Evaluation

EVALUATION

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT

USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND

CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

BASS | VIBE

MASTHEAD

My masthead or magazine logo represents and

conveys the Hip-Hop genre in a variety of

different aspects. Firstly I named it ‘BASS’ as the

element of bass in general is huge in my genre,

and is used often in a huge amount of songs. I

also wanted it to be short and catchy, like the

‘XXL’ logo presented on this slide, as it is simple,

original and fits in perfectly with the genre, as it

looks powerful and serious, like Hip-Hop in a way.

I decided to make my masthead the colour black

as it also has comparisons to the VIBE logo, and

for the fact that black is an extremely dominant

and popular colour in the Hip-Hop industry, and

by using this colour into my product, it would be

enhancing its chance to reflect my chosen genre.

MISE EN

SCENE

I tried to use a range of elements within mise en

scene to try and grasp my genre. I especially

looked at Hip-Hop star Nicki Minaj as she is a

dominant female in the industry, like the artist I

was trying to create for my magazine. Knowing

this, I focused on different covers and photo-

shoots of Nicki and tried to bring them to life with

my model. Firstly I attempted to grasp the

performance or expression from my research and

tried to create that in my own photo-shoot. From

the photo from my front cover and Nicki’s front

cover, you can see a comparison in the position

that they are both standing, and in the photos

below, the position and expression on my models

face are almost exact to Nicki’s, to try and present

the ‘fierce female rapper’ look. I decided to use

high key lighting, as this gives the images a

professional effect, and whilst editing in

Photoshop, I also increased the contrast and

brightness to give it a distinct and sharp effect, to

make it appear more attractive.

COSTUME

& PROPS

When picking out outfits for my model

for the shoot, my main idea was to

resemble other existing female Hip-

Hop artists, and take inspiration of

some of their outfits. In the end, I

decided that I wanted my model to

wear mostly all black, with hints of

possible other colours like gold, white

and red. With pieces of costume, I

wanted to resemble traditional Hip-

Hop, with a ‘girly’ twist, and to do this,

I added an edition of chunky black

high heeled boots, which included

spike and diamond embellishment, to

ensure a fierce and sassy look. My

model also sported black eye makeup

and red lipstick to also enhance her

powerful feminine look, but also as a

seduction tool, so that men and

women can find the cover attractive,

and initially buy the product.

PEOPLE

Throughout the pages in my product, I have included content or

information on different artists from the Hip-Hop industry, as a tool to

present and reflect further on the genre. I used Drake a lot on the

cover and also in the context of my interview with my artist. I did this

as Drake is hugely known around the globe, and from my research he

is the UK’s favourite rap star, and seen as though my magazine is

British, it makes sense to include him in my product. As I also wanted

the element of traditional rap, I added an article on the Hip-Hop

legend: Tupac. I only added one older rap star as the primary

audience are within the ages 16-25, however, by adding a minor

throwback, it adds to the professionalism and the knowledge of the

genre and magazine. Another point to add this, is that my secondary

audience applies to the ages of 26-35, and these people would

definitely have knowledge of Tupac, and enjoy reading a feature of

him. As my main article revolves around a fierce female figure in the

Hip-Hop industry, I also wanted to add examples of other female rap

stars, including Nicki Minaj and Iggy Azalea, who are huge in rap and

also in the charts. Having these artists supports my main article and

proves that the stereotype of men dominating the Hip-Hop world isn’t

always the case.

TITLE FONT & STYLES

Within my magazine, I have used different varieties of fonts and texts, to

elaborate further in my chosen genre. But to also add personality to the

context and the magazines look. When I started my research I went on

Dafont.com and scrolled through different fonts and I tried to choose a

bunch that would fit and complement my genre. All of the fonts shown

are different examples of the fonts I have included in my magazine. I

have tried to represent a bold look throughout with different fonts, in an

effort to make the magazine look more professional. With some fonts, I

have tried to represent and reflect the main article, which revolves

around a dominant female figure in Hip-Hop, I've tried to represent and

advertise this by adding some fonts within a black background with the

colour pink to add a stereotypical but effective ‘feminine’ twist. Other

fonts include colours such as Red, Grey, Black and White; all colours

that would symbolise the Hip-Hop industry and therefore enhance my

magazine’s performance.

