create a more attractive and appealing look. This is my magazine's unique selling point.

In the article on my double page spread, I have used an idea I saw on a web interviews with 50 cent, Eminem, Snoop Dog and Ice Cube. This four are all leading figures in the Hip-Hop industry, and so I thought that the way the audience was addressed here would be a style to emulate when creating my own interview.

Here is an extract from an one of the interviews...

I like it when people talk shit. Because if people weren't talking shit, there would be nothing for me to come back with. I need that. If I don't have any ammo, what am I going to say?

There's obviously a limit to the things you want people to know, but I've pretty much put most of it out there. Maybe people don't know what kind of underwear I wear, what color.

Boxers. Pink.

As you can see, this article doesn't address the audience at all, It just shows them what they want to see and removes need for standard questions and answers, the interview is more like a monologue. I have copied this style as I think that my audience do not want to be addressed, they want to just see what the artist is saying. In the modern culture of Hip-Hop artists need to look like they are the boss as this is what attracts the audience to them, answering questions is not really a 'boss' thing to do. So I have made my artist just tell his story to the audience, not answer their questions.

Evalution Question Four

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My media product is aimed at anyone following the modern Hip-Hop culture, this is usually a niche group within the music industry but is still a very large amount of people. Unlike Indie and Rock, Hip-Hop artists have their personal lives brought into the media on a large scale. People who follow Hip-Hop do not only follow the music but they follow the lives of the artists. The music is just part of this, and is one of the main ways in which Hip-Hop artists express their feelings towards certain issues in their lives. So the personal lives of the artists and the music they make go hand in hand.
There is no specific person who follows the culture, but it is usually young males from about 15-25 who take the biggest interest. These people are likely to want to emulate the style of the people they see on the magazines. This means that they will usually shop in Blue inc, Madhouse, River Island, Burton and other shops like them. They will probably like listening to Kiss on the radio.

I have researched the social group I am aiming at on uktribes

Evalution Question Three

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The magazine industry is largely dominated by Bauer media group. Bauer media are a large German publishing company that own the rights to publish in 15 countries world wide, these include many European countries, China and the USA. This means that if Bauer was to publish my magazine, it would be in circulation all over the world.
Currently, Bauer's most popular magazines are Kerrang!, a rock magazine and Q, an indie magazine. I believe they would be interested in publishing my product as it belongs to the mass-audience Hip-Hop genre, which is an area of the industry that Bauer are not currently competing in. I think that what would make Bauer even more inclined to publish my product would be the recent downfall of Vibe magazine. This removes the biggest competition my magazine would face and leaves a huge hole in the market that my magazine, with the help of Bauer, would fill.
Vibe magazine used to release 12 issues a year. The magazine aimed its product at the primarily young generation following the urban Hip-Hop culture. The magazine had a circulation of 817,825 in the United States. This is similar in scale to the circulation or Kerrang! which is 104,544 in the UK, so in proportion to population which is 308 million in the USA and 61 million in the UK, Karrang! is more popular. This would suggest that Hip-Hop has a smaller audience than rock, but still very large. I believe that Bauer would be interested in publishing my product to meet the high demand set by the audience left behind by Vibe as it has publishing rights in the USA aswell.

Evalution Question Two

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine helps represent my target social group of young males with an interest in Hip-Hop through emulating the codes and conventions set by other magazines targeting the same group. Magazines like ‘Vibe’ are in high circulation and are popular among the social group I am targeting, so in using the codes and conventions in ‘Vibe’ magazine, I have created an image that represents my target social group.



The postures of the two models are very similar but not identical, as my picture is facing down more. However the posture used in both pictures is still upright and straight. There is nothing interesting in the posture and it shows no emotion, this helps the audience focus on other aspects of the picture.
Both pictures use natural low-key lighting. The light does not help to high light any part of the face at all. Again, this shows no particular emotions and adds the conventional plain look of Hip-Hop pictures.
Both the models are wearing a black suit with a thin tie. I think this shows sophistication and importance, appealing to the audience, as this is how the audience will see the artists. The skinny tie adds a modern twist to the look. The models are both wearing sunglasses; this shows a further element to the modern look that represents the audience; it also ads to the sophistication look which represents the artists superiority from the audience.
The expression in both pictures is simply plain and gives nothing away; they are both just blank faces, making the models look mysterious and unreadable.
The pictures are also both in black and white, I think this makes the pictures look more modern to an extent, but it also adds to the mysterious look they have.
The size and positioning of the models are also similar to each other. Both of them show the bust of the model and both their shoulders are cut off the page on either side. Their head covers part of the masthead. This allows the picture to dominate the cover. So all the audience see is a smartly dressed, mysterious and plain-faced artist. This causes them to want to know more about them.

