Coursework - Magazine Analysis

In recent lessons, to carry out further analysis on music magazines we were studying the content of double page spreads from the well known likes of 'Radar'. The article chosen was a specific feature on Little Boots, who then (2009 - when the article was written), was a new and upcoming artist.

The image on the left here was the image that featured in the double page spread. Here I have written out the analysis in which we carried out in the lesson, analysing and comparing the image, headlines, subheadings, text and many more.

IMAGE - the central image here is one where the artist is looking directly at the camera, a popular feature with nearly all magazine cover pages and double page spreads. The keyboard strongly suggests the use of music within the artist and within in the text which was written on the right hand side of the page. The image is kept to a minimal use of colour, keeping it simple so the reader can focus on the image and text rather than it looking to busy and chaotic on the page.

HEADLINES - Although it is not shown in this particular image, the headline of the article was clear, stating the sub name or name of the article from the popular magazine NME, it read "RADAR, finding the best new music". The clear headline allowed for the reader to be attracted to the piece. 

SUBHEADINGS - The subheading of this article was "Little Boots, Our favourite new UK electro act". The importance for a subheading is to allow the reader to get a quick insight into what they are reading, therefore it neads to be catchy and involve the reader. We as a class decided that NME achieved this very well. 

TONE - The tone of the piece overall seemed to be quite informal and the large chunk of text was off-putting for me as a reader. The lack of colour wasn't appealing and the tone of the text didn't involve the reader and they used very simple language which made the piece seem informal, conforming to a sterotypical article.

PAGE LAYOUT - The layout of the page seemed simple, the use of the plain background gave off a sophisticated and clean look but overall the lack of colour was too noteable and therefore the consequence would be that this piece wouldn't attract a reader easily.

Overall the analysis of this article allowed for me to understand more easily what makes a double page spread successful and what the drawbacks can be, therefore I can input my own knowledge into creating my own double page spread.