Analysis of Double Page Spreads

Another part of this AS Coursework Print task is to create a double-page spread. Usually, this spread is linked towards the front cover, by using the prominent feature of the front cover and expanding it into an article. The codes and conventions of a double page spread are similar to those of the front pages which I looked at earlier, for example the imagery used will need to be relevant and so will the article, however the colours used do not need to be as vibrant as the vibrant colours used on the front page will have already made the audience purchase the magazine; the use of the double page spread is not to entice the public to buy this magazine.



The main purpose of the double page spread is for entertainment purposes, as it adds another article to the magazine. As I said earlier, this is normally linked to the front cover, and so chances are that the reader purchased the magazine in order to read this double page spread. Usually, a double page spread will include a main image with text surrounding it, with the main image more predominant than the text. This main image will also make up the background of the two pages.




This time I am going to look at 4 double page spreads, the same 4 magazines analysed in the front covers section, however I have not included Brew magazine. I have decided to omit Brew because it was the worst of the front covers and therefore I believe that the other magazines would give me a better insight into what I should include in my double page spread. I also envisaged it as having a poor double page spread.


NME














This double page spread focuses on Pete Doherty, the controversial and highly criticised singer/songwriter. I would expect NME to have a double page spread of an indie soloist, even one as controversial as this. The image is on the left of the page, with the text on the right. The main heading is ridiculously oversized, however this adds emphasis to the article and also attracts the reader, who may be flipping from page to page.

• The main image of Pete Doherty is very prominent in the double page spread. He is on the left in an unconvetional pose. This would go with his slightly unconventional lifestyle, as people generally do not pose in such a manner. The red paint could symbolise passion or heart for life, or the topic of his interview; music. This is a powerul image which would attract the reader's attention as he fills up one third of the page and therefore he this image is the main focus of the page.


• The main heading of the article 'Down and out in Paris & Albion' is ridiculously oversized. It is this big mainly to draw attention to the fact that there is an article on the page, in case the reader may skip past it. It will certainly catch the eye of the reader, mainly because it is much bigger than a normal heading. The 'D' and '&' from the heading are in a different font. They are much more sophisticated and curly than the rest of the heading, possibly because it is implying that the article and main figure (Pete Doherty) are both sophisticated yet bold, as the rest of the heading is in bolded, standard font.
  
• This image would be split down the middle, making it into two pages. The image of Pete Doherty being on the left and the text on the right. This ensures that the page isn't too cluttered and therefore there are less distractions for the reader. It is a very simple double page spread which will attract the reader as it is about a famous person who has recently been in the news. The colour scheme is fairly bland, however the red paint on his chest is certainly an eye-drawing feature, as it is set apart from the otherwise dull colours.


• There is the heading with a subtext underneath, and below is the body of the text. This is a standard layout, as the heading will try to entice the reader towards the article. The purpose of the subtext will expand on what the article will include which will ultimately attract or push away the reader. Finally, the body of the text is the interview and main article, which will include all the necessary information which will, hopefully, bring enjoyment to the reader. This method is widely used in most articles, whether they are double page spreads or single pages.

This double page spread is something that I would expect from NME magazine. Pete Doherty is one of their more widely covered artists, and even though he has been in and out of prison, battled with drugs and alcohol it seems that NME have stuck with him enough to give him at least 2 pages in their magazine. This will please the NME faithful who buy the magazine because they want to know more about bands and artists such as Pete Doherty. This spread covers most of the codes and conventions, being that there is a main image with a main heading, subtext and the all-important article featuring somewhere on the page.


Kerrang













This article comes from Kerrang magazine who seem to specialise mainly in the heavier genre of music. This double page spread focuses on the famous band Nirvana, even though their frontman, Kurt Cobain, has died. I believe that Kerrang have decided to do an article on this particular band because of the nostalgic feel that it will bring the audience. As with NME, the image is on the left with the text on the right, however the heading is not ridiculously oversized.

• The image takes up more than half of the double page spread. This causes it to be a prominent feature and therefore more eye-catching as well. The main focus of the picture is somewhat understandably Kurt Cobain, the front man of the influential band Nirvana. He is sitting down pulling a silly face, showing a sense of immaturity and craziness that made the band famous. The image is in the scenario of a family portrait, with all four leaning in. It looks like a cosy backdrop, as though it were in the lounge of a 1970s house.


