Media Coursework AS
VOLUME MUSIC MAGAZINE
DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD RESEARCH
The main image used is of Katy Perry, which is effective as she is showing a lot of her body off, emphasising her sexiness and style. She is using direct address to gain the reader’s attention and also to engage the reader. The image looks like it has had filters used to downgrade the colour to a darky grey colour to suit with the overall colour of the magazine.
The main body of text is organised into columns with the title / heading of the story at the top of the page. The heading is in a 'curly' and 'bubbly' style which is suiting to the magazines style. The colour of the heading is in black which is in keeping with the whole magazine colour as the magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread is only in the colour black, white or grey.
The main body of text used is the main story in the magazine, which in this issue was of Katy Perry. The majority of the text is in a simple small font, which is used not to stand out on the page and sell something to the audience but to but to inform the audience and be there for the audience to read but only if they want to.
On this magazines double page spread, the background is all white with a lot of free / empty space, which puts emphasis on the image and on the text. The white background also makes the magazine seem clean and easy to read without a lot of information being forced onto them by the use of push media e.g. bright vibrant colours, shapes, large images etc.
On the examples that I found the main feature image was of a famous artist and the photo was shot on a white screen. This allowed the image to stand out on the page and be emphasised for the audience to see. The image used was mainly in black and white which gave the overall image a mysterious and intriguing look. The text used on the examples that I found was fairly average and small, and this was purposely done so the emphasis was not taken away from the main image or title of the story. On all of the examples that I found, the artist is wearing bland colours like black and white which again suit the magazines overall colour scheme and style. On the double page spread examples that I found, there are no other stories on the page or any other information about other artists or bands, which shows the artists that is on the page as important and the centre of importance for the magazine for that week. The images used on the examples for Blender are quite large and immediately catch the audience's attention, this is done to again show the artist as being important and significant in the magazine. The title / heading used at the top of the page is used to inform the audience about what the main story is about. The title is very large and immediately grabs the reader’s attention, which is more of a push media technique than a pull media technique
On the examples of the double page spread pages for Q magazine that I found, the overall style of the magazine is virtually the same on every issue. The double page spread looks like it is split up into two parts, the photo side and the text side. The photo side looks like it always has a medium - medium close up shot taken of the artist so the audience can see the emotion on the artists face. The text side looks like it always has a large letter in red, which is the first letter of the main artists name in the main story line for that week e.g. 'C' For Cheryl Cole 'L' For Lady Gaga etc. The title at the top of the page looks like it is always the name of the main artist in the magazine for that week. The image used on the magazines looks like it was shot on a white screen, which emphasises the importance of the image to the audience. The main image also looks like it has had filters used on them to make the artists look darker, duller and more mysterious, which is in keeping with the overall style of the music magazine. The images also look like many techniques were used on them on photoshop like Enhance Detail Correction, frequence separation, blemish removal, retouch, use of the smooth skin airbrush etc. These features all made the images look cleaner, fresher and more appealing to the audience which would engage them more into reading the magazine. The typeface font used on the double page spread examples that I found for Q magazine are all the same with this basic Times New Roman font which is quite a sophisticated font informing the audience that they are reading a mature and professional magazine aimed at the older generation of teenagers to young adults.
The main body of text used in this double page spread is very small and miniscule which is useful as it doesn’t take away the importance of the main image. There are pull quotes used from the interview which are much larger and are placed in the centre of the main body of text which highlights the quote as more important than the text.
There is a secondary image used on the double page spread, which is an image of the band that Pete Doherty is in. This image is much smaller than the main image but is still effective in enticing the audience into reading the rest of the magazine.
The main feature article image used is of Pete Doherty and this image takes up half of the double page spread alone, with the image using direct address to engage the audience. The image that is used looks like a reportage image of Pete at a concert, which sees him in his normal clothes without the use of a white screen emphasising the image. This gives the audience a 'realistic' feel to the magazine and what a real rock concert looks like.
The title / heading on the magazine front cover is effective as it stands out on the magazine in front of the main feature article image. The typeface is in an Adobe Caslon font which is quite a mature and professional font, representing the magazine and those how read it as professional and sophisticated. Finally the font colour is in two different colours of white and orange which stands out off the page grabbing the reader’s attention.
On the examples of the double page spread pages for NME magazine, the overall style of the magazine is very similar in each issue as the format / template of the magazine is basically the same with a main feature article image on the left or right of the page, taking up the majority of space, with the main body of text down the other side of the page and a title / heading across the top of the page indicating what the main story of the magazine is about. The main image used on the magazine contents pages for the NME magazine looks like it changes from issue to issue as some photos look like they were taken as the artists were performing and some images look like they were taken on a white screen or in a photo-shoot which indicates to me that the magazine has variety and is not the same in every issue. Also on the examples I found, the typeface font looks like it also changes in each issue, dependent on the artist that is the main story for that week. The colour remains moderately the same on each issue, with a slight change dependent on the story for that week, for example the main body of text will be in the colour black but the title or quotes will be in the colour red or purple which suites the colour of the artist being reviewed that week. The layout of the text is quite formal as the texts looks structured in columns down the side of the page, keeping the page organised which makes it easier for the audience to read and understand.
The main feature article image is of Jay Z and the image takes up at least half of the cover page. The image looks like it has a gradient change filter on it of red and light blue which suggest to the audience that Jay Z has two personalities / split personalities to him. The image used on this double page spread is quite dominant and intriguing as the artist is showing no emotion which could be a representation of the music magazine.
There is a large bold letter across the whole of the text on the double page spread. The letter used is the first letter of the main artist’s name, Jay-Z, this again informs the audience that the main story for this week about an artists is going to be about Jay-Z.
The main body of text is quite small with a sophisticated font which indicates to the audience that the magazine is professional and for the older generation of teens to young adults. A few times the first letter of the paragraph is much larger than the rest of the text which is a feature that occurs in professional pieces of work again showing the magazines professionalism and sophisticated.
The overall style of the magazines double page spread is quite formal and organised as half of the double page spread is for the image and half of the double page spread is for the text. There is a lot of text used in the double page spread which is split into columns again organising the text making it easier for the audience to read and understand.
There is a quote used on the double page spread which is a quote that Jay-Z has said. This is relevant as the main story for this week is about Jay-Z. The colour of the quote is in red which is in keeping with the overall magazines colour scheme of red, white and black.
