Magazine Research-Double page spread

The image provided is a double page spread which features in a seven page spread in Q covering Coldplay's recent album release. Similarly to NME magazine, the majority of the first page is dominated by an image. The image is again, obviously posed due to the use of direct eye contact. The positioning of the band members is used to illuminate importance of each member with the positioning of Chris Martin being closer to the camera than the rest of the members. Like the shorter double page spread, the way that the members take on different heights teamed with the use of extravagant, bold and contrasting colours help create a sense of confusion and chaos, something which is often associated with the experience of a rock music concert. There the juxtaposition of the two could help convey this experience to the reader in order to help them obtain it.

     Seeing as the double page spread is part of a different feature, the double page spread doesn't consist of a main headline. However, the spread features a pull quote from a previous page at the very top of the first page, the first thing the reader would actually read, this therefore seems to link the pages together. Written in white, this quote appears strong and bold against a very colourful background.

      Again very similarly to Q magazine, less posed images of the band performing and things associated with the band appear around the article, which is written against a blank background to ensure the text is clear. Changes in paragraphs and topics are indicated with enlarged, red lettering which illuminates alterations in the subjects spoken about.

      The content of the article features again a narrative view of the band, giving a brief overview of the bands history and success. The article then goes on to inform readers about the bands current album. Unlike any of the other spreads i have looked into, the article seems to feature a close and personal interveiw with the bandthemselves which helps the article convey a direct insight into how the band act and speak and also eliminates any doubts readers have of the story as the band confirm things.

Magazine Research-Double Page Spread

As presented in the image shown, it is apparent that not all double page spreads feature relatively long articles covering a variety of topics and many even just rely on images for their features. The spread presented is one from NME magazine where they are introducing a new band called 'zulu winter.'
    From first glance the main feature appears to be the image presented, this is because the image uses props of bold and bright colours, this helps draw attention to the image as it contrast vastly with the pale, off white background (used to ensure that focus remains in the correct places and avoids confusion) to create an interesting juxtaposition. The image has obviously been posed for the magazine which is apparent from the direct reference to the camera and audience with the use of eye contact and a pointing finger. The layout of the image includes the band being on different levels, this creates quite a chaotic scene as it rebels against the traditional idea of order and structure. This may have been done to represent the rebellion in rock music as it too goes against the idea of order. Yet the band appears to be dressed relatively formally which seems to contradict this idea, however the inclusion of jeans seems to again avoid formality of the situation and ensure that there isn't too much order and structure present.
     The layout of the spread seems to be majority made up of images with the inclusion of a short article. The article is titled with a small and simple headline stating just the name of the band. Although breif and oversiplfied, it ensures that the focus of the article remains on the image. The headline is then followed by a short snappy slogan which includes two lot of alliteration which helps give the writing fow and rythm, this may have been done to illustrate the fact that its a music magazine. This is then followed by a short article written in a narrative and informative way by giving an overveiw of the bands history and introducing them effectively.
     Despite being much more direct and simplified, i feel that this spread appears to lack any real interesting information and suggests it to be extremely brief. Although interesting, the image appears to be quite bland and monotonous and seems to create a very dull image. Overall, this type of spread is unlikely to inspire me too much in my own magazine.

