CHAIN$ is the name of my underground hip hop magazine. When devising a name my thought process was; what would I associate  with rap, hip hop, music and singers- the almost comedically large and bedazzled chains they spend hundreds of thousands on. Below is some prices I found of those who possess these very expensive chains which have become a competition in the rap and hip hop industry; who has the biggest chain? whose is the most expensive?

• Jay-Z’s 11 Pound Cuban Chain – $200k.
• Kanye West’s Horus Chain – $300k.
• Megan Thee Stallion’s Hot Girl Necklace – $425k.
• Takeoff’s Solar System Chain – $500k.
• Lil Jon’s Crunk Chain – $500k.
• Gucci Mane’s Twin Panther Chain – $500k.
• Pharrell’s N.E.R.D Chain – $1 Million.

Mission statement – “CHAIN$  is sourcing the hottest and freshest sounds, the juiciest news and, the newest charts updates. As a collective, we live to produce a unique take on hip hop looks, concert culture and upcoming projects. Insider scoops and  one on one interviews with the current main stars of the industry. ” 

I made a word cloud on words that I would associate with the underground rap and hip hop genre.  And since creating a magazine is creating a brand, I need to make sure I use these key words when communicating a narrative in my media creating.  Simultaneously, I want my work to be conventional to the underground rap hip hop genre but I also want my magazine to have a unique selling point. Its stand out features that separate CHAIN$ from all other hip hop and rap magazines and media.  After all, my magazine is a source of entertainment. I want to relate to the rap and hip hop audiences as well as use the magazine as use the magazine as an outlet for social interaction, I want CHAIN$ to be the main talking point of all rap/hip hop conversations. Did you see that CHAIN$ article on Kanye’s new haircut? what an interesting read!

I feel if a magazine isn’t informative it has no appeal whatsoever. Making a word cloud helped me to distinguish between what people want to read about and see what people don’t because I ran each idea through my mind as I added them onto the cloud. For example, I love fashion and I like keeping up with it, so having CHAIN$ include fashion articles, who wore what to what to recent events or galas like the met gala for instance would add a sense of magnetism to my magazine media.

Progressing forward and taking the final steps toward making my own magazine, I will withhold that to add appeal to a magazine it needs the features; unique selling point, mission statement all in order to achieve the majestic grandeur I desire for all future media producing.

What audience do you want?

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When dissecting this mixmag cover of Michael Bibi, I learnt that every media text has a target audience. This media text was specified to appeal to a younger generation because of it’s minimal captions and ‘moody’ colour pallete for example.

Every feature of a front cover, the masthead, plug line, colour palette fonts, language, headlines etc, all collectively convey a message, theme or idea to a demographic.

Focusing forward, knowing that different features can add different appeal is a key part of the code in attracting an audience. Tailoring a magazine for a demographic can be quite difficult. This task I feel eased that process because I have some ideas of what styles attract what demographic in the magazine buisness.

What would you expect to see on a front cover?

Labelling a front cover of a conventional magazine has helped me grasp what an appealing and conventional magazine will look like. The following features of a front cover:

• Masthead
• Plug line
• Cover lines
• Main cover line
• Main cover star
• Captions

all help convey a narrative and prepare a reader for what kind of magazine they are about to read.

This cover is missing the features, pugs, plug line and insets which are all key features of a title but weren’t used in this issue. This shows that you can tailor a magazine to fit the kind of effects you want for your media, in this case in magazine form to make the reader want to read about Dua Lipa.

Looking ahead with my new knowledge of magazine design conventions I know that an aspect like the masthead for example, is endlessly paramount when designing a magazine. I can now differentiate between a poorly assembled front cover, and a highly innovative and informative one and I will use this going forward to make sure the media I produce is to my best ability.