Original Photography and Analysis

This photo I decided early on to be the photo to take up the front page. This was because it exploits a lot of aspirations, facial expressions and is a very positive image. Furthermore with this being the first issue of the magazine created during the autumn time, I decided to allow the late autumn sun and the golden and brown trees express that tremendously. 
Secondly the image itself I believe portrays the genre of the magazine as it shows a part of the fashion or culture with the Eskimo Hat and the Hoodie. But the main reason for the setting of this picture I believe is to tell one message and it can be seen just by looking into the image. It shows a young MC, looking into the future and really aspiring to become great and on top of the world, (Thus the height at which the photo has been taken at)

This photo, used in my contents page to depict an article, is about also another UK MC. However I feel that this image sends out a different message and purpose. The photo itself is very much focused on the person with the lighting purposely and strictly upon him, with the clouds and the background seemingly darkened, which hereby portrays the lingering stereotypes of the R'n'B and Grime scene. Which is littered with bright stars but also the very dark and infamous backgrounds. 

This photo is imitating the fun, joy and emotions set by R'n'B and Grime but also to just open peoples eyes up so they can see that not everybody is just a thug or hangs around on the streets, but actually can present themselves properly, thereby celebrating the Top 40 I have included. This photo again has the person in the center of the imagine attracting all attention.

Promotional Article Feedback.

For the upcoming publication of the music magazine we had to create a promotional feature article demonstrating persuasive writing skills and once again connecting with our target audience. In my article, the main feature of it was introducing and promoting an MC which has recently risen to prominence and given readers an insight into himself and his personality, but also a history into the Grime scene and his success to date.


The persuasive devices i decided to use mostly were statistics to really show the success and talent of the artist, this allows readers to understand about the underground success you can make before even becoming mainstream or making a renound name for yourself. Statistics such as 80,000 views from YouTube overnight and selling 20,000 records underground give the perfect backdrop for an artist coming from a very negatively stereotyped genre trying to come to light. Also relating back to similar artists which names are world wide now such as Tinchy Stryder, allows the reader to relate this new artist and create a vivid picture in their head, before listening to any of his new material. Furthermore the relation to these UK artists creates a brighter image for Grime as it has now produced many great names, with P Money looking to become one, mentioning these names adhears his material and name.


Secondly, The use of rhetorical questions that I have involved such as "Why is P Money getting a raucous of attention now?" gets the reader involved to ask themselves why the artist is and it stimulates the reader to put themselves into the artists shoes. Also getting references from other big UK names such as SB.TV where i claimed that he is the best that has featured on the channel upholds his growing presence in this article as it begins to grow on the reader, however despite the article mainly sticking to national success, it hints to international success very soon with the revealing of a new single coming out with an american artist and an album that is promising to go platinum. Also a short but powerful interview I also included to give the promotional piece a bit more of a personal feel so the reader can get to know the artist and see how real he was. The speech I used for the artist was very real and how an MC from London is likely to talk and this gives the realism of the words used and shows the reader of his genuine character, which sells him even more so.


The last paragraph of my article I believe is the most powerful and as I feel it had to reinforce his presence and sell him completely, if it hadn't already. The colloquialism of the paragraph firmly grips the reader as it sells what is to come from the artist, including the aforemented new single with B.o.B who has also recently shot into stardom, revealing that his track that I also promoted and analysed to give it professionalism and show his qualities, is going to be released on iTunes, the biggest downloading network. Furthermore to keep the realism installed and firmly instigate the articles target audience it again reveals that P Money is going to Wood Green in London to further promote his CD. To end off the article as powerfully I could, I used a variety of sentence structure. "Remember where you first recognised his face, his background and his face. Right here.

Masthead Creation and Analysis

During class we had come to the beginning of creating our publications, this was firstly done by drawing up 3 mastheads that we wanted to use, albeit with one maybe lacking in creativity. This was to finally pick out one that I felt would be right for the publication and to really convey the Target Audience and to make a point to the reader. To create these, once again I used Photoshop skills by manipulating layers and using blending options, however in comparison to other creations I had delved deeper into the realms of blending and using tools like gradient overlay and drop shadow.

The first masthead I created had a rather simplistic but yet subtly powerful look. The colours used of blue and pink are heavily integrated into the R'n'B scene, the colours also have a high amount of gender representation as the blue background hints at the male contingent which founded the genre although the pink hits out at the massive female talent of the R'n'B culture. The font used does not however really show a tint on the youthful impact on both genres as it seems very bold and hard hitting, it looks as if it would be more suited to a rock/punk more based publication. The Blue oval backdrop provides the main statement for male dominance of the two genres as it overshadows the pink.

For those reasons, in comparison with my second Masthead, it was already far down the pecking order. The second I created had a totally different aspect to it. The theme on this masthead was more based towards the UK and grime side of my publication as it instantly hits the youths who dominate the genre. The reasons I believe this is the perfect masthead for my publication are : 

• The font that imitates somebody doing graffiti or tagging, Associated with grime
• The colour of red, brown and black. Very affiliated with signature colours of artists
• It is smooth and not complicated, very clear to denote from it
• Practical

The creation of this particular masthead was not planned as much as the first one and was more taking individual thoughts and placing them together.

