Day 24 part 3 : Extension Task

The images relates to the audience of my magazine, reinforcing the idea of what my targeted reader

likes to buy, where they work and what their hobbies are ext.

Day 24 part 2 : Interview Questions with YEZZI

1. What was the first song you felt really touched by?

I can't exactly remember what it was, but it was most probably a Phill Collins song called "Another day in paradise". I deep and truly love that song, even up until today.

 2. What are your favorite genres of music? And why?

Hip Hop.  It just shows so much creativity in its style and passion for making music that no other genre does, I also feel that Hip Hop is the best genre for me.

3. In terms of music, what songs are your guilty pleasures?

Any songs from a soundtrack from the Disney movies either "The Lion King" or "The Jungle Book", I know my fans wouldn't expect me to listen to music like this because I’m a Rap artist but that is why it truly is a GUILTY pleasure.

4. Who has inspired you to write some of your songs?

My ex's and my crushes have inspired me in the past, but also members of my family

5. When you write lyrics, is there any special time or place you write?

I write them whenever a bar or song hook pops up in my head. That can be anywhere from the shower, to when I'm even at work, when it does I just type it on my phone or save it as a voice note so I know exactly how I want my song to be.

6. What do you have going in the near future?

I have my competition "Yezzir Freestyles" coming out where people pick their favourite song clip, and then the song with the most votes I'll release as a full song and make it an E.P. "Who.What.Where" will be coming out soon.

7. If you could steal any artist’s clothes, whose wardrobe would it be?

Probably Teyana Taylor or Rhianna. Rihanna has some awesome style,  she’s la true fashionista.

 8. What is your favorite album of all time?

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - By Lauryn Hill.

I just feel like every song on the album is a masterpiece, and it isn't easy for me to be impressed to this level. I love Lauryn Hill.

9. Which do you prefer meaningful lyrics or  fun lyrics ?

I prefer meaningful lyrics because I feel it’s easy to connect to, especially on a deep and emotional level. But I do like fun lyrics also.

10. What do you think of the British Rap scene?

I think there was time when their wasn't one because people were too caught up trying to copy the U.S rap scene, but now people are embracing being British more, its in a very good position right now and even the U.S rap scene are recognizing the talent we have over here.

11. How do you produce your music? Do you do it all yourself?

No I don't do it all myself. I normally pick the beats that someone has previously made, then start writing my songs with a rap verse and a singing chorus then I would record it.

12. How would it feel for you, to get signed to a major record label in the future?

That would be nice as long as I'm put in a position where I still have control over my creativity, I would dislike if anyone tried to make me something I'm not.

13. If you could pick one word to describe yourself, what would it be and why?

"Growing" I know that sounds weird but I believe I'm not the same person I was yesterday, everyday I believe I'm growing and my music is improving  and changing for the better.

14. How do you feel about the representation of female rap artists, in today’s industry?

I feel that female artist's should only portray themselves how they really are and not just for the sake of attention seeking,  because doing that only devalues other female rap artists music.

15. Who inspired you as an artist?

I'm inspired by Lauryn Hill, Snoop Dog, Biggies Smalls, 2pac,Kanye West, Drake, India Arie, Musiq Soul Child and Beyonce. I could go on forever if I wanted to, but with these artists in particular there’s a special element that each of these artists have that one day I hope I will achieve.

Day 24 : Best contents page photos

These are some of the photos I plan to use on my contents page, in terms of mise on scene Bethany is wearing blue and black which relates to my colour scheme, also it relates back to my readers profile where I stated that my ideal reader loves fashion brands like adidas. I plan to use my friend as a fake rapper, however this idea may change in the future.

Here's my shotlist for this photoshoot.

Day 23 : Playing with effects on photos

These are a couple of photos I have edited, I used various different effects using photoshop to portray different ideas I have regarding how I want my magazine to look like.

I cropped this photo to focus on the main image, which I plan to use on my double page spread

as the wall leaves room for my text aswell as the image of my artist. I used a brightening effect to make it more eye catching, as I took the photo outside and the original photo was too dark.

With this photo I used a darkening tool to add more effect, this results in the hoodie blending in with the background and it gives a urban, street feel which relates to my chosen genre of Rap.

I got the background for this edit, from Deviantart.com by a user called titusboy25.deviantart.com.The background is eyecatching, however it appears too dark so if I use this kind of background in my final magazine, I plan to make it much brighter.

http://ingeniousdexterity.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/graffiti-vs-hiphop.html

The grafitti on this background works well, however you can't see her face so it doesn't work

that well.

