Character for double page spread

Here is my character that I will use for my double page spread on my magazine Explicit. I will get some practice shots of my character so I know what to do for the real photo-shoot.

AIDA Theory

After doing media at GCSE, I learned about AIDA theory and thought that I could apply it to my magazine work too. I think its important that I apply it to my magazine and therefore I have done some research into it.

Magazine codes and conventions

I thought that it would be useful to do some research into magazine codes and conventions. These are the main terms that you need to know before making your own magazine in order to be successful. Now that I have done this research, I know what features I need to include on my own front cover and the rest of the magazine.

Chosen Font

 

After asking my target audience about some different fonts that I could potentially use, the results showed that they liked this font the most out of all of them. This was also one of my favourite fonts to use because I think it is suited to the rap genre with the style of it. The letters are large and stand out and they almost look like a sort of tattoo font, which rappers tend to have a lot of. 

Additional Colours

Another colour that I'm intending to use is Yellow. It is another bright colour that will stand out and attract attention. Yellow also looks quite golden which I think represents the rap industry in a good way. Rappers tend to wear a lot of gold in the chains they wear, watches or even teeth. I'm intending to use yellow on the masthead for my magazine with a black background because I think these colours go well.

Asking the TA about potential fonts

Music Magazine Publishers

I have done some research into who publishes music magazines and this is what I found out. It has just given me a better understanding of the music magazine genre in general.

Photoshoot Test

 Here are some pictures that I took as a practice for my photo-shoot. When I come to do my real photo-shoot, there will be changes to the location and outfit that I'm wearing. The sorts of poses that im doing may also be different. These are just some practise shots and I may take some more before I do my actual photo-shoot.

Font Styles

Here are some examples of some potential fonts that I could use for my own magazine. This font would be applied to the masthead of the magazine and most of the other text in the magazine. These are just a few examples and I may do further research into more fonts. However for now I will ask my target audience on their opinion for a font and then make a decision.

Magazine Name Decision

I have now given my tally chart of names to many members of my target audience. From the results I can conclude that my target audience liked the name 'Explicit' the most. I am happy with this decision and the name was one of my favourites from the start. I think 'Explicit' is a good name because it sums up the rap genre in a word. Most songs rappers produce contain explicit lyrics and most rappers have a personality that are explicit to some people. Rappers are seen as a tough and are described as being gangsters of some sort. I just really like the name 'Explicit' because rappers and the music they produce are not for younger people and that's why I also think the name will appeal to the target audience I've gone for. On the songs rappers produce, you will see a symbol saying parental advisory, explicit content which looks like this:

I can use the logo in some way on my own magazine and try and make my own version of it. This logo is very symbolic of the rap genre and represents it well.

Masthead Analysis for Rap Magazines

Here is an analysis of some rap magazine mastheads that I have done. I now have a much better understanding of the style of mastheads that are used on rap magazines. Hopefully I can apply this to my own magazine when it comes to making a masthead.

Colours for my magazine

From my questionnaire results, the colours that my target audience said stand out the most were black, red, blue, green and white. I think these colours were chosen because they are quite bright and attract attention easily. Out of these colours I think I am most likely to be using black, red or a dark blue. I think these colours go well with the genre of my magazine and attract attention at the same time.

Questionnaire Results

Here are my results from the questionnaire I asked my target audience to fill in. I got the results and put the results in a pie chart to make it easier to look at. The questionnaire has helped me further my research a lot, I now know what my target audience want to see and what they don't from a rap magazine.

Tally Chart for TA

This is a tally chart that I have created for my target audience to fill in. I have designed this just to get some opinions on what name for my magazine the target audience like the most. After I have asked some members of the target audience, I will make a decision for a name of my magazine.

Magazine Name Ideas

Here are some of my ideas for a name for my own actual rap magazine. These are just basic names that I thought of by doing some research and some of them are my own ideas.

Photoshoot Planning

Here is a basic photo-shoot plan that I did so that I know what I'm doing when we come to do the actual photo-shoot after I have done all of my research needed.

Blog Progress

Blog Progress so far

Successes – 17 posts

-          Target audience

-          Character

-          Analysis of magazine genres

-          Questionnaire planning

 

-       Deciding on the genre

Next Steps –

-          Giving my questionnaire out

-          Photo-shoot

-          Planning my actual magazine

Research and planning –

-          I need to plan my photo-shoot and the things ill need for it and also the location.

-          I need to gather research from my questionnaire once I have given it out to my target audience

-          I need to start planning the design of my actual magazine like looking at things such as colour schemes, name, logo and so on.

Construction –

- I will start the construction of my actual magazine once I have done all the research that I need from my target audience.

- I need to think about in the meantime about the name of my magazine, colour schemes, images I will use and so on.

 

- I also need to think about the type of information I am going to include on my front cover, contents page and double page spread.

 

 Evaluation –

- I have decided on the character that is going to feature on my magazine and the sort of clothing he wears and the sort of background he has

- I have decided on the genre that my magazine is focusing on which is rap/hip hop

 

 

Questionnaire from a member of my target audience

Here is a video of me asking a member of my target audience the questions on my questionnaire that I planned out. This is just one example and I will ask many more people in my target audience to gather as much research as I can.

Maslow

After doing media at GCSE and learning about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, I realised that I could apply it again to my A-level coursework. The section of the triangle I think is going to be most suitable for my magazine is 'esteem'. I think this because I want my magazine to appeal to the target audience and maybe even change their lives. I want my character to be relatable and actually give people self esteem. The target audience may look at my character and think of him as an idol and it may give them confidence in themselves. They may also look at something like my characters fashion and wear it themselves after seeing it, because they believe it makes them confident and makes them be like the character I have made. I think Maslow is a huge advantage I can use on my own magazine to hopefully appeal to the target audience as much as possible.

Colour Wheel

My Character for my Magazine

Here is an idea for a character for my own music magazine. These are just my first ideas for a character and I may change some details later on in the process. I think my character can appeal to my target audience of 16-30 year olds and is well suited for the rap genre.