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 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.

Front cover image options

For my front cover I either wanted a close up shot of the artist or a mid-shot to highlight the artist and make him stand out the most. However when taking my intended photo's I was experimenting with different shots too decide which type I wanted to use. These are the options so far.....

Contents page photo options

My contents page was my last priority of the three and I wanted to use a full body shot to show all of the artists mainly so that the audience of my magazine could relate to his style. These were my options

Double page spread rough cut images options

 I have gone out and taken pictures of my two models 'Abbs and Aboo' I decide to take pictures of them on wall backgrounds will loads of amazing graffiti too fill the look of the hood and the streets in which they are from. I have done this mainly too appeal to the target audience as they will appeal to these artists and look up to them for inspiration, also it will allow them to recognise the magazine as it will look unique and stand out from all the pink and blue brightly coloured pop magazines and other genres. It is important to me to have my magazine different to other genre magazines and make it look incredibly unique. This is so that stands out as a rap magazine making it links to the culture of rap, this is because rap is a very unique genre of music which doesn't appeal to the most people as they don't understand the background and life of theses artists. Which is why it has a very specific target audience. Although I have selected black artists for my magazine this doers not mean the magazine is only aimed at black people. I have done this because the history of rap is predominant black and 'Gangster rap' was originated from them all black group from the American city of Compton.These are the images I am considering for my rough cut draft for my double page spread.

I will use this  colour chart to determine which colours I will use throughout mu magazine as the theme. I need to do this so that it appeals to my target audience and also  relates and fits to the genre I have selected which is hip hop/rap. I have chosen to use Red, black, grey and white. with predominantly black and red.

I will dress my model to match the colours, as this enhance the artist and make it look more naturally appealing to the audience. This will make it look more professional.  

This double page spread uses a different layout to the previous  ones I have analysed. As instead of contrasting and mixing the image used and the text to create one double page spread spread, it has separated the image from the text by having it on the left page and the text/article on the right. In doing this it makes it easier to identify the two but perhaps makes it more difficult to associate them with each other. Although this is different to most double page spreads it does not mean it is any less effective as it does still uses the same techniques but in a different way. This layout looks more simplistic, this is good however as it fits the Hip Hop genre better as rap is seen as a very dull ordinary genre which is unique. I think they have purposely made this look unique and not use the traditional layout to show that rap is not like other genres as it is individual and very different from most other forms of music, therefore this is  very effective, in making it stand out as a rap magazine therefore making it easier for the target audience to recognise it. I will not be using this technique for my rough cut magazine as I have  decided to go for the traditional layout and have my image cover both pages and act as the background for the article. However if I do not like this after the feedback of my work, I will consider changing it to this technique for my final design as it may be more appropriate and fit the genre better making it a much more effective rap DPS.    

Eminem DPS analysis

I have chosen this double page spread as my main layout inspiration. It has used a singular image to cover the whole two pages, I think that this is very effective as it highlights the artists massively, and shows him off as the main attraction of the article. From this it is very easy to know what you are reading about as this is very clear that Eminem is the main attraction. This effective as The artists is a very popular and famous rapper who will draw readers i to read the article instantly as they will recognise the rapper and immediately be interested in the article and therefore will read the magazine with interest and show their friends spreading the word and popularity of the magazine. To emphasise the rapper even more they have uses very simplistic techniques to make him stand out over the article. The main thing they have done is use the main title of the article the featured artists name. In doing this it allows the target audience to recognise the rapper from his name as well as from his very large image. This is done in case they didn't recognise him from the image, they would then immediately notice the very large and bold text 'EMINEM'. To make the text stand out even further they have used Eminem very well known text of having the second E backwards and in a different colour. This is a very effective marketing technique that the rapper has established, as it is very unique as no other rapper has anything like it and therefore it cannot be mistaken for anything other that 'EMINEM'. The magazine has used very simple styled layout for the article, using white text on a black background so that it is very easy to read and stands out a fair amount. For my magazine rough cut I will use a very similar technique as I will also use a singular image to fill the whole of the double page spread as i think this is very effective and a successful technique as it is used alot. I will have the background of the image cover both pages however the artists 'like in Eminem magazine' will only cover one half of it, allowing plenty of space for the article on the right hand side. I have chosen to do this as if the artist was large enough to cover both pages it would make it especially difficult for the readers to read the articles text drawing their attention away from the article. 

First DPS analysis

The way this double page spread covers both pages of the double page spread is very effective. I think that this technique looks very professional and also manages to draw the readers in as it is full of information, colours and interesting uses of images. As I really like this technique i am going to use a similar approach for my magazine double page spread. Although this magazine genre is not the same or even similar to the genre i will be using i still think that this is a very effective way to go about a double page spread. As is makes the image and title the main aspect of the magazine. In using the image to draw people in it will allow them to naturally become curious and interested in the article making them want to read more. This article has used a very simplistic layout however it has spent a while on how this is effective. For my magazine I will use idea's and influences from this magazines to make my magazine as professional and effective as possible, However will use these attributes in a different way as i am dong a rap magazine, so to befit my genre I will edit and change these techniques to fit my genre to the best possible way