Evalution Question One

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

After researching the Hip-Hop magazine genre, I gained an understanding of the codes and conventions they follow. In creating my own magazine, I took this knowledge into account and used it to help me create a professional looking front cover. However, I did not treat the conventions as law. There are many ways in which my work develops and challenges the forms and conventions of a Hip-Hop magazine.

Front cover

My magazines front cover was designed following the conventions I had researched, and challenge them very little.



Masthead- my front covers masthead is the feature the challenges conventions of a Hip-Hop magazine the most. While conventionally, Hip-Hop magazine masthead typography is bold and smooth; I have challenged and developed that convention in making mine bold and distorted, I believe this gives my magazine and unique style that looks slightly more Indie that the conventional Hip-Hop magazine, I have seen the convention challenged in other magazines such as 'XXI' which has its masthead on the left, just like an indie magazine. I believe this challenge to the convention will distinguish my magazines appearance from other Hip-Hop magazines. The distortion, is not extreme like it would be on the front cover of a rock or heavy metal magazine, but makes the text look as if it was once smooth, and has taken damage.



The colours used by my masthead are conventional; I have used a colour gradient from black (top) to red (bottom). I have seen this style used conventionally throughout my research and I believe that in using it myself I Have followed the codes and conventions set by successful Hip-Hop magazines, and in doing so, given my magazine a professional and well-made look.
The positioning of my masthead follows conventions set by real media products. I have made my masthead fill the entire top of the page. With a few exceptions, nearly all Hip-Hop magazines I looked at do the same thing.

Cover lines- my front cover’s cover lines use and develop form and conventions set by real media products. By convention, Hip-Hop cover lines are a jumble of colour, font and size. I have taken this into account and used the idea when creating my own cover lines. My largest cover line is to the left of the picture and it displays the name of the artist. This is something I saw frequently in my research, and so I used the idea.


I have used the convention of mixing fonts to create a more professional look to my cover. The majority of my cover lines are in fonts that I believe to be similar to fonts I have seen in real media cover lines.
The variation in size in my cover lines is another convention I have researched and used. I have, like on many professional covers, used a variation and mix of size for individual words in my cover lines. The more important words are larger, to make them more eye catching. They will be the first things the audience see. I have seen this convention followed by every Magazine I researched.
In coalition with the size differences, I have also used colour to help place emphasis of particular words and help brighten my front cover. I have used a minority colour in each cover line to help highlight the key word.
The positioning of my cover lines also follows convention. They are spaced equally around the picture, and they do not crowd the page, leaving it looking conventionally tidy. The size I have used for my cover lines also matches the conventional size used by many Hip-Hop magazines.



Picture- my picture uses, develops and challenges conventional pictures in music magazines.
The Picture its self has followed conventions set by real products. I have used a young male model as in almost every magazine I looked at, there was a young male artist featured on the front cover. The mise en scene of my picture also follows convention. I have dressed my model in a dark, plain suit. I saw this used in many other magazines and believe it shows sophistication. My model is also wearing sunglasses that obscure his eyes, making him look mysterious and unreadable, like many models on professional covers.
My picture has been rendered black and white; I have seen this effect used on many professional front covers and think it ads style to the cover, however I have challenged the convention in making the tie red, fitting with my colour theme. I think that this effect makes the picture look more professional and makes the cover look more interesting.
The size and positioning of my picture follows conventions I have seen throughout my research. I have used a shot from the shoulders up, and placed the picture directly in the centre. I think this gives the cover some symmetry and makes it look more professional.
The expression on the face of my model is blank. This is a conventional feature of nearly all Hip-Hop magazines that I have used. The blank expression gives nothing away and ads further mystery to the model.