• The heading, unlike the NME double page spread, is an average size. Even though the size is much smaller than that of NME, it is still distinguishable as being the main headline as it is in a less conventional font and it is also much bigger than the subtitles and text body. The text is is written in the style of the words they are written in, for example 'The calm before the' is written in curled writing, much more sophisticated and classy. Then the word 'Storm' is written in capital letters, much larger than the other words and the font gives the impression of something breaking up or a disaster area, with chunks missing from the word. This adds further emphasis onto the heading and will catch the reader's eye. In relation to the image, it is apparent that the heading is not the main attraction of the page, unlike with the NME pages. I think that this is a good decision as people will be more attracted to the band than they are to the heading.


• This image would be split down the middle and therefore the member of Nirvana on the far right would have half his face obscured by the fold in the page. This is bad positioning as this would make him somewhat unrecognisable, however they have kept to the same format as NME have, with the main image on the left and text on the right. All of the text is on the right hand side, with no overlapping. The colours used are fairly basic, however the background gradient will make it easier for the reader to read the article. The red text box draws attention towards itself as red is not a prominent colour used in this article. The red text box is different to others, as normally text boxes have transparent backgrounds. The font colour is still white, it is this subtle change that makes the difference.


• The format is very similar to the NME double page spread, in the sense that it has the heading with the subtext underneath, whilst beneath the subtext is the main article; however the article is written in columns, and is also divided into two. This is the standard layout of a double page spread and it is also something that does not necessarily need to be altered as it is as advanced as it could be. I believe that most other magazines follow these codes and conventions and therefore they are giving themselves the best possible chance of success.

I feel that this double page spread captures the audience's attention, however I believe that the main benefactor to this is the image of Nirvana, a rock group who many people hold close to their hearts. The use of imagery is the main reason why this double page spread will be so popular and therefore I believe that Kerrang readers will be pleased. I feel that the Kerrang faithful will be happy that they have decided to write a report on Nirvana, even though they have been out of the spotlight for so long.

Q













This double page spread comes from Q magazine, who focus mainly on the older generation of bands from the past. These two pages focus on the band Elbow, who have been around for a while, however have only recently found fame and fans from their latest album which won some awards. The older generation may be aware of Elbow, mainly because they have been around for a while and so this article goes with their target audience.

• The image of Guy Garvey, lead singer of Elbow, is in black and white. This may well go with the 'older' feel that Q produce, and therefore the effect on the imagery is well-thought out. The image is a close-up of his face, and along with the black and white effect it makes him look wise. This links in with the quote '...look wiser', which stands out from the other text on the left. Unlike the double page spreads from NME and Kerrang magazines, the layout is reversed, with the image on the right and the text on the left. The image will take up exactly half of the page, with the text occupying the other half.


• There is no real heading to this article, other than 'The Q Interview : Guy Garvey'. The thing that Q have made more obvious is the quote from the interview and as a result of this the reader may not know what they are getting from this interview. "When I was young, I shaved a receding hairline into my head. I thought it made me look wiser..." is the quote. This is a strange thing to admit to, and this quote may be one that will bring the reader's in as it is quite a weird thing to do. The font and size of the quote varies with each line. Every other line is larger, with the lines inbetween being smaller and therefore less effective. 'When I was young' brings in a nostalgic feel, something that Q magazine try to do weekly. It will entice fans who want to know what Guy Garvey did when he was young. 'Into my head' is not normally something that someone would say, and therefore this strange line would make the reader wonder what he put 'into his head'. Finally, 'look wiser' is something that comes with age, and therefore this word installs belief into the article, with people wanting to know how to look wiser.


• The page will be split down the middle, with the image on the right and the text on the left. There will be no overlapping of pages, unlike with the Kerrang magazine. When the reader first turns to this page they will see the face on the right hand page, and this will be a sticking point when they come to read the article. Black and grey are very prominent colours in this article, with the main image being in black and white, and the text being written on a black backdrop. A difference with this article and the previous two from NME and Kerrang is that the image does not carry across onto both pages, it sticks to the one page on the right. This is because grey is a hard colour to write on as no colour is brilliantly distinguishable on it and therefore the editors have thought about how easy their article will be to read.


• The layout of the page is, as I stated earlier, different to the previous two magazines in the sense that it has been reversed, however the main principles are still there. The heading has been replaced by a quote, with a further introduction underneath. Then there is the main article beneath the subtitle. There is still a prominent image taking up a page, as is standard with most double page spreads. The article this time is written in columns as it is easier to read and you can also write more than if it were to be written in one box.

This double page spread is a standard and easy layout, something that is simple but effective. I believe that with this double page spread, Q have kept their target audience in mind, not only with the article itself but also with the colour schemes and the words in the article. This article seems very laid back and therefore I believe that their target audience has been adhered to.

