Double Page Spread Research

Before I could go on to plan my double page spread any further, it was vital that I take a good look at what competing magazines are producing for their features, and therefore gaining insight into how to attract my audience in the best way...

DPS ANALYSIS 1 - VIBE - Nicki Minaj 

DPS ANALYSIS 2 - VIBE - Solange Knowles

DPS ANALYSIS 3 - THE SOURCE - Rick Ross

Although a HIP HOP/RAP magazine, The Source is a valid and reliable call of research for my design/layout because it contains many elements that make it distinctive and unique in its style. The example I have includes 4 double page spreads on RICK ROSS, who is not the main feature image on the front page, but is on the Contents...

Across the 4 DPS's there are 5 large, main images, all of which stand out particularly in their own right. The first DPS is a conventional, first one introducing the featured artist RICK ROSS, and because it is starting off the article, the page is dominated heavily by the image which is landscape and therefore covers the entire page. The text has been tailored to fit onto this background photograph. With the image photoshopped so that there is a gradient of darker grey toward the right hand side of the DPS, this allows for large, white font in upper case letters to be clearly visible to the target reader. The main heading on this page and body text underneath is all left justified and the main, most impacting, influential words in the title (HAND, EYES, THRONE) are each given their own line as the longest words, and so stand out more because they are longer and are emphasised to the reader. The power of them then draws the reader in. Although hard to see, before the article leads onto the next page, it also states in smaller font the person in charge of the 'words' and the person in charge of the 'images'. The small paragraph of text itself, includes 2 rhetorical questions and addresses the reader as 'you', with the tone/register hence being quite informal and colloquial through abbreviations and dialect associated with the target readers such as 'cutting' 'records' 'shot' and 'MMG'. The image itself is a mid shot and the mise-en scene is particularly captivating as the artist is situated in front of a brick wall which has patches of dirt and mud connoting the grime/rap style of his music. By contrast, he is wearing a blue, faux furr jacket and a golden chained bracelet which connotes wealth and is an iconic symbol.

Interestingly, the layout of the 2nd DPS is in the form of 2 wide columns and also uses a Drops Cap on the 'C', a design feature that many magazines have. Once the introduction is finished, the interview kicks in more or less straight away and we can distinguish between the voice of the artist and the writer from the bolded capital text "SHAHEEM REID:" and "RICK ROSS:". We begin to see a consistent house style from page to page with there being 2 columns of text, and a page next to it, 2 columns on a page and an image next to it. As well as a drops cap, a pull quote has been inserted into this DPS. The style of it is the same font as the drops caps but instead of being in speech marks or highlighted in bright colours or in big colourful boxes like in some pop magazines, this pull quote has simply been enlarged, made bold and is in capital letters and spread across the entire width of one A4 page. It is more or less in the centre of the page drawing attention to it instantly. The image on the right has a very simple background, a white brick wall, again with dirty marks on it, and a plain tiled floor. Much like the first picture, Rick Ross' hands are both raised and his position on the page gives us a full length shot of him.

The third and fourth dps are very similar in layout except the magazine ident "THESOURCE.COM PAGE NUMBER THE SOURCE" appears in the bottom corner of of each page apart from those with images. The final dps of the four includes a second picture on the right a4 side and and underneath is a second pull quote which this time is in quotation marks with some in smaller text. At the end of the article there is a small symbol of a red circle with white 'S' inside of it. This captures the magazine identity as well as maintaining a house style throughout.