Double Page Spread Analysis

The double page spread of a magazine, is the main feature, what people mainly buy the magazine for, this means there has to be enough information which will interest the reader, and keep there attention, but not to much so it over powers the page and the information which is been given, i.e. a double page spread would never have two pages full of writing on it, and many of the time it doesn’t even have one page, the section will be split up. With a 3^rd of the page only having text included, and the text wont be just placed randomly on the page, it will be included in the overall design and flow of the double page spread, with the image incorporating the text and not showing as its a random layer, as text may flow around the image, or the image could incorporate space for the text to be put, a clear area with no image noise to disturb the writing.

The image wont just be randomly placed it will have to be included in the feature which its about, but also express the character of the artist, without wasting text and time explaining who they are and what their about. The image should portray this, but as it would be the main feature of a magazine, the reader should already know who they are and for that reason buying the magazine in the first place, because with a feature, the artist would also be placed on the front cover as well, as a selling scheme to attract the attention of the customer/target audience.

The first magazine which i will be analysing  will be from the source, and the article is about T.I. this is clearly shown by the image which has been used but also with the large tag line which incorporates this into it, ‘T.I.me’  the large tag line is used to express what the text is going to be about, and with the small overview bubble explaining, if readers don’t already know. This sets the reader up for what the text is going to be about. The colours which are also used are also within the theme of summer time, with the bright blue, green and reds used because with the simple white background, there has o be more than the image and the text included, so the colours brighten and liven the double page spread up.

With the image having a plain white canvas, it has to stand out and adequate for filling in the space, and instead of a simple standing pose, the artist is in a different, not normally seen stance, which means  mores going on, and the space filled is larger, and with the white background it is used as a minimal effects look and works well.

The second double page spread is completely different to the first, how the image and text are used together but still how it works, with this double page spread, the image and text are separate as in they are not on top or involved with each other.

With the image been a very urban image with dark colours and next been unable to be included in the image without creating problems and mess on the page,  the text has its own white background , it is still seen as a part of the magazine, because of the cut of the image been jagged (not a clean cut) which also adds a urban feel to the spread, this continues with the minimal use of straight use of lines and sharp corners. This continues at the end of the white section, where graffiti style pain splatter is been used  to break away from the average flow of a magazine, the gold colour used also flows with the gold font of the tag line.

The text which is included is also in columns which makes it easy to read and connect with the writing, it also makes the image very clean and manageable,  the only text which goes against the grain is the extract from the interview, where the text is a different style, size and colour to the rest, showing its importance but also basing this around the interview, and gives a understanding of his personality.

The final double page spread used is different from all the rest, not in a good way, but in a individual way of showing text and a spread, the articles from the magazine black & gold,  about john legend, this is clearly showing in the title, ‘john legend’ which is simple and it works, because the font colour isn’t a colour is a image of him transferred into the text, so while showing the readers who the article is about, it also gives a visual image of him at the same time, which is a good way of visual interpretation. This is done twice in the double page spread, with the track list been show with another image of him behind it,  these are the only two images in the magazine, which creates a boring spread, and with the background colour been back the white writing doesn’t have the same effect  just with ‘boring’ columns been used, there is the slight use of red in the text which is used to emphasise the importance of that text, i.e. grabbing the readers attention for been different.  But as the simplicity of the magazine, even though it is different, doesn’t work for me and doesn’t come across interesting.

With the 3 double page spreads analysed I will incorporate some of the styles used to create my double page spread.

Target Market

The typical target market for a hip hop magazine, would be a male, black 18-28 year old, where music is his life and very specific who he listens to, the music which he listens to will influence the way he dresses and the people which he hangs around with, the music is his life and will listen to it 70% of the day.

The style which he will have, will be fresh, individual and unique, he’s all about what he looks like and will always have a fresh pair of sneakers, which would be limited quick strikes, he will wear g-shocks, air Jordan’s and fresh jerseys.

