Category: Preliminary Print Tasks

My mood board reflection on the genre of Hip Hop:

To influence on my tour poster design, I created a mood board to portray the different types of tour posters associated with the genre of Hip Hop. By doing this, it enabled me to identify the different fonts used, where the main cover star is positioned, the types of colours used and the general layout of text.

I also took into consideration the acronym AIDA when analysing these tour posters, which stands for:

• Attract
• Interest
• Desire
• Action

These tour posters all have very similar features which makes the genre of Hip Hop recognisable when you view them.  Such as, the colour palettes, they used darker shades of colours like, red, black, dark blue, grey, orange etc. The typography of the fonts is sans serif, they are in a bigger size text and in bold which makes it stand out more and make the artist known and some have missing bits in the letters. The images/illustrations/graphics of these posters have some artists animated, only one image is commonly found (eg no insets) and the main cover star is usually positioned in the center of the poster.

All these features are vital when presenting the poster to the audience as you want to grab their attention and attract their eye so they read the poster. The genre of the poster (hip hop) would have to ensure it is portrayed in a certain way to make it make the audience have some interest in reading the poster and even the possibility of having them attending the concert. Media producers also have to put in to consideration they include having some sort of desire when creating their poster so it can reflect on their target audience so they have some sort of appeal towards it. The call to action is also important when putting together a tour poster because if the information isn’t on the poster or isn’t clear of when/where the concert is, it has the potential of audience numbers to decrease.

Here is my Tour Poster Self Assessment sheet:

 

 

 

 

 

Here is my magazine swede

Original Vs My Design

We used Adobe InDesign to attempt to recreate a famous magazine front cover. I chose to recreate billboard’s front cover with Cardi B as the main cover star. When doing this task we had to carefully consider the layout/positioning of text and any additional images, the colour palette and font types.

After completing this task, I have successfully learnt how to use InDesign. For example, when editing the positioning of text, placing an image within a frame, importing different fonts, samples of colours from the photo etc. I also understand how magazines have conventional features which make up their magazine. These can include:

• Masthead
• Cover lines
• Main cover star
• Issue/Date

Reflection

With regard to what I did well:

• I was able to find very similar fonts to the original (in particular, CARDI B text)
• I positioned the text quite similar to the text layout of the original (eg the masthead, billboard)
• I found my way around the software quite well in terms of finding key features such as the spacing between letters in a word

What I can improve on:

• The colour of the box around “2020” was off the exact colour from the original and the size of it is smaller, so that could be developed
• The lines between “Women In Music” could be more spaced out and not be close to touching the letters
• I could change the ‘Masthead’ to be slightly more bolder so it matches the original magazine more

Focus Forward

In the future, when I am creating my music magazine, this task will have helped to develop my knowledge on how to find my way around Adobe InDesign, and what type of features on the software we can use to ensure the conventional features of a magazine are portrayed to our audiences values and beliefs, and the general theme of the magazine. For instance, if I was designing a rock/gothic magazine, I most likely would be using colours more on the dull side, eg black/grey not colours like yellow/pink.

Youtube Tutorials I Can Use In The Future:

 

Mood board

In allocated groups we researched the genre of Hip Hop, and gathered this information by creating a mood board on Padlet with different images that are represented with the genre. We looked at how an artist from our genre could be presented by their:

• Hair
• Facial expression
• Make-up
• Costume
• Props
• Body language

From the research we found, I now have a greater understanding on the genre of Hip Hop and how each aspect of it is important for portraying the Hip Hop culture. Hip Hop can commonly be described as violent, rebellious, masculine, urban and edgy. By attempting to incorporate each feature of Mise-en-Scene in our images, I now have wider understanding of how to have more successful photoshoots in the future, eg for the music magazine, because I understand how each aspect of MES plays a very vital role in order to be succesful and relate to the audiences values and beliefs.

Post-it note task

In our allocated groups, we then put our information into action and dressed up one person based around the genre of Hip Hop. We included a range of props such as; chains, sunglasses, a backwards cap and a microphone. Our costume involved a white vest and a bright, baggy orange prison outfit tied at the waist. We made sure to include all the elements from our mood board to emphasise the genre and encode (Hall) the genre to the audience. One we were happy with how we dressed our model we wrote down some adjectives that best interpreted our star:

• Edgy
• Masculine
• Wealth
• Rebellious
• Violence

This was an adequate decoding (hall) of our artist and we were pleased with the outcome as we believe people were able to acknowledge our genre of music quite comfortably. This task will really help me when it comes to dressing up my own model individually when it comes to creating my music magazine because it conveyed to me the importance of each aspect of MES.

Photos

Here is our photos from our photoshoot of our star

We decided to dress up our star in a white vest and a bright, baggy prison outfit which was tied at the waist because we thought it signified our genre quite well. This is because it portrayed to the audience the type of clothing that is typically worn by most hip hop artists and why they might wear it. It signified (De Saussure) this because it gives a sense of rebellion as they don’t play by the rules to fit in with the trend. For our choice of props we chose a wide range as a signifier to help identify our genre of music. We chose, a microphone, multiple chains, sunglasses and a backwards cap. We thought it signified (De Saussure) Hip Hop in a high standard because it presented the adjectives very well which were used to portray Hip Hop. Especially the chains because it shows that our star seems quite edgy and not afraid to rebel, as well as it having a masculine nature as males seem to wear more chains then females do.

Body language is also a key component on portraying the Hip Hop culture. We decided to do some laid-back body language with the occasional pose, such as “gang signs”. The “gang signs” signified (De Saussure) the genre very well because you can identify the rebellious nature as well as a sense of violence too because they seem dangerous and possibly quite threatening.

My chosen photo

This is the photo I decided on which represented the genre of Hip Hop

The laid-back body language, direct eye contact and the microphone pointed at its side at the front of the camera. These elements of the chosen photo all represent Hip Hop in a positive way. The laid-back body language states they aren’t uptight/serious by the way they dance, sing, dress etc. The direct eye contact and lack of emotion presents that there isn’t much emotionally meanings within their songs. The microphone tilted at its side is different to how you would normally hold a microphone which could hint they like to do things their own way and fade away from normality.

Reflection

This task has positively impacted my understanding and importance of Mise-En-Scene to present meanings within media. I discovered that all aspects of MES are vital when it comes to presenting media because it helps create a meaning and allows the audience’s values and beliefs come into consideration.

By completing this task I know what to do when doing my own research for my music magazine because I have learnt the details you have to put into consideration to portray your star and the aspects of MES which can be used to display a narrative.

 

This is my annotated Google slide on a Tour Poster about the band The Cure.

Reflection

We annotated a Tour Poster based on “Mise-En-Scene” which we remember using the acronym CLAMPS:

• Costume
• Lighting
• Acting/Action
• Makeup & Hair
• Props
• Setting

We did this to get an idea of what to include when making our music magazine and what represents the artist in a way to also reflect on the target audiences values, attitudes and beliefs. I learnt that if you include all these visual elements they will bind together to create a narrative towards the target audience about the artist and their music whether that is a joyful impression or a gothic one. It will also allow the audience to deconstruct my media work so they can decode the messages behind it. Mise-En-Scene will impact my future designs as it will ensure that if I include each element, my piece of work will have more of a chance of becoming a success, the success being what best relates to my audience.