Reworking the familiar: Double Page Spread

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Reworking the familiar: Double Page Spread
Originally uploaded by Phoebe Rees

To create the layout for my magazines double page spread, I took inspiration from NME.

• Both magazines adopt a blue colour scheme that invokes feelings of calm and relaxation upon the reader, establishing a sense of entertainment and luxury in reading an article. However, the blue is also a bright colour which suggests that the featured band is fresh and new. The boldness of the colour scheme also appeals to the target audience of young people. In my magazine, Pulse, the blue also complements the colours in the main photograph, bringing the page together.
• Both magazines adopt a similar layout style. An image dominates half of the double page spread, avoiding large blocks of text that a young reader may find daunting to approach. Boxes separate different sections of text which makes information easier to take in and the page more visually pleasing. Pull quotes and inset images also contribute to this.
• In both magazines, the heading is clearly established in a large font that stands out from the page. NME has highlighted it's heading in a box whereas in Pulse, I have used a different, more decorative font for my headings. Upon researching into the different ways in which young people approach magazines, I discovered that many will flick through until a certain article or image grabs their attention rather than reading the magazine cover to cover in chronological order. This is also true of many buyers who will flick through a magazine before purchasing it. A large, bold heading allows the reader to easily identify the double page spread inside the magazine, which as the dominant feature of the front cover, may have induced them to pick up the magazine in the first place.