His life would be laid back and relaxed, not normally high up on the income ladder, and would live in a working environment were crime is high, most of them would have a criminal conviction, which would be related with drugs, they would smoke cannabis, like many of the artists in the industry.

Many of the people would stay at the roots and stay with artists which are local to them, from west coast to east coast, with jay z and rick Ross, the difference style between them.

They would do see loads of live gigs which they have and music would follow into the college and high school, where rap battles would happen, the hip hop scene is very tight and its mainly focused in the us, so my target audience would be focused over there.



Content Page Analysis

Content pages are used in magazines to establish the content of the magazine, what main features the magazine has, and what individualises this magazine from any other.

 As a reader, you would go to the content page, to see if the magazine was worth buying the front page would do the attracting of the customers and the content page would be to keep the reader, so the content page has to be able to tell how the magazine is going to flow, and the theme of the magazine, to also give over information of features  and columns, to much information, would mean the page would be full of writing, therefore overpowering the page, and readers would become bored, as my page group aren’t seen as sophisticated and educational, to many works could put them off.

The first content page is very minimal, showing an image of a artist, and with a column to the right of the page outlining the features and information of the magazine, it gives a small sentence on the content, so the readers will know what’s to come, the main image, is the main feature, no information is given but the title of the feature, and the image does all the story telling.

The font which is used defines the title, content, and points which need to be read, so with the column on the side all the subheading are in bold white, so it attracts the attention of the reader, and separated it from the content, this also makes it easier to read and the flow of the column is easier and more effective. The yellow coloured text is the information which is also important, this is only used for the page number, cover story, and name of the artist appearing in the cover story.

 The image on the content page would be the second main story, if the content page has outlined the information of the cover story, this is the case in many magazines, where there are two main stories in one magazine, its to entice the customer, but also the cover story may not be powerful enough to carry the magazine for this edition.

The second content page is very similar to the first, this is a very simple, productive and popular way of designing the content page, as it is called in this magazine, the ‘master plan’  the design and flow of this content page has been based around the image which has been used and integrating the content text into this image, and shaping it around the image, without distorting the image, but also not making the image to square, so adding a square box, which has been faded to create a area to write but not to block the image, is a great way of creating a writing area on a image.

The image which has been used is very simple, doesn’t  take to much attention away from the writing,  if it was an overpowering image, the text wouldn’t transfer and would make the content page messy and hard to read,

The image which is also used will be a feature for the magazine, so it also entices the reader as well.

The third and final content page, it totally different to the first two, this content page is from NME, this content page is more structural and has a specific format to the content page every week, and the images and text which just change, even though it is information rich, its design poor, and comes across very boring, and with the black white and red simply been used to often, it becomes repetitive and boring, and as a magazine, I don’t want it to come across like, that. Even though it is a  tried and tested way of colour working well together and working in sink, but the overall repetitiveness of the use in the magazine, a change could be beneficial?

The image used in the content page is smaller, and less dramatic, but it still represents emotion and the genre of the music.  With the genre which am focusing on, the square, black boxed out boxes wont work, and wouldn’t be genre specific, hip hop is more flowing true and interpretable, this content page leaves a lot to be desired.

Analysing cover 3: Rollingstone, Wiz Khalifa May 2011



The rollingstone cover of March 2011, featured the image of Wiz Khalifa, the new hip hop sensation,  this magazine cover is a typical rollingstone style, simple and very effective, this is done my the plain white background , so all the emphasis is on the main image there is no background images to distort the main image, not make the front cover to crowded, which rollingstone were looking for, the image which has been used also is very specific, a mid shot from shoulders up, this style of shot is used for the customers to feel a personal attachment to Wiz, you can see him close enough to see his tattoos, i.e. get to know him, and this is would of been the reason for rollingstone picking this image, it also shows Wiz personality, with the cheeky wink, the care free style which he has. This adds depth into the image, instead of a simple straight forward image of his face.

