This double page spread is from Billboard music magazine. The artist chosen is Nicky Minage, this is because she’s a modern, vibrant and a fresh artist, which is how Billboard magazine represents it’s artists. The theme , colours , fonts and details represent the genre of her music and the main target audience is composed of females, due to the pink and vibrant colours used all over the page. The text all over the page varies from formal to informal, this is because the article is ensuring that it remains clean , classy and polite however at the same time when adding informal text it relates to the actual artist and to their primary target audience

; also the text at times comes across as being comical towards the reader as it’s a typical characteristic of the singer herself. You don’t need to know a lot about the artist to understand all of the references made in the article as the picture of the singer gives out and tells a lot of the reader about her personality and looks, however at the same time some information that comes up from the past is something that the magazine expects the reader to know and this connote how famous and known she is as a singer. There isn’t much use of taboo language, however certain expression which come from her interview could come across as being slightly over the top , such as “bad bitch”; this furthermore demonstrates that the text is aimed to an older audience. In this article the artist is speaking directly to the reader , this is an interesting feature as it creates a relationship between the reader and herself , furthermore the reader will feel more connected to her in terms of her experiences and personality, also it makes it easier to the reader to truly understand who she is as a person and as an artist. There is a general semantic field which is repeated through the article and it’s about the music in general, this connotes that as an artist she’s all about the music and being true to herself as she’s only concentrating on the music aspect of her life, and this will make the reader take her more seriously. There are uses of slang in her interview, an example is “kinda”, coming across as being just like a normal everyday person which doesn’t care about what others think of her , or how she portrays herself.

D o u b l e P a g e S p r e a d A n a l y s i s

The way the text is laid out is fairly simple but creative at the same time. The article is written in various different columns, and this follows the codes and conventions of magazines; this is done to make the information easy to read and follow. The size font of the actual article is very small in compare to the ration of the image, this connotes that the main feature we have to focus on is “Nicky Minaj”, the ratio of the picture in compare to the text creates a major focus on the singer, causing the reader to firstly judge the singer from her looks and clothes and then find out who she try is by reading the rest of the article. The questions answered by the singer in the article are implied, this makes the article flow nicely and causes less confusion in the readers mind as

what its been said goes on without any interruptions. The title of the article with the subtitle are set apart from the rest of the article, however they are still closely linked to the entire page and this might connote that “Nicky” as a singer has a close relationship with her fans and with her music, as the article is mainly concentrated on her music and her experiences, this reflects how passionate she is for her carrier. Moreover both the title and the subtitle have been designed to be memorable and stay in the readers mind ; the title’s font is the biggest text of the entire article as it’s the most important information for the reader to know, also it’s written in capitals , with a bold and pink font to state make the singer come across as being strong and independent woman, as the text talks about her and different aspects about sexuality. The colour of the title also links to the singers lipstick connoting that what she’s saying in the article is true and real, making her come across as a true iconic artist, different from the main stream. Underneath the title there’s a by-line where the name of the reporter is stated, this is important as it makes the article credible and official , making the reader feel secure about what they are reading. On the right hand side of the double page spread there’s a pull quote , this is done to emphasize a particular point that the singer made and stick it into the readers mind , the quote has pink, black and white colours to highlight that what she’s saying comes from her reflecting who she is as a person and a singer. There’s a drop cap at the very beginning of the article, however it’s not that extreme in compare to other articles, this is because the central attention in this article is given to the actual image of the singer. The article is fairly long, however it doesn't cover more than one double page spread, this can be a good thing as it article goes straight to the point and doesn’t drag on so that the reader would not get bored when reading the article.

When looking at the image used we can see that it’s a midshot /close up of the singer. The picture is in colour, and the colours of the image are really vibrant and colourful, reflecting the personality of the singer and her music genre. The picture was taken in a studio, we can see this as the lighting is perfect, also if the picture was taken in an outside location we as readers could have been able to see it , instead the background is plain, connoting the the entire attention needs to be given to the singer. The page numbers can be found at the bottom of each page which are helpful when trying to find where the article is , including the date and the issue number, this information is written in a small font in order to not distract the reader and take the attention away from the article.

