R E P L A Y M A G ‘Press Play’
Q) In what ways does your music magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of existing music magazines?
A) ‘Replay mag’ is a Hip-hop and RnB magazine released bi-weekly (every two weeks). Firstly I flat planned my music magazine on paper, drafting how I wanted the magazine to look and where conventions such as the masthead, strap line, lure and cover lines were to be placed. As my target audience was young adults ages 16-19, I wanted to create a front page that was bold, unique and which used vibrant colours which would catch any reader’s attention. Therefore I looked at a variety of other music magazines aimed at young people such as ‘Black Beat’, ‘Vibe’ and ‘Nang!’ I noticed that each of these magazines offered interesting front covers with a lot of information about what is in the magazine. The magazine also used bold colours such as red, black and dark blue. I decided that my logo and title colours would be green, red and yellow with a black base colour. This I believed would stand out and would create a sense of brand identity as the colours were unique. Through my masthead font research, I already knew what type of font appealed to my magazine.
I used Photo shop to design my magazine. I took photos of my cousin who is a young artist, and decided which was best suitable to the front page of a magazine. This was to be my main image. Once decided, I edited the image and added effects such as lighting and airbrushed the image to imitate other magazines. I also extracted the image from its original background making it stand out more. This was a tiring process as I faced problems such as the image not being the correct size or position in which I want it to. However, after a long ‘play’ with the image, I placed it in the correct position.
Strap lines are small headers which appear over the main heading. My strap line, I decided was to be ‘Press Play’. In relation to music, this gives the effect that the magazine, having being opened/pressed play offers jam-packed information about music, posters, reviews and many more. This works well with the magazine title ‘Replay’ as it suggests the magazine is something to be read over and over again.
A lure is a small section of a story or interview which is printed on the front page in which the full story or interview continues inside. My lure, I decided was to introduce to the reader my double page feature which was an interview with new artist, ‘Da Mizzal’. The lure read, ‘Exclusive to Replay Mag, 2 page interview with DA MIZZAL’. The purpose of this was to attract the reader in to buying the magazine. As I used the word ‘Exclusive’, the reader would feel that this magazine offers them something that no other magazine has and therefore it becomes a ‘must have’. I made the artists name the biggest text on the page as he was the main focus for that issue of the magazine.
My cover lines are summaries of the exciting features and articles which are in my magazine. This included ‘Music Reviews, Music Updates, Competitions and the latest fashion’. I used different text fonts to the masthead for the cover lines as I wanted them to look different and also strand out. The mode of address of a magazine is the way in which a magazine speaks to its target audience. My magazine cover I believe has a friendly but firm approach. Boys and girls who have different tastes are invited to read the magazine through the variety of colours used. However, the colours and text used are bold and eye-catchy. ‘Replay Mag’,
I also feel is authoritative as the main image features ‘Da Mizzal’ pointing directly at the reader. This infers that the magazine has authority over the reader and directly approaches them.
Q) How does your magazine represent particular social groups?
A) My magazine, ‘Replay Mag’ represents a collection of people based on age, race religion and characteristics. Firstly, the magazine is mainly aimed at 16-19 year olds. I think I successfully accomplished this as the main image is of a young, new and ‘fresh’ artist which I felt would appeal to the readers of ‘Replay Mag’. Also, people slightly older or younger than the targeted age can read replay mag as the words used are not complicated and can be understood at many levels. I chose to use language in this way to ensure that a broad age range will be able to read the magazine. Also, the magazine has no specific representation of any race. It includes many artists of different races and religions such as ‘Eminem, Lil Wayne and Kerri Hilson’ each of different races.
Q) Who would the audience for your magazine be?
A) The target audience for my magazine is young people aged between 16-19. I chose this as I am 16 myself, I thought I could make more effective and interesting decisions for my magazine in terms of what would appeal to me. The target audiences for my magazine are young people that are loud, are not afraid to display their views across, are greatly interested in Hip-Hop and RnB, are self-conscious of their appearance and have future aspiration to also succeed.
Below, is an example of a target audience profile for ‘Replay Mag’:
‘Monique and Kyle are both young people living in council flats Hackney, East London.Monique is 16, and Kyle 18. Through the increasing crime that takes place in Hackney in which the two young people have to deal with, the two usually seek some form of escapism in Internet websites such as face book, texting their friends and also by reading ‘Replay Mag’ every other week. The young people rely on Replay Mag to provide them with the latest news and interviews on their favourite music artists such as Lil Wayne and Beyonce. Monique, who is a girl, also finds the ‘Latest Fashion’ page very interesting as it offers the latest trends for her age group and where they are available. Monique who lives with her 2 younger brothers saves up £2.99 during the week, out of her pocket money in order to be able to afford the magazine the following week. As Replay offers many success stories about artists who also rose from Monique’s stage, Monique feels she can use these positive stories to influence her younger brothers and encourage them to not lead the ‘Street Life’. Kyle however, is seeking for his first job. Replay mag also offers careers information near the end of the magazine and tips that young people can use when they go on interviews for example. As this is a music magazine there is not a lot of information on this, however the magazine does offer a website which further helps young people in these areas. Kyle also enjoys reading the interviews and collecting the 2 posters that are offered with the magazine. He especially enjoyed the edition which featured artist ‘Dizzy Rascal’ who also lived in East London and was able to overcome the dramas of ‘Street Life’.’
