Josh Robinson

House Style –The house style of this page is very consistent on different areas of the page. The colours scheme consists of 4 colours, red, black, grey, and white. The red and white is supposed to symbolise the American flag, which is the main theme of the article, and it is separated from the text showing that it has some importance, as red connotes power and that is what a lot of Florence’s songs are about. The black text has been used to match her clothing to make the article more consistent.

The Gutenberg Design Principle- This double page spread follows the Gutenberg design principle well because the image is on the left side of the page making her the dominant contrast, while being in the primary optical area of the two pages. This has been done to bring in the audience to read the article before they read it.

Main Image- The main image is of the Singer Florence from Florence and The Machine; she is wearing her iconic style of clothing, and is sitting on top of an American flag, which matches the theme of the article. Her hair has been made the dominant contrast of the image as red is also on the American flag. Direct address has been used to make the image more personal and aimed towards the reader, making them more interested in the article and wanting to read more.

Mast Head-The Masthead is a unique style and the font appeals to the target audience of the magazine, teenagers, young adults and the secondary audience middle-age adults. It is behind the main Image and it takes up the majority of the background. The Word USA is the dominant contrast because that is most likely the main story about the British artist going to the UK. The script font saying ‘Got the love’ is to match her new released song at the time ‘you’ve got the love’ this play on words creates audience familiarity as it is her most popular song. It follows the conventions of a magazine mast head because it covers all the top of the page.

Text- Despite the theme of the article the text isn’t as formal as would be expected, because of the style of font. The font matches her personality and her genre of music which is pop music. It takes up a very small area of the double page spread. Not all of the text is the same size and some of it is even highlighted a different colour to show importance but it is clear that the image is more important than the article.

Design balance- The design balance of this double page spread is done well, with the image of the artist ‘Florence’ on the left of the two pages and the text on the right, this is very common on double page spreads as because of Gutenberg’s design principle, the artist needs to be on the left to create audience familiarity before they read the article. The better the balance the easier and more attractive the double page spread is to read.

Design Symmetry- The double page spread has been split into a plus shaped cut, the article has been made into columns and the picture and the tops of the text cut in the middle. A difference between the image and text has been made very clear in this article as the left consists of the image and the right it just text… because of this the spread is more attractive to the reader.

Use of Rule of Thirds-The rule of thirds has been used well on this double page spread, the lines cross on Florence’s face, the main headline, the American flag, and the text. The double page spread has been positioned well and it makes each important of part of the article be noticed because of it.

Josh Robinson

House Style - The house style of this page is very consistent on different areas of the page. The colours scheme consists of 4 colours, red, black, blue, and white. The red and white follows the colour scheme of Q magazine, as red connotes power or rage and that is what a lot of Jay-Z’s songs are about. The black text has been used to match his clothing to make the article more consistent.

The Gutenberg Design Principle-This double page spread has followed the Gutenberg design principle very well, the image is on the left hand side of the page so it is in the primary optical spot. Also with the image being on the left audience familiarity is used, because the audience recognise the artist and want to read on.

Main Image- The main image is of the Rapper Jay-Z; he is wearing Black glasses which the audience commonly associate with him and the Rap genre, he is also wearing full black with a chain round his neck, this is also a stereotype of the rap genre. His face has been split into 2 colours, red and blue; this shows his personality and lyrics, changing meaning. The image used is a close up shot of the artist, and despite not being able to see his eyes in this image, it gives the impression that he is staring into the eyes of the audience. His facial expression follows the rap genre, and makes him seem intimidating.

Mast Head-The Masthead is a unique style and the font appeals to the target audience of the magazine, teenagers and young adults. It is above the main text and it takes up the majority of the right half of the page. The letter J is the dominant contrast because that is the first initial of the artist Jay-Z. It goes against conventions of mastheads because it covers the text rather than appearing on the top half of the page, making it more unusual.

Text- The text goes against the conventions of the artist but follows the conventions of the magazine ‘Q’. The text is very formal which suits the theme of the article which is very insightful. The big red letters that cover area of the page are common in Q magazines; it is the first letter of the artist’s name, so once again similar to the image, the J makes people know he’s Jay-Z. All of the text is the same size, except for the occasional letter, and his name is even highlighted a different colour to show importance but it is clear that the image is more important than the article.

Design balance- The design balance of this double page spread is done well, with the image of the artist ‘Jay-Z’ on the left of the two pages and the text on the right, this is very common on double page spreads as because of Gutenberg’s design principle, the artist needs to be on the left to create audience familiarity before they read the article. The better the balance the easier and more attractive the double page spread is to read.

Design Symmetry- The double page, is that the double page spread has been split in the middle, design wise, the article has been made into columns on the right of the 2 pages and the picture has been positioned taking the same amount of space on the left side. A difference between the image and text has been made very clear in this article as the left consists of the image and the right it just text… because of this the spread is more attractive to the reader, and more formal. This image follows formal balance.

Use of Rule of Thirds- The rule of thirds has been used well on this double page spread, the lines cross on Jay-Z’s glasses and both of his shoulders where the text is.