I used a solar system background form Tumblr.com, to add this effect to this photo. I honestly think this effect worked really well and I might use this in my final magazine.

Day 22 part 2 : Who will distribute my magazine

I think I should distribute to retailers like Tesco and Sainburys, since my audience would shop at these places because it's genrally affordable relating to inexpensive appeal to my magazine. Students don't have alot of money, which is why I would distrubute my magazine online since these days they prefer to order online, instead of going in to stores. This also relates to the idea that music stores are in decline e.g. HMV, and that people aren't willing to pay alot because of the lack of money to spend, so I want to make sure these people are in mind when distrubting my magazine.

Day 22 : How I'll layout the interview

Alot of the British Rap magazines set their artist interview out as question and answer, e.g like the magazines below. So to follow the conventions of a British Rap magazine, I decided to do a question and answer layout aswell to stay true to the norms of Britisah Rap magazines since profesional designers also think about the conventions when creating a magazine.

Day 21 part 2 : My First Photoshoot

This is a shotlist of what I aimed to complete, on Thursday the 24th of January. 

I explain what I found easy and what I found difficult during the photoshoot, e.g the different shot 

types and that the lighting of a photo can truly effect the image you take.

Here's a vlog I done on how my photoshoot went :

Throughout next week I plan to take more photos, meaning creating more shot lists and 

more specifically focusing on the contents page photos, e.g landscape ext.

Here are a few of the photos I took today, merged into one photo.

Day 21 : On the day of my photoshoot

My artist was late so I decided to tweet her to find out where she’s. Here is the print screen of my twitter conversation of me and my artist. Tweeting her through twitter made it easier to contact her as I had no credit, this proves in the process of communicating is made easier and quicker through contemporary technology.

Day 20 : What I learnt in todays lesson

Today a teacher from ST.Joesphs Secondary school came in to teach us, the basics we should know when taking a photo.Lighting and framing is very important, especially in terms of the surroundings and where you take your photos. Tomorrow the 24th of January I will be taking my photos for my magazines, as my artist will be coming in I will apply what I learnt into my photoshoot.

Day 19 part 2 : New flatplans

Re-doing my flatplan:

In terms of my previous flatplan the use of pink didn't work well, this was highlighted in the peer assesment we done today in class. In terms of my genre the colours clashe with the strong and independent vibe I was going for in my female Rap magazine, so I decided to change several aspects to my magazine e.g a bit of the layout and the colour scheme.

My front cover:

My contents page:

My Double Page spread:

To conclude I believe overall my magazine looks better, the colours and layout are much stronger and harmonize well. Peer assessments and opinions in general will help me with the development of my magazine, as when it comes to the conclusion I will be able to explain what I changed parts and why.

 

Day 19 : Peer Assesment of flatplan

From my peer assesment a student from my class wrote what I could do to improve.

Overall , how do you think they should improve their flatplan to ensure their final magazine is sucuessful as possible ?

• When putting a persons name try not to use the same font/colour
•  Try using a different colour other than pink, because it looks more Pop than Rap

From this feedback I realize their are alot of things I need to change in my magazine, you will see the development with the changes in my new flatplans.

Day 18 : Flat plans

Before we start the creation process of our magazines, we have to create a flat plan  this results in us having a clear idea of how the colour,layout and text will be in the magazine.

Front Cover

 For my front cover I stated the colours and text sizes I plan to use. For the front cover I used this magazine's layout as inspiration.

Contents Page

Just like the front cover my annotations show what colours I will use and various text sizes.

For the square boxes I plan to add images which relate to the chosen features of the magazine, e.g

the competition I could have a picture of a recording studio.

Double Page Spread

With my double page spread I plan to set my article out as an interview, meaning a question and response layout as I feel it would be more appealing to my audience.

I used this double page spread as inspiration, in terms of the text layout.

 

Orignally I was going to do a purple,blue,white and black colour scheme, but from teacher feedback I was told pink would be better. However I don't feel that pink will work which is why I will be ready to change my colour scheme in the future.

 

 

Day 17 : Extra Research

From my first set of research I realized that I lacked evidence for double page spreads, so I decided to do more research to find out what layout people preferred on a double page spread.

