Kerrang! Double Page Spread Research

This is the Kerrang! double page spread that I have chosen to research, it stood out from the rest and I liked it's unique style. The title of the main story is very upfront and stands out because it is scribbled down on the page, this reflects the characteristics of Blink 182, immature and childish. This is then reinforced by linking it to dinosaurs and Mark's childish pose impersonating a dinosaur. In terms of connotation the main story title is very upfront and stands out because of the way it has been scribbled on the page. Again this is important for the target audience as the rough and rebellious qualities of the article reflect the characteristics of the band. By designing the double page spread to the bands personality it will match the expectations of existing fans, having a close link with your favourite band is stereotypical of a rock fan. I will follow this  idea and design for my double page spread so the target audience can read it for personal identity and diversion to escape from reality and into the world of the band. After analysing the article for lexical features I noticed "Getting Naked." and "Dick Jokes." These make the artist sound like he has a wild lifestyle as he discusses how life differs away on tour from his home life. Again this makes the information suitable for the target audience, creating a chance for personal identity and diversion to escape reality. Instead of using Standard English while writing my article I will use specific informality. Using the language of the band not only helps to personalise the article to the band but also targets the demographic. Targeting the demographic will make the article more interesting to read and give new readers an insight into the band and their fans. The two main colours for the text are red and black, these colours could connote emotions such as hate and depression. this will be suitable for the target audience of teenagers as they are stereotyped as rebellious and usually depressed. They will see music as a place to escape to so relating to their feelings is something they are searching for. I will use my colour scheme to fit the stereotype of my target audience which is around the same age. In terms of semantics the red dinosaur claw tare through the page will attract the target audience through the same stereotype. The strike of a claw has connotations of anger and violence linking to the idea of teenagers being rebellious to the point they are most likely involved in criminal activity. Using graphology to target the stereotype of the target audience will attract them into the article as they believe they can relate to it. Because I am going into a more sophisticated style I won't be using much imagery on the double page apart from my photography. Therefore I will look to relate features of the photography to meet the interests of my target audience.

Q Double Page Spread Research

The Q double page spread focuses on Jay Z which will help me understand how an article of a rapper is created without using all the conventions of a rap magazine. The image of Jay Z takes up one page of the double page spread like the NME one did, this enforces his identity on the article. He is wearing black sunglasses along with a black t-shirt. This is consistent with his overall image, he is known for wearing 'all black everything'. The sunglasses completely conceal his eyes and give a feeling that there are many things that remain untold about him and could possibly be told in the article. The sunglasses also add emphasis to his trademark mouth and lips which have helped make his career and fortune, which is then reinforced by his necklace being a symbol of wealth. The image also appears like the Obama campaign poster suggesting similarities between the two world figures. It relates to some of Jay Z's songs about trying to achieve equality, power and wealth as a black American.  Telling so much information through the image adds significance to the article and makes the reader want to find out more. It also adds a lot of attention to the artist themselves and their personality making them the centre of attention. Concentrating on portraying information through my photography will be one of my aims in order to add the same effect Q do. The image is cast with a red wash effect on his right shoulder, as well as red being the colour of the Q logo, it also has connotations of passion, love and blood. The other side is white which has connotations of purity and cleanliness, suggesting Jay Z is now tainted and his purity is disappearing as he has now sold his unsavoury past through music. This adds an insight to the story inside the article and draws the reader in to want to find out more about the life of the world superstar. Like the last feature this can only be understood by fans of Jay Z making it personal for them and letting the article appear with knowledge and relevance. The large red J behind the text is a mirror image of the Q logo, however it is made into a J because the interview is about 'Jay Z'. The text used is classy and upper-end which reflects the qualities of Jay Z and the conventions of Q magazine. Across the double page spread Jay Z and other key words are in a red font to add the connotations of power, passion and then Q magazine. For my magazine I will add conventions of my magazine design to the article and help it link to the artist. However I don't want to go as far as Q have as I want to bring all the attention of the double page spread to the artist.

NME Double Page Spread Research

The first double page spread I am analysing is from NME, and concerns Pete Doherty. One page is occupied by a photograph of the subject of the article, while the other is used for the story about the subject. However, the text in this spread is broken up by a large pull-out quote in the centre, and a small picture in the bottom right corner. This adds a more playful and less serious tone to the article which reflects the personality of Pete Doherty. Like I've said I want to put the whole focus of the article on the main artist so designing the page to fit their personality will help this idea to work. They use a simple colour scheme of orange, white and black. the orange was likely chosen because Pete Doherty's jumper and beer being that colour. This would suggest that NME is flexible with the overall design which makes the magazine more adaptable. It concentrates on being innovative instead of having a lasting design theme which will fit the idea of my magazine. Again it gives me the idea to focus the design of the double page spread on the artist. The quote in the centre of the text grabs the attention of the reader and gives away the subject of the article Pete Doherty’s role in his band. His tenuous role is emphasised by the way he is holding two glasses of alcohol in the photograph. Readers who want more information on Pete Doherty’s struggles with drugs and alcohol would want to read this feature, as would fans of his music, as there is a picture of him performing in the bottom right of the text. This helps to broaden the audience of the article as it targets existing fans and new readers. Using features that reach all audiences is useful when designing and established magazine so I want to concentrate on features like this when doing my photography. Props and location will also help to make the story more relevant and appealing. I like the use of text on top of the image as it sort of gives a title to the article and plays with the photography at the same time. Only a small amount of text us used on top of the image to stop any difficulties reading, I want to use this feature with my double page spread so I will stick to the same code. I have noticed they have used a lot of punctuation to reinforce the expression and personality of the artist. It also helps to bring the interview alive as the reader can almost hear the emotions being expressed. This makes the article much more exciting and interesting to read so I may use this when talking about certain topics. 

