Double Page Spread Analysis

For this task, I analysed two double page spreads from two different magazines, ‘Smash Hits’ and ‘Whats On,’ which are both related to the R‘n’B / Hip Hop genre.  However, ‘Whats On’ magazine isn’t an actual music magazine, as it features other aspects too, such as health, shopping etc. despite all of this, I still chose this magazine to analyse as it has articles based on music, especially ones that relate to my genre of magazine.

Shown below are the analyses for both magazines regarding their double page spread. There are quite a few similarities between the two.

'Smash Hits' Magazine

'Whats On' Magazine



As you can see, both magazines consist of having female artists featured on their double page. This is the same as the front covers. The purpose of this could be that it attracts attention from both genders. However, double page spreads can be based on male artists too. Both magazines take up one whole page for the main image of the artist. This technique grabs the readers attention, as this is what they’re likely to see at first glance, which then leads them onto reading the main article. Furthermore, the colours of both pictures match the rest of the colour scheme of the article, as well as the magazine. For example, in the double page spread for ‘Smash Hits,’ the colours black, white and red are used, which is the same colours on the front page. This makes the magazine come together, creating an overall effect.

A difference between the two would be that ‘Smash Hits’ has text written over the image of Lady GaGa, making use of as space as possible, which isn’t the case with ‘Whats On,’ as they’ve left a big white gap at the top of the page, before starting the actual article. In addition to this, ‘Smash Hits’ use a different colour and font for direct quotes and different font for specific headings, which doesn’t occur in ‘Whats On.’ However, ‘Whats On’ doesn’t include quotes from Katy Perry on the first page, but is actually included on the other pages.

By reading and studying both articles, it has helped me come to some decisions for what I would do, and how I would layout my double page spread for my magazine. The idea of having one whole page dedicated to the main image of the artist, has interested me, therefore, this is what I will do too. By doing this, I believe that it will attract the readers more. However, it depends on the actual image itself, and what the artist is doing in it, as well as the mise-en-scene. Furthermore, I’ve decided to actually use quotes on the page, as this will break the article down, making it easier, and more enjoyable to read. Also, if this is in a different colour and font, then it will attract attention, due to readers seeing this first.

I will take all these decisions into account when it comes to creating my own double page spread, in order to achieve the best possible outcome.