Analysis of 3 music magazine double page spreads

Amy Harriss

Kerrang double page spread Layout and Design

•This double page spread balances text and imagery equally. This makes it easier for the reader as it is not text-led.

• The text has been laid out in neat columns. This again, makes it easy for the reader. Most of this text is on the first page, with only one column on the second page. There are 3 columns of text.

•The background being black makes the text and images stand out against it.

Images Used

•The large image used portraits the band as being quite quirky and rocky. Being in colour it shows the bright colours of the front mans clothes. These colours (red and purple) have been used for the font colours of the headline and for the text.

• The other images in black and white give a cool edgy look of the band. I think the images portrait the band well and gives a good image of there music style and attitudes.

•The front man in the image is stood in front of the other band members.

Headline

•The headline used for this double page spread is large and takes up a large amount of the first page. The headline is a name of one of the bands songs. The distressed style of the word ‘secrets’ goes with the house style of the magazine.

•They have used a different font style and colour for the words ‘dirty little’ this emphasises the word ‘secret’.

Pull Quote

• The pull quote used in this feature shows the interview to be informal. The front man says “I was tripping balls!” shows the reader to expect the band not to hold back. We can also see this with the stand first paragraph. This uses the phrase “dish the dirt” which means they’ll be saying what they think. It grabs the readers attention making them want to read the whole article.

Text

• The journalist has used a very informal style of writing for this interview. It seems as if they have just asked them questions and the answers have been written straight down with no twists on what they’ve said. There are headings of which band member answers the question. They have organised the story in chunks of each question asked.

Values and attitudes

•I think the target readership would like the informal “dish the dirt” style it has. This I think would be one of the main reasons they would buy the magazine.

Rock Sound double page spread Layout and Design

•The layout of this Double page spread has been split into 2 pages. One brother is interviewed on the first page and the other on the second page.

•Like Kerrang’s DPS, it is well balanced being neither text or picture led.

•Text is organised into columns of 2 on each page, giving an organised look to the feature.

• The background being white makes the images stand out. It also is contrasting to the colour blue used.

Images used

•The images used in this article are all colour, they stand out and feature both the boys equally. The band members are portrayed to be jokers. This does tie-in with the band well as they don’t have a serious image.

•Neither of the people featured on the DPS are the front man of the band, this explains why both of them are pictured equally.

•One image has a caption linking it with a topic brought up in the interview.

Headline

•The headline used is not very large compared to some other magazines with DPS’s. They have used the colour blue and blue to stand out however and have used a font style for effect.

•The headline “Just the two of us” is used to show the reader that only these two will be interviewed. This because they are part of a band (Paramore).

•This feature mainly focuses on them being brothers.

Pull Quote

•They have used one pull quote. This is used to make some of the text stand out. This makes the reader want to read the rest of the article. The pull quote is from Josh Farro, it is underneath a picture of him which emphasises who has said it.

•The pull quote used says “ I would be Taylor on acoustic guitar, and Zac would be Zac. My older brother would be Isaac and we would pretend to be Hanson.” This pull quote is relevant to the whole article because it talks about them being brothers.

Text

•The text is structured around the fact the boys are brothers. It’s neither informal or formal. The questions are fairly sensible and the answers don’t include any swearing. It is done in interview form with there answers showing exactly what they said.

•The stand first is used well to introduce the interview. The use of phrase “take it away” gives a good start to the text.

Photoshop techniques

•I like how they have used a black and blue border to frame the page, this emphasises the whole feature.

• I like how the large picture in the centre has separated them on each page of there interview.

Rock Sound double page spread Layout and Design

•The layout of this DPS is fairly simple. It is picture-led with the bottom half of the page being an image. The text takes up only a quarter of the feature and is only 2 columns of text.

•The text looks quite chunky which could be less easy to read.

• The background used is pale which gives a good contrast to the black font.

Images

•There is only one picture of the band in this DPS. All of the band members can be seen easily and clearly.

•The front man does not stand out particularly such as being in front of the other band members. However, his t-shirt makes him stand out saying ‘no pig deal’. The colour green of the ‘pig’ word has been used throughout the article for the introduction and pale green background.

Headline

•This headline is simple but effective. The large black lettering is clear to the reader who the band is. They have put some text underneath in green saying ‘high times’. This font style is like it has been written onto the page.

Pull Quote

•They have used one pull quote and placed it over the image in the right hand corner. The Background is in green which goes with the theme of the feature. I says “ Its one thing to be grounded and another if your fans think you’re an asshole, its hard to balance it all” This is said by the front man. It also emphasises how informal the interview will be.

Text

•Unlike the other two DPS’s, this text is in block form. The way it is written makes the reader feel as if the band were just talking about them in general and not answering certain questions.

•They have started the text with a drop cap to ‘kick start’ the article.

• The introduction to the band shows us that they aim to do well in the uk. This then shows this will be talked about in the article.

Photoshop techniques

•The use of Photoshop in the DPS works really well. They have used brushes to make a crossed fence effect at the top of the page. This links with the image as there standing by a fence.