Magazine Research-Double Page Spread

The double page spread presented is one taken from NME's take on the traditional pop domination.The magazine features pop artists such as Britney Spears and bands such as girls aloud. Despite girls alouds stereotypical pop genre, the magazine appears to have presented the band as being quite punky and rock-like. Although this could mislead the readers by giving an incorrect first impression of the band, it also enables the band to fit in with the continuous running theme of the magazine and may even be a way to attempt to attract a wider audience range by featuring a pop band in a rock music magazine.
     The layout of the double page spread appears to be relatively simple which works effectively as monotonous colours such as black and wide avoid too much distraction from the text and allows the images to become much more bold and striking. Seven images appear to have been used throughout the spread, one posed specifically for the article and the rest are of the pop artists performing or of people pop is associated with. The posed image acts as the main feature dominating half of the first page. This teamed with an black and therefore bold, eye catching headline which appears to be a clever twist on one of the girls alouds hits and the snappy two line introduction to the article in italics (to differentiate from the headline) allow the reader to be fully introduced to the spreads content and what sort of things it will cover. The use of pull quotes dotted in a large and bold font taken from the article again helps give an insight into the spreads content. The article itself is written in a very enthusiastic and narrative way giving brief overviews of the genres past and over emphasising the shock of its great success. The use of enlarged letters for the start of specific paragraphs enables the author the split the article up and indicates where the article changes topic. A black text box is also used to contrast against the white background and allows the short mini article it backs to stand out against the larger article. This smaller article features short snappy facts which are associated with the spread yet isn't appropriate to feature within the main article.

Magazine Research-Rock Sound contents page

     Similarly to all of the other magazines research, Rock Sound appears to incorporate the use of subheadings in the actually content list which enable the detection of specific articles relevant to the reader quickly and easily.
       The actually colour scheme appears to follow a similar colour scheme to both Q and NME with the incorporation with black, white and red. However, the magazine appears to use these colours in a different way. The magazine appears to split down the middle, one half appears to be just off white with a slight tint of pink. This appears to give a very angelic impression. Yet the juxtaposition of the red rustic looking metal background with this white creates a bold contrast creating a sense of rebellion. Also, the use of 'rustic' style backgrounds, the contents page gives off an extremely grungy, edgy look which also seems to be suggesting by the use of grungy looking font. This gives off the impression of decay and rust itself creating a very run down, grungy atmosphere which could be a way of conveying the magazines 'underground' style. Despite the contrast between the split backgrounds being so great, the use of 'star' footer appears to link the too together and the inversion of colour schemes creates a sense of flow between the two.
     The use of an edgy declarative statement like slogan appears to act as an introduction to the magazine and sums up the entire style of the magazine and helps convey what the magazine is about giving the reader an insight.
     The interesting effecting of using torn looking backgrounds around obviously posed images creates a sense of rebellion and eliminates the idea of the magazine appearing much too formal and structured giving a much more edgy look- something i hope to incorporate into my magazine as i would like to reflect the grungy, edgy style of the music into my work.
     The images themselves seem to vary with size, the most famous bands appear to feature in a larger image which suggests an element of status and importance, almost as if the band is overemphasising the story and persuading the reader to want to read that particular feature.
      Lastly, the magazine seems to advertise its technological convergence at the bottom of the magazine with the incorporation of the website. This allows the website to become more popular which will increase the strength of the synergy between the magazine brand and the audience as they will both benefit from the audience viewing the website to obtain latest gossip and giving the brand hits and opportunities to advertise next issues and persuade them to buy.
  

Magazine Research-Q contents page

   Similarly to other magazines I have researched into, Q magazine incorporates the use of subheadings to enable easy access to relevent articles. Therefore its likely that I will incorporate a similar thing in my own contents page.
    Again, the magazine follows a similar trend of incorporating the magazine logo next to the title, creating a sense of introduction which will help engage the reader into the magazine effectively. Yet this magazine fails to introduce its audience as effectively as kerrang! as it doesnt include any introductory passage from the editor.
    The magazine contents appears to follow a monotonous colour scheme which is a similar one to NME, red, black and white. However, Q appears to feature an 'oasis special,' contents in gold, a rich, fruitful colour usually associated with status and wealth. The juxtaposition of the monotonous colour scheme with such a rich colour creates a bold contrast overemphasising the status of the 'oasis special,' implying it as being more important.
      This magazine contents page appears to be very text based with little inclusion of pictures, although they incorporate a couple of posed images, the magazine seems to have a very definite structure which gives a very organised and formal impact, something i would not like to link into my magazine as formality isn't the sort of thing i feel is appropriate to my magazine theme.
      The way that the magazine separates the review section from the rest of the magazine contents appear to be a recurrent theme and is something i find very interesting. This appears to give an idea of the reviews section being completely individual which suggests that the gig experience and reviewing gigs is a completely unique experience.