The mast head which has also been used, is layered behind the main image, this has been done because of the popularity of the magazine and the style which goes with the magazine, the name of the magazine doesn’t need to be the main image on the front cover, if it was it would take away the effect of the overall picture which its creating, cutting part of Wiz hair would be ruin the image which has been created, and the overall image is what makes the front cover.

With the columns which have been used on the right hand side, with three different sizes and two different sizes and colours used, with the most important features in bigger font, i.e. the ‘new faces 2011’ and ‘Wiz Khalifa’ with different font for wiz, which shows individual and the feature of the magazine, compared to the ‘new faces 2011’ where its in the same font as the others, but in red and a bigger font, so its important and grabs the attention, so its shows that it is a main feature, but not the main one. The placement of the column has aligned the text to the right, shows order but also has a sense of freedom, created but the overlapping of the text and the image, but not intruding the image to much to distort it and create mess.

Most rolling stones magazines have the same blueprint, with differences between colour and flow but overall has the same style throughout the year and that what it makes is so successful.

Analysing Cover 2: XXL Magazine, Nas, November 2011

The cover of XXL November 2011 of Nas is a totally different way of doing a front cover, this is because the way it has been set out, the whole of the cover has been included in the main image, it has been included in a way it shows the character of Nas but also for readers to become involved in the image, with the main image showing Nas standing with a long shot of his entire body with graffiti writing behind him showing his name and the other artists which will be included in the magazine, the way in which this has been done get to show the urban roots of Nas and how he has evolved, but not just that the way the colours which have been used a golden yellow and the scribed font with the scroll been used as a canvas for the articles which will be included, even with its urbaneness it has a sense of class in a strange weird and provocative why which shows that he is a well respected hip hop artist but other people may not view this as been classy, but in the hip hop style it is seen that way and an outsider can easily grasp the idea as well.  

With the mast head of XXL been dwarfed by the overall scene of the Nas cover it still has some power with the colour of the title, and as the bight red block with the white ‘XXL’ inside where it never moves per magazine, it has been seen that it stands out, but the use of red and white again is profound, it seems that all magazine covers have red white and black included in them, showing the dominance of the colours, and must prove that it attracts attention and makes the magazines stand out more from the others, because all the leading magazines have this included, from the Q magazine, to the rolling stone magazine, all include the red white and black, so its understood that i should use this in my magazine.

With the tag lines its only the name of the artist ‘Nas’ Does it mean the artist doesn’t need a tag line, that the magazine doesn’t need to give any insight into what its going to feature about Nas, or is the cover line the whole set of the cover the way its laid out.

Analysing Cover 1: Billboard, Jay Z July 2009

The first cover which I am going to analyse is the, billboard cover of jay z July 2009 addition, the magazine cover shows Jay Z as the main picture with the background of new York city, this helps us understand wear jay z is from, his urban roots and what environment he lives and works in, this is just from the one image, it tells a underlying story of the person, this helps me understand that the main image has to be simple, like this one, it could be in black and white, if there is a lot going on, or it could be simply the face of somebody, because to much going on in the main image will crowd the cover and make everything look unprofessional, and wont be able to get the point across the magazine is trying to establish, like in this one, with jay z with his glasses on and a cigar, showing him at the thrown of his city, so to speak, and the business man which he is, smoking a cigar, the upper end of hip hop, but still keeping it at the battle, you can gain all this information from just the front cover, been able to seek what the magazine is going to be like and how the flow of the magazine is going to work and how the main article is going to be about Jay Z.

The other thing about the cover of the magazine is the mast head, its been used as a background to the page, its not standing out there, its been made to have the image the most important part of the magazine, not the name of the magazine, because as it is a successful magazine, it doesn’t need to brand its name in bold and fully over the page, people will know about the magazine by just looking at a few letters from the name, so they aren’t wasting areas of the page on the title, another thing about the mast head is the colour which is used, it is white, but has some citrusy green and yellow followed by the blue, its stands out and because the magazine is filled with gray black and white, it stands out even more, so with the mast head been hidden behind the image, it still attracts the attention of the reader because of the colour which is used, this is a brilliant thing to think about because it would be a great way to show the name of the magazine without plastering it all over the cover.

