Double page spread analysis

Q feature on Muse Resistance album

Q magazine as a high quality music monthly magazine, doesn’t have many double page spreads instead has longer articles spread out by pictures covering entire pages. The feature article about Muse in the issue I’ve looked at is 8 pages long 3 being entirely images the rest being a mix of images and text, I think this shows a good variety of layouts for magazine articles following convention while continuing a strong house style throughout.

The pages have a formal conventional layout of three columns of text per page, it uses a serif font which helps to represent the serious nature of the magazine. The double page image at the start of the article represents the band in a similar way to how they are represented in their advertising, wearing futuristic looking clothes (silver suits, weird glasses) looking very powerful as they are looking slightly down on the camera with a direct mode of address, eyes hidden by their glasses with a Photoshop made reflection to give them control of ‘the gaze’ and looking more intimidating, the standfirst at the bottom continues the references to the band being weird and Matt Bellamy being crazy a strong theme of the article and a selling point used on the front cover of the issue. It also references the name of their new album to make it clear what the article is about.

The text is presented formally with margins around the page and indented paragraphs, with a clear heading at the top of each page. The article starts with a large font with a typesetting that covers the width of the column, this technique is quite a common way to show the start of a piece of writing and is part of the house style using it to separate out the article starting with a larger letter than at other breaks in the text. Images and pull quotes included within the columns or for larger images laid out over two columns so as to not interrupt the formal presentation of the magazine.

Other images throughout the article show the band in a similar way to the first image, with slightly comic captions continuing the selling point of the lead singer being weird. However there is a variety of other images showing the band working on the album, Bellamy at home or the band playing a gig, these give some variation to the colours of the article, while giving slightly more insight by showing the band at work or showing the band when they were younger, this appeals to the target audience as a lot of them will be Muse fans and will be interested in anything related to the band.

The article also includes red boxes (to fit with the House style colour pallet) with images and text explaining some things that are referenced to in the article, this is a common convention in magazine articles and is used often to show extra facts about the band that aren’t related enough to be fitted into the main article. In this article the boxes are used to compare Music videos by the band and also one explaining some conspiracy theories Bellamy believes-to include this in the article would be considerable deviation. By putting it separate it allows the audience to ignore it or read it if this extra insight to the band interests them, appealing to fans of the band within the target audience without putting off readers who aren’t as interested.

The writing describes the way members of the band act during the interview quite a lot to give a strong impression of their personality, it is well written chronologically to be interesting and in depth than a straight forward printing of questions and answers. The author speaks to the audience as intelligent people who fit the reader profile, assuming they don’t believe conspiracy theories and live normal lives and are quite intelligent- thus buying into the selling point that Bellamy is crazy.

NMEFeature article on Kaiser Chiefs new image

The feature article on the Kaiser Chiefs in NME spreads over 4 pages, a double page spread and two single pages separated by a advert page. Throughout the article the magazine keeps to it’s colour pallet of red, black and white to show the House style.

There are several images across the article, not all confined to bordered squares, one image of the band pokes out from behind text, and there is a page size image of the lead singer cut out and used as part of the design on the first page of the article. This is done to make the images look more dynamic and the design less controlled and more creative, as opposed to Q, NME doesn’t confine itself strictly between margins and borders, this is as the target audience is younger also as the magazine is weekly. The bordered images throughout the article have been edited to look as if taped and nailed to a wall crudely, this design has been done to appeal to teenagers who can relate to the disorganised look as they will be the main target audience for this article in the magazine.

The standfirst has been reversed out over a roller paint graphic, a reference to rebellion, linking in with the Star Image of the band. The only part highlighted is “the angry mob”, the phrase NME has chosen to describe the new Image the band are trying to create for themselves. This roller paint graphic could represent covering up the bands old Image. The way the typesetting has been done references to an album cover by the band, this was done so that fans of the band would find it easier to recognise the article as related to the band despite the band name not being in a large font at the start of the article.

Throughout the article the magazine uses pull quotes to show opinions from the band to try and draw in the reader by appealing to their similarities the quotes chosen are all quite agreeable statements this would appeal to the audience as they aspire to be like their music idols and this insight to their past and opinions allows them to relate.

The article also has a feature at the end comparing the Kaiser Chiefs with other bands of the same genre to see if they have stuck to their original independent roots. As an indie magazine this concept would appeal to it’s target audience, as indie fans who stereotypically dislike anything mainstream, and although this may not be true in practise most indie fans hold strong the belief that it is more about the music than money as are the values of the magazine.

The Jazz Rag Feature article on Gerry Salisbury’s career at 80.

The Jazz Rag keeps to a very simple layout, With a large image at the start at the article and only 3 throughout the text spread over three pages. The simple fonts and layout of 4 columns of small text per page and not many images continue the house style which represents the magazine as serious and professional, this shows the target audience are more interested in quality content than loads of pictures, this is re-enforced by the fact that captions on pictures simple state who is in them and where, not trying to be comical or stylised in any way unlike major music magazines.

The standfirst is very straight forward, introducing whom the article is about making references to other publications and people involved with the genre, which it expects it’s target audience will understand as fans of Jazz.

The text at the start is a larger font to draw the reader in, the style in which the article is written is again very direct to the point, including long quotes from the artist featured reading semi-autobiographically. This works to portray the artist well, unlike other magazines for example Q which tries to misrepresent Matt Bellamy as crazy to create interest. The Jazz Rag portrays mature values of just enjoying music rather than trying to escalate gossip to use as a selling point.

At the end of the article in includes in it house style of shaded boxes or a simple structured design two insert from other musicians as to their opinion on the featured artist, this is done in a complimentary way by the artists friends. This keeps to the magazines values by being relevant to music (as opposed to Q which includes information about conspiracy theories in the same manner) while still adding something a little more to the very minimalistic design of the article.