Final Work

In this post I present my final pieces of work for both the main task and the preliminary task.

MAIN TASK

PRELIMINARY TASK

Evaluation 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

                       

Evaluation 7 from Dawid Tomczuk

Evaluation 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During the process of constructing of my media product I have come across many stages and technologies which I already had a good knowledge about, however I have found some stages completely new. This has increased my knowledge, as well as my practical skills about media product production.

First of all, during my production process I have used a Nikon D5100 with a 18-105mm lens to take the pictures. This is my own DSLR camera which I use for both my own private use as well as for my AS Photography project in school. Beforehand, I had a good knowledge about taking pictures (can be seen in my blog as I have prepared a powerpoint to teach other classmates about photography) therefore I knew how to operate the shutter speed, ISO and the aperture effectively. The things which I had to experiment in this project were the shots and the lighting. This time I had to pay more attention to the camera shots in order to portray the right code and convention. In terms of the I have been provided with a full light kit in the Media room with a professional backdrop. This allowed me to fully manipulate the lighting intensity as well as its direction, making sure I gain the best quality image. The facilities such as a very good DSLR camera, professional lighting kit and a studio backdrop have allowed me to experiment and come up with a very successful shots which have then been used in my media product.

Secondly, during the production of my media product I had to use editing software in order to manipulate the images and create necessary graphical content for my magazine such as the masthead. To do so, I have mainly focused on three softwares; Photoshop and Ipiccy or Pixlr. Photoshop is a image manipulation software which provided me with all of the necessary tools to create graphical content ( as seen throughout my blog ), wheres Ipiccy & Pixlr are a online based editing softwares which I have widely used to tweak my images. Photoshop, Ipiccy and Pixlr have been widely used by me in my AS Photography course therefore the use of these for me was relatively easy, however I had the chance to experiment with them as I have applied various effects or tweaked imperfections which I do not perform in AS Photography.
Another software which I have widely used during the construction process of my magazine is named InDesign. This software has allowed me to structure the pages using various functions such as rulers or allowed me to implement the graphical content which I have created in Photoshop. Because of Photoshop and InDesign being Adobe softwares, they easily allow the content to flow from one software to another. This has really helped me out during the construction process of my magazine as I was allowed to transfer the content between the softwares without any errors, making my construction error-less and less time consuming.

In order to present my work I have used software such as Powerpoint which I have widely used before in my life, however I have additionally been introduced to new methods of presenting work through softwares such as Prezi or Blogger. Prezi has allowed me to create a very neat and professional presentation whereas Blogger has allowed me to post and show my journey throughout the school year of producing the UrbanFlow magazine. It was very tricky for me to get along with all of the functions of these softwares, however with time passing by I have gotten used to using it and now find it very easy to use Prezi or Blogger. I benefit from this as I have gained new presentation skills.


Another technology which I have used in order to successfully construct my magazine is Surveymonkey. This online based has allowed me to easily create a survey in a template format which I then have sent out to my chosen audience. By it being a online based survey I have gained a very quick response via email from the audience. Surveymonkey has automatically then counted the votes and conveyed the results in graphical format, making it very clear for me to understand and present on my blog.

Issues of technologies used:
While using the technologies which I have listed above I have come across many issues which I then had to solve. I found that I have overcome the issues fairly easily as I have used various online tutorials or asked for help from people which have a better knowledge of the software. One example of an issue which I have come across was the lack of needed fonts in InDesign. I have overcome this issue with the use of Photoshop as it allowed me to create the needed graphical content. Another issue which has really affected my time management and my organisation was the use of InDesign. As of this software being a licensed software, I only had access to it in school which radically shortened the time I had for the construction of my front cover, contents page and the DPS.

Pros & Cons of technologies used:
Throughout my whole project I have used Blogger which is a really good example of a cloud software. By the use of a cloud software I was allowed to work on my coursework from various locations as I only needed a internet connection. This really has helped me to complete my coursework on time and meet the deadlines as I was allowed to work on my coursework from home. Another advantage of using Blogger as a cloud software was that I was allowed to save my work on the internet and not keeping it with me at all times. By this I have reduced the probability of loosing my work as it was always available for me on the internet. This way  I did not have to worry about loosing my USB stick. On the other hand, the use of cloud software such as Blogger has exposed my work to other members of the public using the internet, therefore my work could be at risk from plagiarism. Additonally, by the use of a cloud software, my coursework relies one the servers of the service provider. When the service provider which in this instance is Google has a problem with its servers, my coursework will not be accessible or at worst erased.

