Colors Used in R&B/Hip-Hop

Red is often used on the front cover of Vibe, this symbolises warmth, excitement, energy, passion, desire, power, love, strength and competition. This might hint at the featured artist's passion for music, or the energy that they put into their music. On the other hand, it could symbolise elements of competition on which the music world is based.

Billboard: Colour codes

Blue is often used on the front cover of billboard symbolising positivity, peace, tranquillity, stability, harmony, unity, trust, confidence, conservatism, security, cleanliness, order, loyalty, sky, water, cold and technology. The blue on this front cover could represent a 'blue sky' quality in the music industry, the fact that there are no limits and that everyone has a shot at success. Yellow has also been used on the front cover which holds connotations of the sun, intelligence, light, logical imagination, cooperation, organisation, sunshine, joy, happiness, intellect, energy, cheerfulness, optimism, purity, enthusiasm, warmth, honour and loyalty. It is also opposite blue on the colour wheel, allowing the text on the page to be prominent.

When creating my own music magazine front cover, I would like to incorporate colours that are oppersite each other on the colour wheel, to allow the front cover to stand out as well as look appealing to the reader.

Settings of R&B/Hip/hop

Within R&B/Hip-hop glamorous, lavish settings associated with a celebrity lifestyle or the American Dream are often juxtaposed with gloomy, grey, more realistic locations. Raw concrete can be used, perhaps reflective of an artist’s pre-fame roots or struggle for money. This stark contrast can be seen in Live Your Life a music video featuring T.I and Rihanna. Baseball caps are also prominent in this video, a representation of the roots of R&B/Hip-hip in New York during the 60s and 70s.

When I take the images for the front cover and double page spread for my magazine, I would like the setting to appear urban, with the use of metal, concrete and graffiti. This will represent R&B/Hip-Hop well and reflect the locations of many music videos from the genre.  

Target Market for R&B/Hip-Hop Magizene

Reader Profile

Male: 50%
Female: 50%
Age Range: 16-19

Lifestyle

Average amount of money spent on CDs per month: £5
Average amount of money spent on iTunes per month: £20
Average number of songs downloaded per month: 30
95% own an iPod
65% watch MTV
55% listen to Kiss

Events
60% see 1 concert every six months
75% have seen their favourite artist in concert
90% listen to music every day

Shot Types used in R&B/Hip-Hop

The artist used on the front cover of Vibe is framed asymmetrically due to the fact she is leaning to the left, although she is still roughly in the centre third. A mid-shot has been used, which includes the whole of the artist’s body. She is gazing into the camera longingly, with her head at a slight angle, connoting some shyness. This makes her appealing to both men and women as she does not appear to have an over inflated ego, hinting that she is ‘down to earth’ thus making her attractive to men as they do not see her as ‘out of their league’. Her body and clothes are in black and white giving the image a timeless quality, perhaps inferring that she is still as good now as she was at the start of her music career. The key light is to the left to her and angled to the right this, accentuates the length of her legs, elevating her status.

Costume Conventions of R&B

The genre of R&B/Hip-Hop regularly features a lot of 'bling', this comes in the form of jewelry and usually symbolizes wealth, success and power. Many costumes featured in R&B/Hip-Hop take inspiration from American sports such as basketball or baseball. Baseball caps are also often used symbolising the fact that the genre itself originated in the States, this can be seen in Jay-Z’s music video, Empire State of Mind. This video belongs to the R&B/Hip-Hop genre and uses many images that are iconic of New York.

I would like to create the sense of an American/New York theme with the application of these costume codes in the images I will take for my magazine. This will represent R&B/Hip-hop’s origins, as well as being iconic of many of the artists in the music industry today. I will do this through the use of a baseball cap, iconic of an urban culture and Hip-hop itself. Many urban artists, such as Jay-Z wear baseball caps, again to symbolise their or their music’s roots.    

Vibe: Mode of Address Analysis

I want the mode of address in my magazine to be informal and connect with the target audience of 16-19 year olds. This will help make my magazine successful, therefore sell well.

Target Market: MTV Base Official Urban Top 20

For my main task I am going to be producing a music magizene for the Hip-Hop and R&B genre:

These are the artists and songs that my target audience would listen to.

Masthead Research

The masthead for Kerrang looks like shattered glass, this holds conertations of loud music. This is symbolic of rock music matching the genre. An exclamation mark has been used to indicate volume, impact and authority. The text is not perfectly straight, connoting that the magazine does not follow the rules.

The Vibe masthead is red connoting a passion for music and the font used is rounded relating to a more relaxed style of music. The font is also bold and smooth in relation to the smooth syle of R&B music.

