Final EvaluationAyo Adetoye

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

For my media magazine I used the same form as another hip hop music magazine entitled ‘scratch’ for my masthead as shown below. As you can see they both use similar fonts, are around the same width and both use a stroke.

The reason I decided to copy the form of this masthead is that scratch magazine was a fairly successful magazine which is associated with XXL which is one of the biggest hip hop music magazines available for sale at the moment. This tells me that there designs must have been effective and attractive enough to get them to the stage they are at. The font used for my masthead was ‘Impact’, However I didn’t know the font used for scratch magazine’s masthead. The font I used however is similar as they are both sans serif type fonts. In the scratch magazine they had used a black stroke effect around the text; so in my magazine I used a white stroke effect. This makes the masthead stand out more as it’s a combination of colours without looking too busy. What I have changed and in some sense challenged conventions is by the ‘I’ in the masthead being white and still using a white stroke.

This makes it different from the ‘scratch’ magazine as they have used the same colour for all letters in the masthead. However this isn’t a major difference.

Another way I have copied forms of hip hop music magazines is using one main image that takes up most of the page. This makes the main attraction of the magazine clear, allowing it to immediately draw the audience in. The images also show representations of hip hop artists through wardrobe, accessories, facial expressions and props. Furthermore I have also copied forms and conventions of a hip hop music magazine by using cover-lines all in one column. However a way I have challenged this form is by putting all of the cover-lines on only one side off the magazine instead of both sides of the magazine.

The reason I challenged this form was simply because of organisation reasons. While creating my magazine I tested how it would look with cover-lines on both sides of the magazine but this forced colours to clash. Moreover I also challenged forms and conventions of a hip hop music magazine by using a sub-image. I also challenged the forms of the cover-lines by putting my sub-image in between two sets of cover-lines. The reason I did this is because the sub-image links to a cover-line in one set of the cover-lines. This creates relation from the cover-lines to the images. I also felt it was the best place to position the image without it looking out of place or as if it is floating on the page. Furthermore I used a sub-image not only to make the cover-lines clear to the audience, but also to show the audience from first glance what else the magazine has to offer. At first glance a reader will notice the images on the magazine followed by the information etc.; the sub-image makes sure the audience knows the magazine doesn’t only focus on the main article and offers a lot more, which is then enhanced by the information in the cover-lines.

Wardrobe and jewellery shows signs of wealth, such are also shown in my magazine on the right.

The main cover-line overlaps the main image such as shown in my magazine on the right. We also see the use of props however see the cover-lines on both sides of the magazine and no sub image.

Forms were also used by not only by having the main cover-line overlap the main image, but also with the size and effects used on the main cover-line. The magazine on the left made by XXL uses a stroke on the main cover-line as a way of making this stand out in comparison to the other cover-lines on the page. I have used a stroke also as way to get the same effect on my magazine.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents particular social groups in many ways, shapes and forms. The social group my magazine represents is the urban group of a majority of black people ranging between the ages of 13 and 28. This is shown through the uses of colours, representations, mode of address and effects used. They can be stereotyped with the use of large headphones and other props.

One way my media product represents the urban hip-hop social group is through the use of commonly associated colours. Hip hop fans are commonly seen wearing dark colours which are then contrasted with bright colours, for example a green t-shirt being worn with a black fitted cap. The colour black is also heavily associated with hip hop fans and urban people. Such examples can be seen in the image below of adult hip hop fans at a concert.

In my magazine on the front page, contents page and double page spread I used the colours black, white, red, yellow and green. Red is a colour commonly associated with hip hop also, which is the reason a majority of hip hop fans wear the colour. The urban society is heavily influenced by the images portrayed by hip-hop artists in music videos, adverts, concerts and more. As I have used the colours which are heavily associated with them I am representing there culture and way of living.

Another way I have represented social groups in my work is the mode of address. Hip-hop fans and the urban population are widely known for there use of slang instead of proper language. In my magazine I have used some of there slang as a way to represent there lifestyle. This is clear immediately from the abbreviation of the magazines name ‘ILL’ which is a slang term for ‘good’ in the social group. I had also used such sort of language in the double page spread when I used the term ’spit’ instead of ‘rap’ which is a slang term heavily used by people in the social group.

The colours red and yellow are shown here by largely known and idolised hip hop artists Drake, Birdman and DJ Khaled.

This is the article for my double page spread where the use of slang has been used instead of the use of proper language as a way to represent and relate to the target audience which is also an urban social group.

Another way I have represented the social group which is related to the hip-hop music genre is through representations. The social group is largely stereotyped for being either intimidating or arrogant although it is obviously true not every person that is part of the social group is like this. Intimidation is shown through there choice of wardrobe, facial expression and attitude. Arrogance can also be shown through clothing with the use of designer clothing and can also be shown through the pose of a character or the way they carry there selves. In my magazine I made sure the characters showed ideas of such an character by using the same stereotypes. Wealth is also a big factor that this social group likes to

show that I have shown in my magazine. Wealth can be shown through the clothing by wearing designer clothing such as ‘Gucci’ or ‘Ralph Lauren’ and it can also be shown by the artists having their own clothing line such as the image I used for my contents page shown on the left. Another thing that shows wealth is the jewellery a character may be wearing. Jewellery can also boast arrogance as it is a wardrobe accessory that can be very expensive. In many urban places it would be brave to wear flashy jewellery as you are at risk of having it stolen. By including such in my magazine I am representing the social group as I have played on the stereotypes commonly associated with them.