Analysis of double page spreads

1. ANALYSIS OF
DOUBLE PAGE
SPREADS
AL TERN ATIVE PRESS – 1
K ERRAN G – 2
Q – 3
XXL - 4

2. The title of the article is written in
a large, red, bold serif font which
spans across the two pages. The
font is loud and contrasts against
the image on the left and the
columns of text on the left, making
it stand out and grab the reader’s
attention. Having the title covering
a lot of the page, when the reader
is flicking through pages, the bright
red on the right page will grab
attention and encourage the
reader to pay more attention to the
article, therefore making them
more interested than they first
thought. The blank-ink spill effect
connotes that the band are going
to ‘Spill the ink’ during the article,
so their fans know the ins and
outs. This is good for hard-core
loyal fans as they will want to know
as much about the band as they
possibly can.The contrast between the image
half of the double page and the
article half is effective as it makes
the pages complete opposites.
The use of black and white can
relate to ‘ying and yang’ or ‘good
and evil’ which could foreshadow
the contents of the article, as the
band may tell all on the ups and
downs/the good and the bad of
their career. This will captivate any
potential audiences who will be
interested in any gossip about
other bands.
The use of red as an accent of
the page is affective as it stands
out on every background colour
on the page. The small image in
the furthest right third is
accented with a red transparent
bar across the front man’s eyes.
This can intimidate the reader,
and gives the front man a more
devilish, unapproachable
appearance, which most
alternative rock/metal bands
strive to create. The editing
greyscale image, also gives the
affect of the image being old
and broken down, which relates
to the demonic/devilish affect as
many horror books and films are
set in the past.
This will attract a very niche
audience, those who are
interested in darker, heavier
music will be intrigued to see
what the article is about.
The article has been split into
three columns, the font is small
and sans serif, which makes the
article seem older, much like a
newspaper. The opening line for
the article is a quote from one of
the band members, and is one
of the only pieces of text
throughout the article to be in
red. This creates interest
around any piece of red text
throughout the article and will
make the reader’s eye wander
The image is saturated with a blue hue which makes the setting look cold and run down. This is to further
intimidate the audience by making the band seem fearless and indestructible, the low key lighting also creates
a dark, cold, run down feel to the image. Every member of the bad is looking directly at the camera with dark
makeup around their eyes, this creates a dark mystery for the audience as the shadowing around the eyes
will make the it harder to connect with the band. Thus making the article more important to make the
audience feel more connected.
The band members are all wearing black and grey, with the leading front man wearing slight colour. Every
member is wearing some sort of white or black makeup to make them look more dead. The darkness
around the eyes and pale white skin also makes the band members look like they have not slept, which
links with the idea of demons/vampires. This connotes the stereotypes of the alternative rock/metal music
genre as many people associate heavier music with dark, ‘emo’, or gothic like makeup and clothing.

3. The double page is split into two
columns of text and four
columns of the page. Within this
layout, the picture of Brendon
Urie takes up over two of these
four columns, with text taking up
the rest of the column space.
The positioning of the picture is
crucial as it is the first thing the
reader will see upon turning the
page. Therefore using the image
to cover the whole of the right
page is effective at grabbing
attention. To make Urie stand
out even more, he is wearing a
patterned black and white shirt,
which contrasts against the
background of the page. In
addition to this, the way that Urie
is posing, breaks the fourth wall
which creates direct address and
almost an eye contact like
feature with the audience, this
suggests this is a more personal
article to the editors have made
the picture connect with the
audience more.There is little labelling for
KERRANG! On this page other
than the shade of red and the
page number. This suggests that
the article is more important than
any particular house-style, which
makes it come across as more
of a serious issue. On the other
hand, the stating of the name
and page number indicates how
Urie is an institution equal to the
The background of the page is a
single image. This provides an
introduction to the article and
suggest the prominence of Urie
within the alternative music
genre. In extension the clean
background suggests the
opposite of what the main text
and foreground image suggests.
The font used in collaboration
with the image, suggest a rough,
dark past for Urie, whereas the
clean pinkish background
suggest that it has all been easy
going with no edgy/rough
origins.
The main text of the feature article
is written in the same style as the
majority of KERRANG! Feature
articles but with a more mysterious
tone. The use of the ellipsis is very
common for KERRANG! Although
the wording used, as well as the
main heading and image creates an
eerie mystery to the article. This
makes the article familiar with the
use of the same style, but avoids
repetition and brings something
new to the table with the use of
language and other aspects of the
page.There is very little text, this
reflects the young, image
focussed nature of the
magazine’s audience.
The commonly used colour scheme in KERRANG! Of black, white, red and yellow is not used to its full potential
within this introductory double page spread as it does not include the KERRANG! Yellow. This is more uncommon
for KERRANG! As usually the yellow attracts readers as it grabs attention. Although not using the usual colour
scheme to its full potential, KERRANG! Still uses red, black and white which suggests that the magazine does not
need to display all colours to get the same affect. This suggests the magazine holds a degree of power over artists
like Urie and the readers, as they do not need to see the full house style to recognise and read the article.
The introductory paragraph is written in bold, capitalised typeface resembling that used in the cover lines on the cover of KERRANG! As well
as the other alternative magazines I have looked at. The repetition of the typeface makes the article link with the cover page as well as give the
reader a sense of recognition and familiarity, but not repetition. This exaggerates the importance of Urie (as he was on the cover) and his story.

