Double Page Spread Analysis
- 1. Double Page Spread Analysis 1: Tupac Shakur Rolling Stones Magazine Layout: A headerrunsalong the entire double page spreadina black,heavilyweightedstrip.The left- handside includesthe page number’50′,both numbersseparatedbyrectangularcoloursquaresin redand grey.Thiscreatesa goodcontrast incolours, goingalongwiththe consistenthouse style thatruns alongthe entire magazine thisshowssymbioticlink. The headerstates ‘GREATEST HIP-HOPSONGSOF ALL TIME’ suggestingthisisthe double page spreadthat includesthe special section,whichhasledtothe magazine decidingtheyare goingtocreate four differentissue containingit. Main Image: The left-handside of the doublepage spreadisdominatedbya medium shot,blackand white image of late rapperTupac Shakuralsoknown as 2pac. This isa conventionalfeatureof magazines to showsome of the greatestlate rappers andisoften seeninmanymusicmagazines toremindhip-hopfans of the history.The image showsthe rapperwithhis top off revealingtattoosandhimwearingachainwith a gun attachedto it. These are all the stereotypical representationsof arapper. However,he hasn’t removedhisjumpercompletely,coveringthe majority of hisarms andhisstomach. Thiscouldbe to hide one of hismostfamoustattoos‘THUG LIFE’ as thispicture showshimin a more pure and vulnerablestate by turninghisheadto the side. The gun chainis an interestingaccessoryandconsideringthatthisphotographwastakenwaya decade or so ago it’s appropriate tosay that blackrappers inHip Hop artistsinparticularwere associatedwithgunviolence andironicallythe rappersportingthischainsadlydiesbecause of gunviolence againsthimdue tohissuccessinthe musicindustry.Thisis nowrecognizedasa negative andstereotypical representationof blackbutall those yearsago gunswere consideredasa source of powerandhavingone wassimplyjusta part of protectionfrombeingavictimto the ‘ghetto’andwas justified for a source to protecttheirsurvival anddeter competitors inotherwordsgang/hip-hoprivals.Due tothe targetaudience recentlypromotingyoungerpeople the rollingstonesdidnotallow the picture toshowhistattoo acrosshis stomach ‘THUG LIFE’ thiswouldnotbe appropriate andwouldpromote thugviolence. On the verybottomleft-handcornerof the main image,isa small printthat states‘all eyezonhim”. Throughpersonal knowledge I knowthat2Pac has a song and albumcalled‘all eyezonme’therefore, the magazine have usedwordplay to create a well suitedcaption.Byusingthe albumtitle andsating all eyesare on him;it connoteshispopularityand dominance thatisstill presentinthe genre of hip- hopafter hisdeath.
- 2. Layout: The righthand page is splitintosix columns and a rectangularbox at the bottom.The contenton the page iscohesive tothe magazinesspecialissue in whichtheyreveal whattheythinkare the “50 GREATEST HIP-HOPSONGSOF ALL TIME”. Each columnhas a songtitle as the subheadingwithsome descriptionthe bottomexplainingwhyitisincludedin the listfor the greatesthipHopsongs of all time and it alsodiscussessome interestingfactsandinformation aboutthe song.Besidesthe songtitle oneachcolumn a captionis presentrevealingwhatnumberithas come in the magazine’slistof 50. The numbersgo alonginchronological orderfrom14 to 19 on this page alone.Alongside the songtitlesare mentioned beneaththe artistitis byand the albumit isfrom. Thisway the readercan go alongand listentothese songson siteslike YouTube andrefertothe reasons whyit waschosenand theycan thinkof whetherthey agree withthe positionisitisinon the listof 50 or not.This will make the readerfeel apartof the magazine asits interactive andconsideringwhat informationthe readerwillwanttoknow. Each columnis separatedwiththinblackline insteadof usingan alleyleavingalotof white space.Althoughyouwouldthinkusinga line insteadof analleyitwill make the columnslookcrampedand the page look‘stuffed’withinformationitdoesn’t, itactuallyworks and iseffectiveinseparatingthe differentcolumnsof information. On the top half of the right page where the three columnsare a small,secondarypicture of Eazy-Eis placedwhowaswell knownforbeinginthe west coast hip-hopgroupN.W.A.Asthispicture isplace on the actual columnsitmeans the texthas