This document summarizes and analyzes three double page spreads from alternative music magazines. It discusses the layouts, visual elements, and tactics used in each spread. The spreads profile Mark Ronson, an unnamed Gallagher brother, and Lady Gaga. Key points examined include the use of titles, photos, text formatting, colors, and placement of elements to attract and guide readers' attention. The analyses suggest the spreads aim to intrigue readers with gossip, portray celebrities as relatable, and push readers to consume the provided content through strategic design choices.

1. This is a Double Page Spread taken from alternative music magazine NME. The layout of this double
page spread (DPS) is very catchy to the eye, this is because it is very bold and uses thick black colours
on a white background. This will help the pictures and text to stand out. Additionally, there is only
one photo of Mark Ronson smashing up a trumpet. This is entertaining for the reader as the title
states it is his ‘revenge’ which adds the idea of gossip into the magazine. This is romanticised to
stand out to the reader. The title itself can be seen to be breaking conventions of a DPS as it starts
on the left hand side rolling up the page and proceeds to state the name of an artist running along
top of the pages. The photo itself is extremely simplistic with a man sitting down in stylish attire,
with a hammer in hand and a broken trumpet on the floor. To a reader this screams ‘stories’ as this
is peculiar for a musician to be destroying an instrument, it will entice the reader to find out what
the photo is about by reading the text. The text itself is simplistic in the idea that it is black text on a
white background, with no really colour change to emphasise key points. However, there is a box
present within the text box itself. This has a quote from the musician in it and thus highlights the
most important part of the article. Although this article seems to be very simple, it has a complex
system of boxes. The text and title have boxes outlining its borders as does the starting character.
These boxes overlap and can draw attention towards them. This is counterproductive as, even
though it will draw the eye to the text box itself, it will keep drawing the eye to the overlapped
areas. This doesn’t seemed to be aimed at a particular sex as there are no defining features of the
article and can be concluded it is gender neutral. Alternative music doesn’t follow the general
conventions and neither does this magazine DPS as it overlays boxes, has the title running up the
side and having no indication of what page number this magazine is.

2. Another DPS taken from Alternative music magazine, NME. For a DPS to be effective it should state
what the article is about with a title, just as the previous one stated it was about Mark Ronson, this
however, relies on a picture to inform the reader what the article is about and can be seen to not
cater to the general reader but more specify to those heavily interested in the music industry. Even
though the photo is of a household name, it can still be seen as lazy. The pages foll ow, what seems
to be, the conventions of Double Page Spreads, with one side being covered by the photo (right) and
the other side (left) being covered by text. The picture itself it effective in its colours as it has the
bright details separate from the text side. This allows the text to be clear and visible by being
coloured white on a dark background. The photo seems to be of a ‘Gallagher Brother’ and shows him
in a pub with cigarette in hand and what can be assumed to be alcohol in a cup to his right. He is
situated in front of big speakers. This can portray the image that, although he is a high flying
celebrity, he is still seen as an average Joe whom likes to go to the pub. The speakers behind can
show that he had just done a pub gig, these are very intimate and can make the reader hope that he
goes to a pub gig to seem them. The article as a whole is very simple and only 4 key points of
interest. The photo, the text, the big quote and the second photo with a small quote. This is a very
basic article. The use of teal colour for the starting character of a paragraph doesn’t seem to fit in
with the mood of the article but in turn can draw the attention of the reader to it. Additionally this
seems to be aimed at older men as they are generally associated with pubs. The quote induces
interest in the readers’ eyes as it creates an action scene and gossip that the audience with feel
intrigued to reader. This almost forces the reader into reading it to understand its origins. The Photo
at the top right of the DPS seems to be of the whole band, this can represent how they are all still
important to Gallagher as they are shown with his photo. The black and white edit on the photo
draws attention to it as it seems to be out of place with the larger photo.

3. Taken From Q. This is an article on Lady GaGa. This is a extremely basic article having only 3 points of
interest. The photo (right), the main text (left) and the giant ‘L’ (left). The photo is obviously aimed at
men as it shows Lady GaGa topless, covering her breasts with her hands and a flamboyant necklace
and looking seductively at the camera. Additionally, the lack of colour in the photo is extremely basic
and relies on the content itself to sell the picture. This is portraying GaGa as a sex icon, aimed at
teens with a big libido and men. There is a very large quantity of text within the article that seems to
span an entire page, this also follows the convention of having 3 Columns of text, and however, the
separated key paragraphs seem to not have the larger character at the beginning. The ‘S’ is shown
clearly and means that the new section is starting, while the very first character of the whole text
doesn’t start with a bigger character. The final key point of interest is the giant red ‘L’ that covers the
text. This can be seen as a nuisance to the reader as it consistently draws attention from the point
they are in the text to the big ‘L’. Furthermore due to the lack of colour within the article as a whole
this draws all attention to it. Although this may be annoying it can actually be seen as very tactical.
To avoid the reader only looking the photo and not reading the text, the ‘L’ seems to push the reader
to read. It acts as a reminder that there is text within this DPS and it should be seen! The colour of
the ‘L’ also follows the convention of the magazine as it seems to have the colour scheme Red on
White throughout. The simplistic nature of the DPS can either be viewed as lazy or tactical. Lazy
because there is a lack of colour and relies on content alone, or tactical for the same reason. The
magazine is aimed at those interested in the music industry and in turn doesn’t need to use fancy
colour and pictures to draw them in, it uses their interest in music and thirst for knowledge as a key
selling point.