Mojo magazine features many alternative and rock musicians/artists , therefore the chosen band to interview goes along with the genre of the magazine. Moreover the interview also targets the target audience that the magazine aims to influence. The double page spread is a regular feature that the magazine has in every issue. The language used through the article is fairly formal, due to having to appeal to their target audience which is made up of older readers. You don’t necessarily have to know a lot about the interviewed artists to understand the article however only people that know about the artists would know about some of the information written. The artists speak directly to make the article seem more personal and make the reader feel closer to them as they come across as being sincere and straight forward. There isn’t a specific semantic field used , however the words used through the article all relate to music and sounds, this is done to keep the article in theme with what it’s really important to them, which is to be open about their carrier and views. There’s no slang or taboo language and this is done to make the article come across more professional and serious, so that they can be taken seriously in the outside world by their fans and people that enjoy listening to their music. The layout of the double page spread is fairly neat and simple, to reflect the mood and genre of the artists; the article is written in columns and this shows that the magazine follows the codes and conventions of a music magazine but also this make the page more organised and easy to read. The picture used in this double page spread is a full bleed to emphasize the importance of the artists and also to make the reader understand how successful they will be in the future; a full bleed also connotes that the artists dominate the specific Mojo issue. The text of the article goes kind of unseen due to the large size of the image, making the reader judge the artists on their looks and then on their personal life's. Furthermore one of the two artists looks directly at the reader creating a relationship between the reader and the artists and this will make the reader feel more sympathy for them , persuading the reader to find out more about their life's and music. The questions asked are implied in order to make the article flow easier. There’s only a main title of the article and it’s set apart from the rest of the article in order to make it stand out and persuade the reader to read and enjoy what they are reading, this was done by making the font of the title the biggest text on the page; by inserting the title horizontally across the dps this makes it stand out as it’s the first thing the reader will read, moreover the colour font also plays an important role as it’s what will influence the reader to read the article. The colours of the title are simple and unbiased, targeting both men and women. The colours go from dark to light, this creates a gradient connoting to the reader that they are now famous and successful however that their carrier is only thanks to them and that in reality they are normal everyday people like the rest of the population. The name of the reporter and photographer are found at the bottom of the second page of the dps, this is done to give credit to who made the dps possible , furthermore the colour font used for the by-line relates to the colours used for the title making Mojo magazine dominant over the article. There’s a drop cap at the start , this is usually sound in every double page spread, however this was done to make the article stand out against the full bleed so that the reader would still be able to find the article appealing.

When looking at the image we can see that it’s a wide mid shot , so that both of the artist could fit in one picture and including a background at the same time. The picture has been edited black and white to give and old style and make the picture relate to their music genre and also to the style of the magazine, as it usually includes old school and comes across as having a vintage style. The picture was taken in an outside location and the plain background connotes that the artists came from nothing , they had a normal life and by including this in the picture , it makes the reader understand that they are genuine and pure when making their music. The picture has a caption to inform the reader who they are and where they are , this connotes that they are not very known as artists and therefore it helps the reader understand who they are. The dps includes a page number in order for the reader to find the exact page and this once again follows the codes and conventions of a music magazine.

The artist featured in this Q magazine issue goes along with the music genre which they are known for, therefore this will appeal to their targeted audience; furthermore the artists interviewed is a world wide superstar meaning that a lot of issues will be sold thanks to this main interview. This magazine follows the codes and conventions of a music magazine as the dps is part of a regular feature. The language used in the article is informal and comical due to using taboo language and slang ; this was done to appeal to their target audience and also to make the article more fun and interesting to read due to being a very long article. The artist is speaking directly , and by embedding his interview in the article it makes it more easy and relaxing to read as the language flows easily without any interruptions. In order to understand the article the reader doesn’t have to know anything about the artist as a lot of information and detailed explanations are available; furthermore this was done to make the reader interested in the artist , increasing the number of fans and supporters. There aren’t any specific semantic fields used as the language used is fairly simple and easy to comprehend. There is a lot of slang and taboo language as it reflects the personality of the artist creating a real and sincere representation of who the artist really is.

The layout of the dps is organized and balanced; this is because both the artist and the magazine are dominant over the dps. The image used is a close up of the artists face, this was done to capture the facial expression of how the artist represents himself. The dps is divided into two separate pages; the image is found on the first page, it’s a full bleed and this connotes the importance and greatness of the artist , the ratio of the picture to the text is equal as the second page is filled with a long and interesting article about the featured artist. Both the artist and the magazine are dominant as a full bleed of the singer is used to cover and entire page and at the same time a very large letter which connotes the name of the artist is written in red , which is the same colour used for the logo of the music magazine; this is placed in the centre of the second page to remind the reader of which magazine they are reading , however this detail doesn’t disrupt the article. On this dps there’s a title and a sub title, both are very important details and they are set apart from the rest of the article by the way they are designed. The font used for the title isn’t very large and this connotes that the reader doesn’t have to primarily concentrate on the text but on the artist, that’s why the font is fairly small however placed underneath the face of the singer so that it doesn’t go unseen; moreover the font style used is what makes it stand out , the black, white and yellow colours stand out against the reddish background. The sub title is found on the second page and it blends in with the rest of the article , however the name of the singer is written in red to make it stand out to the reader and it also connotes that he’s a hot topic. There’s an enlarged quote placed on the full bleed and this was done to emphasize to the reader that what the artist has said it’s important and it comes from him. A drop cap is used for the start of every paragraph , this is so that the reader gives equal importance to everything they are reading and concentrate on every single detail. The article is very long and it carriers on , on to another page, this connotes that there’s a lot to find out about the rapper and therefore the reader is persuaded to read the entire article due to having already found out a lot about his music and life.

The image is a close up of the artist and this was done to emphasize his iconic facial expression which the article talks about. When taking the picture a red light was used against his face , this was done to keep the article about Q but at the same time about the artist; furthermore the style of the picture relates to the music genre as the colour red is popular in rap musicians , and at the same time the colour red relates to the style of the magazine as the main colour scheme of the magazine is black, white and red. The picture was taken in a studio as it would have been easier to edit and make it personal; also the UK is not an ideal location to take pictures of rappers due to the weather and colours therefore a studio was used to make the rapper look important. A caption was used to create humour, this is found at the bottom of the picture in order to make the image the main focus.