Analysis of Student Magazine Double Page Spreads

“Are you AWARE?”

Title of documentary- in large font. The use of larger font draws the audiences attention thus drawing the attention of not only the target audience but also an extra demographic. “Are you AWARE?” has a drop shadow which adds a three dimensional element to the plain black text. The capitalisation of “AWARE” is the first thing that draws your attention to the page. It is bold and has a question mark at the end which involves the spectator rather. By asking a question and not reviling any specifics of the content readers are enticed to find out what it is about. The slanted “are you” however draws the readers attention off the page. Rather than being slanted up to down, it is slanted down to up, and is leading your eyes off the page. When we make our TV listings double page spread we would not do this because it leads the eyes off the page whereas we want the viewers eyes to stay on the page for as long as possible.

“Are you AWARE?”

The use of a byline gives the audience an insight into what to expect when reading this article. It neatly summarises the theme of the documentary, the type of presentation to expect when watching the film – ‘light hearted’, ‘informative’ – and the way in which the article is going to discuss the documentary. This helps to attract to target audience to both the article and documentary. It also may attract people who would not fall into the category of target audience, but may find the subject or the presentation interesting.

“Are you AWARE?”

The red font used sparingly throughout the double page spread stands out against the monotone text. Being displayed in red “FYI: Binge Drinking…C4” gains the readers attention as it is in the first third and is on the left, as we read from left to right we see it first. When we make our TV Listings Magazine we would probably use this technique as it would grab the readers attention.

“Are you AWARE?”

The use of the large smashed bottle is strikingly effective as it relates to their chosen topic of binge drinking. This is something that we could use in our documentary with a different image relating to our documentary for example we could use or a piece of fruit or a fast food container. The composition of the way the bottle curves on the right hand side into the page keeps the readers eye on the page which is something we want to do in our magazine to keep the audience interested.

“Are you AWARE?”

The article uses four images; the bottle, a formal interview, background footage and a student interview. There are two smaller pictures, one bigger one, then the background bottle picture. The use of different sized pictures is effective as they are spread over the page and don’t affect the article itself. The composition of this is well placed however the two images used of students are both very similar, when making our article we will use a vast range of images.

“Are you AWARE?”

Using pull quotes, the article demonstrates the main points effectively. By putting them in red and using them sparsely throughout, it focuses the spectators attention towards them which allows the audience to understand the essence of the article and therefore the documentary. Also for people who are not the intended audience, it may incline them to read the article.

“Are you AWARE?”

The article itself clearly demonstrates what the topic of the documentary is about and the angle that it’s being presented from. This article is similar to ours in that it is aimed at young adults and teenagers; we can therefore learn from how this article is set out in order to appeal to that group.