Evaluation 5

How did you attract/ address your audience?

Evaluation 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

At the very beginning of the making stage of my music magazine I have focused on Pop/Dance music magazines and began my research on those topics. The research consisted of areas such as analysing magazines, creating brand-eyes, and stating the shops, jobs, interests etc. my magazine audience could have. I have found this stage very useful during my research as by this I have gained a very detailed knowledge about Pop/Dance music magazines which I have then used later on in the making process. Then come the time for my questionnaire to be designed and given out to my target audience, and this is where I was shown what the audience really wants. Instead of having a Pop/Dance music magazine the audience have chosen that their most favorite genre of music is indeed Hip Hop and Pop. This meant that all of the research which I have done beforehand was not going to help me as much as I thought it would with the making of my final magazine. This meant that now I had to go into more research and amend my target audience profile into a more Hip Hop related character and base my magazine on this.

Who would the audience of my magazine be then? Well as I have mentioned above the magazine is to be consisting of both Hip Hop related content as well as Pop but with a larger focus on Hip Hop, meaning that the audience definitely has to have a high Hip Hop music interest. The audience additionally do not mind a typical Pop song which comes up on the radio. My audience would be considered as more of a mainstream audience, however they could also be counted into the aspires category as because of their high interest in Hip Hop music, they would probably aspire to become a Hip Hop artist themselves. This could link to the Ideal I theory by Jacques Lacan as the audience can see the Hip Hop/Pop artists in the magazine as their idols and would want to be successful in life as they are. They could mimic the music artists by wearing similar clothing, following the same diet or even take on board the way they talk.The audience for my magazine is relatively young therefore I would consider them to be easily influenced by the content as they are at the age where they experiment with their personalities and find the correct path in life, meaning that they could easily take on the areas represented by the magazine.As a result of this I would consider the majority of my audience to be in he aspire category. As I am interested in Hip Hop music and suit the target audience of the magazine, I could base the audience profile on my own liking in terms of the clothing. If I was to see a male individual on the street reading a Urbanflow magazine I would imagine him wearing Nike trainers, straight jeans, a Hip Hop related jumper with big logos and probably a hat. However if the reader was a female she would probably be wearing bright trainers, skinny jeans, a hoodie jumper with her hair tied back. By this I would assume that the male audience would like to purchase goods in shops such as footlocker, JD or Topman, whereas the female audience would aim to purchase goods from shops such as Topshop or H&M. This is a more of a stereotypical point of view as it is not how all of the people who read UrbanFlow would look like. In my opinion the audience for UrbanFlow would be a mix of both males and females, however for the particular issue of UrbanFlow which I have created I believe the audience would be more considerably male. This is because on the front cover I have placed a female model, grabbing more of the male audiences attention. This could link to the 'Male Gaze' theory by Laura Mulvey as men look at the front cover from a heterosexual mans point of view and are attracted to the female model.On the other hand the representation of the female in my magazine can be considered as a counter stereotype as the women is not objectified, however she is empowered by the facial expression and posture. This could be a very positive influence for my female audience as it could inspire them, show that it is alright for females to follow this genre and convey the point that Hip Hop is not dominated by men. Last of all, linking back to my questionnaire research I have found out that the audience of my magazine is to be mainly 16-19 year olds however people at the age of 20-23 would also suit the magazine. This point can be backed up by the price which I have set for the magazine (£3.50). Individuals over the age of 16 can earn money therefore the price of £3.50 is not relatively high in comparison to XXL magazine which costs around £3 ($3.95), so that the audience can afford to purchase the magazine and enjoy the content.

The above images represent both the male and the female audience which UrbanFlow can have. I have taken these images from a clothing brand website as I consider them being a really good representation of what my audience may look like.

Concluding, I believe that my audience analysis has been very effective and that I have mentioned points which are clearly backed up, however I believe that there is no right answer to the audience question as it depends on the individuals clothing style and lifestyle. The right audience for the UrbanFlow magazine would be the audience which will enjoy reading the magazine with a high interest for music.