Magazine Research-NME contents

NME magazine contents page uses of variety of different techniques to convey messages and attract its readers. The use of juxtaposition of the magazine logo and the phrase 'this week,' seems to play an introductory role which enables the readers to feel a connection with the magazines and gives them the ability to engage fully in the stories and features.
    The magazine continues its monotonous colour scheme with the continuation of the use of colours black, white and red. This gives a very organised structure which differs to the laid back relaxed structure that i would like to incorporate in my magazine.
    Yet the featuring of bold, bright colours such as orange to highlight specific stories seems to overemphasise an articles importance as well as suggesting an impact of rebellion as the colour contradicts the running monotonous colour scheme. This insinuates the idea of rock music working against the norms of society.
    The contents appear to have subheadings separating the different types of articles which enables the audience to identify specific articles that they feel are relevant to their interest.
     The use of advertising subscriptions to their magazine is a profitable way to create an effective synergy between the reader and magazine. This way, the magazine profits from its sales and selling issues and the audience benefits from saving money from buying the magazine in bulk.
     Again the magazine contents makes finding pages increasingly easier with the use of the band index. From the image provided, it is clear to see that the band index consists of a list of all of the available bands included in the issue and enables the reader to directly access their favourite bands quickly and easily without the hassle of having to flick through the entire magazine. This is an extremely handy tool that i would seriously consider incorporating in my own magazine contents. The magazine also appears to have a live and review section which helps readers fully engage with the magazine and experience a musical experience effectively. The magazine also appears to feature papped images on the contents page to perhaps link into the idea of experience the music effectively as you can understand what your favourite artists perform like, live on stage.

Magazine Research-Kerrang! contents page

Kerrang!'s contents page uses an editors note at the very beginning of the contents page and will be initially the first thing that the reader will actually read. This introductory note is usually where the editor talks about the magazine in general and introduces any themes which are current in the issue. The juxtaposition of this introductory passage with the cover of the current issue enables the reader to be fully introduced to the magazine and connect effectively with the issue.
    The use of Kerrang!'s trade mark colours, black and yellow, the magazine becomes easily identified as the colours are so bright and bold.
    The use of separate subheadings to segregate the different types of article allows the reader to easily detect what articles they are remotely interested in and help them to easily find specific articles quickly and efficiently.
    It becomes apparent which of the stories in that issue are of most importance when the article title is teamed with an image. This helps the reader detect which of the stories featured in that issue is classed as most important and most worth reading. The images included are a mixture of both papped images and posed. This suggests that the magazine is able to obtain both a close up account of a specific act as well as having more of a distant overview of things such as concerts and gigs. This is also suggested with the use of the words 'reveiw,' and 'gigs.' The images provided are also shadowed, bevelled and embossed with helps the images stand out on the page. This also suggests that these stories are of higher status and importance as the three-dimensional effect implies that these stories are 'above' the other stories featured.
     Similarly to its cover, Kerrang! also appears to include quotes from their main stories in a much larger font that the rest of the content list. Not only does this help give the reader an insight into the content of the magazine but also draws attention to the specific quote. This helps emphasise the significance of the story as it is the main feature included in the magazine.
     The contents page of Kerrang! also appears to feature information about the date and issue number of that particular issue which helps inform the reader of things like this to ensure that the reader knows that the magazine is current and up to date. They also appear to advertise their website on the magazine contents page white helps promote its technological convergence to ensure that they create as effective synergy they can. The idea of a beneficial relationship between the audience and the magazine ensures that sales remain healthy and customers remain up to date and satisfied.