iDJ Double Page Spread Research (3)

Here is an analysis of a double page spread contained within the magazine 'iDJ'. The things which are going to be analysed are the factors which benefit and don't benefit the article, and this will help me with creating my own double page spread.

The first piece what catches my attention on this double page spread it the main image, which is similar to many other double page spreads which was researched. The main image has been placed as the background for the double page spread which creates a more attractive page all round. The background is of a light grey colour, then the artist within the image is dressed in all black, with his face painted white, which allows him to stand out from the rest of the page. The colour of the text on the article is white, which again allows it to stand out from the background and the main image, separating the two. The double page spread being analysed is the one which is advertised on the front page, which means many people could have bought this magazine just to read this particular article. The shot which has been used for the image is a medium close up, focusing on the main features of the character within the image. Although there isn't a particularly obvious setting for the background, there are still features which may interest the audience, for example, the character is being showered with water to show he has power, and it also creates a stereotypical image of him because of the genre of music which he produces. The font which has been used for the main headline on the page relates to the characters genre of music, and maybe his personality, which seems to be punk. This is again why the dark colours have been used for this article. The article carries a particular colour scheme to allow the page to co-ordinate correctly, for example, only grey, white and black have been used because they all fit together, whereas if these colours was used aswell as bright colours such as yellow the colour scheme wouldn't be particularly suited for the article.

The ideology for this magazine is again to inspire the audience and to represent the character in the article as someone you would like to be like. Many people who read or are interested in this article will be somewhat like the character in the article, whether it's their sense of music or their personality.

The target audience for the article would be those interested in the genre of music which is being discussed within the article. Also those who maybe share similiar opinions to the person which is in the article.

Overall, the various features which have been included on the page represent the genre of music and the band member by using certain techniques. The page could have been made to look more interesting by maybe adding a slightly more interesting image with preferably more colours which would of suited the colour scheme well and something could have been added to the characters costume to also make him look more interesting rather than just wearing a black outfit with a white painted face, but the producer has done the image like that because it represents the article. The page has been set out fairly well, with the text being placed to the left hand side, then the character on the right, as though he's looking at the text. But overall, the page is fairly good compared to how some other double page spreads have been represented which was researched.

Music magazine cover draft

Q Double Page Spread Research (2)

Here I am going to analyse a double page spread from the magazine 'Q', analysing double page spreads such as this one will help me with the making of my own double page spread and allow me to gain various ideas on what I want to contain on my double page spread.

This double page spreads differentiates from other double page spreads because the main image takes up the whole of the page, and the text is then placed on top in a contrasting colour to the background, whilst also managing to stick with a particular colour scheme. Through research, it has been found that it is very common for Q to use the text placed on to of full image for their double page spreads and the majority found did have a full image with the article text placed on top in the contrasting colour.

The main image has been taken in medium shot, and the mise-en-scene is a prison line-up, creating a certain image of the characters, which is making them look rebellious. The characters in the shot look arrogant and stuck up, which allows the setting and their selves to come together to create a whole representation of the band. The photograph has been taken as the band members are revealing themselves in a mid action shot, suggesting that they have a dark side to them. The main headline for the page has been put in the same colour as the whole article, which doesn't separate the text from the headline much, but they've used font size as a different technique. 'New to Q' is headline placed at the top of the left page, and is also a regular feature, it is coloured red, which is the typical well known colour for Q.

The institution for Q is 'EMAP' and is a large global company which also institutes a large number of other magazines, giving Q a reliable institution that is beneficial for them. 

The ideology for the magazine has again been presented, like other magazines, to inspire their target audience to be like the band members. They're dressed in a particular way to make the readers aware of their dress sense so that they think it's cool and start dressing like that too, creating a stereotype of people like this. The whole idea of rebellion in the image is given off because of the mise-en-scene and attitudes of the characters, and this reflects their genre music to make it seem as though everyone who produces or listens to that music genre is like the stereotype associated with it.

The target audience for this magazine would be those interested in the genre of music presented throughout the whole magazine, and in this case it is alternative music. The majority of the readers would have to enjoy the music discussed in the magazine to be interested in what's in the magazine.

Overall, the various techniques and features in the magazine create a certain image of the band, which is then passed on the the audience in an effective way. Like most other double page spreads, other colours could have been added to the page to make certain features stand out, but because of the background being the main image, it would have been tricky to have tied in the different colours so that it suited the theme of the page.

NME Double Page Spread Research

This is a double page spread for the magazine 'NME,' which are a very popular music magazine produced weekly in the UK.

