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.

Front page, contents and DPS comparisons

I have decided to analyse the front cover, contents page and double page spreads of magazines across different genres because although they may be different to the music featuring in my magazine, the principles will for the most part apply to what I am trying to design and the main aim is to see what kinds of things are persistent across all three pages of a magazine e.g: page furniture, other design elements, typography/font, colours,etc...

1st comparison

 

Vibe magazine is well known for its signature simplistic style, however glamour and subtle hints of sophistication and colour tie together an appropriate house style across all three pages. On the front page, the main model is centred connoting her importance and she is shown kneeling down naked wearing nothing but a pair of high heeled black wedges. With regards to iconography, Ciara is presented as a typical, sexy and alluring black female singer, which would attract the male population of the magazine's target audience. On the contents page, the same model has changed outfit into a grey leotard with long sleeves although with the addition of hand jewellery, she is still wearing minimal clothing and sexual allure here is portrayed through her stretched bare legs, this time wearing a different pair of sliver shoes, still high heeled. The model is in a bent position once again on this page. The dark grey to white gradient used for the front page background has been carried through to the contents with dark grey at the top and white nearer the bottom. Finally, there are two focal images on the double page spread the first one being a long shot of Ciara's entire body. She is once again naked here, wearing the same as on the front page, however the difference in position and placement on the page makes it more interested and appealing. Apart from the few orange sub headings on the DPS to resonate with the odd large bold text, in red font on the front page, the colour scheme is mainly made up of greys, blacks and white, meaning the house style is maintained throughout this magazine, very well.

2nd comparison

In this issue of Big Cheese, Sleeping with Sirens are promoted as the feature band and their importance/dominance over the magazine is maintained consistently across the contents page and double page spread. On the front page, we see a long shot of all five members from head to toe. Their facial expressions appear stern and serious, and their clothes are all smart/casual. Interestingly, they are photographed wearing the same clothes on the contents page, where they are dedicated a slightly larger picture than the rest on the page. In addition to this, the reader is attracted straight to the picture of them as it is positioned in the top of the left hand page, the area the natural eye is drawn to instantly. In their image on the contents page, the band members are all photographed but are each standing in a different position, except the man in the middle of the front page. He is kept constantly in the middle of the band from the front page, to the contents to the DPS. This cleverly signifys and maintains that HE is the lead singer of the band. 

Contents Page Analysis

The first thing I notice about these two contents pages from separate issues of NME is that, the masthead is included in the top left hand corner of the page, normally where the reader looks first, and this reminds them of the magazine they are reading. With the addition of the text ‘This Week’, they are also told that below is everything they can expect to find within this issue of the magazine.

Traditionally split into three columns, the first is a band index, literally just a list of bands that feature and the page that they feature on, which links effectively with the genre of music for this magazine including especially big famous bands. The red background of this long text box matches the colour of the masthead as well as the page numbers on the right hand side and box in the bottom right hand corner. This adds to the house style and makes the page look aesthetically pleasing.

The main cover lines such as ‘NEWS’ ‘RADAR’ and ‘REVIEWS’, etc. have been used to categorise the different articles into different appropriate sections, in order to make the page clearer for the reader to dissect and follow as they read through. Bolder text has been used for the main artists featured under each large heading, drawing attention straight to them first of all. Then, there is text of a smaller font size which has been used to describe the caption above it, issuing detail but not an overload of information.

Some graphic design elements have been added to both pages such as the four light blue arrows, a contrasting colour to that of the house style, and therefore they create interest for the reader to look upon and focus themselves onto the cover lines that have been pointed at.

All the way through this page, the main biggest, most important stories or artists have been made bold, coloured in red or made a larger font size so that something is different about them compared to the other body text, making them stand out above everything else on the page.

Central but at the bottom of the page is where the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ box has been intentionally placed as it allows room to be quite a wide box and having a black background links it to the cover lines and contents heading. The fact that ‘SUBSCRIBE TODAY SAVE 33%*’ has been written in capitals and in the colour yellow, effectively makes it more eye catching and jumps out at the reader so they feel obliged to go to this page for such a bargain of a subscription!

This contents page is from Vibe and as you can see here, it is one out of three. With a lot of content to promote in this bi-monthly magazine, Vibe excel themselves in maintaining their simplistic, raw and elegant pages but having three so that all content can be evenly spread and presented in similar ways in keeping with the house style.

On this example, the model is Ciara, whose photograph dominates the entire page making her the focal point where attention of the reader is instantly drawn to. Her position, facial expression, clothing and accessories all aid in connoting a glamorous and sexy appeal grabbing the male reader’s eyes and captivating them to read on. It is traditional on any Vibe magazine, to have the ‘V’ enlarged and displayed in some other format across the contents page, and here we can see that although a very faint white outline of a V is present in the background, the model’s legs are also crossed to create a ‘V’ shape, and this connects successfully with the text.

There is three-point lighting across the page which means that certain parts of the model’s body are highlighted more than others and the gradient from black to white for the background, emphasises her shadow.

