Case studies on RAP- UP and SPIN

MAST HEAD/UNIVERSAL LOGO: A thick bold title – they only used one colour but it stands out because the word is in capitals. The master head is behind the artist as the artist is more dominant. The colour of the mast head goes with the colour scheme: pink, white, black and purple. The lettering used, are all in capital letters which adds emphasis on the word – when you say ‘Rap-up’ it’s as if you’re shouting it. The design is simple and looks as if the logo is hovering on the front cover.

MAIN IMAGE: A large image of the artist that is starring in the magazine. She’s looking towards the audience, despite the fact that she’s wearing glasses. The image is a long shot of the artist – from the legs upwards.

A LOWER LEFT THIRD: The lower left third advertises the top 5 artists of 2009. This can be appealing to the audience as some may disagree and want to know why they are the top of the year.

MAIN COVERLINE: relates to the artist. They used the colour pink as the image is of a female. The arrow going up on letter ‘U’ is an example of denotation, it relates to the word ‘UP’

ANCHORAGE:  There’s an anchorage to add meaning – the image relates to the text “My secret is…”

TEASERS:There are teasers on the right hand side; it gives a little insight on what will be inside the magazine. I like the way they have put the artists name in capitals, it shows consistency through out the cover. 

Extras:

- Rap up have used a colour scheme. ( purple, pink , black, and white)

      - Connotation has also been used; the theme colours match the artists outfit. This is effective as it portrays that the magazine is all about that particular artist.

-     I especially love the way they have used a pattern for the background instead of one colour, as many other magazine covers will do.

MAST HEAD/UNIVERSAL LOGO: Every other magazine company they would make their text bold to make it stand out, however I take an interest in this logo because they made the background of the logo look bold rather than the text. The use of the colour red for the logo background signifies energy in their perspective. Many of SPINS’ magazines have images of the artists enjoying themselves.

MAIN IMAGE: A large image of the artists for the font cover. The photo is a mid shot of Azealia Banks. The background of image is engaging as the photo wasn’t taken in a normal studio, but taken with professional camera equipment. Azealia banks’ body language gives a sense of excitement and joy to the front cover.  The audience may question ‘why is Azealia Banks jumping for joy in the photo? ’ – this will encourage readers to buy the magazine to know the reason behind her body language. Connation has been used with Banks opening in her mouth and the subheading ‘Azealia Banks’. While Azealia Banks is opening her mouth it’s as if she’s saying her name. 

ANCHORAGE& Denotation: The word related to he artists facial expression. The word ‘Wild’ is also an obvious meaning of the expression that the artist is showing. 

MAIN COVERLINE: The main cover line relates to the main image. It’s also in a larger font from ‘here comes’ as it wants to add emphasis to the starring artist.

rap-up contents page

- The font is readable and understandable. It’s easy for the audience to read.

- SUBTITLES – All the subtitles in bold and a larger font to the text at the bottom. The lettering of the subheading matches the title of the contents page. 

- They have given the audience a sneak peek of what artists have said and what the specific page will contain.

- They have used bullet points for each page noted. The subheadings of the first section of the magazine is in slang, which can relate to those who use colloquial language.

 *They made the contents page simple and only used one image to avoid a cramped up page. The image used is a mid shot of a hip hop artist. The colour of the artists’ shirt blends in with the background colour, which makes the artists head pop out of the picture and makes him seem as a ghost*

Spin Contents Page

- They keep the logo on the contents page.

- They note the month of the magazine was produced.

- The numbers for the pages and the subtitles are all in bold and are in a larger size.

- They give the audience a little bit of information of who did the photo of the artist on right hand side. They had sectioned the contents page so that the first few pages are involved around the topic with artists and the rest of the magazine with top gossip. They give a blurb for each feature of the magazine so that its easier for the audience to decide on what they want to read.

 - The image is a mid shot of the artist Duffy. Her eyes connect with the audience as she’s looking directly at the viewer. The brightness of her eye colour, feels as if the photo is dragging the audiences attention to her. Her shadow behind her seems as if Duffy came out of the wall and is reaching out towards the audience to enjoy her music (the guitar symbolizes her music).

Rap-Up DPS

- Pictures of her past performances – looking at the journey to fame.

- The artists name in bold, to show emphasis

- The question asked from the interview is in bold – this makes it easier for the audience to recognize who is who.

- A Caption about the image.

- A large and recent image of the artist in between the page. This separates from all the other pictures about it – this is a form of direct address to the readers of what she looks like now.

Spin DPS

- Heading: They put all the k’s in bold. When you say the whole word, its sounds as if you saying ‘kitty kat’. Alliteration has been used in heading which is a language feature.

- They made the quotation marks bigger, to highlight the key points of what the artist said – which are named as pull quotes

-  The left hand side of the text has been aligned, where as the right hand side isn't. This makes the text look untidy.

- The image depicts of the artist telling the audience a secret about her success. The image is a mid shot of the artist taken from the waist upwards.

 

PUBLISHER

Before Spin became a Hip-Hop Genre magazine, it was associated with college rock music. When it was orientated around college rock, they would put rock artists for the front cover – now since it’s a hip-hop magazine the front cover is of music artists within that genre. They also have to give latest news about hip-hop too. Bob Guccoine Jr, who has been doing is since 1985 till now. In July 2012 the company was under new management and was sold to BUZZ MEDIA which is a blog network.

Rap up was first discovered by Devin lazerine at the age of 15 years old. The magazine gives you the latest hip-hop news, gossip and top ten music lists. As Rap Up is devoted to the genre hip-hop, their starring artists on the front cover are of Hip hop/Rap artists. The front cover image doesn't have to always be the latest artists in Hip-hop; it can be of old artists who used to make music. The publisher of rap-up magazine is Devin Lazerine who is also the writer and chief editor. The magazine was an online compendium of hip hop news, gossip and top-ten music lists. Her later started working with his brother, which now still work to together to produce the latest hip-hop music. They became bankrupt with their first issue, which sold 20,000 copies.