Content to be included in my magazine

I will be deciding what will be included in my magazine for the front cover, contents page and the double page spread. I will also be making decisions on the different type of images I will be including in my magazine. I will start by thinking of ideas for my front cover which I can then use for my contents page and double page spread. The genre I will be talking about in my magazine is Hip-Hop as I will be Hip-Hop based magazine.  The content that I will be including in my magazine will be real Hip-Hop artist such as meek mill, young thug and the game. I have chosen to use these artist as it is a Hip-Hop magazine that I will be creating.

Front Cover
From the research that I conducted the most common feature that I found on the front cover of Hip-Hop magazines was interviews and articles about the artist. On the front cover of my magazine I will be exploiting some of the contents that will be included inside the magazine. The main headline that will be included on the front cover of the magazine will be focusing on my double page spread.
Another popular feature that I discovered from doing my research was album reviews. If I include album reviews it will be about Hip-Hop content such as mainstream rappers. I will also be including a promotion as it is becoming a common feature in other Hip-Hop magazines. From looking at other front cover mastheads I have concluded that the name of my front cover will be called The Switch. I have decided to call my magazine The Switch because it is an original name and it sounds quite modern. This name that I have chosen to use for my magazine will stand out compared to other Hip-Hop magazines because of the fact that it is a unique name. I have also noticed that most Hip-Hop based magazines has the word 'The' in it. I have used this feature when I was thinking of the name 'The Switch'. 
The next stage was too come up with main headlines and cover stories for my front cover. From doing my research I was able to see that most magazine front covers in this genre used only pull quotes and the artists name. From this I started to come up with main headlines that will fit the conventions of a Hip-Hop magazine.

Contents Page
When developing the contents page there will be some difference between it and the front cover as the headlines will not really be the same. From my research a contents page needs to include around 100 pages. I will need to consider this when looking at the contents and choosing my sub- headings for the contents page. Images that are going to be included will need need to be big, maybe taking up most of the page. I will be listing the different features that are going to be included in my magazine. All of the information that I will be including in my magazine will be made up. The contents page will have to fit the code and conventions of a Hip-hop based magazine.

Double Page Spread
For my double page spread I will be creating a fictitious story based on a rapper known as 'Big Ibz' I will also be including a main image of the rapper. This image will be taking up one page of my double page spread. The article of the rapper will be focusing on a tragic incident and the return of the rapper. The name 'Big Ibz' came from the lyrics of a song I was listening too. This name of the rapper fits the code and conventions of this genre. From the rappers name the audience can already have a image in there head developing of what the rapper looks and sounds like.

Logo And House Style

During this lesson I have been given a calender of what sections of the magazine needs to be completed by. I have decided to create three names for my magazine because it will give me a wider choice of names to choose from. The different names that I will be choosing has to relate to the genre of my music my magazine will be about. As I am creating a hip- hop magazine the name of the magazine I am creating will have to match the stereotypes that surround hip-hop.

The first name that I thought of for my music magazine is Reloaded.

This was the first name I thought of because of all the stereotypes that are normally associated with Hip Hop. These stereotypes are normally negative which included drugs, weapons and money.
The second name that I came up with is R.H.I.P.H.O.P which stands for Real Hip Hop
This is the first design that I created for my music magazine. As you can see the design that I have used is very basic as it has only used one font and two different colours.
R.H.I.P.H.O.P stands for real hip hop. This is the first design that I came up with. From feedback from other members of the class I was told it looked terrible so I decided to create a another logo attempting to make it much better than the first.

This is the second name and design that I created for my music magazine RELOADED. I decided to use this font style because it looks as if it is graffiti. Graffiti is normally associated with hip hop. The word reloaded can also be linked with weapons which hip-hop artist in this era rap a lot about. In my opinion I first thought that this masthead would suit the magazine that I was creating perfectly. But from feedback from feedback from other people I was told it was very plain. I was also told that this masthead was too simple which means that the target audience may not warm to this design compared to the first design that was created that has a mixture of too colours , red and black. This masthead may be used if I have any problems creating a better one. 

This is the third name that I thought of using for my music magazine, REAL HIP-HOP. This is the same name that was used form the design that I created but I changed the design that was used. The name immediately tells the reader what genre of music this magazine will be about, the name of the magazine is self explanatory. The design that I used was also quite simple and easy to make compared to the other mastheads that I created. When creating the design for this masthead I gain inspiration from the music magazine XXL, the designs are similar. The design that I created is simple but effective as it will stand out on the page making it easier for the target audience to identify what the name of the magazine is. The masthead also stands out because I have used bright colours compared to the other masthead that I created. The colours that I used were red and white, both colours compliment each other making it attractive.

As you can see I have created a a few designs that are similar to the third design however I have changed the font colour and the colour that has been used to highlighted. In my opinion the last design were the font is white and is highlighted white is the best out of all the designs that has been created. However I was given feedback from other students, most of the feedback that was given was mostly negative because the design is not appropriate for the genre of music my magazine is going to for. from the feedback that was given I continued to created different  designs to be used as my masthead.

This is the fourth name and design that I created for my music magazine, THE LYRIC. I have made the 'THE' much smaller then the word 'LYRIC' as it has a smaller meaning. I decided do this as it looks attractive compared to the first three designs that I made. This masthead is suitable for my music magazine as the word 'lyric' is associated with music. 

This is the final name and design that I have made. I thought of 'THE SWITCH' because it is kind of catchy which means it will be easy for the audience to remember the name of the magazine. It is very similar to the previous name that I thought of 'THE LYRIC. I will not be choosing the previous name for my magazine as it does not suit the genre I will be making my magazine for which is hip- hop. I will be choosing the switch because it is a name that is easy to remember and the colours that has been used fits the colour scheme that I will be using. I did not choose THE LYRIC because from the feedback that I have received it suits a pop magazine or a magazine that covers all genres of music. The design that I have chosen to use for my masthead is ' The Switch'.

 House style
The house style that I have chosen to use for the creation of my hip hop magazine is yellow, white and black. I decided to go with white and black because from the research that I conducted all most all of the hip-hop magazines that I looked at contained them two colours in the front cover. I also decided to use yellow because it will compliment white and black making the front cover look unique and attractive. I will be making the masthead yellow with a thick stroke on the outline of the masthead in black. It will be the same design as the one provided for 'the switch' above. The background colour that I will be using is black. By having a black background it will allows the lighter colours such as white and yellow to stand out more on the page, the target audience may find this appealing.
 My font colours will be yellow and white. For my double page spread I will be making the font colour black and the background white. I chose the text to be black as it was common in most of the magazines I done my research on and it is easy to read compared to the text being yellow which will make it harder to read as both colours that are used a light, bright colours. I did not choose yellow to my double page spreads background colour as it is not common to find double page spreads of a hip-hop magazine being yellow.
The font style that I will be using on the front cover of my music magazine is mainly 'Tw Cen MT Condensed' I have decided to use this font for my front cover because it will suit the colours that I will be using. This font style is also quite thick which will be eye catching with a outline. The font colour will be yellow and white . The stroke that will be used is going to be black.