4. This layout for a double page
spread is very common for Q.
The positioning of the image
covering one half of the page is
used to grab the readers
attention when they are flicking
through the magazine. As the
image is on the right side of the
double page, it is the first thing
the reader will see whilst
turning the page, this allows
readers to see the image and
therefore receive interest in an
article that the previously were
not interested in. To prevent
this layout appearing boring, Q
have split the text into many
smaller paragraphs with bold
highlighted key phrases and
words. AS well as this, they
have placed images between
the two columns of text to
break up the text so that is not
overwhelming. This breaks up
the page and keeps the reader
focused on the page for a
greater amount of time.The font used matches the title
and the quote on the opposite
page. This creates a house like
affect, which will feel personal
and familiar to the audience.
This makes it easier for the
reader to navigate throughout
the magazine as the typeface
is the same.
The background of the page is plain and
white. This looks clean and professional
and is commonly used by Q to give a
polished look. The images used are
edited with a muted filter to look more
rough and to give a more decayed,
industrial appearance. This is common
for alternative music artists. In extension,
the high key lighting is artificial and
creates barely any shadowing, this is so
the audience can see the band more
clearly. The use of lighting gives an
opposite affect to the editing of the
image. The image has been edited to
look old, whereas the lighting gives the
image a newer more modern feel. This
will entice the reader to look at the image
with depth and then have a look at the
text.
Over the image there is a small box
which is edited using colours that the
band members are wearing. This makes
the overall page look more aesthetically
more appealing and more polished and
put together. As well as this, the text box
has also been edited to make it more
translucent so that the image of the band
is not being blocked by anything. This
suggests that the image of the band is
more important than what the band has
to say. Yet it can also connote that
nothing will stand in the way of the band.
The text used for the article on the page is in a small, sans serif typeface which is clear and easy to
read. The text is made to look professional and serious, whereas the image of the band is made to
look the opposite. This is affective as it helps to reach all ends of the age demographic. The
younger end of the age demographic will be more interested in the image, whereas the older end of
the age demographic will be commonly more interested in the text.
The typeface used for the article
represents the maturity of the older age
demographic of Q’s audience, as it is
easy and clear to read but looks
professional and classy, it corresponds to
what that audience will be more
interested in. Which helps to distinguish
who reads what articles.
The column of images placed in between the two columns of text attract the younger age
demographic of Q’s audience. This is because the younger audience will be more attracted to
images and will prefer to understand the article through the use of images rather than the text. The
red text that is used as anchorage text for the images breaks up the text and images even more to
make the page look boring and repetitive.

5. This double page spread is split in
half with the space divided between
text and images. To prevent the
layout looking boring and effortless,
the text is split into two columns with
one drop letter. This design breaks
up the page and keeps the reader
focussed on the page for a longer
amount of time.Similarly to Q, the double page
spread features at least a whole
page of image and the opposite side
of text. Although the image of the
artist is covering more than half of
the double page. This suggests that
who the artist is, is more important
than what the article is about.
Having Jay Z covering more of the
double page also suggests that he
is of more importance than anything
else, and image is more important
than anything else, which is
common for the hip-hop music
genre. However unlike Q, in the
image used in XXL features no
caption, props or setting. This
suggests that those featured in the
image do not need an introduction
or support.
There is also no title on the page, only
a small amount of text which suggests
his album and not anything about this
article. As well as this the largest
amount of text on the page is the
name of the artist. This therefore
exaggerates both the importance of
infamy of many rap artists as they
don’t feel the need to introduce
themselves. The position of the image
and the lack of a title narrows the
audience for the magazine to a very
Instead of a title, the article opens
with a large quote. As a result the
contents of this opening paragraph
are shown to b newsworthy and
important in the hip-hop genre. The
image used makes Jay Z look
intimidating as he is not afraid to look
straight into the camera lens. This
style of image is usually used to
show aggression, which is common
for the hip-hop genre as artists are
shown to be powerful. It also allows
the audience to connect with the
article more as the use of direct
address makes the article feel more
personal and easier to connect with.The colour scheme used is
monochrome, with the only colour on
the double page being the image of
Jay Z. This further suggests that the
image of Jay Z is the most important
feature across the pages. As the
colour attracts the human eye,
although the image is not the first
thing the reader will see upon turning
the page, it will catch their eye and
make them stop and spend more
time on the page than they first
thought. This is effective as it gets
readers to spend more time reading
the magazine and being attracted to
more articles than they first
anticipated.
The image used is an extreme close up shot which uses artificial lighting from the left side to
put emphasis on the left side of his face. This exaggerates his prominent and very famous
features of his eyes, nose and lips. The pose used gives Jay Z a statuesque quality that
reflects the fame focussed nature of the hip-hop industry. Furthermore the shadows created
by the artificial lighting shows the imperfect and dark side of Jay Z, which connotes the start
of his career. As the beginning of Jay Z’s life was dark and hard going. It also suggests the
dark side of the hip-hop industry and exaggerates the concept of infamy.
The use of different length columns
shows the irregularity of the hip-hop
genre as hip-hop music is known for
describing the artists lives as through
their highs and lows.