Double Page Spread Analysis

Kerrang!

House Style – The house style is, again, like that seen in the contents page, designed to match the front cover, with the yellow, red and white colours that are synonymous with almost every issue of Kerrang!, showing a dangerous, chaotic and energetic design which portrays the genre of music the magazine focuses on as well as appealing to the target audience. This keeping with the house style of the magazine immediately allows for fans of the magazine to identify it.

The Guttenberg Design Principle – The Guttenberg Design Principle has been applied here in a rather odd but effective way, keeping the chaotic and unorganised look of the magazine intact while also displaying the information in a way that draws the audience in and attracts them to read the article. Oddly, most of the Primary Optical area has been left blank with the faces of the band members just being near the area, while the masthead of the article and the subtext introducing the article being further down the page in the weak fallow area. This is odd as the audience will not straight away look at the title but the members of the band, with those who enjoy the band instantly recognising them as Enter Shikari, drawing them to the article, while including the headline and introduction in the weak fallow area draws the eyes of the audience to that area and pulls them into the article. The strong fallow area and Terminal area are also used quite effectively with the quote in the strong fallow area drawing the audience in by giving them a ‘sneak-peek’ at what the article is about while main body of text is situated in the terminal area, this being the last place their eyes would look so they can continue the article. Finally, also located in the region of the strong fallow area to the terminal area is the sidebar which displays extra information about other bands who are attending the UK stretch of the Warped Tour ’13.

Main Image/Images – Other than those located in the sidebar, the entire of the page is taken up by one huge main image, which holds both the title of the image and is covered in the corners by the text. This main image is quite powerful and tells the reader everything they need to know about the article, with the band being the main focus, showing the audience who is the subject of the article, the venue for the festival is in the background of the image which gives a hint to the subject being Warped Tour and, finally, the title is visible on the poster the band is holding which shows the audience the main subject of the article and gives them an indication of the articles content. The two other images in the sidebar are used in a somewhat different way, with the profile headshots being use to show who is the interviewee from each of the bands named.

Headline – The headline in this article is located closer to the bottom of the page in this case and has been inserted into the picture on top of a banner that Rou Reynolds, Enter Shikari frontman, was already holding. This is clever because not only does it draw the audience towards the weak fallow area, with aid from the kicker, but also adds to the image so that the one image will show exactly what the entire article is about. The colours allow it to stand out to the audience and draw in the audiences’ eyes as well as the size and font making it apparent that this is the headline.

Text - There is plenty of informal language throughout with abbreviations being used like ‘Ally Pally’s’, meaning Alexandra Palace. There are use of puns in certain areas with them following up a story about a hurricane by saying it is the ‘literal calm after the storm. Exaggeration is used at several stages, even by the band with the main hall of the concert venue being described as ‘colossal’. The overall language is very colloquial and chatty with the band describing the events as if they were talking to a friend. Again, ‘Ally Pally’ is also a use of an informal name for the venue. The sentences, however, are quite long and complicated for an informal magazine with a few short and snappy sentences mixed in. There is use of heightened language such as ‘destruction’ and ‘near-hurricane’. The adjectives are also quite exciting with words like ‘triumphant’ being used. Finally, there is frequent use of elision. The purpose of the article is both to inform and to entertain with the article detailing the location and date of Warped Tour with a line-up of the bands that will be there and information about the headlining band but also has interviews with other bands and the main band which focus on entertaining with the questions being a mix of serious and humorous. The article is quite chatty with the band being seen closer to friends with the audience than anything else. However, the article is quite serious with the mild element of humour inserted at points to keep the audience interested. Also, oddly enough for an informal magazine, the sentences are mainly quite long with only a few shorter sentences. The main image is of the band stood outside the concert venue with a blank sign with the words ‘THE ROAD TO WARPED’ inserted afterwards. This is the title of the article and introduces the band and the venue in the same image as well as drawing the audience into the article about how Enter Shikari feels about performing at Warped Tour. The headline is short, snappy and to the point, introducing the main focus of the article, ‘Warped Tour ‘13’. There are no puns or alliteration used as the headline appears here to just aim to inform and nothing else.

