Double page spread analysis xxl

Double Page Spread Analysis

Magazine History•In 1997, XXL was founded by former Source staffers as well as other Harris Publication employees, who wanted to create their own magazine about the hip-hop music and culture using the model developed by the founders of The Source.

•The magazine's past editors included Elliott Wilson and Datwon. In May 2009 Datwon Thomas resigned from XXL and executive editor Vanessa Satten, who had been with XXL since 1998, was named the new Editor-in-Chief.

•In December 2006, XXL took over the struggling Hip-Hop producer and DJ magazine Scratch (another publication owned by Harris Publications), re-branding it as "XXL Presents Scratch Magazine". Scratch shut down in September 2007.

• Other titles with limited runs have been launched under the XXL brand, including Hip-Hop Soul, Eye Candy and Shade45. XXL has released many other special projects including tour programs, mix tapes and exclusive DVDs. XXL also maintains a popular website, which provides daily hip-hop news, original content and content from the magazine

Target AudienceThe target audience of the magazine XXL is men and women who love hip hop and rap music. They would be aged between 14-25 because the older generation tend to not like rap or hip hop music. From the image in the Double page spread the reader can see that it is 50 Cent and therefore automatically associate his genre of music in relation to the double page spread and the magazine itself. Furthermore, other giveaways is the language such as “hustlin’” shows the slang words used which is what the target audience of the magazine are likely to use.

Language, Tone and Mode of address

“ It seems like you’re comfortable being in the underdog role anyway.I’m more comfortable in a space where people are doubting me than when I’m the favourite. They doubted me before. Obviously I was the only crazy person that believed in me at one point. You know what I’m sayin’?”

The Language in the article is quite informal as its an interview so its more like a chatty conversation. This is shown in the quote I picked out, 50 cent’s replies are informal as he says things like “you know what im sayin’”. The tone is friendly and chatty which makes the reader enjoy the article more because its not boring and its like the artist is talking to you himself. Other slang words are used like “hustlin’” which is slang for “making money” which makes the mode of address more of a casual register and informal.

Colour and Font

The colour of the DPS is plain and there is a lot of white space used, however this makes it look good because of the skin colour of 50 cent contrasting with the background looks very powerful. The continuity of the colours black and white makes the DPS look eye catching and professional. The fonts used are sans serif and the title is big and bold which makes it stand out to the reader. The sans serif fonts bodes well with the DPS in relation to the genre because sans serif fonts look more casual which is what the DPS is – casual.

Layout

The eye flow of the DPS starts from the image and then to the title and down to the article and back to the image. This is a conventional C shape and makes the layout clear for the reader to navigate around. Having the image take up one full side of the double page spread emphasises the subject that the article is about making it seem more powerful. I decided to make my layout for my DPS similar to this because I thought it was good for the reader and looked neat and classy.

LayoutDrop Cap Article title

By line

Body text

Slug and page number

Image analysis

The image is very striking because of the contrasting colours used. Although the image is quite plain and simple, and there isn't a lot of mis-en-scene, in this case less is more and because of the colour scheme and the fact the image is on one full page makes the image look very powerful and striking. The models pose is simple too however it still manages to catch the readers eye. This attracts the readers attention and makes them want to read the article. It relates to the whole magazine because it is a striking magazine which is what the genre of hip hop and rap is suppose to be about, the lyrics are striking.

How it may influence my magazine

The Double page spread influenced my double page spread and inspired me to use some aspects of it. For example the layout I thought was really clear and neat therefore I based my double page spread around it. Using one image a full A4 page I thought was good because it creates more power to the article. Furthermore the boldness of the fonts I thought was good so I used that too.