Double Page Spread Overview

 

This overview will explore the conventions between different double page spreads used in Kerrang!. The double page spreads selected in the presentation above are all visibly unique, yet they still follow conventions and have common features. These include a main image, smaller related images, a headline, a stand first, pull quotes, a sidebar, captions and a body copy. The amount of text on the pages varies between issues. Gig reviews tend to be image heavy with minimal text to put forward the reviewer’s opinion quickly and clearly.
 

Double page spreads in Kerrang! are usually either interviews or gig reviews. Interviews are often related to the rebellious antics of the artists and their ‘life of the party’ lifestyle or about their music. Every double page spread will have a main image of the band or band member featured in the article. Mise-en-scene will often be used heavily in the main image to represent the genre. For example, a My Chemical Romance interview as shown above has a main image with a microphone. Also, the Bullet For My Valentine gig review has an image of the lead member playing the guitar, proving that the information given is reliable. Iconography is also used through the band member’s tattoos, long messy hair.

 

 Brand identity is sometimes maintained through the use of black, white and red. However, Kerrang!is often more adventurous with the colours used, and often opts for yellow, blue and pink as minor colours to make each double page spread distinctive. This is usually shown through text and background colours.

The headline is usually placed in the top third of one page. The text is large, so it covers the width of a single page. When an interview is featured on a double page spread, the headline is very often a pull quote from the body copy. The headline will often be shown in different fonts, colours or text sizes to make particular words stand out and grab the reader’s attention. For example, the headline for the interview with Metallica has different font sizes and boldness to make the words ‘alcohol’, ‘drugs’ and‘dodgy women’. The pull quote will usually contain words such as ‘I’ or ‘we’ to clearly show that the article is an interview with a band or band member.

Standfirsts are most often placed beneath the headline, giving a summary of the article. Lin the same way as headlines, Standfirsts will often be shown in different fonts, colours or text sizes to entice the reader by highlighting certain words or phrases. An example of this can be seen in the interview above with All American Rejects; the phrase ‘don’t be fooled’is bolded and uses a different colour which will make the audience think that the article contains new unknown information.

The main image on a double page spread interview will usually be a professional photo taken by the magazine. There can be exceptions to this, such as when Kerrang! visited My Chemical Romance’s recording studio and took candid photos of them recording new music. Gig reviews will have a candid shot of the band performing with many elements of mise-en-scene such as guitars or microphones.

Typically, smaller related images in interviews will be more relaxed and candid compared to the main image. They seem to be more natural and comfortable in the presence of the interviewer, reassuring the audience that the magazine has a close and trustful relationship with the band. Similarly to the magazine’s contents pages, smaller images are often tilted and overlap each other to create a casual look. However, many text based double page spread interviews do not contain any smaller related images. This look is very simplistic as the page may only contain a large main image with a caption, a pull quote as a headline, and a body copy. Examples of this can be seen on page 5 in the presentation above.

Sidebars are included usually on the right side of the double page spread to give extra information that might not be completely relevant to the body copy, so it is segregated.

In a similar way to sidebars, boxed text is included in many double page spreads to give bite sized snippets of text as a side note instead of putting it in the main body copy.