Colour and layout – I have used a colour theme in my magazine. Conventionally, nearly all Hip-Hop magazine covers use a similar theme, usually with a single colour mixing with black white and grey. I have used red in my magazine, as it seems to be a common form used by many real products.
For my magazines background I have used a black and white gradient. This is something I have seen many real products do to give their covers a more professional and appealing look. I have also placed a gradient behind the masthead, making the area behind it unnoticeably darker as this seems to be a convention among Hip-Hop covers, and it makes my masthead stand out more, I have seen this on many real covers and I think it is very effective.
In designing my main layout for my magazine, I used researched conventions to help me. I placed the picture in the middle, surrounded it with cover lines and placed the masthead over the full width of the page at the top, with a few more cover lines above it. This was the layout used by nearly all Hip-Hop magazines I looked at.


Contents Page

Much like the front cover’s masthead, my magazines contents page displays the conventions of a Indie magazine, rather than a Hip-Hop one. My contents page actually contains more Indie conventions than Hip-Hop conventions. I think this gives my magazine a unique selling point as the content is still Hip-Hop orientated, however it is presented in a more Indie style.
My contents layout looks much like the layout seen in the Indie magazine ‘NME’. It follows more closely Indie conventions than Hip-Hop conventions. Hip-Hop contents pages are usually very empty and plain. Indie contents pages on the other hand, are by convention packed full of text. My magazine follows these conventions in the way I have created multiple boxes, each showing different sections of the magazine.
My colour scheme also sticks with conventions, as it is consistent with the front cover colour scheme. Although my magazine contents page is largely composed with Indie conventions in mind, I am still keeping the colour scheme and typography in Hip-Hop conventions, and I am keeping these conventions consistent, as is convention in a Hip-Hop magazine.

Double Page Spread final

Contents page final

Double Page Spread and Contents - Drafts

Double page spread draft

Double page spread layout plan

The picture will be one of the pictures taken for my front cover, as the front cover picture is directly linked to this page. It will, like the cover one, be expressionless. I plan to have a brief synopsis of the artist to the left of his face in order to fill the gap. I will put a small background square behind each word as I have seen done in other double page spreads. I also plan to slightly distort to border between the picture and the interview, I will do this in a box-like style to retain consistency within the page. The picture will be in black and white like the one on the MCR page, and the page will be primarily black, with white and red text (mainly white).

Double page spread analysis

A double page spread is unlike a front cover or contents page in the way that there are no huge conventional rules when it comes to creating one. There are many in every magazine, all of which are different to prevent the magazine from becoming repetitively boring. Therefor, in every genre there are many, many different ways to construct a double page spread. For example a Hip-Hop magazine may have a very variable structure when it comes to laying out a spread, but the base conventions remain constant, such as typography, colour etc...
Of the unlimited layouts and styles that can be used, I like the one shown above taken from a rock magazine. If i were to apply Hip-Hop conventions to this style I could use it in my Hip-Hop magazine.
In the above example, we see a black and white picture dominating the left side of the page, the picture shows an artist at work, creating a sense of realism. On the right we see white text on a black background. This contains an interview with the band, it is written in small neat typography and in small neat paragraphs.
I like the use of a separated box in the top left, I think it is a good place to put any additional information.
The banner the spans over both pages is an idea I would like to adapt into the conventional Hip-Hop style. I like the way in which colours and fonts are mixed to create an eye catching effect.
The background contain no gradient effect of any kind and is just plain. I like this as it makes the text clearer the read.
When i create my own double page spread I will use many of these ideas but I will adapt and develop them to fit the Hip-Hop genre. For example, I will use a close up of an expressionless face or and I will use smooth and strong typography, as well as the distorted typography I have used on my front cover.
I will not use multiple pictures on one page as the above example has done but I will use a single picture on the left with a more close up shot. I will use the space that in the above example is pictures on the right to hold my interview.
The long box on the right is another idea I will not use. In the above example the white contrasts the black, making it stand out and act as a place for related information. I like this idea as it not only make the page look more professional but it also makes good use of space. I however, will use this space for my interview.

Contents re-draft plan

I think that my contents draft has not achieved what I was originally trying to do in merging Hip-Hop and Indie conventions. I think that many features are too large and I have left too much empty space in areas. I also think that the page is too bright, and while this may be conventional of Indie contents pages, it is not of Hip-Hop ones. I plan to make the page darker and add some new features, whilst making the existing ones smaller.