Evaluation 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

         

Evaluation 3 from Dawid Tomczuk

Evaluation 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

               

Evaluation 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In this task I had to answer the above question about my media product using, developing or challenging the forms and conventions which I have found of real media products. I have effectively performed this task and mentioned the codes and conventions which I have found and then implemented into my product, stating the reason behind them. 

I have uploaded my answer to this question to Flickr which can be accessed by clicking on the link below:
-> Evaluation 1 <-

Double Page Spread - Final

Above I present the final version of my double page spread. Looking back at my DPS research I can say that I have met all of the codes and convention which I have specified, meaning that I am very satisfied with the final version. A feature which I would like to point out is the use of red in this DPS. As I have said in my research, I will use the colour red in order to emphasise a specific part of text. Above we can see that I have used red in order to show the quotes the articles subject had said which makes them easily visible on the page. Additionally on the bottom left corner I have mentioned a pull quote which is additionally in red. This grabs the readers attention as the red text is easily visible against the background as well as by the use of a drop shadow. Overall, I think that this is a very good example of a double page spread.

Comparing the text layout

From my DPS research I have found that most examples of the magazine have the article sorted into columns. At first I have agreed to follow the code and convention however I wanted to see for myself how the text looks in two forms; one being written in a big paragraph on the whole page and one sorted into the columns. Above we can see the two versions compared side by side. In both examples of text I have used a drop cap to start of the article which does follow the set codes and conventions for my making. The image on the left presents the text sorted as Justified, meaning that the text is equally spread out on the width of the page. Whereas the image on the left presents the text in Justified with left, meaning that the ending of the column will be aligned left. After a visual analysis and asking for 3rd party feedback from other people, I have concluded that the text sorted into columns looks much better. This means that I can successfully follow my chosen code and convention.

Creating the content for the double page spread

In this task, my job was to create sufficient content for my DPS in Photoshop which then would be implemented into InDesign in order to structure the double page spread correctly. Below I present the various techniques which I have used to create the needed content:

 First of all I have began with the background creation. I have come up with an idea to create a background which will match the image which will be placed on the left page of the DPS. Therefore to make sure the colours match I have used the 'Eyedropper tool' in order to pick the colours from the images background. As a result I have chosen two colours which differ in brighteness. I then have chosen the 'Gradient' tool and selected a 'radial gradient' as my gradients type. As we can see above I have come up with a very simple composition, yet very effective as it matches the colours of my images background.

 In my initial design for the DPS I have placed a pull quote on the page. This means that first of all I had to research the internet for a good music or rather hip hop related quote.When I have found one it was time for me to turn it into a suitable pull quote for my magazine. The first step for me was to use the 'Text' tool and insert the quote into the Photoshop file. Once this has been done I have selected a font which in this case is Bebas Neue which has been widely used in my magazine. I then have highlighted the text and turned it to red. I have used red as from my research on hip hop double page spreads I have found that red has been mainly used as a attention grabber against a background, meaning that using red as the colour of my pull quote would in fact cause the audiences attention to be drawn to the text.

Last of all it was time for me to create a heading for the page. In this case I have chosen to keep the title the same and use the same heading as I have used for my front cover, "IMMACULATE flow & style on the loose!". To begin the creation of this heading I have written it in Photoshop file and then seperated it into two seperate layers. By doing so I have provided myself with more area to work on and be more flexible with the design as I can move more objects around. I have chosen to keep the heading in a simple black colour as from my DPS research I have found that the magazines mainly use a black for their headings which in fact make them very clear to read and understand from a far distance. Adding onto that, it was time for me to structure the heading into a creative composition. On the right screenshot we can see that I have moved the "style on the loose!" part of the heading downwards below the "Immaculate flow &" part. I have alligned them together so that the letter "L" in both layers are right below each other which makes the heading very clean and organised.

The content created can be seen below:

Editing the image for DPS

Above I present the stages which I have taken in order to edit the image for my DPS. The target of this editing was to make the image brighter with stronger tones as by this the image would look clearer. Additionally by this the image would emphasise the model more meaning that she will be the focus of the page which follows the codes & conventions of my research.

Stage 1: Cutting out the model
- The first step of this editing for me was to cut out the model out of the image. By doing so I was allowed to paste the model onto another layer, allowing me to only work on her not the background. This prepared the image for later editing

Stage 2: Brightness/Contrasts manipulation

- In this stage I have increased the brightness of the image by just a small amount however increased the contrasts by a far bigger number. This correction of the image has made the face of the model brighter as well as causing the shadows and darker tones to be more exposed and saturated.

