Monday 6 December 2010

Magazine Masthead

I need to think of a catchy masthead for my magazine. It needs to be something that is imaginative, easy to remember and makes a lasting impression. As a convention of a music magazine usually a short one or two syllable word is used so this is something i would like to use in the production of my magazine. Although i could do something similar to 'NME' and create a magazine with a long meaningful title but shorten it to abbreviated letters.
I need to take into consideration my target audience and the type of music magazine i am creating. Here are some ideas i have thought of:

BEAT- I like this idea for the title of my magazine as it is a connotation associated with music. Also a 'beat' is a big part of R&B/HipHop music, it is one of the major factors of this type of music that gets the isteners up on their feet dancing. This masthead can also connotate that this music magazine will 'beat' all of the others of its kind.

B-A-M-'Bust a Move'- This suggestion is using a similar outlook as 'NME' do by abbreviating a phrase to create an enticing, catchy masthead. Bust-a-move is very appropriate as it continues the theme of the catchiness and dancability to R&B music. It is also a well used phrase within my target audience when listening to this type of music. Also the abbreviation BAM, is appropriate as it can be used to describe the beat and rhythm of music In particular hip hop. I feel this could be a very iconic magazine title, as either way that it is labelled it still gives across the same message.

TUNE- Again this suggestion is very much linked to the music industry. Music would not exist without any tune. I like this idea although i feel it lacks a bit of creativity and think it is perceived to be a bit of an obvious choice for any type of music magazine.

WHIP- I feel this is quite an appropiate masthead for a R&B/HipHop magazine as it contains the word hip within the word incinuating the theme of HipHop into the magazine title, without making it obvious. It also connotates the sort of beat to the music as you hear it and colloquial language used wihtin the stereotype of listeners.

EBONY- I feel this is very appropiate to a R&B/HipHop music magazine as a stereotypical view of the makers and listeners of this type of music are Black people, which has similar denotations to the word ebony. Therefore i feel this masthead title could be quite appropiate although it could possibly come across as too narrowly stereotypical or could be seen as a race issue.

INFERNO- This seems to be a good idea for a music magazine as it connotates the burning need an individual has in order to pick up and read this magazine. Although it is not instantly linked to a music magazine genre. I think it is quite  acatchy mast head and would be a well remembered title, however i am not sure for its suitability.

PTTR-'paint the town red'- This has positive connotations in the sense of the phrase 'paint the town red' meaning 'to go and have a good time'. However i feel the abbreviations PTTR can be a bit of a mouthful to create a catchy masthead and in my opinion it is not the most appropriate idea i have thought of.

RATT-'run and tell that'- This is a stereotypical idea based on a common phrase used by the main stereotype of R&B/Hip Hop listeners. I feel it would be appropriate as the connotations of 'run and tell that' are those of go, and spread the word which in turn could entice more readers. However, the abbreviation does spell that of a vermin species, which does contain negative connotations. However i feel that if i was to have the abbreviations and the phrase within the masthead it may not feel so negative.

RUSH- I like this idea for a masthead as it connotates the feeling of an 'adrenaline rush' when good music from this particular R&B/Hiphop genre is heard. However this could connotate that the magazine has been rushed to be made or a 'rush' read through.

I shall be putting all these ideas forward in the form of a questionnaire which is hall present to my target audience and collect the feedback. From those results i shall decipher which masthead will be best for my Music magazine. Before conducting this questinonaire, based on my preference i feel that either, B-A-M, Beat, RATT or Rush would be the best mastheads for my magazine. I shall also ask the people i question for their thought and ideas for an R&B/Hip Hop magazine title.

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