This is Spread 1 and spread 2 is below

Here's the response :

From doing another survey I realized that people preferred a more colourful, well edited and structured double page spread. As you can see Spread 2 is more simple and refined, which is why most people I asked stated it was "boring" and "too plain".In my magazine I've decided that I'll have a double page spread like Spread 1 as my audience finds it more attractive. However I may change it to layout 2 as the layout is more conservative and profesional and YEZZI's image is very different to Nicki Minaj's.

Day 16 part 2 : British female rapper, I'm featuring in my magazine

I contacted several British female rappers, through my media studies twitter page and YEZZI replied. This is another example of me using technology to make my learning process easier, as it's much quicker and simpler to contact people through the internet these days.

YEZZI enjoys rapping,singing and writing her own songs. Which links to the idea of my reader profile, and the target audience being someone who could possibly relate to an upcoming artist, who I plan to be YEZZI.

Here our examples of some of her works :

Day 16 : What I learnt from todays lesson

In todays lesson I realized researching and planning, is really important for the build up for the production of your magazine. We went through the mark scheme and analyzed a primitive magazine, which was good however some of the choice of colour was to striking, and we analyzed a minimal magazine entered by a student who lacked variety of images, didn't think about structure enough and used limited language. For our homework we have to design a flatplan, from their mistakes I realize what parts of my magazine I'll have to plan ahead, and think through.

Day 15 part 4 : Old school rap

Old school female rappers are represented in a different way, compared to the female rappers you see in the contempary world. In my interview of my rapper/model I plan to ask her who her favoruite artists is and why, especially if they try to imitate their ways and style. Here are a few examples of old school female rappers who posessed a more strong and independent women image.

Queen Latifah

Lauryn Hill



Day 15 part 3 : Reader Profile

In the target audience of my magazine, this is the ideal person I want to buy 

my magazine.

CL is an aspiring singer/songwriter/rapper, she was born in the UK but is of French ethnicity.
She spends most of her time listening to music, writing music and singing songs. Fashion is really important to her, she aspires to be a style icon just like Madonna and believes no matter where you go you must always look your best.She works at a fast food restaurant in Croydon to get by, since she's trying to help her parents out with money and be more independent.In terms of education CL is in her 1st year of college and hopes she can go to one of the top performing arts universitys once she graduates. She's a dedicated christian and goes church every Sunday, she also attends Hip Hop dance classes every Saturday to stay in shape and keep active. When in the studio writing her own songs, CL loves mixing music genres especially Hip Hop and Dubstep. CL really wants to be in the music industry, however she doesn't want to be the average female singer, she wants to make a name for herself using her talents and expressing herself through fashion.

Day 15 part 2 : Market Research - Focus Group

This video is of all the questions I asked my focus group, the questions below are the questions I view as the most important in the way it can help me with the creation of my magazine.

• In terms of the front cover and its image, do you think it meets the genre of music or another genre ? < This question is important because it made me realize that the image, should give off the genre of the magazine as soon as you look at it. As you can see in the video Catherine said "Rap definitely you got this hoodlum on the front" and Adoliena said "Hes got sunglasses on", which shows that their first impressions of Tynchy Stryder was what he looked and and what he was wearing. So with my magazine I understand that the model for my front cover has to give of strong Rap music vibe with what they wear and how they look, for my magazine to be successful.
• At first glance who do you think this magazine is aimed at in terms of sex and age ? < This question made me realize that Rap magazines don't necessarily have to be just for men, and that it can be aimed at women and men in todays male dominated industry. In my focus group they thought it could be aimed at everyone and that, "It depends if you like the rapper or not" because just like how I found out from my survey, some people buy magazines just because their favorite celebrity is on the front cover.
• How would you feel if a women on a magazine wore clothes like a male typical rapper, if so would you prefer it ? < Since I'm aiming my magazine towards women, I wanted to see what would be the response if a woman was dressed the same as a man. As you can see Catherine thought that "It wouldn't look appropriate because sex sells", however with my magazine I want to prove that in a Rap magazine women don't always have to be half naked to capture your attention.
• How does the use of colours on the front cover, relate to the genre of music ? < In magazines colour is really important, especially if you want to reinforce a genre of music. The focus group made me realize that I will have to use colours, that give off connotations of the Rap genre. Catherine said the colour scheme looked "Proper hardcore and bold" with the yellow, blue and black. The colours are very urban and relate to the genre, I will take this into consideration when deciding the colours of my magazine.

Day 15 : Language used in music magazines

The prezi presentation includes my analysis of language in my chosen Rap magazine, and
my conclusion of what I learnt from it and how it will impact my magazine choices when
I design it.