Stage 3: Curves manipulation

- The purpose of this curves manipulation was to emphasise the face of the model. By tweaking the 'curves' of the photograph I was allowed to gain a relatively smooth light on the models face which would emphasise the models eyes and facial lines. By doing so the model is more eye-catching. I believe that this stage has affected the image the most in terms of giving the photograph a 'hip hop' genre look as the shadows are quite strong which contradict with very bright areas, showing the strength of the image which is additionally supported by the pose the character has taken.

Stage 4: Clone stamp tool

- While cutting out the image I had to tweak the hair of the model meaning that when cutting the hair outside of the models silhouette it no longer matched with the hair which is visible on her jumper. To correct this imperfection I have used a clone stamp tool to paste the jumper texture over the hair.

Stage 5: Cutting the image

- This was the last stage of the image creation. After having the image complete I have set up a DPS size document in Photoshop and implemented my image into it. I then have checked the sizes and placement of the image in relation to my DPS. When confirmed that the positioning is correct I then have cut the excess of the image in order for the image to only take up one face of the DPS. I have found that the code & convention of having a image taking up a whole page is very common therefore I have used it in my own DPS making.

Article for the DPS

This is the DPS article which I have come up with. At first I have began with a relatively small article which then I have analysed and checked for improvements. After creating the improvements I have proof read the article twice in order to check for any grammar and spelling mistakes until I have come up with the final piece of text. This text would then be implemented into my DPS design when I have finished with all of the graphical content.

Double page spread research

In my prior research I was looking at rock and pop based magazines which in fact did not inform me much about the hip hop genre based magazines. In order to gain the needed knowledge I have decided to look at the current hip hop magazines and their double page spreads. As we can see above I have looked at the XXL Magazine DPS's and I have found some very useful codes and conventions which I will put forward into my double page spread. First of all while visually analysing the double page spreads I have found that all of them are structured into one page text-one page image structure. By this both the text and the image of the model are clearly visible and well spread out, making the article attractive at the same time. I fill follow this code and convention making the magazine follow the Hip Hop genre standards. Furthermore I have found that most of the DPS's that XXL has produced have come with a black heading which spreads across the width of one of the pages. This is a very useful code & convention as by this I clearly present to the audience what the article will be about as it is relatively large and can be clearly seen from a long distance. As of the heading colour, the headings are mainly black therefore I will follow this code and convention and choose my own heading to be black as well. Additionally while looking at the magazines I have found that many of them have used a contrasting colour such as red to play the role of an attention grabber. In some they are used in the heading, in some the text is red. I really feel that this would make my DPS suit the hip hop genre therefore I will use this technique. Looking at the image composition of the magazines, the images of the models have been mainly taken from waist upwards, meaning that they have been captured in a medium shot. This image composition shows a relatively large portion of the model and in most of the images the males are captured in very 'manly' positions, such as showing their muscles or showing hand gestures which are mainly associated with the Hip Hop genre. This has hinted me upon what image I should insert into the DPS from the images which I have already taken. To follow this code and convention I will choose to implement a image which shows some kind of Hip Hop related sign conveying the model in a very masculine view. A last key area which I have found of the magazines visible above is that in all of them the article is sorted into columns. By this the text is placed neatly on the page and gives the page a less crowded look. I will consider sorting my text into such columns, making my article more organised on the page. Additionally in some of the magazines the article is started with a drop cap. I believe that this is a technique which makes the article more eye catching and from looking at the magazines is used in Hip Hop magazines. This means that I will put this idea forward into making.

Final contents page & use of InDesign

Inspiration for contents page

From my research I have specifically picked upon this example of a contents page which comes from the XXL magazine. I have based this magazine as my inspiration for my own contents page creation. As we can see above the XXL magazine contents page has implemented a creative design of the "CONTENTS" text and also a 'stripy' design behind the model. I have taken inspiration from both of these designs and come up with a composition of my own. As we can see on the right image, the font which I have used for the title of the page has been widely used throughout my magazine therefore the use of this font makes the pages interlink with each other. The title has been positioned in a similar method as the XXL magazine has used therefore it resembles the inspiration. Additionally, on my own magazine we can see that I have implemented a similar 'stripy' design. In comparison to the XXL magazine I have made the stripes thinner and more spread out which this way work only as a accent on the page, not a area which we can focus on.