The third and final masthead I created is more challenging to the second as it competes with it in terms of design, typography although I believe it does not relate to the genres and does not attract the same kind of attention against the second. This masthead was a mix between the two preceding it as it has a similar type of colour scheme in the font, however the font is more urban, it does not hit the heights of my second as the colour of purple is more of a female colour, which is almost unheard of in the grime stage. 

However, the backdrop I believe does relate to both genres as it gives it the loving feeling that R'n'B brings and the positiveness of artists in the grime scene. 

Flat Planning For Publication and Target Audience Profile.

In class, we had created this Target Audience Profile, using Photoshop, to convey and show our intentions on who our target audience will be during the creation of our Music publication. To complete this task, I used simple Photoshop skills to change the canvas and rotate it 90 degrees and manipulated layers by adding various different images to create a picture of who I want the publication to get a reaction from. The images ranging from Football to social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and Msn also the great representatives of the urban scene, out layed a clear intention on who my target audience was.

The reason for the social networking sites, was aimed at the amount of young people who use these sites to know about everyday life, and to show their ideas. Also young people aspiring to make it into the current music scene will look up to members such like Tupac and Alicia Keys. There is also a hint of fashion with the trainers and 1xtra the main radio station in which Mc's get to show their material. The font that I used to detail the Target Audience Profile also reflected the youthful exuberant feelings brought to the community.

The flat plan that I and the class had created, was to create a clearer picture on the details of the publications. My flat plan was simple but I wanted to note down exactly who I am  targeting, why I am and how I am going to do this. I made it very clear that the Genre is going to be of a UK base with R'n'B and UK Hip Hop involved. The layout of the magazine would be in correlation with the Genre along with colours to represent them. 

Secondly I created a purpose and Intentions heading in which I wanted to denote exactly what I am going to give in the publication, These were :

• To allow new Artists to promote new material
• To reveal background into the specific music genre's
• To educate young people about the history and foundations of the urban scene.

This was also followed by identifying the gratifications that I wanted to fulfil, these were predominantly

• Diversion - Allowing the readers to divert from every day pressure by getting insight
• Surveillance - Introducing readers to new artists, and background info.
• Personal Identity - Allowing readers who want to emulate stars a chance to create their identity. 

Finally I looked at the Demographics and Psychographics involved in the process. My publication is aimed strictly at the London and sub-urbian area with an audience of 15-25 with aspiring audiences of 11-15 and 25-30, the gender would be mainly male although with  female digressions. Psychographics were a bit more trickier, however I wanted to engage people to succeed and to aspire to become something great.

Analysis Of Preliminary Task

During the production of the Preliminary task which I had previously drawn up a flat plan to create this Front Cover. The idea of the image used as the back drop for the cover was to create the friendly and intimate environment made by Acland Burghley School as the shot is in the 6th Form Common room, in which is the main domain for students, this is used to get a very personal and up close view of the school as I intended the magazine to be fully viable by students only. Furthermore I wanted the magazine to represent the period in which it was to be issued, during the winter months and I feel I have done this proficiently.  


The winter feeling that I wanted to install into the magazine is shown through the colour scheme I chose to use, of a blue and very cold icy feeling with purple and pink also integrated. The Masthead I decided to use, also links to the youth of the school with 'Skool' as this points out to exactly who the target audience is. Also this coincides with the prolonged  'uurgghh' sound to relate to the shivering that winter brings.  The colour and font used on the Masthead is where you can instantly begin to create the cold theme as the font, which was downloaded off Dafont is very frosty like. This is followed by the blue and purple mix to create a very frozen and isolated looking text. The masthead was created by using a drop shadow, Outer glow, Satin and bevel.


Secondly, the strapline 'The Coolllddestt Magazine out there' again reflects the cold theme with the pun of 'coldest'. Also the colour of a blue interim and baby blue rim, creates the mood that is often reflected from winter. The image of the boy used, is pictured wearing a scarf to again extract the cold from the period of which the image was taken, thus fully installing the theme amongst the target audience. However the unfamiliar mirage that is created around the head of the boy, is to give a sense of pressure, which comes with A-levels and the magazine helps to sort these headaches out by giving exam tips. Lastly the red rhetorical question used to point out the boy also imitates the feeling of anxiety and stress during study periods, in which everybody duly feels.


The use of different fonts also shows a vibrant diversity throughout the school in which is sure to be shown in the magazine, and although the colours are mainly associated to males, in which the school is male dominated with a 3:1 ratio, the magazine is still viable and accessible by both genders. Also the features such as teacher gossip, exam tips and quizzes are all something that the average college student want to know but don't normally have a regular way to express or gain access to this.

The contents page was something I had reviewed a lot less than the front cover as I get the feeling that in present times, especially in short publications, people rather just flick furiously to the page and not fuss with all the confusion of detailed contents pages, so continuing the theme of the front cover it keeps a cold, blue and purple theme with the titles of the contents contained in a blue backing which can be depicted as them frozen and always are going to be included in the publication. 

Masthead Research

During the process of creating this research into particular mastheads i constructed the following using Photoshop Cs3 to make the heading for the task. It was created by using multiple layers which included tools like, drop shadow, inner glow and satin. The font used was downloaded from DaFont which offers a variety of different fonts to download freely. The magazines who's mastheads i studied where Rap-Up in which the Masthead was very easy to connotate and denotate from, whereas the others such as Totp which was alot harder.

Furthermore the Mastheads of Kerrang and Mixmag were very similar with only pragmatic connotations although they and Rap-Up targeted very different audiences.