Vibe Double Page Spread Analysis

Vibe Double Page Spread Analysis

This Issue featuring music/rap artist Drake, is set out with a large image of him on the left hand side, and a smaller image of him on the other side. On both pages there is an equal ratio of text to images. 

The large pictures are what the eye focuses on first, making the article seem shorter and easier to read.  


The font used is very plain and simple. It is easy to read, which means people will be more willing to read it. The heading font resembles 'Veranda' because it is bold and simple. 

     The article font resembles 'Times'.  It is a commonly used font, and can be used for almost anything. 

This double page spread from Vibe is similar to the one above. There is an equal ratio of imagery to text, however here there is only one image. The large image takes up an entire page, and the next page is completely filled with text. 

This text is broken up into small paragraphs, making it seem like there is less to read. 






They have included inspirational quotes given by the artist. These are placed with the large images of them.

On both examples, the colour schemes are very dull and simple. They have used a different colour for each of the inspirational quotes given by the artist. On the first example, red; the second example, white. This makes them stand out slightly more than the rest of the test, and is probably the first thing read by the reader. 

R&B Magazine Article Research

Like most magazines, R&B music magazines usually have one main (or exclusive) article/ interview about a popular R&B music artist. This issue of 'Vibe' is focused on Chris Brown. Fans of Chris Brown are immediately drawn to this issue.






He is the only image shown on the cover of the magazine. His name does not even have to be written on the page for people to know that he is the main focus of this issue. 

They have listed all other articles included in this issue on he right hand side of the cover. The text is small and simple. This is because it is not the main focus of the magazine. 

Font Testing

Font Testing

Times: This font would be most effective as a typical text font. It is not bold and simple enough to stand out from everything on the cover, to be used for a heading.

Arial: This could be used for headings or sub-headings, as it is very simple and easy to read. It is bold, so will stand out against backgrounds and pictures. It is not very exciting, so would have to be displayed in a bright colour in order for it to stand out.  

Veranda: This font is very large and simple. It would be most effective used for headings/sub-headings. 

Courier: This is a very unusual font. It would be effective used for sub-headings and typical text. It is not bold enough to be used for the magazine title. I like this font because it different from the others. It's quite unusual, and very spaced out. 

Trebuchet: This font is very bold compared to the others. It could be used for the magazine title, however i think it would be most effective used for the sub-headings. It's very easy to read, but not very spaced out. It may be slightly harder to read at a glance. 

Helvetica: This font looks a lot like arial. Like Arial, it could be used for headings or sub-headings, because it is bold and simple to read. However, it is not very exciting, so would have to be displayed in a bright colour in order for it to stand out.  

Colour Testing

Text colour Testing For R&B Magazine

R&B magazines are usually aimed at teenagers. The magazines are t aimed at children, therefore there will not be alot of bright colours. In alot of music magazines, they have a simple colour scheme. Normally it's one colour in their background, and one bright colour for the title. 

Colour scheme tests:

Red: Red is a very bold colour and stands out from block colours like black, white, and grey. This colour would be effective for the magazine title, or sub-headings. This is because it would be the colour that catches your eye first. 

Black: Black is a very versatile colour. If you had a white background, black would stand out as a title colour. If you had a black background, any bright colour would stand out for the title. It could also be used as a font colour for general text. 

White: White, again, is very versatile. Like black, it can be used as a background colour, heading colour, and sub-heading colour. If a black background is used, it would be very effective as a general text colour.                                                                                                            

Green: Green would be quite overpowering as a background colour, and there would not be many colours which would compliment it for the heading, & sub-headings. It would be more effective used as a text colour, especially on a black background. 

Light Blue: Light Blue is a calm colour. It would be suitable for calm music genres.

Dark Blue: Dark Blue is a bold colour. It would be effective on a white background.

Pink: Pink is more likely to be used if a female artist, (e.g Rihanna), is being displayed on the front cover. NME use pink when having Rihanna as the main focus of magazine. This shows their consistent readers that it is not a usual issue.  

My Chosen Genre

R&B

There are various artists that fall under the genre, R&B, such as; Beyonce, Trey Songz, Usher, Chris Brown, Drake, Rihanna, Mariah Carey, etc...

There are existing R&B magazines such as, Vibe, Essence, etc. Although music magazines normally focus on one genre, they now seem to features all different music genres also. This is because a lot of artists, (especially mainstream), are often trying out different music sounds and changing their image. 







For example, NME usually focuses on rock/indie, however on of their issues features Rihanna, a pop/R&B artist. 

They have changed the features of their magazine to suit Rihanna as an artist, and her genre of music. They have exchanged their usual red text for bright pink instead. This straight away is going to imply to their loyal/regular readers, that this issue is going to be different.

Music Magazine Research Case Study

Rolling Stone

The Rolling Stone is a popular magazine, which focuses on the following subjects:

• Music
• Polotics
• Movies&TV
• Reviews
• Artists

Editor: Jann Wenner

Managing editor: Will Dana

Publisher: Jann Wenner

Catagory: Music Magazine

Company: Wenner Media LLC

Based in/; New York city, New York, us

Language: English

Country: USA

Website: www.RollingStone.com

The first ever issue of the Rolling Stone was released into the media on 9th November, 1967.

Rolling Stone includes exclusive interviews with Television and Movie Stars. For example, this issue is focused on an old reality television show called 'The Hills'. 

The magazine always has one large image on the front cover, of a popular celebrity. For example, this issue of rolling Stone is focused on the teenage heart-throb Taylor Lautner. 



The Rolling Stone website provides current articles, blogs, reviews, and information on music artists.

Rolling Stone also has a Facebook page, a MySpace page, and a Twitter page. Through these pages, readers and subscribers are informed of all updates and new information. 

Rolling Stone opened a Rolling Stone restaurant & lounge, in the Hollywood&Highland Centre in Hollywood, california.

Music Magazine Cover Analysis

The image of popular celebrity is the main focus of the cover. Unlike most magazine front covers, there is only one image, positioned on the right side instead of the centre. It is the first thing that catches the readers eye. 

There is a small advertisement in the top left corner, which is boxed off from the rest of the page. Anyone who admires 'John Edwards' will see this advert, and take an interest in the magazine. 

The bold word 'new' gains attention because people want to know about the new subject. It makes the magazine seem original, because they are including new information which readers may not find anywhere else. 

'Punk Rock' will interest anyone who enjoys the punk rock music genre. 'Punk Rock Fight Club' is short and snappy, giving little information. This means the reader will want to read on to find out more. 

All of the text is positioned on the left side of the magazine. This makes it easy for people to read quickly. The layout is simple and easy to the eye. On one side the reader sees the image, and on the other, the text.

The red text stands out against the rest. This is because it accompanies the image. This text is the bigger and bolder than the rest, therefore we know that Zac Efron is going to be the main focus in the magazine.