Flat Plans

These are my flat plans. As you can see I want too have a large masthead across the top of my magazine to catch the readers eye. This is one of the conventions that I am very certain of. I think I want just a headshot of my artist looking directly at the camera with an angry expression as on all rap magazines I have researched the artists look angry. The name of the artist right underneath the image with the features running along the right of the page.

For my contents I want four different images inside one large square. Typically rap magazines have one large picture however I feel to challenge this convention by going with something different as I feel having a variety of pictures will attract the reader more than having just one. I will also have my text going down one column in my contents page as this is a prominent feature in rap magazines rather than having many columns.

With my double page spread I want too have a large picture of my artist on the left of the page with my text taking up all the space on the right. The    masthead will go across the top of the page and the interviewer and artist will be separated by different colours to symbolise who is who. I think I want the colour of my double page spread to be black however I am not too sure at this point in time.

Questionnaire Results

Here are some of my results from the questionnaire that I did on survey monkey. From this questionnaire I found that my target audience were more inclined to buying a magazine once a month instead of once a week. This helped me establish that my magazine issues would be done monthly.  Another piece of information  my survey brought to my attention was that the artist/celebrity on the front of a magazine is what first attracts people to the magazine instead of the name of the magazine or any free giveaways that may go with the magazine. This information therefore let me know that I should concentrate on getting a model who could give off the rap vibe that i wanted to portray and attract my target audience as he would be someone they could relate too.

Questionnaire

I created a questionnaire to help me identify what is preffered and looked for in a magazine. I would distribute the questionnaire to people who are ranged in my target audience to get valid, appropiate results. To take part in the questionnaire click the link below.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QN6SNVR

Covers from XXL

Here I picked 1 of my favourite XXL covers. As you can see the covers are all pretty similar and it is this kind of style and layout that appeals to me which is what I will be trying to recreate in my own magazine. The simplicity of the one large image surrounded by text really catches my eye and I feel that for a rap magazine this is the sort of look i want to go for.

           

Decision on my Genre

After not much deliberation I have finally decided the genre of my magazine will be rap and hip hop. The decision was generally easy to come about considering that the music I listen to tends to be predominantly rap and hip hop and because I can relate to this type of music genres I believe I would be able to put that across and create a new and exciting magazine.  I have conducted various research on already successful rap magazines such as Vibe and The Source however the magazine I have liked the most and gained the most inspiration from is XXL which is why I have decided to model my magazine on a similar sort of layout and design.

Reader Profile

James is a 16 years old student currently studying in college. James is your who enjoys raving, going out with friends and playing sports. He listens to music as it makes him feel disconnected from the rest of the world and also writes his own music as he sees this as a way of expressing himself .  James’s favourite genre of music has always been rap and hip hop. His favourite artists include Drake, 50 Cent and Rick Ross as he feels he can relate to these artists. James gains inspiration from not only the US but also the UK and artists who came from the underground scene to become huge stars such as Tinie Tempah and Chipmunk. James often uploads music videos of himself onto YouTube to try and gain a fan base and breakout as a predominant artist that can be looked at as the future of rap music which is why such a music magazine appeals to him..

Semiotics - XXL

I am going to deconstruct XXL magazine on how it uses semiotics and polysemic images and signs convey a particular theme. Imagining there was no text associated with the magazine the two fingers pointing to his head would instinctively make you think suicide as it look as though two guns are pointed at him. Also Immediately the red piece of text which says ‘self destruction’ catches your eye and the use of the colour red which is usually associated with blood and death further adds to the use of semiotics, self destruction could also be seen to be associated with suicide. The ‘smoke sumthin’ piece of text on the left could also symbolise the smoke from a gun after a shot has been fired.