The first thing which stands out to a reader of the magazine would be the main image, which is placed on the left hand side, placed on top of the page is a main headline quoting 'The Chapman Family.' The characters on the image have been presented to look like a stereotypical family, hence the main headline saying 'The Chapman Family', but with a difference, there is no variation in ages. The setting of the main image seems to be in a typical family home, but there is a lot more members than the average family, also the variation of ages which makes it unique compared to a stereotypical family.

The text from the double page spread has been placed on the right hand side, and has been laid out very traditionally and there is nothing fancy about the layout of it. Like the majority of magazines, there has been a quote placed randomly in the middle of the text, this is to create encouragement for the reader to read the full article and not just look at the images. The main image has been placed on the right hand side and is the first place where the reader will look before reading the article itself. The image seems to follow a particular theme, which allows the text to tie in with it. The text doesn't look like it's purposely been placed their giving off the impression that it's part of the image and not a separate feature. The main image also looks like the setting hasn't been purposely created for the image and it looks as though it's just been taken in the spare of the moment.  Above the main image is a brief description of the article, which the reader would usually read first, and has been written to again encourage them to carry on reading throughout the article.

The language presented in the double page spread makes the characters in the main image look inspirational, and allow the audience to want to be like them. The camera angle used by the photographer is a group medium long shot, which has been used so that all the characters could be included in the shot and also so that the scene could be included.

Throughout the page, a colour scheme has been created, which contains a couple of colours and allows the page to look professional rather than containing alot of various colours, which would make the page look very unprofessional and as though it had been created by a child.

The target audience for this double page spread would be those interested in similiar music to what the characters would listen to and those who would have similiar interest as the characters in the main image. This is because the characters have been presented as aspirational, which encourages the audience to want to be like them.

Representations have been created in the double page spread to reflect the target audience, for example the style of the characters in the main image and their taste in music. The representations will also influence the audience on things such as what they listen to, what they dress like etc.

Overall, the double page spread is very plain and the only feature which attracts the audience to them is the main image, which is what most double page spreads do anyway. A wider variation of colours could have possibly been used to attract attention to other certain features but the page seems very limited on what it contains image wise.

iDJ Contents Page Research (3)

Here i am going to analyse the contents page of another well known magazine, iDJ, otherwise known as International DJ.

The images are the first thing what catches the audiences attention, a cluster of images have been placed on the left hand side due to people reading from left to right, and also people usually look at images before reading the pieces of text. If the images interest the audience, it will encourage them to read through the text, and lots of images have been placed on this page so it encourages the readers to read through the whole magazine. The splash of the magazine has been layed out differently to the other magazines i have analysed, for example the previous magazine have both had the contents placed down the left hand side, where as this magazine doesn't, making is unique to others. The settings and images represented to the audience in the images relate to the magazine genre, which is what should always be done because the magazine has been made for those who want to read that particular genre so if the images contain representations of different genres it will discourage the audience from reading it. Placed on top of the images are the page numbers where the articles are placed within the magazine, the page numbers have significantly been separated from the images by being put in a block of a contrasting colour, with white coloured numbers placed on top. This particular scheme is carried on throughout the whole contents page, for example, on the banner at the bottom. Within the banner is the much needed information for the reader in case they feel the need to contact the magazine, which is contact details and who wrote what in the magazine. The banner is separated from the rest of the magazine because of the boldness of the colour, but it still fits in the the rest of the contents page. The text on the contents page differentiates from the whole of the contents page because no pink is within it like the rest of the features on the magazine, instead they have used boldness of text to separate the subtitles from the description of the articles.

The contents page itselfs looks very sophiscated and professional, this may be due to the magazine being of a higher cost than the average magazine. The magazine costs around £4, which is expensive, especially to those with a low economic spending power.

Judging from the contents page, it is assumed that the target audience are those of a high economic spending power, because of the price, of an age between 18-30, those of both genders, and who take an interest in the music presented within the magazine.

Overall, the contents page has been presented to suit it's target audience and their style, whilst still looking professional. More variation of colour could have been used to attract attention to certain articles and they could have used images which had more of a meaning to them.

iDJ Magazine Cover Research (3)

Here i am analysing the magazine cover of iDJ, i have chose to analyse this magazine because it contrasts with my research from other magazine due to their genres.