to be alignedtofitaroundit.Personally, the picture is nicelyplacedbetweenthe columnsanddoesn’t obstructthe textinany way and allowsthe readershipnotbe boredwithonlytext.Alsothe small picture of the artist isplacedunderthe subheadingof the song he isinvolvedin.Thisiscalledimage text cohesionasthe image iscohesive tothe textandso therefore hassome relevance.Howeveritdoesgive a much busierfeel tothe page,ratherthana cleanand simple looklikethe doublepage spreadof the XXL magazine issue i analysed.Onthe picture iscaption stating‘Eazy-Efrom N.W.A’thisisanappropriate caption. The rectangularbox on the bottomof the righthand page consistsof an artist’sopinionandsome of their favourite HipHopsongsof all time;the rollingstonesare notexclusivelyahip-hopmagazine thereforeadding a hip-hopartist’sopinionmakesitmore credible.Atthe topof the box the name of the personanda picture of themare placedso that the readersare informedaboutwhotheyare.Songtitlesare thensimplylisted witha little descriptiononhisopiniononwhytheyare hispersonal favourites.Forexamplethe songtitle “B.O.B – Outkast”is followedby “There’ssomethingwiththeirvibe…”Thisisa nice little feature onthe page breaksup the repetitive listingonsongtitlesandlittlebitaboutthem.Itacts as a form of a neutral substance, balancingoutthe readersbeinginformedaboutthe 50 greatestHipHop songsof all time witha bitof entertainmentbyreadingsomeone else opinion whichisagratificationoutlinedbyBulmerandKatz.
- 3. Font Pull Quote: The largerquotationmarks drawattentionto howthese are wordsspokenbythe artist,takenstraight fromthe article.The quote isby a famousandrespected artistwho wasaround andevenbefore 2pacsera,who is payinghomage to2pac withthisquote.Thisshowshis statusand powereventhoughhe isn’talive andthisis importantforhip-hopfansasit remindsthemof hip-hop greatness. Colour Scheme:The double spreadpage uses coloursof grey,white,blackandred.The colour scheme achievedinthisdoublepage spreadlinks to the house style of the. Italso tellsuswhat genderthe readershipcouldbe,the coloursred, white andblack are more appealingtomales, as theyare verysimple andsophisticated colours. The numbersusedonthe page to allocate which textiswhichisred and grey,these are the same coloursusedforthe mastheadof the frontpage of the magazine,itisusuallyeitherredandblack or red andgrey. The use of the colourgreywithin the double page spreadrelatestothe main image usedwhichisblackand white picture symbolisingage andhowoldhip-hopisandthe fact that itis ageing.Italsosuggeststhatthe fact that theyare statingthe greatesthip-hopsongs inthe pastusinggreywill interpretthe age of the songs. Article:the actual contentof this double page spreadis formal and verydistinctfromhip-hopmagazinesasthe rollingstonesmagazine isnotexclusivelyahip-hop magazine howeverhave deliveredgoodinformationabout hip-hopbutintermsof mode of addressmayhave some misinterpretationssuchas ‘there wasa plaintive sideto 2pac’s thug-life talesandhe foregroundedthe pathoson his1995 balladtribute tohismother,Afeni Shakur.’The language usedsuchas ‘pathos’and‘plaintive’maynotbe appropriate tohip-hopfansthatmostlypreferaninformal approach byusingcolloquial languagetomake itmore understandableandrelaxing.The targetaudience forthe rollingstoneshasrecentlybeenforayoungeraudience howeverthese hip-hopsongsare veryoldandmaynot be recognisable tothe audience assomewhereinfactat the beginningof the formationof hip-hopanddonotmake musicanymore suchas publicenemyandRunDMC. Alsothe picturesof the two artiststhat are in blackand white showsalinkbetweenthemthe factthatthey are bothrapperswho have passedawaythat are talentedand anothertalentedhip-hopartistincolourwhoisstill alive Mike D fromthe beastie boys.The redusedonthe listof Mike D’s personal hitlistisred,the grabs attentionwhich isprobablydone because the rollingstonesknowhe isa talentedhip-hopartistwhoknowsmore aboutthe music and tookinspirationfromhislist. Alsothe use of black and greyon the subheadingof each songshowssimplicityandboldnesscomparedtothe massesamountof textthat comesafter.Thissummary can save the readertime andgivesthemanideawhatwill feature inthe text.