Car

This double page spread comes from Car magazine, and so it is pretty self-explanatory what this double page spread is going to focus on. This is pretty much what I would expect from such a magazine, two pages filled with pictures of cars and little text. This focuses on a new car from Toyota, the Toyota iQ. The purpose of this article is a challenge to see whether this new car is better than others on the market.

• The image spreads across both pages and is the main feature of this article. We see cars moving along a road; with, I assume, the Toyota iQ being the white car at the front. We know that the cars are moving as the background is blurred, thus also giving the impression of speed. The image has pointers coming off each car, giving the reader more information about each car. The article is about the Toyota iQ and so the more prominent car is bound to be this model. This is a very big image which is very obvious and so reader's who are flciking from page to page will stop on this page because of the intensity of the image.


• The heading is a clever play on words, 'iQ Test'. The new car, the Toyota iQ, is being challenged by other cars and it is therefore a test. This, apart from the image, is another prominent point despite it being such a small piece of the two pages. This is the smallest heading I have analysed so far, and therefore it is not the object that is intended to draw the reader's attention. It uses basic colours (black) and is written in a playful font, emphasising that this is not a serious test.


• The image will be split down the middle, with the red car getting cut in half. There was no real way in which they could avoid this and so they managed to only affect 1 car, and this was by no means the most important. There is no definate colour scheme, however it is obvious that this photo has been taken on a road. The cars are white, red and black, again with no real continuity or theme to them. The layout follows the same theme as NME and Kerrang, with the main image (Toyota iQ) being on the left and the text on the right. Granted, the image continues onto both pages, however I believe that the main focus point of the image is intended to be the Toyota iQ, the white car that takes up most of the left page.


• As with the other double page spreads that I have analysed, the layout of the text is the same. The heading (iQ Test) followed by the subtitle (explaining what the article is about and which other cars feature) and then the article itself. The article is written in a white box, as otherwise the font would have to keep changing colours to accomodate the vast colour changes of the backdrop and the road. This is a good move, because if they kept changing the colours it would be tricky to read, and if they didnt even change colours and kep the text on the background then it would be even harder to read.

This double page spread is what I would expect from a magazine of this calibre, this being two pages filled with one big picture of a variety of cars and little text. I feel that this double page spread has kept in touch with the target audience as the most obvious and main focus of the pages is that of the new car and it's surrounding cars. From the image I could imagine the article to be quite clever and witty, and therefore I feel that this is what this particular target audience would want as I believe that this magazine has done enough market research to distinguish what is required in a good article.

So, from these four double page spreads I have a good idea as to what I will need to rope in my audience.

Image

It seems that the most important theme of the double page spread is the main image, with every image taking up at least one of the two pages. With this in mind, I have decided that I will get one image which covers both pages. I believe that this will capture the reader's attention with a big, bold image crossing two pages.

Font

I will need to use a simple font which is easy to read and nothing too complicated or fancy. I believe that the font will have some say in whether the reader reads the article becuase if it appeals, then the reader is more likely to view the two pages.

Page layout

There should be anything halfway down the page, therefore my page should have no text or any important part of the image running halfway down the two pages.

Content

The content is all relevant. This is important as if the article waffles on and on about irrelevant things then chances are that the reader will move on to a different article.

Drop Down

I noticed that all (bar the Car magazine) have a drop letter at the start of the article. This is to attract the reader and therefore I will include one of these also as I feel that it also makes the article look more attractive.

With all these points in mind, I believe that if I adhere to them then my double page spread will be worthwhile reading and will therefore cover most, if not all, of the key criteria and codes and conventions when creating a double page spread.

Front Cover (Preliminary)

Contents (Preliminary)

Answers to the questions (Preliminary)

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My front cover has the main aspects of the front covers that I reviewed earlier on for this task. I have used a recognizable mast head. The cover is not too cluttered so the audience's attention is affixed on one main point (Sir Galahad) and not lots of cover text. Because this is a one off magazine, the mast head is not particularly recognised down the street, however the name will be known throughout the school and so the mast head is only applicable to the target audience, which were the members of the school mainly.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product does not really represent particular social groups. The closest I have to this being the case is that of a happy school boy on the front cover in a medium close-up shot. This shows how the students at the school are happy and enjoying life at their relevant school. On the contents page, I have an image of someone playing snooker, and so this represents how school life is enjoyable at my school. On my front cover I use a range of bright colours which could represent how there are cheerful colours which mean happy life.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
My media product will be distributed by the school itself as, honestly, I don't really see people walking into WHSmith and buying a magazine about our school. This magazine will be handed out at school as these people and people associated with the school will be the only people interested in my product.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my media product would be three main categories: students of the school, parents who are involved with the school either through their children or as part of the PTA and members of the public who are looking for a change in education for either themselves or for their children. With these three audiences, I feel that it covers enough to mount a serious challenge to other schools.