Day 14 : Double Page Spreads

In terms of the layout of double page spreads they are usually structured in a way, that the main image of the artist or celebrity "bleeds" to the end of one side and the writing on the other page like the magazine to the right, or the image and writing take up both sides like the magazine to the bottom left.

I'm planning to do a survey to decide what style of
layout would please my audience the most, this will
help me make my magazine more accurate and when
I start planning the style of my magazine it will make things easier.

Day 13 : Market Research - Online Survey

I used social media to my advantage, when getting people to complete my survey on Rap magazines. This process of market research, is helping me understand my target audience better while planning my magazine. I asked several questions varying from magazine price, to how women are represented in Rap magazines.In total I got 72 people who took part in my survey.

In terms of designing my magazine, doing market research helps me get a better understanding of how I'll plan to design and structure my magazine in the future, it gives you a backing for the choices you make regarding your magazine, e.g deciding on a target audience.

I used facebook and allkpop forum to promote my survey.

Here is the link to my survey

Out of the questions I used in my survey, I decided to pick out the most important questions
and explain what I learnt from them.

From this question I realized that less people focus of the name of the magazine than I thought. Some people focus on other aspects which contribute to the magazine, like someone said in the other section that "The cover also attracts attention" implying that the name isn't the most important aspect to them, when they see a magazine. This survey question proves that most people focus on the magazine name, which helps me conclude that when thinking about my magazine name, I will have to use more people to do a possible interview or a written survey to get a valid viewpoint from the audience my magazine will be aiming towards.

I was happy to see that 52 people believed that women should be represented as strong and independent.

In terms of my magazine it makes my idea of doing a female aimed rap magazine a success, since most of my audience agreed that women should be represented on magazines in the way I plan too do it. However some people believed that women should be able to do whatever they want, with freedom and not be subjected or stopped from doing so just because of the double standards women suffer in society. The music industry highlights many of its issues through media including magazines it's all about image but what's the right image is a question which is hard to answer. Throughout my interview with my Model/rapper I plan to ask them questions about the representation of women in the industry.

From this question I realized lots of people bought magazines just because it had their favorite idol or celebrity on the magazine. This relates to the visual aspect of magazines, and the fact that the first look at a magazine can determine whether someone would be interested or not, so when designing and creating my magazine I have to make sure every part of my magazine is attention grabbing and bold, so it gives off the right impression to the viewers of the magazine. Also in terms of the image on the magazine, it highlights the fact that my picture will need to be strong and eye catching so that the font,layout and colour scheme can be fitted to it.

Conclusion

Doing Market research is really helpful because it gives you a different perspective, that you may have never realized in regard to the ideas that you plan to mold your magazine with. It also widens your understanding with your audience and gives you a base reason. For example if you wanted to use pink in your magazine, your research would highlight that a number of yr 7's you interviewed believed pink would be the best colour you could use for a pop magazine.

Day 12 part 5 : A collage of Rap artists

As you can see rap artists vary in who they are marketed towards and the fashion they wear, however they all keep a consistent image in terms of mise on scene. You have the rappers who set trends and who fit the style of a fashion forward rapper, and you have the rappers who are more conserved with their style.

I used a site called Ribbet.com to make this collage.

I made this collage of rap artists, to see all the different styles conventionally and unconventionally rappers who are and have been in the industry have, so when I'm planning what my model is gonna wear I have a clear idea of what I want it to look like.

Day 12 part 4 : The change in Rap Music

These days Rap artists are harder to identify, this is because artists are now crossing over to different genres and mixing them all together so it can get rather confusing. In 2012 loads of rappers who were known for conventional Hip Hop beats, went down a more dance and dubstep genre this is a trend with rap artists right now.

Itunes store top 10 Hip-Hop/Rap songs
of 2013 (right now)

All of these artists have a certain formula to their songs, which makes them appealing to the current market.

Below I will state why I picked each artist.

Currently number 1 Flo rida

Flo rida is known for reinventing old songs and adding a new touch, however compared 

to other artists I personally think his songs lack creativity and depth. Hip Hop isn't following whats hip, but hoping on your own beat. Flo rida is using the commercial formula of appealing to a mainstream audience using rap, in my magazine I intend to talk about the difference of conscious rappers and commercial rappers, there has always been a debate among fans of who's a "sell out" or not.

Currently number 2 Wiley

Wiley is also using a similar Rap formula, rapping about women, partying and money is not new and gets rather repetitive. In the mainstream rap scene loads of rappers write lyrics about the same things over and over again.Making Rap songs about subjects that mean something will definitely be encouraged through my magazine.

