This document analyzes magazine covers, contents pages, and double page spreads. It summarizes features of covers from NME, VIBE, and XXL magazines, including prominent placement of mastheads, use of artist photos to showcase featured content, and inclusion of article headlines and incentives. Contents pages are summarized as highlighting main articles, arranging additional content clearly, and using photos and formatting consistently with covers. Double page spreads are summarized as expanding articles across two facing pages through continuous photos, headlines, and plain designs that focus attention on the written content.

1. Magazine covers, contents pages
and double page spreads analysis
By Ollie Davison

2. Covers

3. This NME magazine cover is an effective magazine
cover as it clearly shows the recognisable masthead in
the top left hand corner, it is big enough to be
recognisable from a distance as people walk past in
shops but not too big that it dominates the magazine
cover and takes up space for other important
information. Also the picture of Tyler, the Creator is
the main feature of the cover as his photo spans the
entire vertical length of the cover and around half of
the width. His clothing is chosen to allow the
trademark red colour scheme of the magazine to still
be used for the text and it be clearly visible to show
readers what the issue contains. The main articles
from the magazine are displayed on the front page, by
having "I don't give a shit about a royal wedding" at
the time of the Will and Kate royal wedding created
controversy as it provided an opposite stance to every
other magazine at the time, by having gripping quotes
from articles within the magazine it helps to sell
magazines. Finally it advertises a free gift with the
magazine in the top right hand corner which is an
incentive for people to buy the magazine.
nnno

4. The mast head ‘VIBE’ dominates the top third
of the magazine cover, the name is in very
large bold capital letters with a black color
fading into red and is easily recognisable even
though part of the word is hidden by the
artist. There are sell lines positioned either
side of the artist which show the most
appealing articles within the issue as an
effective way of selling the magazine, they also
use the same color scheme as the rest of the
magazine cover. The artist is positioned in the
middle third of the magazine with the artists
head partially covering the masthead, this
draws attention to the artist who is well
known to show readers what this issue
contains. By having a plain background colour,
attention is drawn towards the masthead and
the sell lines.
nnp

5. With this magazine the masthead is once again in
the top left hand corner in large bold capital letters
to catch the readers eye, also the artist is
positioned to look straight down the camera in
order to have the impression the reader is being
stared at. The artist is dressed in smart clothing to
set a business like tone for the magazine, this is
further implied by the sell lines on the left above
the artists name reading ‘Strictly business’. This
magazine has a red background unlike the white of
the other two, however it does not draw attention
away from the masthead or the sell lines as it is
not patterned.
nonn

6. Contents

7. This contents page is from XXL magazine, it has
the issue’s main article in large letters, it has
another large photo in the middle third which
will relate strongly to the photo on the cover,
the picture however will be smaller than the
one on the cover as the focus of this page is on
the different articles which the issue contain.
The article titles are in a larger font size with
brief information about each one in a slightly
smaller font size beneath. Articles regarding the
cover stories are found separate from the others
and are on the left hand side split by the photo
of the artist. This is to easily show readers the
main articles within the issue. The date of the
issue’s release is shown above the vertical
columned articles to show readers this is the
latest issue. A plain color scheme is used to not
draw attention away from the money, therefore
the light blues are effective as making it appear
more appealing without shifting attention.
nnnnn

8. A white and black color scheme is primarily used
with the only real colour coming from the red heart
held in place by the mysterious and intriguing hand
coming from behind Kanye’s back. As this is the
only colour on this page the eye is instantly drawn
towards it, as it is a heart in connotes that the
article may contain information on Kanye West’s
personal love life. The word ‘contents is laid out
stylistically in a bold, striking font, this abstract way
of presenting the header gives the magazine an
iconic style. The large ‘V’ in the background stands
for the magazines title ‘VIBE’ and is placed there
for a subtle reminder of the magazine. The
background is plain and simple which draws
attention to the foreground which is a serious
picture of Kanye West who’s look fits with the
general tone of the rest of the contents page. The
simple lay out makes the contents page easy to
understand for the reader which is one of the most
important things about a contents page.
nnnnn

9. This NME magazine’s contents page has a clear
header to show both the magazine name and the
contents as they are both written in large bold
lettering and span the entire top of the page. It has
a picture of the Artic Monkeys who this issue is
based on with the article on them shown in larger
writing directly beneath the photo and separate
from the list of the other articles the issue contains
as it is the main article that is selling this issue. The
contents are in a vertical column on the right hand
side of the page and are arranged into sub headings
so readers have an easy job of locating articles they
are interested in reading. It follows a simple colour
scheme in order to make the readers job easy to
locate different articles quickly.
nnno

10. Double page
spread

11. This is a double page spread from Q
magazine, it’s purpose is to be able
to expand one article across two
pages whilst keeping the
information together, this particular
article is on Jay-z and shows a full
page picture of the artist on the left
to clearly show at a first glance what
the double page spread is about. A
highlight of the article is copied and
placed in quotation marks in the
bottom right hand corner of the
photo in large red letters to bring
attention to it and show the reader
what sort of topics the article
discusses. The right hand side of the
page is plain apart from the writing of the article, this is because readers will want the
information provided to them as simple as possible. The only design on this side of the page
is the large red ‘J’ which stands for ‘Jay-Z’ which is added for readers to easily see the two
pages are related to each other. The color scheme used is a red and white scheme which is
mostly plain as the information provided is the main aspect of this double page spread.
nnpn

12. This double page spread is from an
NME magazine and features the band
‘Kasabian’. It shows a picture of the
band on the left page which
completely covers the page, the photo
also slightly overlaps onto the right
page with the effect of showing
readers the two pages are linked to
each other. The article also has a
heading which shows the band name
in large bold lettering which overlaps
the two pages and also begins on the
photo and crosses over to above the
text of the article. Underneath the
band name there is a paragraph in
larger writing than the rest of the article which highlights some of the more interesting
quotes from the article to give the reader a preview of the article and what it contains
before they read it. The colour scheme used is plain to not draw the readers attention away
from the information the article contains.
nnnpn

13. This double page spread features
popular rap artist EMINEM, the
colour scheme used in this double
page spread is clever as it uses plain
colours that do not draw attention
away from the text or the picture of
the artist but also make the colours
appear appealing, this is done by
swapping the standard white
background with black text around.
The picture of the artist spans both
pages and is very large to show the
reader who the article is about, it
also has in large bold lettering the
name of the artist as a header of the
article.Once again the article starts with a quotation from EMINEM himself which follows a theme
of the rest of the article, it serves as a preview for readers. Finally EMINEM is wearing sports
clothes which shows he is not a fashion icon, it allows readers to associate him with his laid
back attitude and appreciate how he sticks to his roots.
nnon