Editing the images for contents page

Same as in the creation process of my front cover I had to pick out and edit the needed pictures. In the post below I will show the manipulation steps which I completed on each of the images which I am to use on the contents page and state the reason for such editing. Manipulation of images allows me to correct the errors which show up in the images and additionally make the image suit the composition and the music genre. Below we can see the images which I have edited.

Above we can see the first image which I edited for the contents page. This is the main image of the page. As a manipulation I have chosen to increase both the images brightness and contrast. As a result of this correction the image has gained on more saturated tones and shadows. Secondly, I have chosen to experiment with the 'curves' tool which as a result allowed me to even out the tones on the models face, erasing the brighter spot which was created by the light. As a result of this the image is sharper in terms of colour making it more eye-catching. The image is in colour which follows the codes and conventions of hip hop magazine contents page. By the image having such strong colours it conveys the energy the artist and the music genre has.

This is the first picture boost out of the two which will appear on the contents page. To make the image clearer as originally it was very dark I have only performed one correction. This correction involved me tweaking the 'curves' of the image. As a result I have made the image look brighter which brought out the character in it and additionally improved the images colours. This improvement has radically affected the images attractiveness as by this the audience can clearly state what the image presents.

This is the last manipulation for the contents page of the second picture boost. As we can see above the editing process of this image consisted of two steps. One being the correction of brightness and contrast, whereas the second being the correction of smudges on the guitar. The first step consisted of a high increase in the images contrast which brought out the white and black parts of the guitar as well as the brighter shades of the metallic background. This has caused the image to look sharper and gain on tone. After completing this step I have noticed that on the black part of the guitar, fingerprints and smudges can be spotted. To correct this error I have chosen the paint brush tool, selected the correct colour and painted in the errors. The final effect is outstanding. Now the image looks very tidy and professional. 

Below I present the comparison between the original image and the image after manipulation:

Research for contents page

As we can see before in my front cover production I have completed an additional research in order to gain more knowledge about hip hop magazines as I have based my main research on pop/rock magazines. This means that now I have to look at the current hip hop music magazines in order to tailor my contents page to that specific genre and set a correct composition. After this I could then implement my own hip hop/pop music genre into the design. 

As we can see above the first code and convention which I have picked up is that the contents page consists mainly of one image either on right or left with the features written beside it. The shot of the model is mainly from knees or waist upwards which makes it a medium shot. This can be a code and convention which I can follow. Looking back at my contents page layout I have at first placed a big image with two picture boosts beneath it (top part of the page). Therefore I will choose to tweak my design and change the composition in order to have a large image of the person with the features next to it. 

Looking closer at two examples of contents page from the XXL magazine, we can see that they are very similar in composition. Both magazines contain a grey background with black text. This colour combination suits my colour scheme of the magazine therefore this will be an area which I will mainly focus on. By having a grey background I will be easily allowed to emphasise the artist (model) which the magazine is targeted at.On both examples of the contents page we can see that a creative use of text on the headline has been used. I really like the design on the left of the 'CONTENTS' heading. I have additionally seen a similar composition in magazines such as Rolling Stones therefore I will consider creating something similar. The last similarity which I have found between the two examples of magazines is that the features are written in two font styles. A bolder font style has been used for the 'FEATURES' heading and the cover lines which makes them easily visible against the background. Additionally a similar font has been used to write the cover line caption. This text is not so visible as it is more delicate. I will consider using a similar text composition. Moreover, many magazines including the one the right has used a pull quote on the contents page. I have already placed pull quotes in my contents page layout therefore seeing that it has been used in professional contents page shows me that it is a vital element of the composition.