I analyzed 2 mainstream rappers and their styles of music, to highlight the fact that some Rap music is loosing its quality. I will definitely ask my chosen artist/model of their opinion on the industry, and its constant changing ways.

Day 12 part 3 : British Rap Artist

British Rap star Dappy is all about style and image, his image could be reflected strongly in magazines especially one of the Rap genre.

The music and youth aimed magazine "Flavor" makes him appear street and stylish, which relates to the idea that most rappers in terms of consumerism represent themselves in a mainstream way to gain more interest from their target audience. The angle of gaze into the camera gives off a tough troublemaker feel, reinforcing his image even more. Also in terms of colour, blue and white is used which has connotation of cool and calm, so the colours in a way represent the stereotype of all rappers having a cool aura.

I researched a British artists, so I have a clear idea of how British rappers style themselves compared to American rappers, especially since my magazine is British Rap.Usually when people think of rappers they think American rappers, however some British rappers have a different unique style e.g Tinie Tempah with his chappy down to earth geek glasses look, however as you can see from Dappy he has the same hat and chain signature style like loads of rappers.

Day 12 part 2 : Analyzing a rap magazine

What I learnt from analyzing a rap magazine :

From analyzing a rap magazine, I realized that the genre truly does make a difference to the style and design of the magazine. For example previously when I was analyzing a K-Pop magazine it was more bright and colourful, however with Rap conventionally they use more dark colours and aggressive fonts Kpop almost juxtaposes to Rap.

Day 12 : Why I'm Changing Genre

I decided to change my genre for my magazine, because K-Pop could make more problems in the creating process, for example if a person reading the magazine didn't know about K-Pop they wouldn't know what the conventions of a typical K-Pop magazine would include, so I have decided with much thought and discussion with my teachers that doing a Rap magazine would be a better idea.

Day 11 part 3 : Still on the search

I have been sending so many emails, dms and tweets to who ever I can find, since the first plan didn't work out. Also I plan to put posters in the notices at school to find people to be in my magazine, this
will be easier as there will be a higher chance of finding people who could fit the kpop image, rather than asking actual celebrtitys who are most likely not going to do it.

Day 11 pt 2 : What I'm planning right now

Today in class everyone had to feedback what they had done over the holiday.
Ms Burne gave us feedback and I realized that maybe British K-Pop won't be a good genre
to do, because it could make putting together my magazine harder however she did say if I get everything together I should focus on these things.

• Brainstorming a name for my magazine
• Thinking of the audience I'll aim my magazine at
• Colour scheme
• What the model will wear
• The layout of the front cover, contents page and double page spread
• What type of images I plan to include, on each part of the magazine

Throughout the next couple of days, I will be updating my blog with 

this information and more.However I might be changing the genre of my magazine
so this could all change.

Day 10 : The colourfulness of K-Pop

K-Pop is not only about sound, but also fashion individuality and persona.Here are a few examples of the bright,bold and edgy side to K-Pop in my moodboard.

These images help me realize that my magazine will have to be unique and colourful, relating to the genre of music.

Day 9 : Considering artists for my magazine

I communicated through my media studies twitter account, and I got no responses however on Facebook I got a potential model I could use for my magazine.

Having an actual artist for my front cover would benefit the feel of the magazine, as it would come across more natural relating strongly to my chosen genre.However in terms of British K-pop artists, the artists I communicated with didn't get back to me or were busy with education, so I feel using a model who designs clothes and has the same passion for K-pop music as me, would be an easier and better choice for my magazine therefore I plan to pretend she's a British K-Pop artist.

Day 8 part 2 : UKP Entertainment

UKP Entertainment is a UK based project which acts as a record label. They provide a base for British artists who want to showcase their talents, and passion for K-Pop. They have teamed up with Universal Music UK to promote their artists.

Here is their youtube channel : http://www.youtube.com/UKPEntertainment

Day 8 : British Artists Venturing South Korea

Cherelle Thompson won YG Entertainment (A Korean Record Labels) singing competition which was held in the UK. The prize was a trip to South Korea, and a chance to meet K-pop girl group 2NE1. 

Here is her winning performance.

The competition opened up many opportunities for Cherelle Thompson, e.g performing at KBS's World Festival 2011 representing England.

British singer Tita Lau also won a competition, and got to perform at KBS's World Festival 2012 representing England.