Jacqueline Kwofie

AS MEDIA EVALUATION

Music Magazine Evaluation

Urban Music magazine is an Alternative R&B (Alt R&B) magazine which focuses
on upcoming and familiar alternative R&B artists. After researching various R&B
magazines such as Clash, Vibe & Billboard, I decided to use and develop many of
these conventional forms and adapt it into my own work. Seeing as R&B music
seems to sport bold, confident and sometimes controversial artists, I noticed that
many of these magazines would have a striking front cover, so to adapt this into
my own work without working too much on the central image itself I decided to
have an eccentric, playful surreal background and theme for my front cover, the
surreal aspect of the magazine also fits in with my depiction of my artist as I
wanted her to appear as a novelty Alt R&B artist.
One of the familiar conventions that I noticed in R&B magazines was that the
artists were placed in the centre of the magazine usually in a close mid-shot,
mid-shot, or close up. I added this specific convention into my front cover and
placed my artist in the centre of the magazine in a mid-shot frame; the central
image being in a mid-shot frame, automatically draws attention to the artist, as it
is the biggest picture on the front cover as well as reflect the artists confident
demeanour. I placed my artist on top of the title block URBAN which I felt
reflected the post-modern, chic style of my artist as well as accentuates my
central image which is my artist. The other magazine conventions that I added
consisted of buzz words which attracts the audience such Free PND poster
inside, the anchorage text Mulan which gives recognition to the artist, sky
lines Jhene Aiko / Sza / Jahkoy & Childish Gambino which also features and
gives recognition to other artists who also fall in the same category of Alternative
R&B music, puffs such as Fka Twigs branches through which adds context into
the front cover and gives the reader an insight into what is to be expected in the
magazine and I also added a barcode and date line which is essential to a music
magazine as its able to highlight to the audience the latest magazines, and a
drop capital in my double page spread article which is a large capital letter at the
beginning of a section of text. I added these different conventions into my front
cover specifically, as it instinctively gives recognition to the audience by its
layout that my product is a music magazine.
Even though my artist is placed in front of my title block the title of my magazine
does not fail to stand out, from also looking into various R&B music magazines I
figured that it was possible to also have a bold striking image in front of a title
without throwing off the title, this is due to also having an eye-catching title
block. The capitalized outline of the word Urban is a font which is bold without
masses of colour, the choice of pink in the first letter and a light blue backdrop
adds a splash of character into the simplistic font as well as follows through with
the colour theme of my front cover. The use of MUSIC vertically being written in
the letter N ties the whole title block together and allows my target audience to
understand that my music magazine revolves specifically around the music
aspect.

Jacqueline Kwofie
AS MEDIA EVALUATION
My primary audience for my music magazine will be females ranging from the
ages of 16-23 and my secondary audience will be males also ranging from the
same age. The title Urban and the specific music genre of Alternative R&B
stereotypically is something which would appeal to a social group of lower to
middle class students in or coming out of education, whom are technology proactive, social media fanatics and into mainstream music which are normally
playing on TV channels such as MTV, Capital TV, and Viva as well as music being
played on Radio Channels such as Kiss, Capital Xtra and Kisstory. This specific
target audience may have a fairly good job which enables them to purchase
minor luxuries such as music magazines. My magazine represents this specific
social group from its eccentric front cover - as the different mix of colours
illustrates a different blend of characteristics and personalities of which all
teenagers seemingly have.
My contents page represents this specific type of audience by featuring artists
whom of which all represent the same genre of Alternative R&B music, this is
evident by the featured article artists named as well as images used. I shot
pictures of artists of different ethnicity backgrounds and ages. I also continued to
follow through the conventional themes of different R&B magazines and used the
specific camera angles of Mid-shot, close up and a long shot. The costumes
included in the images on my Contents page are also costumes that depict an
inner-city, retro chic kind of style ripped skinny jeans, crop top, 90s mom
jeans, leather jacket and a baseball jersey tied with a plaid checked shirt. In my
double page spread my featured artist is using a prop of a Boom box I felt that
this accentuated on the idea of being urban, and mainly music orientated. I also
edited these images on a website called Pixlr by adding a nice rose-washed tint
to my image which reflects the novelty style of my music magazine, and used
different tools on Photoshop on my image of my featured artist, to get a quirky
backdrop I placed my artist centre on a Pop-Art background which doubles up as
a border which does not only make my featured artist stand out on the Contents
page but also adds to the idiosyncratic, creative characteristic of my artist. The
four other images on my contents page have also been edited to an extent as of
one of the images are in a black and white, and the other in a light sepia colour
which also contrasts with the two other images on my contents page which are
in high-key vibrant light colour.
The puff Win tickets to iTunes Festival on my front cover also appeals to my
audience as local festivals and music concerts sporting a variety of mainstream,
upcoming artists are something in which teenagers seem to enjoy going to. The
colloquial language used in my double page spread article distinctively draws a
line between lower and middle class teenagers with upper-class teenagers
making it clear that lower and middle class teenagers are my social group target
audience. These different factors have re-enforced the conventions of my social
group as being loud, outgoing, and in the different creative stages of life where
they are open to explore almost everything and anything.
I aimed Urban Music to be of a mainstream music magazine but also wanted to
adapt a niche style into it, this being that it would stand out amongst usual R&B