Conventions of Music Magazines

• The music magazine Vibe does not use the typical date and issue number conventions. This challenges tradition ideas, hinting that the magazines' content might challenge the expected format of the usual music press. The front cover also includes a website address to connect with the readership.
• The close up shot makes the reader feel as if they have a personal connection with the artist.
• The front cover only uses two main colours, black and red, this adds an element of simplicity whilst at the same time making the page eye catching

·      

   Kerrang clearly displays the barcode, date, issue number and website. It also features more than one artist, meaning that the reader has a less personal connection.

Prelim Evaluation

Front Cover Evaluation

View more presentations from Dylan Donaldson.

Target Market

Final Prelim Task

Front cover image analysis

I took this image with the intention of using it on the front cover of my school magazine, as part of my prelim task. It is a mid-shot which includes the whole of the student’s body. The mosaic is in the centre third of the image, a convention widely used in media because it is considered to be ‘easy on the eye’. The students pose is reasonably natural and even relaxed which gives the connotation that the school is a tranquil place. The student is looking directly at the camera connecting with the reader. He is wearing clothes iconic of teenaged culture. This links with the name of the magazine ‘represent’, as well as achieving the magazines’ aim to represent young people. I felt that beside the mosaic was the best location for the photo as it conveyed the artistic side of the school, as well as informing the reader that the magazine featured Acland Burghley.

Images for Preliminary Task

I set out to take images for the front cover of my school magazine which I was creating as part of my preliminary task. These images needed to be midshots of pupils, they also needed to promote Acland Burghley, firstly as an arts school and secondly as a multi-cultural, unisex school. I needed to take one main image for the front cover and several others for the contents page. I wanted to use these images to covey the school as well rounded, showing aspects of sports, science and socialisation as well as art. In addition, I wanted some images of the school grounds to demonstrate yet another side of school life.

Image Analysis

The photo is at eye level with her, making the viewer feel as her equal, as if she is ‘down to earth’, implying that she is able to emphasise with the viewer. The photo is framed asymmetrically with more space on the left of her head than on the right. This gives the impression it was not taken by a professional photographer, suggesting that the photo gives the viewer an insight in to her ‘real’ life. The picture is slightly blurred adding to the feeling that it is an ‘amateur’ photograph, which gives the photo an unglamorous quality, which distances her from celebrity culture. No one else is featured in the photo, nor is there any other objects, which give the photo a more personal feel, creating a sense of intimacy.

Who is currently the editor of the magazine and what is their style, taste and influence on the magazine?

The editor of Mixmag is Nick DeCosemo, - "As someone who grew up with Mixmag and who’s been passionately involved in club culture for a number of years, this post has a special resonance for me.” “His background in fashion and lifestyle, and his top-of-the-line journalistic skills, will help Mixmag reach a new generation of clubbers”. -  Journalism.co.uk

What are the differences between the online magazine and the print based magazine?

The mastheads are the same in both printed and online versions. However, it is larger on the print based version, and it is also accompanied with orange rather than pink as it is shown on the website.  

The pictures on the print and online magazines are both holographic, which gives a sense of unity and brand identity.

The colour theme in print based magazine is orange and yellow, in contrast on the website it is pink and black.

The online version is updated every day whereas the print based version is only released once a month.

Front Cover Analysis: Mixmag

There is a disco ball on the floor of the image used on the front cover of Mixmag. The disco ball is an indexical sign, as it has a physical link to late night partying and music. It is also iconic of dancing and socialising.

Some of the artists on the front cover of the magazine are standing on ladders, giving them elevation over the others. This may connote that they are more important, i.e. higher up in the hierarchy, more famous or better singers. The ladders themselves are indexical of the building trade. This is something not expected on the front of a music magazine and may set out to challenge some views. They may have been used to represent the fact the group are ‘down to earth’, this is juxtaposed against the celebrity lifestyle which is associated with money and fame to the lifestyle of the everyday person. Alternatively, the ladders may represent a ‘rags to riches story’. So again it is left open to the readers own interpretations, which would be affected by their gender, culture, religion, etc.

The tittle of the letter ‘i’ is iconic of ‘DJ’s, this is because it is a physical representation of a record. It is also indexical of dancing and parting. This subtly appeals to the target market for the magazine. As the name suggests they would have an interest in mixing music. The font used is also quite rounded, again indexical of CD’s, which denotes music and holds connotations of parting and socialising

My name is Dylan Donaldson and I am a year 12 student at Acland Burghley School. I am studying Media Studies and as part of my course work I am going to be creating my own music magazine. As a preliminary task I will be creating the front cover of a school magazine using Adobe Photoshop. For this task the front cover needs to include a mid-shot of a pupil, a title, masthead and strap lines.  I will also need to mock up a contents page for this magazine.

For the main task I will need to come up with my own music magazine. To do this I will need to consider the target audience, the house style of my magazine as well as the other necessary conventions.