The Time I Analysed 6 Magazines

In order to mind map the different poses and content I could potentially post on my magazine about my Hip Hop artist, I decided to analyse 6 magazines altogether - 4 genres different to Hip Hop and the rest Hip Hop magazines. I used the artist Rihanna, and showcased how she was portrayed in different genres of music magazines. 

Rolling Stone is a hugely successful magazine that specifies in different genre's of music. The masthead itself uses a masculine "rock and roll" type font and the colour red makes it stand out. Due to the unique formatting of the masthead, this could potentially be the main reason as to why Rolling Stone is popular. Rihanna's pose is quite provocative and is essentially aimed towards a male audience. Her promiscuity entices the intended audience as she is a well known RnB artist. The background colour is white so this makes the masthead stand out even further. Her clothing is simple so overall, her pose is the most dominant aspect of this front cover, creating a huge impact towards the type of audience that Rolling Stone are aiming towards in this issue. 

NME stands for New Musical Express and is a widely recognized magazine. Their genre also caters to many genres but is generally known to showcase indie and alternate artists. In this case, however, they have used Rihanna with the intention of widening their audience to allow new readers to buy their magazine. The masthead's font is very basic, with all attention leading to the main image (usually for all NME magazine covers). Rihanna wears a completely different type of outfit from what her usual style is (borderline hip hop). Her eccentric makeup allows the 'indie' aspect of the magazine to come into play, however, Rihanna's dominance (as always) shines through. Although she appears to look more modest than usual, the attention goes directly towards the prop used on her shoulder, giving the magazine more edge. Overall, the simplicity of the magazine in terms of colours and font is something I would like to take on board whilst creating my magazine. 

Billboard magazine is arguably the most popular music magazine worldwide, as it showcases all different types of musical artists. Billboard is intended for music professionals, such as record label executives, artists, music retailers, and radio DJs. On this cover, Rihanna is dressed in a cropped top but her makeup and hair styling indicates a more feminine side to her style rather than her usual edgy-hip hop look. Her red hair matches with Billboard's masthead and compliments each other very well, whilst at the same time, the colour not becoming too overpowering. In addition, her pose is not as promiscuous as other front covers she has done previously. Overall, the most dominating aspect of this cover is her hair, as the cover line indicates a 'reinvention' of her look, style and development as an artist. 

'We <3 Pop' is arguably one of the most successful pop magazines today. The magazine tends to use the same colour scheme throughout all of their issues: pink, black, white and yellow. The colours connote femininity as the target audience is aimed towards young females aged 10 and above, possibly lower. In this photograph, Rihanna's facial expression shows happiness and a carefree attitude. Her red hair also displays a feminine side to her as well, highlighting that she is not always serious. The image of Rihanna takes up the space of the magazine which signifies her importance. Overall, this cover is the least serious that Rihanna has taken a part in and symbolizes femininity.   

I will now begin to analyse two Hip Hop magazines.

Vibe is a very popular Hip Hop magazine which showcases many different Hip Hop artists. In this issue, Eminem is the cover star. His simplistic attire is not washed out by the gradient background colour which is very positive as it contrasts well with his skin colour. The masthead is also of a gradient format but does not consist of many colours. The dominant colours on the front cover are black and red. The red cover lines highlight the importance of each article. The way Eminem is posing infers his high status and popularity. Overall, this magazine is the type of style that I am hoping my magazine would look like.

This Hip Hop Magazine is called XXL and is hugely recognized, which leads onto the point of the masthead being cut off behind 50 cent's head. This is a popular method which many magazines use. I personally think that magazines with huge recognition should use this method which is why this issue is very appealing. The fact that 50 cent's head is covering part of the masthead suggests his importance towards the Hip Hop world. I may potentially use this method for my magazine but not completely cut off a whole letter like this front cover. Overall, this front cover uses a similar colour scheme to the Vibe magazine which indicates that these colours are most effective.