Final front cover of UrbanFlow

Above I present the final outcome and the finished product of the UrbanFlow front cover. As we can see I have taken into account the specified improvements and transformed the front cover into such a composition which now suits the hip hop codes and conventions more than before. As an addition I have chosen to enlarge the "UrbanFlow" masthead which appears at the top of the page. As a result, the masthead is clearer to see, it neatly joins in with the picture boost frame making it continue onto the object. This allows the model to cover more of the masthead than before, because looking back at the covers of hip hop magazines I have seen that the artists covered most of the masthead. Furthermore, we can see that the cover does not particularly match my layout which I have specified beforehand. This is because while making the actual magazine I have found that the plans which I have created would of caused the magazine to look overfilled with content. However, by decreasing the amount of content, the front cover looks more aesthetically pleasing, it is easier to read and additionally follows the codes & convetions of hip hop music magazines as we can see from my earlier post, the front covers were not specifially busy with headlines. To produce the content for the magazine I have used Photoshop rather than InDesign. This is because I am more familiar with the software which allowed me to fully use the current skills which I have. Additionally, Photoshop has provided me with sufficient manipulation features which allowed me to create a effective and unique graphics. After a successful construction of both visual and text content I have used InDesign in order to make sure that I construct my magazine with the correct measurements and placements.

Using InDesign to construct my front cover

After manipulating my image, creating the main heading and the masthead I have moved onto InDesign to structure the front cover with all of the needed content. I have chosen to use InDesign because it easily allows me to move the content around the page, structure the page with guide lines and export the final front cover into the needed file format. The steps to successfully construct my front cover can be seen below:

In the first step I had to set the correct measurements for my canvas. I have chosen to use a A4 page size as this is the page size used throughout the industry. Looking back at my research I have noticed that the pages mainly consisted of a bleed design therefore I have used a small margin in order to guide me with the bleed design.After inserting the correct measurements I was then allowed to move on with the making of my front cover.

Above I have shown the way in which I have placed my guidelines for the magazine front cover. The use of such guidelines has allowed me to lay out the structure of my front cover and then insert the correct content into the right area. This has made the manufacture process more time efficient as I was clearly shown where the content is to be placed, additionally making my magazine up to a higher standard as the layout was accurate.

Here we can see the final front cover assembled in InDesign. As we can see the content which I have placed on the canvas, follows the guidelines. I consider this front cover up to a high standard as I have paid attention the layout which I have set meaning that everything is in the correct places. The next step is for me to export the file into a JPG format.

Improving my front cover

The aim of this task was for me to complete the outlined improvements in the earlier post which are:

• Edit the main image and reverse it into colour rather than black & white
• Insert the artists name on the front cover in order to give a meaning to the main image
• Use red either to underline the name of the artist or the headlines on the front cover

EDITING THE MAIN IMAGE

As we can see above I have taken into account that the image needs to be in colour and completed such improvements. For this editing I have used the same base image of the model with the necessary healing brushes already applied. In the screenshots we can see that to adjust this image I have only completed two steps. The first step includes me adjusting the images colour saturation to 13 and lightness to -5. By this the image has gained stronger colours, making the overall image more attractive. Whereas the second step includes me overlaying the image with a "Sanna" effect. This effect has increased the shadows and caused the colours to have a darker shade  with colours still easily visible. I believe that this version of the main image is much more effective than the previous black & white image.  By this the front cover will suit the image of 'hip hop' genre more, making my magazine more successful. 

CHANGING THE LOGO

I have not planned this manipulation, however during the process of completing the improvements I have found that the original logo does not suit the rest of the composition. At first the original logo was very attractive and represented the "Urban" idea very well by the various editing techniques which I have implemented, but on the other hand it was too complicated and too bulky. Therefore looking back at my hip hop research (looking at front covers) I have noticed that many magazines use very simple, bold font such as the "VIBE" magazine or some use more of a connected, more aesthetically pleasing font such as the "Rolling Stone" magazine. In this case I have chosen to implement both styles and come up with a unique image of the "UrbanFlow" logo. Adding onto that, I have noticed that a very large number of logos were either in white or red. To make sure that my logo meets the seen codes and convetions, I have chosen to apply both of the colours making my logo red and white. This way it really stands out against my main image. 

Above we can see the side-by-side comparison of the original and the new logo. Comparing them, we can see that by the right logo not having such black background it seems more spacious, and by the use of such red and white, but specifically red colour it matches the codes and conventions which I have found in the hip hop magazines. This logo will be more visible to the audience therefore I will be allowed to partially cover it with the main image which is another code and convention which I have found in both pop and hip hop music magazines. I have already implemented it in my first draft of the front cover where it worked really well, therefore I will consider keeping it in my final draft.