Jacqueline Kwofie
AS MEDIA EVALUATION
magazines that normally feature the normative R&B artists such as Chris Brown,
Rihanna, and Beyonc. Urban Music specifically targets youngsters whom are
all about their music, they would fall into the UK tribe of Stylers & Trendies
meaning picking up the latest mixes online to flaunt on social media or on their
blog, enjoy finding new mixes and underrated artists as well as enjoy going to
Festivals, these youngsters would and are also presumably be excessive bloggers
on Tumblr and into other modern social networking sites such as Instagram and
Twitter.
To attract my audience I featured artists and interactive elements that would
appeal to them which would result in my audience being drawn towards the
magazine. On the front cover I added various Emojis, (emoticons used for
texting on smart-phones on iPhone) which my specific target audience and age
range are fond of, I felt that the use of playful characters would make my front
cover more interesting as well as easily make the magazine more relatable to the
audience.
On my contents page I have also added social interactive networks such as
Soundcloud, Facebook and Twitter and Instagram the use of adding these
networks makes it easy for my target audience to connect more with the
magazine and find out more latest news and music. I also included Available on
the App Store which would be a new feature for people to purchase some of the
issues of the magazine app on their smart phones, this again compliments the
whole concept of this magazine being something fresh, new and different as well
as allows my audience to be connected with the magazine which I felt is
essential as once a magazine is purchased its normally disregarded after a while
so to have a sustainable app which will not only keep my target audience
interested and on their toes for the next issue but also inform them about
different articles and allow them to have this app on the go.
My exclusive featured articles on my contents page are articles that my target
audience would have interest in as it revolves around Alternative R&B music and
popular R&B artists, my featured articles include the Making of Beyoncs 7/11
which debuted at number one for its upbeat trap tempo and eccentric playful
music video, this I felt was a nice add-on to my music magazine as its
incorporating a popular leading R&B artist and well known music video into my
magazine that explores different elements of creativity. I also included the
different sections of Fresh Sounds, and Reviews which would be included in
every issue allowing my audience to discover new artists and songs and also
read about the different reviews of well-known and underrated artist albums and
singles. I have also included an actual screenshot of an Instagram image of the
loved neo-soul artist Jhene Aiko which furthermore adds elements of social
networking and interactivity into my magazine works. On my double page spread
I have also added three more social network sites which include Twitter,
Instagram and YouTube. I have also followed the same theme of surreal vs
realistic and playful and eccentric scheme across my magazine which gives
recognition to the audience that these works are grouped together by the same
concept by not losing my target audience and age range as the whole idea is

