Ben Field's Coursework Blog

How did you attract/address your audience? My target audience for my magazine is targeted at a male audience between the ages of 18 – 35, predominantly towards a male audience. I designed my magazine in a way that will attract a Hip –hop audience as well as a stylised/niche audience that will appreciate the styling of the artist on the cover. Having a male model on the cover would usually attract a more feminine audience but Hip – hop listeners are not usually looking for a female artist on the cover because it is a predominantly male industry. I used a colourful tone throughout my magazine as it is simplistic and minimalistic which attracts and engages an audience for Hip – hop. The first thing the audience will see of the magazine is the front cover. This is when I decided I need my front cover to look stylistic and attract the audience when on the shop shelf. I decided I needed my artist to look different from other Hip – hop artists which made my magazine stand out from th

Who would be the audience for your media product? The audience for my magazine will be targeted at a predominantly male audience between the ages of 18 – 35 who have a keen interest in the hip – hop genre and want to keep up to date with all the latest news and upcoming tour dates and events rappers around the world will be attending. Because my magazine is a monthly edition, I will be placing the price at the higher end of the scale at £6.99 because I feel that my target audience would feel happy paying that price for a Hip – hop magazine published monthly with a unique and original design. The reason I have not reached out towards a female audience is because there is a bigger male audience who listen to Hip – hop compared to female listeners. The readers will be interested in artists and groups who are new on the scene. Artists such as Eminem, 50 Cent, B.I.G would all be featured in my magazine, whether that would be on the contents page and on a double page spread or just on t

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? I believe the best media institution to distribute my magazine would be Townsquare Media. This is because they already distribute XXL Magazine which is heavily renowned. I think that my magazine would be perfect for Townsquare media because my magazine is stylistic and doesn’t look like anything on the market. XXL was like this when it was released in 1997 with the first issue featuring Jay-Z and Master P. XXL Magazine looked different from anything that was released at that time which made the magazine stand out to a new audience who were captivated by the magazine. I think it would be a good opportunity for Townsquare to distribute my magazine because they will be keeping the same genre of magazine which they already have, but my magazine will reach out to a more sophisticated audience for all genders. My magazine would be distributed the original way, eg, on magazine stands, in shops, newsagents or

How does your media product represent particular social groups? During the research and planning stage of my magazine, the audience research was a very vital process to make sure I represented a particular social group. This gave me a clear indication of the type of audience that would buy my magazine and have a huge impact on the type of genre my magazine would become, and the type of style my overall magazine would have. After I did research on Google Forms, I decided that my magazine genre should be hip- hop. I decided to include a male hip – hop artist on the front cover because there are not many female hip – hop artists because it is a predominantly male audience. Hip – hop is also a genre where female listeners would happily listen to a male hip – hop artist as much as a female artist. I was aiming at an audience between the ages of 18 – 35, even though my artist is 16 years old, I believe he will attract an older audience as much as a younger audience.  I also believe

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? During the research and planning stage I looked at various magazine models (Billboard, The Source and Vibe magazine) and looked at the graphology, the page layouts and the styling of the character. To achieve a similar product, I looked at a magazine that adopted specific properties which fit my idealised genre; for example, I used the magazine billboard to focus my attention on Eminem with his styling, positioning and clothing. Billboard was a huge influential magazine cover for me because   of their unique designs and their style they use on their front cover. I wanted to make my magazine name go down the left hand side of the page like the new issues of Billboard. This is because not many magazines have their title in a different position and makes my magazine stand out and look unique from others. I also experimented with text font for my title and wanted it to look like

Photo Compilation by Ben Field on Scribd

Throughout my coursework, I decided that my name was going to be The Heir. This is because my initial plan was to have my model sitting on a throne like chair with a crown on his head. This is because I looked at a lot of magazines that have these designs but none were the same as my vision. Whilst making my final cover, I realised that my name needed to change because my initial design changed and I wanted to change the conventions of a normal magazine cover and add something that hasn’t been added in before. This is why I chose to add a filter to my model in Photoshop and also position my model with a close up and only have his face and a bit of his body in frame to make my unconventional magazine. Alongside this, I tried to include my old title (The Heir) but it didn’t work with the font I was using. I was looking at Billboard magazine designs at this time and really like the title going down the side, ending with a tall letter with a flat surface. This is why I wanted to have a