Contents page draft

I have used layout techniques seen in indie magazines in order to fit everything on a single page but stuck primarily to the conventions of Hip-Hop when creating the typography, taking the picture and choosing colours.

Contents layout plan

Colour scheme: Red/black/white

Contents page pictures

I have used poses that will allow integration with the page and give the appearance that the model exists with the cover lines. I will pick the one that fits my cover lines best. As with the front cover, I have used a plain expression on the face of my model.

Contents Picture plan

For my contents picture I will not use a large close up shot of an artist like in a conventional Hip-Hop magazine contents, and I will not use an uncut collection of photos like in an Indie magazine contents. Instead I will use my own idea. I will use a full body shot of my artist that will be cut out and placed on the right of the page, the picture will interact with the page as I will make it seem as though his foot is resting on a related cover line. I will however, retain the Hip-Hop convention of using an expressionless face and have the model dressed in casual cloths, to match the casual, Indie like style of the page.

Contents - Single Page layout

As I have failed to find any Hip-Hop contents pages that stick to a single page, and as I and my audience would rather a single paged contents, I have to look at layouts from another genre. I am able to create to contents typography and arrange the colour in a conventional Hip-Hop style due to my research on front covers and other Hip-Hop contents pages, so I do not need to look at any of these things. But to create a layout I must take ideas from another genre. The genre I have chosen look at is Indie as Indie contents pages are usually on a single page and very crowded.


I have looked at many Indie contents pages, two of which are above, and I can see that there are no 'set in stone' conventions of layout. However, every example I looked at had page numbers and a small cover line to accompany them, these were always placed in different areas. They all have a list of artists that are featured in the magazine, usually on the left, and they all have one central picture. In some examples, each section or group of features was in its own little box, giving a tidy looking layout and making the page clearer to navigate through. Some of the examples I looked at had a faded date behind the word 'contents' or a large 'this week' banner. I will take these ideas and utilize them into my magazine whilst following Hip-Hop and my own conventions.

Contents - single or multi page

After giving it some thought, I don't think that such a bland, multi-page contents fits the magazine I am creating, I think that my magazine would look better with a single and more full contents page, such as an indie contents page, but maintaining the Hip-Hop conventions I have researched. To find out if a potential audience would feel the same way, I asked 20 young males if they would rather have a packed contents page that maintained Hip-Hop conventions or if they would rather a 'Vibe' style multi-page content. Of the 20 I asked, 16 said they would prefer a Packed contents page that maintained conventional Hip-Hop style. So I plan to create a Hip-Hop looking contents on a single page.

Hip-Hop Magazine Contents Page

This issue of 'Vibe' magazine contains a generic and conventional Hip-Hop magazine contents page. Like many contents pages in this genre, it contains a very plain background with a smooth colour gradient. The colour used is red, which I have noticed is the most popular colour within Hip-Hop by a clear margin. I will use this colour in my own contents page.
The 'Contents' banner is written in conventional typography, using a clear, bold and smooth looking font in a plain colour, in this case, white.
The banner is written over three lines and placed in the top right, covering much of the area, this broken down effect is common among Hip-Hop contents pages.
The picture used in this instance is of an artist displaying his jewelry and wearing only a a hat in the upper body shot. The picture covers much of the page and is the feature that the audience is immediately drawn to. His expression is plain and shows no obvious emotion, much like pictures on Hip-Hop magazine front covers.
What is unusual about Hip-Hop contents pages, is the way that they display such small and so few features on their contents page, and in a posh looking typography that is nothing like the rest of the typography in the magazine. This usually means that they need to have their contents spread out over several pages.

Final Magazine Cover

My finished magazine front cover

Front Cover draft

Masthead Ideas

I handed this sheet to 20 young males and asked them which one of the seven mastheads they would prefer to see on the front cover of a monthly Hip-Hop magazine.


The answers are as follows:

1. 2
2. 11
3. 0
4. 5
   
5. 2
6. 0
7. 0

So I will be using Masthead 2 on my Magazine front cover.

My Pictures

I have taken a variety of different pictures in formal clothing. I have tried pictures with and without sunglasses, with and without a suit and tie and with a variety of different poses and angles. However I have tried to stick to the convention of using expressionless faces and bust shots.