Jacqueline Kwofie
AS MEDIA EVALUATION
carried out thoroughly. On my double page spread I have included colloquial
linguistic terminology which my target audience are fond of such as vibes after
vibes, my choice of lexis used is also very simple, I wanted to use different
language elements that could still apply to my target audience such as a few
slang words, however still wanted to have a more cool laid-back approach
opposed to predominantly using straight forward more vigorous East London
dialect, as I wanted my magazine to appeal to everywhere around London.
The institutional company that will distribute my magazine is Development Hell
which produces various types of magazine that are niche meaning appealing to
a specific audience. The magazine company focuses of Urban, Dance and Pop
music. The company features Mixmag and Dont Stay In. The target audience
for the institutional company is both genders aged around 16-26, and their brand
image is people who fall under the class of C1.
In terms of my Survey Monkey research results my target audience voted that
they would indeed like music magazines to be available on apps. My app Urban
Music App available on App Store would also be distributed by the same
company, and have the feature of an interactive magazine where you will be
able to digitally flick through articles in a magazine layout, and in addition
explore other various features on my contents page, look at the artists featured
throughout the magazine and also directly listen to fresh sounds from there. At
the back of my magazine (which is not shown) I would also have a barcode scan
which will enable my target audience to use their smartphones to scan and
purchase the magazine directly from their phone which will allow them to have a
log of their own personal account and cart so that the issues purchased can be
tracked and also accessible at any time of their disposal.
From constructing my music magazine I have used a wide variety of
technological softwares to construct my music magazine to look more
professional and more appealing to the audience such as Photoshop CS3, MSW
Snap Adobe Illustrator, elements of Pixlr a photo editing website and the
professional equipment of a Nikon Camera DLSR. Photoshop allowed me to really
explore and grasp the niche surreal illustration of my magazine that I wanted to
capture. I was able to gather images from the internet of artistic backgrounds
and import them into my magazine front cover as a backdrop by using the move
tool and the magic wand. The blending option tools on my title allowed me to use
different effects to my title by using a drop shadow of a light blue colour which is
a colour that followed through with my magazine. MSW Snap also allowed me to
get a more precise screenshot on the website iEmoji in comparison to the Print
Scr on my keyboard to capture various emojis that I imported into Photoshop to
delete the background to transfer onto my front cover. I also used the basic tools
such as shape and opacity to use different shapes of different colours and
transparency to include my puffs in; this is important as in terms of my colourful
background I had found that various text colours and texts clashed and merged
into my back ground making it difficult to the audience eye to read what was on
my magazine and the different puffs, the use of different shapes in addition with
different colours and transparency allowed my puffs to fit in nicely with my

Jacqueline Kwofie
AS MEDIA EVALUATION
background without clashing and making it more easier to read as well as more
appealing to the eye. I chose Adobe Illustrator to construct my magazine
contents page as the features specifically would enable me to layout my
contents page professionally.
In Adobe Illustrator I learnt about the type tool (T) which allowed me to type text
freely as well as in any desired fitted square shape that I used my cursor to draw
out. This means that my text doesnt splurge all over the page as research of
various music magazines depicted on the contents page that texts are all aligned
in a specific way. In Adobe Illustrator I was also able to use the eyedropper tool
which allowed me to get the exact same colour that I use for various texts and
objects. The ellipse tool along with the opacity tool allowed me to creatively use
this as a backdrop for my page numbers, as I didnt just want a normative page
number. By left-clicking my images shot on the Contents Page I was able to
arrange them by sending them back to use the text tool to add the page number
of the specific featured article on top and to make sure that the two (image and
page number) were together I was able to group the two meaning if I was to
move on of them items the other one would also move. On my double page
spread I was able to use Adobe illustrator to achieve an authentic layout of an
actual music magazine double page spread, one essential tool that helped me to
achieve this is the Area Type options which allowed me to fit my one thousand
word article onto my page in five columns without it overflowing and achieved
that magazine double page spread article layout. By creating outlines on Adobe
Illustrator and grouping it to my text I was able to create a drop capital (a large
capital letter at the beginning of a section of text, occupying more than the
depth of one line) which really gives recognition to the audience (with the central
image on the right hand side and small album picture at the bottom) that my
product is a music magazine.