ARTIST NAME & IMPLEMENTING RED COLOUR

Beforehand I have stated that as an improvement I would consider implementing a name of a artist in order to give the main image a meaning. To do so I would have to come up with a hip hop related artist name. In this case I have chosen to base the artists name on the name of the model which is Magdalena. After spending some time thinking about the current names of artists I have come up with the name "Missy M". I find this name suit the image of hip hop as it presents the female character as well as the hip hop temper artists have. Additionally, this was a good area where I could implement the use of red colour. At first I chose all of the text in the headline to be red however I have found that it did not particularly work well with the background. To solve this problem I have chosen to implement white into the headline. Looking back at the hip hop covers which I looked at, I have seen that white fonts have been used in order to present the main headline therefore I find this colour combination appropriate. This way the red emphasises the name of the artist and the white allows the text to be easily read against the coloured background. Therefore now instead of having a large "IMMACULATE FLOW & STYLE ON THE LOOSE!" headline across the lower section of the page I have come up with such a headline.

As we can see above the full red version of the headline is hard to read on against the background whereas the red/white version is clearly visible from a distance. This composition of the headline additionally reflects the masthead of my magazine, creating a house style throughout my magazine. Now it is time to compose everything together and make up the final draft of my front cover of UrbanFlow.

Researching hip hop magazines

In the first research which I have performed I have mainly focused on pop and dance music magazines which in the first place did not provide me with enough information for me to create a successful magazine which focus is on hip hop music. Based on my survey research I have come up with the first draft of my magazine which can be seen below.

I have requested feedback from my class mates in order to see how well the front cover represented the hip hop genre, and the feedback which I have gained was rather negative. By this I have considered to look more into the codes and conventions of hip hop music magazines to make my cover more appealing to the genre.

As we can see above I have found a very good example of a hip hop magazine. The 'VIBE' magazine which I have chosen shows a very similar image which I have chosen. Both of the models wear a beanie hat, which to me shows that I have properly chose the needed props. As of this similarity between the magazines I have chosen this magazine as a guide for my own magazine creation. For me to additionally reassure with the codes and conventions of hip hop music magazines I have chosen to perform extra research which included me looking at various hip hop magazine front covers as we can see below.

In the magazines above we can see the typical hip hop magazine front covers. Looking at the wide range of magazines and images I have found very useful codes and conventions which I can apply into my own music magazine in order to tailor it better to the chosen genre. First of all I have noticed that on hip hop music magazines we can see that depending on the magazine brand, the masthead is either partially covered by the main image or placed over the main image. I have already found this code and convention in my pop music magazine research and implemented it into my first draft. I will keep the masthead covered by the main image same as the "VIBE" magazine has with Eminem on it. Looking further on, we can mainly see dark skinned individuals such as Jay-Z or Snoop Dogg appearing on hip hop music magazines. The dark skinned characters mainly wear a 'full cap' hat which can be considered as a phallic symbol. On the other hand, on some of the magazines we can see a lighter skinned character such as Eminem, however in this case he is wearing a beanie hat. This shows the difference between how the different ethnic cultures are shown. In my magazine I have included a female model of a lighter skin colour which is wearing a beanie hat therefore I would consider this a good feature as it makes my front cover match the codes and conventions in terms of the photograph. Furthermore, looking at the wide range of front covers I have noticed that they contain the front image in colour. This contradicts with my front cover as I have placed a image in black and white. The black & white effect has been used intentionally, however in order to make my magazine match the codes and conventions I will take this into account and amend this error. A factor which I have additionally picked up which really stands out in the front covers of the magazines is the use of red colour. Large number of magazines use red to either underline a headline or the name of the artist. In my magazine I have not used red at all therefore this can be a improvement which I can implement into my magazine. Last of all looking at my front cover and comparing it to what I can see from the above search, I noticed that I haven't mentioned the name of the artist which can be visible in the main image. This is a really big downside as by this I do not catch the audiences attention because they cannot see who the artist in the image is. Furthermore, in terms of the magazines containing the name of the artist I have found that the name is either placed towards the bottom left or bottom centre of the page. I could consider this a really stereotypical placement of the text as it is mainly seen in hip hop magazines. In order to prove this point I have looked at POP music magazines front cover (as we can see below). The placement of the artists name is placed either on top left or middle right which is very different than on hip hop magazines.

From this task I have came up with a conclusion that I need to complete these steps:

• Edit the main image and reverse it into colour rather than black & white
• Insert the artists name on the front cover in order to give a meaning to the main image
• Use red either to underline the name of the artist or the headlines on the front cover