Q) Where will your music magazine be distributed and why?
A) Replay mag will be distributed at all local newsagents in the borough of Haringey and also Hackney as my music magazine is targeted at young people ages 16-24 who are specifically interested in Hip-hop and RnB music. Although it would have been easier to create a music magazine based on grime, I chose to make Replay mag a Hip Hop and RnB magazine as grime is a UK based genre of music. By creating a hip-hop and rnb magazine, this will hopefully encourage young people to see the bigger picture and aim high as hip-hop and rnb is a well known and popular genre of music mostly portrayed through American artists such as Eminem and Jay Z. Research shows that youth, who are mainly of black origin are mostly interested in the hip-hop and rnb genre of music. Research also shows that youth who live specifically in the areas of Haringey and Hackney are more likely to get involved with crime. Replay mag offers support and advice to young people who aspire to be like celebrities such as '50 Cent and Keri Hilson'. Replay mag will hopefully be a form of escapism for the youth of today who usually find themselves in difficult situations at a very young age.
For an insight to the amount of youth knife crimes that are commited in the UK, please click the link below:
http://www.knifecrimes.org/uk-knife-crime-victims.html
I also chose to distribute my magazine at music shops such as Hmv and Virgin mega stores in the borough of Haringey and also Hackney. This is because shops such as Hmv sell music dvds, Cd's and tapes which include the genre of hip hop and rnb. Also the items sold in these shops are affordable for the youth in which my magazine is aimed at. I chose to distribute in newsagents rather than supermarkets and other big stores because 'Replay mag' is new, fresh magazine and if introduced into big stores, although it may increase brand awareness, it may not target the audience effectively as it will be setting ourselves a big aim and will have to compete with other popular magazines.
Please click image for a link to HMV website:
Q) How did you attract/address the audience for your music publication?
A) The audience for my magazine are young, ambitious children who love music. My magazine, I feel successfully targets my audience in many ways. The artist, featured on the front page of the magazine is a fresh young artist who is new to the game. This will have influence on my target audience as they themselves are young. The font used on my front page, contents page, and double page spreads are bright and colourful which relates to the bubbly characteristics of my audience. Also, the text is mostly consistent on all pages which makes the audience familiar with the magazine. 'Da Mizzal' who is featured on the front page is pointing directly at the reader, which makes the audience notice the magazine and immediately connect with it . The front cover also includes lures which inform the reader of interesting topics that are in the magazine and make the reader want to buy it in order to read about it. The mode of address of my magazine relates to any reader as it has a friendly approach which creates a sense of trust for the magazine to always produce to a certain standard which satisfies the reader.
Here's what George, 18 has to say about Replay mag:
'Replay Mag is great! What attracts me to buy the magazine every two weeks, is the interesting articles that are in there about new and up-coming artists. The magazines front image is always an eye-catcher! I've noticed the way Replay use lighting and layout to emphasize important images or quotes'.Q) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout the production of my music magazine, I have developed my compututing skills using software such as Photoshop and Pages. I have learnt that layout, font and approach is important and affects the way an audience views an item. For example: Text which does not relate to the reader or a layout in which the page is too cramped with information has an impact and determines whether a magazine is bought or not. I have also learnt that the framing and angle shot of images is important as it can control how close or distant a relationship is between the product and the audience. For example a close shot is more likely to take an effect on the reader as there is more 'intimacy' than a long distant shot of a person. Whilst taking the images for my magazine, I considered thoughts such as the angle of the image. An image looking down on a person could suggest that the person has little authority and is immediately degraded. An image which is looking up at a person suggests power. Lighting is also important as it can emphasize importance and attract the reader into reading your magazine.
Please click below for a youtube video on Good or Bad magazine covers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leJCN-bdfvM
Q) Looking back at your preliminary task, of designing the front page of a school magazine, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product.
When I started this project, I did not have great awareness of magazine audiences and what conventions are used in order to affect the target audience. Through the preliminary task of designing my school magazine, I learnt how to target audiences affectively by age, gender, race, interests and aspirations. The preliminary task has also helped me develop my skills on programs such as Photoshop and had developed my editing skills. I was able to apply my knowledge of good layouts to ensure my music magazine was successful. Through research on exsisting music magazines front pages and also contents pages, I was able to ensure my music magazine was attrractive and appealing to my young audience.
