4th Double Page Spread Analysis: Kerrang 28/2/16

After recently analysing a contents page from Kerrang, it is clear to see that this particular music magazine has a very specific and creative brand identity. It is extremely stylistic and immediately draws your attention. The certain style of this page is followed throughout the entirety of the magazine and there are many conventions to which I shall explore.

With regards to layout, there is a large quote being used as a headline, a logo- presumably belonging to the subjects, an article and a huge image. The article is an interview with popular American alternative rock band 'My Chemical Romance'.The headline is in upper case in a red, italic and non-serif font. Blue lines that are attached to the logo lines above and below the headline fade out and act as a border. 

There is only one photograph of the band. It is a mid-shot and has been taken in high-key lighting to draw attention to the bright colours in their clothing. As opposed to using a greyscale image, the bold and vivid colours the subjects are wearing stand out and contrast with the darkness of the article on the opposite page. The image has clearly been taken in-studio as it has a simple white background which additionally helps to make the colours pop on the page. The photograph is noticeably larger than the article as it takes up more than half of the double-page spread. I believe this is to grab the reader's attention as younger audiences are especially attracted to images compared to text. 

Kerrang has a house style colour scheme of yellow, red, black and white. These colours are very prominent across the double page spread to strengthen the brand identity and make sure the colour scheme flows throughout. There is a fairly grungy tone attached to this double-page spread which links to the type of music the magazine focuses on. The way the band members have been styled and positioned also reflect the genre of music as their rock-star personality shines through they're clothing choices and facial expressions. The band are represented as unique, creative and stylish through this image. 

The interview is not in question and answer format unlike the majority of interview pieces. Instead, it has been written in a descriptive manner and includes numerous quotes from the band members. This style of writing doesn't look as visually attractive as the Q&A format but is still easy for the reader to digest. There is only two columns of text and the writing has been coloured white to stand out against the black text boxes. There is a fairly small amount of writing due to the size of the main image. I believe this reveals the target audience as younger readers will be more attracted shorter interview style pieces. 

For my own double page spread, I would like to follow some of the conventions this one follows. Firstly, I would like to have my spread follow the house style colour scheme of my magazines so that it flows throughout and looks professional. I believe including a drop quote will also look effective and is a key convention in the majority of magazines.  Finally, I will also experiment with putting my main image on the right hand side of the double-page spread as this is what readers will see first if they are just flicking through the magazine. This means that they are perhaps more likely to read the article if they are drawn in by a large, striking image.