Layout Plan

My planned layout, following researched conventions.

Picture Plan

For my pictures I am going to use a young male as the rest of my magazine is aimed at a young male audience, and most magazines I looked at had young male artists on the front. The model in my picture will be dressed formally in a plain black suit and tie or a shirt and tie, to show sophistication. I have seen formally dressed artists in many other magazines (such as the issue of 'Vibe' with T.I).
The males hair will be spiked, a common haircut among modern people, showing my artist is just like everybody else, and enabling people to relate to him, however I will also render the image black and white to add a mysterious side. I may also use props such as sunglasses, to add the modern look and thus make it more appealing to a younger audience. These will also block out the artists eyes, making him look unreadable. The Sun glasses will be black, thick rimmed and have dark tints, as this is what I have seen on many magazines.
The location of my image in unimportant, as Hip-Hop magazines nearly all use a cut out image on a plain background. I will simply find a plain background to situate my pictures, this will enable me to cut out the image easier.

Hip-Hop magazine closer analysis: Typography/Coverlines

Hip-Hop magazine cover lines are a jumble of size and colour. I think that mixing the size of the typography is very effective as it leads the eyes of the audience to certain parts of the text before others, so the designer can control what is read first. Also, the greater the size of a word the greater emphasis is has. For example, the far right cover line in my example shows a quote from T.I, the name of the artist is written is much larger letters than the text surrounding it, so it will draw attention to itself.
Colour is another great method used by Hip-Hop magazines to determine what parts of the text hold more weight. Any word that is in a different colour to the bulk of the cover line will stand out, helping the magazine control what looks more important.
The font of the Cover lines here is similar to that of the mastheads. The fonts used are bold, strong and smooth.
Other that emphasizing certain aspects of the text, the colour and size combination used by the cover lines makes the entire cover look more interesting and professional.

I will use a large combination of colours and size when creating my own cover lines.


Many Hip-Hop magazines use cover lines above the Masthead. These usually follow the same rules as the other cover lines in the way they use size, font and colour to create a professional look and guide the audience. Lists of features, usually separated by dashes or dots are placed directly at the top, with another, larger line below it. I think this gives the top of the magazine a professional look to it and is a good method of fitting more on a page without cluttering it, and spoiling the conventional tidy look of a Hip-Hop magazine.

I will use cover lines above my masthead to create a more professional look and enable myself to fit more on my cover without cluttering it.

Hip-Hop Magazine closer analysis: Layout/colour

The conventional layout of Hip-Hop magazine covers is to have a central picture, surrounded with cover lines spaced equally around it. They will usually have one banner-like cover line which much larger than the rest. In the above examples it is 'Eminem' and 'The Game'; and this cover line is nearly always on the left of the cover. The masthead is usually placed behind the head of the model, but still clearly visible and mostly uncovered. above the the masthead we usually see another/more cover lines.
The Background of most Hip-Hop magazine front covers is clear, although 'The Source' (above) uses a kind of texture. The majority, however, use a clear, usually white or black background with a subtle gradient. Usually darker at the bottom and lighter at the top. Sometimes, another very faint gradient can be seen behind the masthead, making the background behind darker and causing the masthead to stand out more.
Hip-Hop magazine covers usually have a colour theme, and as seen in both above examples, this is usually red. They tend to use only one colour, and mix it in with black and white to create a professional and tidy look. The themed colour is usually on the masthead and selected parts of coverlines.

I will take all these factors into account when designing my own magazine.

Hip-Hop Magazine closer analysis: Picture

• Hip-Hop magazine pictures are usually close up-medium shots.
• The artist is usually, but not always looking at the camera.
• This artist, with some rare exceptions, will have a black expression on their face.
• The artist is nearly always a male.
• The clothing is usually either formal, like a suit, or very informal, with models wearing only a vest.
• Sometimes the artist is rendered black and white. I think this adds a mysterious effect to the model and also causes then to look modern, as black and white pictures are becoming an increasingly modern and artistic thing.

Hip-Hop Magazine closer analysis: Masthead

This masthead from ‘Vibe’ magazine is my favorite of them all. I find the strong, bold and smooth typography appealing, eye catching, and fitting to the Hip-Hop genre.
The colours of the Masthead also appeal to me, I like the idea of using a gradient on a masthead. I think the red and black go well together and give the magazine a professional and high-quality edge. This masthead I think would appeal to a young audience as it looks modern and simple, but is designed well.