The colours used also compliment each other very well and tie together to form a house style. The grey/silver colour of the models leotard, shoes and jewellery matches the faded silver background and as silver connotes wealth, the magazine appears expensive and professional quality. With her legs stretched out, blemishes on all of the skin have been removed and so her bare legs look flawless, smooth and elongated fitting in with the iconography of females within this genre of music, that they to stay looking healthy, sexy and curvy at all times, and should wear minimal clothing.

The masthead itself has been adjusted in quite an unorthodox way with the each letter being rearranged and in white block capitals. This font style contrasts to the rest of the text on the page where ‘Features’ and ‘Fashion’ still stand out, but due to the fact that they are black and bold, with page furniture added next to both words denoting a small arrow, directing the reader to wear they need to look.

Small black dots have been used to separate each contents feature by contrast to those such as Q and NME magazine who pride themselves for using large, chunky, bold and bright strips of colour to separate their cover lines.

On this contents page also, there is a really special element of professionalism as every piece of content has next to or under it, the names of the people who wrote or photographed this part of the magazine.

At the bottom, Vibe conventionally states the date of this issue, page number and name of the magazine in bolder font.

The page numbers for the contents here start at page 90 and end on page 122. This is due to it being part 1 of 3 contents pages and the first part has shown to be for the MAIN stories/features in this magazine, which from research I have found to usually appear right in the middle of most magazines like this one.

This is from XXL magazine whose contents pages are split into two; ‘the-A-side and the-B-side’, which like Vibe allows all the contents to be spread out and not be too bunched together.

This is slightly different to Vibe in the light that it does not have one consistent colour throughout, but rather a colour scheme is followed.

The main image on this page is effective because Chris Brown’s face is unrecognisable, creating suspense and making the reader curious as to what he might be hiding. The dress of this artist also adds to the iconography of the hip-hop/rap/R&B genre because hoodies are a major item of male clothing and the scarf he is wearing paired with chino trousers and expensive designer boots, make him look prim, proper and stylish, appealing very much to the target audience.

In addition, there is a pull quote on this contents page which is larger font size than the rest of the cover lines and because it is underneath its own black separator strip, directly next to the model’s shoulder, we can tell that the quote is about him.

With simply a white background, the page looks quite plain but other areas make up for the lack of colour such as the very top of the page where, underneath the masthead, there is a black strip with the date and year as well as the masthead being in smaller size on the right hand side of it the bar. ‘Features’ is also in red brackets and follows onto the pull quote, however, this could be interpreted quite unclearly to some readers as it doesn't look separated from the masthead at all.

There is a great, effective design element in the form of a white play button on a red background, which is the exact same form as the title ‘XXL’. This means the reader can tell what magazine they are reading just from looking at the bottom of the page.

This is the contents of Hip Hop magazine which shows quite a different format and style to other music magazines of this genre. In a conventional 3 column form, the most important words and names of artists are in black bold font and all page numbers are in red, making them fit with the house style colours of red, white and black.

TO BE COMPLETED

Page Furniture/Design Elements

No magazine can truly excel in the industry with some design elements and page furniture, as these have a number of purposes and important responsibilities including making the magazine more appealing and attractive to its audience through visual stimulation, as well as helping to produce a clearer cut house style throughout.

Possible locations

In order to grasp some ideas for the photos that I will have across my print production, I made a video composed of some possible locations from previous celebrity photo shoots, mostly of females.

Locations/Settings

How house style is established

WHAT IS HOUSE STYLE???

The New York times manual of style and usage states that house style is "The specific usage and editing conventions followed by writers and editors to ensure stylistic consistency in a particular publication or series of publications". All music magazines therefore have to follow this code also. 

 In Q magazine, there are many aspects of the front cover than are sustained throughout the other pages; contents and double page spread. The masthead colours red and white have been maintained and used in the Contents heading and DPS heading, as you can see. Also, the 'CONTENTS' font is the same used in the dps only its slightly larger. In addition to this, graphics, images and text boxes also live up to the house style. The blue used in the banner on the front page and the '+' page furniture resonates with the images and text on the contents which are also blue. A man from the cover story wears sunglasses as well as the artist on the DPS showing a consistency in house style and iconography of the genre being recognised. Here in the Source magazine, there is a double contents page. The front cover is kept quite minimalistic and simple which coincides beautifully with the first contents page, which basically lists the features and keeps them in one straight column. The focus is on the main image as it is on the front cover. The second contents page differs solely through font colour. Over a lighter background, this page used black over white, whereas the first used white over black. The artist Rick Ross from the contents is carried onto the DPS where he is styling a different pose. The large capital bold font used in the lure, is very similar to the headline on the front cover and titles on the contents pages. Colours stay very neutral and dark throughout with the odd splash of red or blue.
Finally, this trio of pages from Vibe magazine sees Ciara feature on all of them, therefore a similarity. Although she is taken by different shots each time, the house style is kept perfectly consistent as there is complimenting lighting over her body on the front and contents page. In addition to this, she appears naked(apart from shoes) on the cover and in the DPS it is clear that she is. There is always a V placed on the contents of Vibe, and this time Ciara's legs perform it well. This links the contents directly back to the cover. Finally, the masthead 'VIBE' in this issue uses light grey-dark grey colours and this gradient is then used for the background of the contents and in the DPS, both pictures have been grayscaled. They all look similar in such a way.

