XXl contents page - the A-side analysis

The colour scheme used in this contents page, uses all black and white. This fits with the colour scheme of the cover page and also carries the theme for the magazine.In doing this they are creating a retro style to the magazine, following the trend of Hip Hop magazines making their magazines look old school.

The main focus however seems to be the title of the cover page 'The A-side' as it presented much bigger than any of the other writing including the 'xxl' title name. It even draws focus away from the main image as it is at the top of the page and stands out as it is on a different background to the rest of the magazine. This is done to make it stand out, drawing more focus towards it. The simplicity of the title and the main image is used most hip hop magazines. This is done to relate to the genre of music as hip hop is associated with ordinary people from less than average places, such as Compton (where Dr Dre is from).  This follows the trend of hip hop culture and therefore is able to reach out to the fans as it is easily recognisable as a certain genre of music and relates to their culture and life style of living.

 The magazine logo is shown on the top right hand side of this page next to the date/month where it says XXL. It uses red and white so that it stands out and it can be recognised by the readers.

The image chosen is in between a full body image and a mid-shot.  This image was then zoomed in and enlarged to cover the majority of the page. The artist in this image (Dr Dre) is shown wearing very dull and ordinary clothes. This is similar to the techniques used on the front covers of the Rolling stones magazine and the RWO Grime magazines. Again this is cleverly done to show the target audience that this great role model, is no different to anyone else. He is an ordinary individual wearing ordinary clothes. The angle used on this image is pretty flat, meaning when people are looking at Dr Dre they are on the same level as him. They are not looking up to him or down on him. This technique is also used on the tupac Rolling stones cover. I think that this is an effective technique and I will use it when designing the cover of my contents page. I have chosen to do this as I think it reaches out to the target audience and will make it a successful contents page.

 With the writing and information on the right hand side to the picture, it is presented as very insignificant to the image. As they have chosen to use a very small size of writing and therefore it doesn’t stand out to the reader. In doing this I think they are not providing much information as it doesn’t catch the reader’s eye. As well as this they have also used very dull colour of black and mostly white. This means it blends into the magazine but does not capture the reader attention. Therefore I will not be using this technique on my contents page as I do not think it Is very effective.

This contents page has used a similar style layout of images, titles and information. They have used a large main image, that fills the majority of the page. In doing this they are drawing attention to the artists as opposed to the information. This is done to show the importance of the artists. They have used a mid-shot shot as this allows the reader to see them in more detail. Showing the emotions of the artists as a close up image enables us to see the expressions on their faces, allowing the target audience to understand know the artists better.

The colour scheme of this page is brighter than the previous contents page, however it is still plain, simple and dumb. This is again done to follow the pattern of the hip hop themed magazines.  As most hip hop magazines use this technique as it relates to the history and background of the artists on these pages, it must be an effective and successful technique! Therefore I will use this to an extent on my magazine.

Although this is a different issue of ‘xxl’ they have used the exact same layout for the title, and have actually used the same title. In doing this it creates a theme for ‘xxl’ magazine as it shows repetition. Doing this creates recognition when buying magazines. If all these types of magazines use the same title it allows for the audience to know that if it has the title ‘the A-side’ it is another issue to one they have already read.  They have also used the same placement of the ‘xxl’ logo as this will be used on every issue, so that it can be easily recognised by the audience.

The writing and information on the left of the image is again very small and insignificant, next to the very large image. This seems to be a common trend on contents pages. As the information is necessary and doesn’t already need to be in your face as you go to the contents page for this information in particular.   

 

The colour scheme used in the contents page is mostly grey and white. This is a change from the usual black and white pattern used in previous xxl contents. However it is still following the theme of simple and dull colours and clothing to show again the ordinarily dressed artists. As this is used a lot and therefore must be popular and successful for rap/grime magazines I will ensure that the image I used for my contents page will match the theme of these magazines and of my cover page by having no gold and having the artists in my magazine wear no chains or gold, meaning they won’t come across as of more importance than the audience or more superior.

For the image they have followed the same layout as previous contents pages as they have used a large main image which covers most of the page leaving little room for the writing, making it significant to the large image again. This seems to be a recurring pattern for xxl magazines and therefore must be effective. Although I am not too keen on this technique my self, I may consider using it when designing my magazine as it is very popular and therefore must be successful for rap/grime magazine contents pages.  

They have used the same layout for the title again and have used the same title as this is the third in a series of ‘the A-side’ contents pages. This has followed the pattern and put the main focus on the title as it is what the target audience will look out for. This is done by making the writing bold and large. Also they made it stand out a lot by using black writing on a white background. Making it stand out over the rest of the contents page.