Analysis of NME double page spread

1. The basic layoutshowsthe use of space
isa grid made up of the mainheadline,
sub-heading, use of imagesandthe
columnsof text and a by-line onthe right
page.The space on the page isbeing
usedinthis simple formsothat the
audience caneasilyreadthe article and
can clearlysee the imagesplacedthere
ina mainfocal pointto keeptheir
interest.These imagesare of a stereo
and speakersandglassbottles,
connotinga message acrossto the
audience of musicat a party and
suggestingthe artistexperiencesthese
thingsregularly, creatingthe overall
impressionthatmusichas had a huge
impacton the artist’slifestyle,makingit
more notoriousandfun.These images
are placedbehindthe texttomake them
more subtle onthe page,but showing
how theyare linkedtothe main
headline.
The main headline ‘fromtags to
riches’immediatelygrabsthe
audience’sattentionasitwill be the
firstthingtheysee onthisright
page.Thisheadline setsthe story
and moodfor the article,tellingthe
audience thatDizzee Rascal (the
mainfocusof the article) had an
interestingraffiti (‘tags’) before he
became famous(‘riches’).
Therefore,the mainheadlineisvery
significanttothe article asit setsthe
scene before the audiencereadon.
The language usedhere isquite
informal, andstreet/slang–like, to
furtherconveythe image of street-
life andgraffiti,andayounger
Dizzee Rascal showingtroublesome
behaviour.
The sub-headingisa sentence
placedbelow the mainheadline that
givesa little more detailaboutthe
article that the audience are about
to read,and brieflydescribeswhat
the article isabout.
The by-line isa small description
nextto the mainheadline,telling
the audience whowrote and
publishedthisspecificarticle and
whotook the picturesforit,
ensuringtheyare creditedfortheir
work.
The drop cap is the firstletterof
everyarticle beinginalargeror
fancierfont, like howthe ‘Y’is
denotedandappearstothe
audience here.Thisisthere tograb
theirattentiononce againasit isin
a largerfont,but it alsosetsthe
scene forthe article.Furthermore,it
preparesthe audience toreadthe
article as theywill see the dropcap
and knowitis the beginningof the
article.
The main image isthe biggestand
mostsignificantimage relatingtothe
article.Forthisarticle,itis the image
of Dizzee Rascal thattakesup the
whole leftpage. The artistis
positionedinthe centre of the image
to showthat he is the mainfocus
pointinthe image.The bright colours
such as pinkandgreeninthe
backgrounddenote spraypaintingand
graffiti andthe artistis holdingaspray
paintcan prop whichalso showsthat
he is upto no good,as well asmake
the page vibrantandaesthetically
exciting.The indirectaddressishow
he is addressingthe audience.The
lack of eye contact andintimacy
betweenhimself andthe audience
createsa sense of not wantingtobe
seen,connotingfurtherthathe isup
to mischief andthereforehisstoryin
the article will be about his
mischievouspast.
There are nograb quoteson this
particulardouble page spread,
therefore itmovesawayfromthe
usual conventionsof amagazine
double page spread.A grab quote is
a quote takenfromthe article,
aboutwhat the artist said,inlarger
and bolderfontthanthe othertext
so that itstandsout, while itis
integratedinwith(fitinto) the rest
of textonthe page.This isto give
the audience aquickand exciting
snippetintowhatthe artistsays,
whichintereststemintoreadingthe
whole article.
The imageshave captions to give
detailsaboutwhatisgoingon inthe
image, tellingthe audiencewhatcan
be denoted(seen).
The page numbers state clearlywhichpage this
is,so that the audience cannavigate through
the differentsectionsandarticlesof the
magazine withease,andfindthe article they
are lookingfortoread.The numbersare
usuallyplacedatthe bottomcornersso the
audience canquicklylookandfindacertain
page.
The font of the article followsthe conventionsof usingsans-serif tokeepastandard
format,whichlooksprofessional.The article textis in columns to make it easyfor
the audience toread,and issmallerin size thanthe main headlinesothat all of the
article can be seen,toensure the audience doesn’tgetconfused.Also,the bold
largerfontin the headline makesitjumpoutstraightawayand catchesthe
audience’seye,aswell asmakingthe article seemmore dynamictolookat,as the
youngertargetaudience wouldwantsomethingfuntolookatrightaway.