The first thing on this front cover which attracts attention to the audience would be the masthead and main cover line. Although for most magazine, the masthead is the first thing which is looked at, but the main cover line attracts just as much attention. The selling line is placed below the mast head, which is a short description of the masthead. The font colour of he mast head is white, making it contrast with the background, which is coloured black. The main cover line ties in the the background because the font is the same as the lighting in the background. The background suggests the models are at a rave, which are very common social places for people who enjoy the genre of music in this magazine. Only the silhouettes of the models are visible on the main image, this may be because of the setting which they want to be represented to the audience. The selling line beneath the main cover line is encouraging the reader to buy the magazine because it insinuates that the information which is included within the magazine can't be read in any other magazines but this one. The other selling lines beneath the main cover line follow a particular colour scheme which seperates subtitles from following information which encourages the reader to read on. A banner is placed at the top of the magazine, which is again is encouraging the reader to buy the magazine to think that they're going to win something from buying the magazine. The banner has been made to stand out from other selling lines because it has a burgandy background, which has only been placed once more at the bottom of the magazine, so it has been seperated from all other information. At the bottom of the magazine is the second banner, which contains a piece of text saying 'The DJ & Dance Producer's Bible' which insinuates that you only really read the magazine if you're really into this genre of music, due to it being referred to as a 'bible'.

The main image for the cover has been created to catch the audiences attentions and to inspire them, for example, the rave scene in this image will encourage readers to attend particular events like these, and the main image refers to the genre of music presented in the magazine. All of the various selling lines on the cover have been placed around the image, so that all the attention is attracted to the main image, except the main selling line quoting 'orbital' which is placed almost on top of the image because its been made to look like it's part of the image itself. The whole settings of the image on the front cover also allows the audience to feel part of it because of the eye contact the characters are giving, although this is not obvious, you can tell that they're looking at the reader.

The magazine has been presented to suit their ideal target audience, and in iDJ's case, their target audience is based on the music genre, which is dance/electro, which also again explains the setting of the main image. The various selling lines also suit the target audience because of the types of events and DJ's mentioned on them. The magazine has targeted those of a high economic spending power due to the price of the magazine being almost £4. Although this is a monthly issued magazine, it is still high in price for those of a lower or working class, who may not be able to afford this. The social classes relate to the events which are presented in the magazine because the events are mostly expensive ones, which only those of a higher class would be able to afford.

Overall, the magazine cover has used affective ways to allow the opinions to be made by the audience and also to reflect the genre of music. The producers has used certain techniques which make the main image seem very realistic and give the audience a real feel of what it is like to like that genre of music and the things that are involved with the liking of the genre of music.

Q Contents Page Research (2)

Here i am going to analyse my second contents page for my research on music magazines.

The main outstanding features of this contents page is the main presented image of a recent band 'The Courteeners' and the masthead. The masthead is placed at the very top of the page and is a completely different colour to the rest of the page which sections it off from all the information, allowing it to stand out. The main image is an aspirational image for the audience, and the camera angle which has been used is a medium long shot, which allows the reader to see all of the band members and not just a section of them, it also allows the reader get a clear idea of what through their appearance. The page carries a particular colour scheme throughout it, which is the commonly used through all of the 'Q' magazines, which is white, red and black, the black usually being used as a background for the writing so it stands out to the reader. Placed down the left hand side of the page is the contents, which includes features, a special, and monthly regulars. The contents have been placed down the left hand side because this is the first place where you look when reading due to reading from left to right. The main subtitles for the contents are in a larger font, with a red background, so that you can tell what parts of the text are the titles. The 'Special' subtitle in the contents information is in a gold coloured font, the colour gold is associated with wealth and good quality, which is why it has been used for a special part of the magazine, to symbolise the good quality of the information within the special articles. The layout of the contents page is very simple and is the same as the majority of the other contents pages published by 'Q', they have done this so that those who read the magazine are familiar with the layout and can get straight onto reading what they want to know rather than having to familiarise their selves with the layout of the page.

  The target audience for this magazine would be generall students, younger people around the ages of 18-30 who like the music which is within the magazine. Generally, magazines of this price would be aimed at those of a middle/higher class because people who have a high economic spending power have the spare money which can be spent on luxury items such as magazine containing quality music, just like this magazine. The magazine also looks very sophiscated which reflects the target audience again because of how much they have spent on the magazine, they expect the audience to also be sophiscated so the style has been created to benefit and reflect the target audience.  The main image represents the genre because of the bands indie style, and they would be expected to producing music of a similiar genre which ties the two together. No editorial is contained within the contents page, which could suggest it is on a different page to show the importance and again quality of the written articles.

Overall, the contents page all fits together and represents it's target audience, but more colours could have been added to brighten up the page or certain techiniques could have been used to make particular things on the page stand out.