A Quick Lesson On Double Page Spreads

Today I had a lesson on how to analyse double page spreads to help understand how to construct one in order to fit my target audience. I learnt how to analyse the design features including lighting, positioning, graphology and colouring. I spent 15 minutes practising how to analyse the double page spread, and took notes which are shown on the left. After I looked at the appearance I went onto study the language used in articles. I was given an example from NME which was an article written about Lily Allen. The main feature I noticed was the sophisticated language used mixed with some informal qualities of the artist. They use technical terms and drop names to let the reader know what they are talking about, but to add character to the article they use qualities from Lily Allen's language such as swear words. Not only does this add variation to the article but it helps the reader to understand the artist more which is the basis of the article. This is the type of style that I want to use so I will look at this further when doing my double page spread research. I am now going to do research into the same five magazines as last time, NME, Q, Kerrang!, The Source and Vibe. Again I will point out features from the same design sections and then say how it will effect my design, however this time I will be including the article and doing the same for that.

Double Page Spread Introduction

The final area I now need to study is the double page spread.  I am going to conduct research into 5 established double page spreads, because of my new idea changing the plan of my overall research I will be researching one edition of each magazine I have studied. Again I will study all key areas of the magazine, including lighting, positioning, graphology, text/language and colouring. I am going to concentrate on how they use the text and how colouring is used to give it extra effect. As I have seen the rap magazines are image dominated so if this convention follows through to the double page spread I want to see how they allow the text to fit around it and still be clear and simple to view. Like last time I will highlight all I have influenced from this research in red font to be able to go back when creating my own double page spread.

Vibe Contents Page Research

This is the Vibe Contents page that I have chosen to analyse, this edition is based around Eminem. The overall lighting and colouring of the contents page gives a dark and eerie appearance which reflects the personality of Eminem (The main article.) This shows they have focused on bringing all the attention to the Eminem article, however unlike the source contents page they have put the main article along with the rest in the page listing. This is a better idea than what I was thinking about doing in the last analysis. I want to put attention on the main article but also want to put a bit of focus on the others, this technique by Vibe does it well. It has became clear that graphology is a key convention to play around with in rap magazines, so I will have to express my ideas strongly in this section. After reading the text I have noticed they use much more Standard English than The Source used. This is because they are going for a much more sophisticated approach to fit with their more serious style. I noticed they touch on more serious matters to do with the artists over the release of a new album or tour. I think a style like this would fit the purpose of my magazine well and I am almost certain I will use it. However as I am focusing on dark music, which could be Eminem, I want to use some slang and dialect that would fit the audience, this makes it much more appealing and interesting to read when talking about certain matters. Like The Source contents page the actual text is positioned by the side of the image in a small font size, again this is to support the image dominated layout. They have used a white text on top of the dark background so it's clear to read. For the subheadings they have used yellow font which is a primary colour, this helps them to stand out from the rest and become appealing to the reader as well as being readable on the dark background. As well as being appealing to the reader this also gives a sophisticated look because it is plain and serious. This is the type of appearance I want to give my magazine so I will use this technique on my contents page.

The Source Contents Page Research

This is a contents page from The Source that I have found, it features Kendrick Lamar as the main article. The whole contents page bases around an image of Kendrick Lamar which fits the conventions of hip/hop, the everybody look at me idea. This would be a key convention of my magazine, however I do want to feature a few more artists on the contents page so I would include a couple smaller images out the way of the main image. All the font on the page is in black apart from the main article page number which is red. Again this helps the main artist stand out from the rest. So far it has all been presented as a competition which helps reinforce the rap ideas of everyone against everyone. I will use the same code while designing my magazine to fit the conventions of rap/hip hop. The listing for the page numbers has been placed in the left third in a small font size. This has been done to put more attention on the image, however they have arranged the text in front of the image. This means it can still be read and spotted, as well as adding a 3D effect to the graphology. It is placed freely on the page with no borders or banners, the only thing that separates the text is the shade and size. This is a good effect to work with the white background but I want to use more than one image. This means I'll have to use something to separate the text and the various images. I have the idea of using black lines to separate the information for each page and boxes for the additional images, however I will allow the main image to the main photo to add importance in order to stick to the conventions. The language used is different from all the other magazines that I have analysed. They all converge to language used by rappers, probably ones they are featuring. I will have to used a distinct language when writing in my contents page, when it comes to some of the more important text they have used standard English so I may do this as well. I will have to focus on using slang and creating an idiolect around rappers language.