My photoshoot

Magazine contents page #Finished

Contents page #in-progress

Magazine Written Planning

The idea of my magazine was created when i discovered there was quite an interest in the lives of hip-hop artists and people would actually like to read to find out more about them. I researched VIBE magazine as they are one of the biggest magazine company in regards to the Hip-Hop, R&B and Rap industry. They have a huge audience and their work is highly credited. Their magazine also has similar brand values as mine will have. I began thinking of a magazine name which I could use for my magazine; I came up with three options. The first one was 'Scope' Magazine, I had thought of this as my magazine aims to show readers the real lives of artist which might be behind all the glitz and the glamour showed in the press, so as if they were taking a scope into the artists lives. The Second one was "Lavish" magazine, I thought of this because although my magazine aims to show the real lives of artists, they are living a lavish lifestyle and people would also want to see that, it also makes my magazine seem classier. The third option was 'Clear' magazine, I had thought of this because that is one of the aims of my magazine, I wanted everything to be clear and easy to understand for the reader. I had ended up picking the name 'Lavish' because I feel as if this is the type of lifestyle readers would want to read about and it also adds class to my magazine which I intend my magazine to have. I didn't pick scope because we're trying to represent the lives of artists, and I feel as if that word could be broadly used so people won't instantly realise what they would be reading about by reading that. I didn’t pick 'Clear' because I don't think the word relates enough to the Hip-Hop industry and readers will be confused as they won't know why the magazine was named that.

I had planned my magazine with a text box plan on PowerPoint to make a generic front cover with conventional aspects that a magazine should have for example: title, straplines and images. I had also made a text box plan of my contents page and double page spread.

The brand values of my magazine is to keep the artists looking classy and to show the lives of the artist and to keep the magazine clear. These are the brand aims because I think they will attract more more readers. It is important that the magazine is priced correctly and reasonably because my magazine will have a wide audience, however, the main target aim will be teenagers/

adolescents, and as they will be likely to students, they can't spend a vast amount of money on the magazine, it will be essential for the pricing to be the right to attract them. I got this information by doing target audience surveys. The younger target audience, will in return help my magazine as they are dominantly using social network websites, so it'll be more likely that word of my magazine will spread through social networking sites and make it vastly popular.

My aim of the magazine is show the reality of these artists lives within the music industry, it will feature exclusive information from the artist themselves, in hope that'll attract more audiences.

My tagline of the magazine will be "Experience the rise of a celebrity". I chose this tagline because of several reasons. One reason would be because one of my brand values is for the reader to see the struggles the artist had to take to be where they are now, so it will be like they are experiencing the rise of a celebrity. Another reason is because once a audience will read that on the front cover, it will be as if the tagline is interacting with the audience, telling them if they read this they will be experience the rise of a celebrity. The last reason is because it'll also give them a sense of escapism, where they can be a celebrity, which everyone wants to be, so this will attract the audience. 

The colours I will be using is to keep the magazine looking simple and clear. This is so that the audience doesn't feel over-whelmed by my the magazine. Also because I would want the audience to focus on the story not just the colours. The colours I have want to use is mainly Red, White and Black. I want to use red, because firstly, any significant piece of text will be in red

I will be using formal language as the magazine aims to raise the standard of R&B/Hip-Hop culture, however there will be some sense of informality shown through the language as this will appeal to the younger generation too. Also, there will be artist names which can be seen as informal as stereotypical hip hop artist will use informal stage names.

My tagline for the magazine will be "The sophisticated side of urban music", I have chosen this for a couple of reasons. The first reason is because when people read this, they will instantly know that this magazine is based on urban music. The second reason is because it tells people the aim of the magazine, that it wants to make urban music seem more sophisticated.

My magazine cover will have key features displayed for example, a main image and strapline, secondary and third straplines. My cover will also display the barcode, website address and issue number. It will also have flash promotion and a banner and the most basic yet needed the title.

As the producer of the magazine, I may come across a few difficulties such as making sure my magazine cover page is clear and doesn't look too cramped. I also have to make sure that none of the content on my front cover gives too much away, so its not over informative either which would give away the content inside.