The cover line also is an important area of the magazine, its there to give the reader a slight understanding of what’s going to happen in the magazine, but at the same time not giving to much away, so with the cover line ‘how rock rolls’ in this magazine, it gives the feeling that it will have a insight into Jay Z’s life and how he goes about his day to day things, people want to read about this so it would entice the readers even more to buy the magazine. This cover line is also in a bold font and the colour is black on a light background, to make it stand out and from people to notice it.

The left hand column is the other features in the magazine, other areas which will be included, the colour is red and white font, which state the bigger articles, from red been more important and white been less important, because the colour red stands out more than the white does.

Secondary research

Market research, researching what's already out on the market is very important, and been able to take information of them to understand how your product/ magazine is going to work, this is called secondary research, secondary research is very important in the opening stages of manufacturing an idea which will become the magazine, because using information which has already been gathered and collated is a lot cheaper, cost effective and can help you understand the market which you are going to enter, the genre of music which I am going to enter is hip hop, this means i will be competing against the giant ‘XXL’ which are market leaders, here’s a little quote from the publishers H360; “XXL is currently celebrating its 13 Year Anniversary and is the #1 selling ABC audited music magazine on the newsstand – the ultimate barometer of a magazine’s success – outselling Rolling Stone, Vibe, Complex, Blender and The Source. XXL defines what’s hot and relevant in hip-hop, rap, and R&B. Artists, record labels, consumers and the press turn to XXL first for credible, trusted news in the world of hip hop. XXL’s mission is to take a mature, real and intelligent approach to hip-hop music and the culture that surrounds it. XXL readers are music enthusiasts and trendsetters who represent what’s relevant in the all-encompassing world of hip hop music and style.”

This give me a ideas that the competitor is massive, the market share is huge, so my magazine has to be original, energetic and efficient in the content, getting information across, make sure I meet all the demands from the target market and be able to understand the current hip hop scene, as it says in that quote, “XXL readers are music enthusiasts and trendsetters who represent what's relevant in the all-encompassing world of hip hop music and style” Hip hop isn’t just music, its about the way people live socialise and act, its one of them genres which engulf the people who are interested, so getting into that market and understand the readers and been able to provide them a service which will be able to provide, the ‘world’ of hip hop, not just the music would be the way to go, this is because what most magazines don’t offer, a part of the music industry, can become boring and have the same stuff magazine after magazine, so making something which is about the scene of hip hop, not just the music.

Analysing of Magazines, what it takes

When analysing the magazine, there are many areas which need to be included: 

-target audience, who the magazine is aimed at and from there age to their gender and what political views do they stand for and the reason for buying the magazine, so this would be for a music magazine the genre of music which the magazine is aimed at, it wouldn’t then include something completely different to what the customer wants, also with aiming the magazine at a target market, the adverts will have to be included, and they have to be related to the readers, if you take the music magazine, ‘mix mag’ a more urban drum and bass, Djing magazine, it would include music technology for mixing desks and headphones, and the latest music tech. But if the magazine was for guitar weekly or something, then it wouldn’t include the same kind of adverts, it would be focused on the readers and why are they reading the magazine, for guitars, so the adverts will try and sell guitars, it wouldn’t have drum and bass music included.

 When meeting a target audience needs, it will also include the content of the magazine, so for a hip hop magazine which I am going to do, I will have to include interviews and back to basics, so to get to know the people,  because the hip hop scene is very close and the target audience want to know more about ‘their’ artists,  this would be different to a pop magazine, where people would just like a song, but not like what the artist is about and the meaning of the music and they style which they represent there music, i.e. Pharrell Williams, who brought out a fresh clothing line, and it appeals to the market and the style which he has created for himself. You don’t see this much in main stream music, but in rock and grime, it occurs often and means the target audience can get closer to their icon.