Target Audience Style

I have taken pictures of a few people in my target audience to discover the type of fashion sense they possess as an average of my whole target audience population. Below are some annotated photographs of the style:

From analysing this type of dress in my own primary research, I can see how the style of the Trendies on the UK TRIBES website definitely ARE my target audience due to the match of style described and the word TRENDY in itself connotes that these are the types of people I need to attract. 

Target Audience primary and secondary research

In order to find out the type of people that I will customise my magazine to suit the needs of, I will need to do some Primary research. For me, this will include creating questionnaires for at least 15 to be completed, getting the questions below answered well so that I can plan my magazine around them:

Obvious Questions:

• How old are you?
• Are you GCSE/A level student/ young professional?
• Are you male or female?

Specific Questions:

• Do you belong to any social networking sites and if so which ones and why?
• What shops do you like to buy clothes from?
• Could you sum up your style in a few words?
• How do you usually listen to music? (downloads, phone, ipod, radio, cds, )
• What's a typical weekend for you? (watching films, listening to your favourite jams, partying, going to festivals, shopping?)
• Would you say that you keep up with the latest technology?
• What radio stations do you normally listen to?
• Who is your favourite artist at the moment?
• What are your three favourite brands?
• Below is a video constructed of some questions answered by my target audience:

In order to discover more about the types of people that I will be aiming to please, I have done some secondary research by browsing the UK tribes website (http://www.uktribes.com/tribes/urban) in order to gain a detailed and helpful analysis of their interests and personalities.



From this video, I have learnt that the URBAN SEGMANT is the main area that I will be directing my R&B music magazine towards. I hope to catch their attention the most with the elements of my magazine. Some key words associated with these types of people include style, status, R’n’B and house music predominantly. Their icons would be celebrities such as Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Usher, Rita Ora, Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj.
Urbans are best known for their music – from not only R&B, but grime, UK bass and funky to old school jungle, blues and rap. Members are proactive in their search for new sounds, getting behind new releases, picking up digital mix tapes and sharing them with their social networks. Urban Tribes play a hugely important role in dictating the artists that break through to the mainstream. Examples of this include the breakthroughs of Dizzee Rascal and Tinchee Stryder.
 
Fashion-wise, street wear rules tend to be followed, from classic sports brands to independent urban labels, such as King Apparel. Drawing inspiration from US street fashion, these Tribes were among the first to adopt the baseball jacket and snap back combo. There’s no getting away from it, urban sounds and styles dominate the mainstream and mean big business. The explosion of grime and street wear is testament to this segment’s wield over popular culture.


There are three main groups categorised in the Urban segment:
 
• Trackies, who are laid back enthusiasts motivated by the need to chill, whether that’s gaming, watching films or listening to music.
• Stylers , who love R&B/house music and have an eye for the finer things in life. Avoiding ostentatious bling, it’s about modern status symbols such as the latest iPhone.
• Get Paid Crew are highly aspirational, driven by money and being their own boss.

From these three main groups, I have identified Stylers to be my main target audience. Stylers are united by a love for partying and looking good. They’ve also a fairly discerning bunch, into the finer things in life and less brash than, say, Blingers. Sharing an urban upbringing, they’re a diverse bunch, ranging from GCSE students to young professionals.
The ‘housification’ of R&B has really prompted the emergence of the Stylers – and urban commercial dance music is the sound of the tribe. Think Drake, Rihanna, Rita Ora and Chris Brown, as well as artists like Maverick Sabre and Wiley.
 
A small subsection of the Stylers will be seeking out niche underground sounds, but most are listening to what’s readily available – artists championed by trusted sources, friends and stations like Radio 1Xtra, Choice FM and Rinse FM.
 
Keeping up appearances is a key feature of the Stylers. It’s not about ostentatious excess, but understated cool. Stylers will aspire to have the latest tech, from Samsung smart TVs to tablets. They’re also more likely than most Urban tribes to be paying a visit to music festivals. A thoroughly current creation of the 2010s, Stylers are set to grow in numbers and influence.

Pricing and Page numbers

This mind map represents that magazines which are circulated weekly, have less content inside them and therefore, fill up less pages. However, a magazine such as Vibe, The source, Q and big cheese, which are circulated not very often have a total page number reaching triple figures. I have learned therefore that during the creation of my own media product that I must take these existing prices into deep consideration if hoping to compete with others currently on the market and doing well. 

Music Genre research

I have decided to do an R&B magazine after my research because I listen to this genre of music on a regular basis and feel like the iconography of the genre is very strong to research and understand.

I have created a PowerPoint displaying the history and iconography of R&B music which I learnt from various sources during my secondary research. Underneath, is a compilation of 5 mainstream R&B artists' music videos which I have created in order to ONE, establish the types of people my audience will want to see on the magazine and TWO: take notes of what they are wearing, specific words they use in their songs and to gain general knowledge about my chosen genre as a whole.