COPY/ WRITTEN

CONTENT

Throughout my pages, I have made an effort to

include language that would link and belong in

Hip-Hop culture. In my contents page for

instance , I have added articles like ‘Turn Up

Tuesday Rundown’ which links to the Hip-Hop

culture in the way that it is inspired by a song

that is extremely popular in the Urban, Hip-Hop

and Official charts. By doing things like this, I

have made a link straight away to the culture,

and the fans or readers would recognize this,

and perhaps buy the product knowing that the

genre is definitely reflected. Along with the use

of this language in my work, I have included

artists from the genre to feature in my pages,

and therefore, creating a larger Hip-Hop based

product which can be trusted and seen as

professional to customers.

HOW IS GENRE REFLECTED

IN YOUR MAGAZINE?

My genre is hugely reflected through different aspects

within my pages. The first example would be colour. I

have made sure that I have included colours that

represent the industry and genre. These would include

colours like Red, Grey, Black, White and Gold. I have

also used these colours within my costume, to try and

reflect more of a Hip-Hop figure.

To back my previous evidence of the genre of my

magazine, I have added well known names of Hip-Hop

and the whole music industry all together, in an effort to

show readers that if these certain artists are included, it

would definitely revolve around the genre they create

their music in.

Also when shooting photographs, I tried to reflect a lot of

mise en scene aspects and to make sure that my model

was making certain facial expressions and poses that

represents my genre. For example, as artists in Hip-Hop

are quite dominant, powerful and feisty, I have tried to

create a look that would show a confidence and fierce

attitude, to back up the style of music chosen.

LAYOUT OF FRONT COVER

My magazine followed a lot of conventions from previous and popular magazines. I

took a lot of my inspiration from already existing Hip-Hop magazine: Vibe. A lot of my

colours are similar to this Vibe cover.

I noticed that a lot of Hip-Hop covers included a list of artists at the side of the page,

and knowing this I added this convention to my work, to represent a popular layout,

and also to represent other existing artists to attract customers.

The position of my model is similar to Miguel in the Vibe cover, in the way that he is

also dressed in black, but also for the fact that it is a medium shot. This creates a

professional effect, and allows readers to interpret my magazine with other popular

prints.

LAYOUT OF CONTENTS PAGE

My contents page needed to be bold and to stand out, to allow the readers to glimpse easily at

articles in the magazine. I took some inspiration from this contents page, in the context of its

layout and structure. 50 Cent in the existing cover is facing the long list of text, like mine also is.

However, I labeled mine more abruptly, in an effort to make it easier form readers to quickly

notice the conventions on the contents page.

Also, the colours also contrast to the front page. As I tried to make a more ‘feminine’ colour

scheme, to represent that women in Hip-Hop can still belong in the industry and still carry that

fierce and ladylike personality.

I have definitely challenged conventions in this page. However I noticed from my research that

in most Hip-Hop magazine, including Vibe, the contents pages were not represented within a

grid, like many other prints, but in a list with an artist on the side, and therefore my reason for

choosing this method.

LAYOUT OF MY DOUBLE PAGE

SPREAD

I tried to produce my double page spread in an original but unique way. I used two

block colours on my spread, as the use of black and white allows the page to stand

out but it also represent the traditional Hip-Hop culture, and also the atmosphere of

the article, and idea of feminism in the culture.

The vibe double page spread and my double page spread are similar definitely in the

use of colour, and because of this, I have also tried to elaborate on the layout more. I

have added my own twist on the main title of the article, as Vibe’s has quite an impact

on the page, and I tried to incorporate an aspect of this in my work by using different

fonts, sizes and lengths of texts to create a strong effect.

CONCLUSION

Overall, I believe that I have tried to create my

own perspective and my own ideas, tied with

my inspiration of other prints of my chosen

genre. I have created an acceptable and quite

enjoyable product, that represents the current

Hip-Hop culture and industry. I believe, that

from my magazine, you can definitely tell my

chosen genre, and the ideas I was aiming to

get across. I agree, that I have challenged a

few aspects of traditional and already existing

products, however, I know that I have mostly

took inspiration from professional work and

tried to use their own personal vision into my

own work. Personally, I would think that an

audience would be satisfied with my creation,

and would agree that it would fit into the genre,

and includes all of the conventions that a

professional magazine would require.