Double Page Spread Analysis 1

This is an article from music magazine: ‘NME’ where Lilly Allen is the main focus of being interviewed. The only image on the page is quite large, taking up most of the space and this can show the importance of her being an artist or the most important aspect on the page. This image allows the audience to focus on here and not get distracted by anything else. It can be said that Lilly Allen is represented in a stereotypical way of a rock artist. However, the layout can be seen as unconventional towards the genre of the magazine. She is represented with her hands on her back. Plain checked rolled up sleeved shirt, dark black short hair and very heavy makeup. This can be a stereotypical look of many rock stars, thus this may have been doing intentionally. The fact that her hands are behind her back indicates her posture is showing she is not bothered and this shows a rebellious side of the artist.

We can also tell this magazine is specialised in a rock genre from the way she is dressed. She is going for a very scraggy look with her shirt and heavy black makeup and hair which represents her rock culture. She is not dressed as we would expect her to as a girl. For example, she isn’t wearing a dress, making the image attractive to look at. She is going against the stereotypical norms of a female.

The title “people think I’m an attention seeker, but I’m just honest” is a floating quote. This can be seen as a conventional feature of most double pages. This quote interests the audient to read mot about this article if Lilly Allen is not a stereotypical rock artist due to the quote, therefore the audience might want to know more about her. The quote gives very little information about herself in which the audience would again be more interested and hence wanting to know more. The image being place next to the quote emphasises the point of the quote even more. She can be seen as very upfront in admitting what she feels and this can be conveyed by her being the only image on the page.

This quote takes up alot of space and this can be seen as unconventional because usually this aspect is not seen as the most important in the magazines. The text of this quote is quite messy which shows the stereotypes of rock music. It is shown in a newspaper layout, in which the article is in columns which is a conventional way however the text is short which we assume may carry onto the next page. The font is very bold with white writing, where each letter looks like it has been cut out of a magazine and placed on a black background. This adds towards Lilly Allen being portrayed as a mysterious character.

There are many other conventions of this double page spread. The language is directly targeted at the audience and we can see this via the floating quote which is quite informal. The language used is usually linked to the genre of most magazines and this withdraws the audience’s attention even more.

Overall, this double page spread of the NME magazine can be seen as partially conventional. There is no heading, more images or colours. The main colours used are red, black and white which can signify the theme of rock however many magazines have more than one picture to interest the audience, but this magazine has failed to do so. The target audience can be said to be teenagers, who are interested in rock/Indie music.