How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted my audience by using vivid colours and photography of the main grounds. I used an image of a student and a sophisticated looking mast head. These things combined would stand out and so this attracted my audience.
I addressed my audience by using items and objects found around the school. This made sure that I was only addressing my target audience and so I fulfilled my objective.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
During this project, I learnt how to use PhotoShop, iPhoto and, most of all, the actual iMacs which I will be using throughout my media AS. Before I had never used these things and so these were all new items of technology to me. I learnt how to edit and change the format, looks, colour and other things of text, I learnt how to change pictures and how to edit them to make them look more smooth. Overall throughout this project I learnt how to use various softwares which will hopefully come in handy in later life.

Evaluation of Front Cover / Contents page (Preliminary)

In my next blog, I will post the finished products of my front cover and of my contents page. I would do it now, but I forgot to attach them to an e-mail so I don't have them...
Fortunately, however, I managed to attach the smaller screen-shots of my project so I can prove that I did all these things.

Front Cover

To start off with, I loaned out a camera from the library. I then went around the school and took photos of various things, for example the boat outside the bistro, the statue of Sir Galahad, the main building etc.
After I had collected these photos, I uploaded them onto the computer and transferred them onto iPhoto for storage. I took three photos of Sir Galahad, each with the 'rule of thirds' in mind. One photo with the statue on the left, one with it on the right and one with it in the centre. I decided to use the photo with the statue on the far right so that I had room for some text of some sort in case I needed some. Also in my draft front cover I had the statue on the right hand side so I was aiming to stick to my draft.

I was very lucky with the background shot. The sun was in the perfect place for there to be rays of light shimmering through, and blots of colour making the shot look better than it would have done without them. This is the main reason why I chose this shot as a background. There was no need to edit this photo as I thought that it was fine as it was. My next step was to sort out the font, size, colour and style of my masthead. I had already decided that my magazine was to be called 'The Victorian'. From my draft it was clear that there would not be enough room on the bottom of the screen as that is where the feathered images were going to appear, and with my draft stating that the text was going to appear roughly around the top left of the screen, I decided that is where is will go.

My font had to be stylish to go with the theme of a school. After browsing through numerous font types, I came across the style that I felt best suited the magazine front cover. After I selected the font, I realised that it looked very bland and boring as it was:

As you can probably tell, something had to be done about this eyesore. The text was unreadable against the tiled roof. Luckily, Photoshop has a vast array of text edits, which i scrolled through looking for the best combination of edits. Eventually, I chose to use Drop Shadow, Inner Glow, Bevel, Emboss and Gradient (white/black). Here is how it ended up:

Hopefully you will agree that this looks much more respectable than the previous attempt.

Next on my front page agenda was to insert the three images along the bottom of the page. As I said on the draft, these will all be feathered around the edges so the corners don't appear sharp. This was a very easy function to use, all I had to do was select the area I wanted, move up to the feather bar and choose the number of pixels I wanted to be feathered.

When I chose the boat, the shape was too complex to just 'select'. To get round this I used the magnetic lassoo tool, which is a very clever tool that differentiates the colour difference to select an object. It took a while to go round the boat, but I managed to select it and feather it like the other three. Together, the images looked like this:

This is how my front cover came to be. As I said above, you will be able to see it on my next post in full.

Contents Page

The contents page was based on my draft. There was the heading at the top, the pages on one side and the page numbers on the other. I included two images onto the bottom of the page which made the page look less dull. I used the same font to write the whole of the contents page as I used for the front cover.

Again, after writing 'Contents', it looked boring, so I brightened it up a bit with some Inner Shadow, Bevel and Emboss. This is how the heading looked:

These are all the screen shots that I included and, again, you will be able to see the full Contents Page and Front Cover of my Print task in my next post.

Brief contents page (Preliminary)

This is a very, very brief and rough draft of my contents page. There isn't alot to analyse here, it's basically just a normal contents page with headlines and snippets of what else is inside the magazine. There will be a couple of photos posted on the page somewhere and so these will brighten up the page.

Rough Front Cover (Preliminary)

This is a VERY rough draft of my front cover, yet I feel that it will look acceptable when done properly. I hope to use Sir Galahad in my front cover somewhere, probably where it is positioned in this draft.