The  next area my research needs to cover is colour and style, so what I will have to do is focus my attention on the front cover and see how it is used and how it flows, looking at the cover can really get a grasp on the audience and who the magazine is for, and magazines sell on first appearances not just on the content, if a magazine had a really good front cover, and a good double page spread, then it will sell regardless of the overall content, so getting the main focal point of the magazine correct means customers will buy the magazine, this includes the picture which is used, so if it was a main picture of  Lupe fiasco, then it would appeal to fiasco fans straight away, regardless of what magazine it was, then this would follow onto the magazine audience, then people who liked the look of the magazine, so the first appearance can mean a loss in customers or a gain.

Colours which are used on magazine also included in the overall design of the magazine, so many magazines use red black and white, this is because of the ease of the read, people will be able to read it easily and it doesn’t really make any stereotypes, the only time this is used is when its in a heavy metal  magazine, because then it is seen as emotion and feeling.

Genre- the genre which the magazine has been catered for will totally overrule the design of the magazine, a pure hip hop magazine, with its quirky flamboyance and different attitude to music, compared to a indie magazine which have there own individual style and scene, the two magazine would be completely different and the whole magazine wont share any similarities because of the fact neither do the readers, of the magazine, so this is a major area which needs to be taken into consideration.

Survey and why its used

I am going an online survey to collect information from the mass public, this is seen as primary research and is very beneficial to the magazines progress, this is because all the information which i collect will be used in the overall content of my magazine, and how it will be styled for the target market, this online survey will be published on all major social media websites and will tailor to the target market which I am aiming at, which is the hip hop scene, with the question which i have asked I want to know what people read the magazine, so I can specifically make it around the majority, and what they want from a new hip hop magazine, so what will make it different to all the rest and stand out and be able to compete in the vast market of music magazines, information which will be collected will be like:  ‘what attracts you to the magazine?’ so I can get a understanding of what people want/ grabs their attention to the magazine to all the rest of them which are on the shelf, the research which I will get back will the decide how the front cover will shape up and what wont and will be on there.

Online survey which has been sent out to colate information

Click here to take survey

Introduction to the project

The aim of the coursework is to make a front cover, content page and a double page spread, they first thing which needs to be done is to understand where the gap in the market is, where there is an availability for a new magazine to be put into the market, the first stage to analyse this is to look at the magazines which are already out on the market, and looking at the genres which magazines cover, because there may be a large niche in the market for a new magazine where it can do well in and where it can thrive, so to understand what magazines which are out on the market, I will have to go and have a look at magazines in a shop, to see what’s to offer.

This will be classed as primary research, doing my own research into the product. This has to be done to make sure I wont be entering a competitive market with market leaders talking over the segmentation of the market. This is very important to make sure I will be able to make it in the market and be able to develop as a magazine and gain a large range of customers. This is one area of primary research but another area would be to analyse in more depth is the actual magazines, from different areas other than music, just to get to understand how magazines relate to their company, from the ‘GQ Magazine to the rolling stones’ this will help me understand how other magazines address there target audience, this doesn’t mean I’m going to use their ideas but I will take them into account.

If you take one extreme to another from the music magazine world:

With a heavy metal magazine and a kids music magazine.

I.e. with heavy metal magazines the colour scheme it red black and white, 3 very bold colours which represent the music, but also they are very  powerful, with red representing passion and emotion, and the black and  white contrasting make it very hard hitting stuff. Comparing this to the  ‘smash hits’ magazine where all the content is toned down and the colours are much simpler and more child like, with the soft pastel colours but with also the bight colours for the kids, to make the magazine more relatable and more fun it a way, because a child would find a magazine like ‘GQ’  very boring to read with the italic font and the browns and the green colours been used and the formality of the magazine as well.