This masthead from 'The Source' Magazine is the one I like the least. I find the textured look of the typography unappealing and too much like a Rock magazine. The idea of having the 'the' part of the masthead on the left at a vertical position I think is good, but the white border around the edges and the 3D look to the whole thing looks too much like a Rock magazine to me and is unconventional of Hip-Hop mastheads. However I notice that this, like the others, uses the colour red.



This masthead from 'XXL' magazine fits some of the codes and conventions of a Hip-Hop magazine. The font is smooth, strong and bold and the colours are simple. However I dislike this masthead as i find it too simplistic, and i dislike the idea of having a background colour on a Hip-Hop masthead, as to me this seems more like something inspired by an Indie magazine.

I like the colour gradient on the masthead of 'Vibe' and it is something I will use in my own designs.

Looking at different magazine genres

I have been researching different types of magazine genres and how they are composed to decide which genre i will focus on when making my own cover.


Hip-Hop magazines usually have a large picture in the center. The picture is usually more close up than other magazines, allowing you to see the expressions and body language of the model better. The model usually looks plain faced and stares directly at the reader.
The background behind these pictures is mostly, but not always, plain. The background can always be seen as Hip-hop Magazines usually have a more spacious layout that other magazines. A reason for this is that they do not smother the page in cover lines and smaller pictures. They simply have a few features listed; spaced neatly around the picture that is nearly always central. The typography used in most of these magazines is usually bold and smooth, unlike rock magazines with distorted text or a classical magazine with thin, crisp letters. The masthead of Hip-Hop magazines is similar to its coverlines in the way that it is not distorted, and it is bold. It is usually placed right across the top.
The cover of Hip-Hop magazines usually have a running theme of one or two colours, unlike on many other magazines where the page is a mash-up of different colours. I like this style of front cover as it looks neat and tidy, and appeals to me more than a cover from a Rock or Indie magazine does.

Rock magazines usually have a different kind of picture from Hip-Hop magazines, instead of a single picture placed neatly in the center. They will usually, but not always, follow the convention of having multiple artists in a single shot, and instead of looking plain faced as the Hip-Hop artists do, they will usually look in some way hostile. The background in Rock magazines can not always be seen due to a crowded cover or a large picture, but when they can be seen they are usually dark, adding to the hostility.
Rock magazines usually have one main cover line, and it is usually the name of the artist in the picture. This is usually surrounded by smaller cover lines, all in many different fonts, unlike in Hip-Hop magazines where they usually stick to a few fonts. There is usually no neat arrangement to the cover lines and they are placed randomly throughout the page. The colours of these lines also usually appear random, although they will have a theme, but it is not as obvious as the colour theme presented in Hip-Hop magazines.
The masthead of Rock magazines is usually in a bold and slightly distorted font, and is always placed across the top of the page.


Indie magazines are unlike Rock and Hip-Hop magazines in many aspects of their design. The picture however, is similar to a Rock magazine in its style. Indie pictures usually show more than one artist, but these pictures are also usually slightly smaller than those on rock magazines. The artist's expressions are similar to those on a Hip-Hop magazine, as they usually look blank and show no real emotion, Unlike Rock magazines where we see hostility.
The background is more obscured than Hip-Hop magazines, but less so than rock, so it can usually be seen in small amounts. It is usually light and plain.
Indie magazines will sometimes have one main, large cover line showing a band name, but its is far from a convention. Indie cover line typography is not distorted like in rock magazines, and they usually stick to a set amount of fonts, but not to the same extent as Hip-Hop magazines. The arrangement of the cover lines is also neater than a Rock magazine, as they are usually to the left of the picture. The colours are usually themed, but again, the theme is not as closely followed as it is in a Hip-Hop magazine.
The Masthead of Indie Magazines is usually placed in the top left, unlike in Rock and Hip-Hop magazines where it covers the entire top. A lot of Indie magazines place a background behind their masthead, red is a common colour for this.


Overall, I prefer the Hip-Hop covers, as they appeal more to me as they look neat. I find the Hip-Hop magazine covers to be overall more inviting and appealing, so I will create a Hip-Hop magazine for my task.