Analysis of a double page spread.

1. ‘MOJO, ‘Vibe’ and ‘Reggae Report’.

2. 
The Pages…
MOJO
Vibe
Reggae Report

3. 
Consistent Features…

4. 
All three of these double page spreads allow for the reader to enter the text as far
down the page as they want will still understand. The MOJO page is mainly 4
sections: The main header article title, the short clarification of the article (below the
title), the main article and the caption on the right hand side of the dominant image.
All of these entrance points obviously give varying levels of detail, but they all
allow for the reader to endure information from the page, even if they don’t want to
sit and read a whole article. The Reggae Report page also has various entrance
points, but each of these would probably give completely different
information/topics. When a reader opens the page, they will be able to pick up
reading in multiple places, such as the title, the article or the advert down the right
hand side. The Vibe page has the clearest array of entrance points, the article is
clearly split up into questions and answers, and the reader will be aware that they
could pick up reading at any of the orange lines of text as this clearly indicates a
new question, and therefore a new topic of which would assumingly require no
prior knowledge. These entrance points conform with the audience’s desires as a lot
of people do not have the time to read an entire article and buy magazines to briefly
flick through and pick up on minor topics, but not all of the details.
Various Entrance Points

5. 
2 out of these 3 double page spreads clearly follow the rule of thirds. The most obvious of
these is Reggae Report. It is split up into three sections horizontally across the double
page spread. On the left hand side is the article’s title with a supporting image being
anchored by a short tagline. In the middle of the double page spread (split up slightly to
stay visible between the two pages) is the main article, and to the right hand side is an
advert above the final few paragraphs of the article. The Vibe double page spread is also
split up into three main columns, although in this case, there are a few overlaps between
the columns. The columns are: the ‘Jamelia’ article in the black box, the image of the artist
and the questions/answers in the black box down the right. Although these
sections/columns are unevenly slip up, and the sections get smaller as they move to the
right, this rule of thirds creates a sense of order and pattern on, and between the pages.
Despite this, the red text in the center of the two pages and the image of the artist do run
over more than one of these segments. Due to this, they do look slightly out of place, but
this could be normal for this magazine as it could be a part of their consistent house style.
MOJO have not really conformed with the rule of thirds for this double page spread and
so the page looks slightly spontaneously put together. Again, this could be a consistent
house style for MOJO magazine and so the rule of thirds may have held no significance in
the construction of this double page spread.
Conforming With The
Rule Of Thirds

6. 
After reading these three double page spreads, and seeing the page style and furniture, it
has become apparent that one of the most vital parts of a double page spread for most
magazines (or at least three, and they each represent a different genre) is to anchor their
imagery. There is rarely an image on a double page spread (besides very small images) of
which are not reinforced by text to give clarification and reasoning. The most abrupt yet
archetypal example of this from these three double page spreads can be seen on the
MOJO page. In the bottom right corner, appropriately layered directly on top of the photo
of famous artist Neil Young is a caption used to anchor down the appropriateness of the
photo. The first line is “Neil Young confounds them all”. As a reader flicks through this
magazine, they are going to first see the photo. If this photo interests them, they are then
going to want to know more about the context. This is a prime example as the article is
actually negatively portraying Neil Young, and so by anchoring this image, they are
making it clear to Young’s fans that the article will not be singing his praises. As well,
anchorage can be used purely to inform. In Reggae Report, the various images around the
double page spread are anchored by one or two words, mainly the name of the people in
the photo. This gives basic clarification and ensures that the reader will have full
knowledge around what they are talking about.
Anchorage

7. 
Bylines are text basically informing who an article is written by. They are a very minute
part of a double page spread, as a few words does not make much of a visual impact
across two full pages, but they are still important in the iconography of these double page
spreads. If a byline is not clearly visible, then the reader will have no idea who wrote the
article, and this is often a large factor in people reading an article (fans of Charlie
Brooker’s style of writing may read an article of which they have no interest him purely
because of the writer). Reggae Report has very visible bylines for their articles. On this
double page spread, there are two consistent examples of bylines, the main article’s
byline – “By Diane Gurwitz and Stafford Ashani”. This gives clarification for the article.
The other example can be seen actually anchoring the photos across the two photos.
Every visible photo is being anchored by a byline, informing the reader of who took the
photo. This gives an idea of target audience of the magazine as they believe that their
readers will be interested in who took the photos, giving the idea that they would be
mature and older. These bylines could also be for legal reasons, and so that the magazine
can use external photographs without legal action. This may seem a useless piece of
research, but it is very important for the iconography and realism of the magazine double
page spread.
Bylines

8. 
Two out of three of these double page spreads begin their articles with a stand first. This
is the article’s very first paragraph and is used to summarise the whole article without
giving away any details of which may spoil it. I believe that the reason for Reggae
Weekly not having a stand first is due to the time the magazine was released, and this
wasn’t part of a music magazine’s iconography yet (although this is one of only a very
small number of things separating this magazine from modern day magazines – this is
why I chose to still use it despite its age). The stand first in the Vibe magazine
summarises what the magazine will be about. It gives an overview of who Amelia is and
makes it clear to the reader that a prior knowledge is not required to understand the
article. The MOJO stand first requires a bit more prior knowledge, and is written as
though the reader would already know who Neil Young is. This gives an indication to
the older target audience of the magazine as Neil Young is an older artist and the
assumption that he will automatically be know denotes an older demographic.
The Stand First

9. 
 Drop cap
 One page text, one page photo
 Anchorage
 One dominant image, pre-taken, no pose, non-direct
gaze
 Long stand first, uses comedic language to entice the
reader instantaneously
 Skyline used to make double page spread look full
and complete
 Dark colour palette, other than one line of text.
MOJO Furniture…

10. 
 Strongly conforms with the rule of thirds
 2 images across the 2 pages
 Multiple entrance points
 Primary colour palette
 Article stretches across both sides of the double page
spread
 Photo overlay
 Mixture of colour and monochrome
Vibe Furniture…

11. 
 Various small photos
 Drop caps
 Main article copy split up by various photos but do
not create entrance points
 Many bylines
 More than one header on the double page spread
 Old style design, similar to newspaper
 Basic colour palette, conforms with target audience
Reggae Vibes Furniture…