Design Balance – The design balance across the page is quite informal and chaotic, with everything from the slanted angle of the headline to all other aspects of the story being strewn across the page,

with the kicker below the headline in the weak fallow area, the pull quote up in the top corner of the page in the strong fallow area and the actual drop capped information being placed in the terminal area, with the sidebar running alongside it. This matches the general house style of the magazine, using the chaos and disorganisation to represent the rock and metal genres as a whole, as well as appealing to the destructive nature of their target audience, young teen males. The main image is the

background of the spread, leaving no white space, using colour to draw in the audience. The text to image ratio matches the contents page, with there being far more images on the page than there are blocks of text. This, again, appeals to the target demographic, with the main text blocks being small and the images being the main page focus, drawing them into the article. As can be seen in this diagram, the page is split into 5 sections: the main image/the background; the kicker; the pull quote; the text and the sidebar. The main image and other images (red) are stretched across the entire page, making sure that the first thing the audience focuses on is the images, letting them know the purpose of the article. Though there are more blocks of text (blue) across the double page, the images are used more prominently, with the editor trying to make those the focus of the page and the hook to draw the audience into the article. The text is then split across the page, being placed into gaps around the image, covering the boring areas of the image while trying not to disrupt the images main purpose. The chaotic way in which the text is placed is also used as a hook, attracting the target demographic as the magazine, like their preferred musical genres of rock and metal, is loud. Even the sidebar, the only area of organised text, is placed on a slant with a corner curled over, reinforcing the chaotic nature of the magazine.

Headline

Pull Quote

Sidebar

Kicker

Mixmag

House Style – The house style of the magazine is evident throughout, with all pages having dark or black backgrounds and most having a similar layout. The sans-serif font is used across all pages, with the same style drop caps being deployed across the text and even the image style being similar. This matches the cover of the magazine and the contents page, keeping the magazine recognisable for those who read it on a regular basis, and using colours and ‘futuristic’ fonts to fit in with the genre of music that the magazine focuses on.

The Guttenberg Design Principle – The Guttenberg Design Principle has been exercised well in this piece, filling the page in order to attract the eyes of the audience to even the weak fallow areas with text being placed there. The large letter in the Primary Optical Area makes it clear to the audience where they need to begin as well as drawing their attention straight into the article rather than it being a photo like Kerrang!, showing the layout of the page has been adapted for a more mature audience who are interested and attracted more by the text than they are by the images and photos on the page. The strong fallow area to the terminal area has also been used much like it has in Kerrang!, with a sidebar showing extra information concerning the main theme of the article.

Main Image/Images – The images on the page are smaller and fewer than magazines aimed at a younger audience such as Kerrang!, with the professional shots also being a lot darker and more brooding for the audience, fitting with the typical portrayal of modern electronic artists such as the artist mentioned in the piece, Groove Armada. The images are all indoor photoshoots, again contrasting with Kerrang!, in which the main image on the page is from an outdoor photoshoot. The

images all appear to be staged and professionally done with only the smaller images in the sidebar being on location.

Masthead – There is no masthead on the page introducing the band with a large introduction letter being used instead to draw the audience straight into the article.

Text – The language throughout the article is quite informal, with the entire article being a half humorous, half serious interview with the electronic duo, Groove Armada. There are some uses of puns, jokingly used to attract the audience and allow them to connect with the duo on a more friendly level. Over exaggeration is another effect that is seen often through the article, with them over-emphasising the band’s music and building the two up in order to attract new audiences to their music. Slang is used on a regular basis allowing the younger demographic to connect with the magazine and engage in the article to the fullest. The language is very chatty with the subject being an interview, and informal names are used in order to, again, connect the audience to the band in a friendlier way, making them seem closer. There is obvious focus upon the appearance and style of the page, with regular use of elision and heightened language which, again, helps the audience engage further. Much like Kerrang!, there is a mix of the purpose being to entertain and to inform, but this time, there is a higher focus on the level of informing, with the humorous language taking a back shelf most of the time. The informal and joking language remains, but in a way that it is informing the audience of the band in a way which allows them to connect better. The overall style of the piece is quite chatty and informal, with the funny puns and comments spread throughout being used to draw the attention of the audience to the page and to attract other people reading the magazine to read about the duo if they have never heard of them. The main images are sparse, with there being a higher focus on the text within the magazine, with the images being used purely for the purpose of showing the audience what the duo look like with simple profile shots. There is no headline on the page that is noticeable to the audience, which is strange and may lead them to skip past the section.

Design Balance – The design balance of the piece is more complex than Kerrang!, but has smaller images and a larger bulk of text to show it is more targeted towards an older and more mature target audience. The images take up a small amount of space compared to the text and there is a larger balance of text than there is of imagery. However, the design balance also seems to be quite uneven and more informal suggesting that the audience would be of a younger mature age such as from their early 20s to 30s and would prefer the information and text of the article over the accompanying pictures and photos.