How did you attract/address your audience?

I set out to design an eye catching front cover that would stand out from other magazines on the shelf. Having researched the Rap world through other magazines, videos of famous rappers and interviews with rappers I felt I gained an insight into the rap style which is linked with graffiti. I wanted to incorporate this into the magazine's style and use strong imagery of iconic rappers on the front page to catch the attention of my audience. I did not want to use an overcomplicated distracting style but stuck to a strong graphic style which would become synonymous with the magazine. I developed this brand style using minimal colour and an image that would be repeated every month, the large G, combined with a different star rapper. This would become easily identifiable to customers, yet still exciting. The large scale G that is the magazine logo would become a brand in itself, perhaps branching into clothing and a music label in time. The articles listed on the front cover are easy to identify at a glance and appeal my target audience.

I ran interesting and varied articles that addressed my audience as knowledgeable of the rap scene. I made sure there was a mix of accessible articles as well as introducing new ideas and concepts to my audience so that their appreciation of rap could grow without them feeling overwhelmed. I  featured prominent rapper stories as well as news of up and coming artists that the magazine was encouraging and launching, this way the readers could feel they have played a part in the artists career via the magazine.
 
Recognising my audiences increasing use of the Internet I  included  a code with the issue to use on the website. This could unlock things like podcasts of the interviews and maybe taster snippets of music as well as a digital version of the magazine, with an opportunity for readers to give online feedback and interact with other magazine readers about events reported in the magazine. This style of communication is second nature to my target audience and by incorporating it into the magazine I am protecting the magazine from being surpassed by other online publications aimed at my audience.