1. Codes and conventions of R&B

2. Men’s Fashion Topless – for example Trey Songz is usually pictured in his videos with very minimal clothes on; this is because a lot of male RnB singers target market is young teenage girls. Jeans – if the artist is pictured topless they are usually wearing jeans, slightly hanging low so you can see their boxers. They will also have a designer belt on which a few close up shots will be done on as a form of advertising for that particular item. Tattoos – a lot of R&B male artists have tattoos a majority of the time they are on their chest if not it will be on their arms. They also have multiple tattoos, it will not just be one. Jewellery – unlike males in hip-hop, R&B stars wear subtle jewellery like and watch, chain and earring – where as in hip- hop they would wear bundles of jewellery.

3. How I will change this… In my magazine I will not make my male models/artists topless because I believe that they don’t need to be recognized for this. Instead I will cover them up, stylishly, because I believe they will be more of an inspiration to both male and female audiences. Also a male audience may be put off by the fact that there is a half naked man on the front cover, however having said this it may encourage a female audience which is a positive because the main target audience for R&B is male. I will stick with the convention of the males wearing jeans because this is an urban look and this is currently in style. This will persuade the audience to buy the magazine because they want to keep up with the fashion of their role models. However, the jeans will not hang down low because it could be suggested that this looks cheap as it connotes they cant afford a belt to keep them up or they couldn’t find the right size. On the other hand pother audiences see it as good fashion. My models will not have tattoos, because I want to break the stereotype of all R&B male artists having them. Although not all R&B artists have them, the media suggests that they do. It somewhat connotes wealth and gangster. Relating to the wealth, my artists will not wear lots of jewellery because my target audience is aged between 16 and 25 and therefore if the artists are role models they'd want to look like them and they may not be able to afford this. All of this inclusive, my artists will be discrete and mature with a stylish edge. This will be inspirational because they’ll look respectable. As well as this the audience can ‘get the look’ at an affordable price as they’d want to be like their role model.

4. Women’s Fashion Minimal clothing – women in R&B usually have very little clothing on and their stomachs are on show a majority of the time; this is because to male fans they are meant to be seen as objects of desire. Hair & Make-up – their hair is always styled in a very dramatic and eye catching way. Their makeup is also very bold and defined, especially their eyes they always have dark coloured eye shadows with gold's which makes their eyes very alluring. To show power some females wear red lipstick in their videos. Heels – R&B females wear very high heels to elongate their legs because if they are wearing hardly any clothes the higher the shoes the longer their legs will look. However some R&B females wear trainers in their videos for choreographed scenes. Jewellery – big earrings, necklaces but usually when they wear a lot of necklaces they are breaking gender stereotypes because it is usually R&B males that wear that much jewellery.

5. How will I change this… The main convention with R&B women is the fact that they wear minimal clothing. However in my magazine my female model will be dressed appropriately with her private parts covered as I believe this shouldn’t be publically exposed. Exposing a woman's body shouldn’t be the reason behind sales of magazines. Although both genders would be appealed to it, males due to sex appeal and females due to inspiration, I will not do it because I want to change the conventions and stereotypes of women. Goffman’s theory explains that men are superior to women and that women’s bodies are shown off like meat to objectify them. Although my model will be in shorts, she’ll still look discrete and respectable. Her make-up will be subtle because I want my magazine to showcase natural beauty rather than fake Barbie doll beauty. My inspiration for this is the Vibe front cover of Ciara. This will be an inspiration to the female target audience as it'll connote they don’t have to wear lots of make-up to be beautiful and that natural beauty is in everyone. It could help them to gain confidence and inspire them to pursue their goals and not let the stereotypical image of women stand in their way. My magazine will follow the convention on women wearing heels. This is because I want my model to look tall so that she doesn’t look inferior to the men in the magazine. It will also follow the convention of wearing jewellery because I want my model to look wealthy and beautiful to go against Goffman's theory of men being more superior.

6. Iconography Men: R&B videos are usually very sexual and the topless men in the male R&B videos connotes that sense of sexuality. A majority of R&B videos these days are filmed in grey scale/ sepia tone which adds a sensual tone to the imagery in the video. R&B male stars wear jewellery however not as much as Hip-Hop stars do because although they are trying to depict their wealth, a majority of the video will have close ups on their bodies and abs. Women: similar to males in the R&B genre, females in R&B also convey their sexuality through their clothing which is very minimal; they also place emphasis on their sexuality through their make-up. R&B females are usually portrayed as soft goddess type people in their videos, but nowadays there has been a lot of gender stereotypes being broken in their videos with the females being seen as more powerful than the men.