First Double Page Spread Analysis

The colour scheme of "NME's" double page spread focuses on four main colours, which are; black, white, pink and purple. These four colours have all been chosen to represent specific conventions on the two pages. Black and white have been chosen by the designers because they are two very simple block colours that create a nice contrast. The two colours both compliment each other and most importantly for the reader is that black font on white background is probably the easiest colour of text to read. This is why loads of magazines and other aspects of the media use this double combination, due to the appealing contrast of light and dark. The black is also a big feature in the photo, where is represents clothes, darkness (shadows) and hair colours. The pink and purple are very close in the spectrum and are easy on the eye when you scan over the page. They have been used in the spread to break up the continuity of the block colours, which stops the page from getting boring or repetitive. These two colours are being used where there is font that needs to stand out from the black and white, for example at the start of the paragraph where the first letter of the sentence is within a purple square. They're also being used to highlight some text underneath a quote, thus making it stand out from the rest of the page. The final features where these two colours are being used is in two graphics located in the top right and bottom right hand corners of the right hand side of the spread. These have been made because one contains the logo of which the article is about, "New Noise", and the other is to follow on the pattern making the page much more pleasing on the eye to read.

The design of "NME's" double page spread is simple and easy to read. The whole left hand side of the page is is a long shot of 'The Chapman Family' sitting around a table, in a living room of a house. The picture slightly overlaps onto the left hand side of the page, but not by much. The rest of the page is taken up by the articles, which have been divided into 3 columns. The main headlines are in bolder and larger font to attract the audience's attention easier. The image is on the the left hand side of the page because of the way our eyes jump to a certain position on a page when we open a magazine. It's a natural reaction to automatically look at the right hand side of a magazine because it's the first thing we see when turning the page. As the magazine wants you to increase your focus on the article instead of the image, more often than not the picture will always be on the left hand side of the page. There is a pull out quote from the main article which has been made bolder and larger than the article, so that it stands out. Usually these quotes are interesting or amusing because the reader will want to know the full story from which this quote has been pulled out from. This results in them reading a lot more text on the page compared to if the quote wasn't there. There are also small squares around the text on the left hand side of the double page spread which are following the colour scheme. This has been done to create continuity throughout the magazine.

The image on "NME's" double page spread follows the conventions of indie photos, showing surrealism and unusual poses. The image is a long shot of the band 'The Chapman Family' sitting around a table, surrounded by people wearing blindfolds in the living room of a house. You are able to locate the band in the picture because they are the only people looking at the camera, whilst all the other people in the image are are blindfolded and looking in different directions. Indie bands can sometimes be looked down upon in society for acting different to other bands of their era, as they often don't conform to the conventions of society. This image is suggesting that they are as normal as everybody else in society, which is why the pose of the band is very casual and normal looking, as if they were just lounging around. Overall, the image is there to show the audience that indie bands are as normal as every other band or person in the world.

The use of words and language on "NME Magazine's" double page spread follows simplistic conventions, as there isn't any fancy or over the top wording on the spread. The headline is just the the name of the band that the article is about, "The Chapman Family". This is coloured in a white tone, which stands out from the brown and black background of which it is placed upon. This ensures that it is very noticeable when the reader turns the page onto the spread. The other font on the page is coloured black so that you can easily read it on a white background. Finally, pull out quotes from the text are being used to draw the audience into the article. This is done by choosing a very interesting or amusing passage of text from the columns of text, but then not informing the audience from where abouts in the article that certain quote was pulled from. This then compels them to read it all because they assume that the article will be interesting to read.

The overall expression of this double page spread funky and hip, due to the peculiar image and the conformance to the colour scheme. It shows that everybody is different and unique, suggesting that no-one is better than anybody else, no matter how they dress, act or sing. Which is a very positive message to give out to the younger generation that this magazine is targeting. A teenage audience is being aimed at by Kerrang Magazine because they are are the age range that will be most familiar with this band and their genre of music. Although this narrow audience range doesn't stop younger or older members of the public from purchasing the magazine if they are interested in the music genre being portrayed. Overall, Kerrang's double page spread comes across as very positive.