Double page spread of Kerrang!

Kerrang Issue 1288 November 21st 2009, Pages 40-41

The background of the double page spread is a photograph of Chester Bennington, the lead singer for the well known rap-metal band Linkin Park. The photograph is a medium long-shot of Chester sat against some cupboards alone, looking directly into the camera. This creates a sense of isolation and the fact that he is lonely, trying to connect with the reader by looking out at them. The picture is edited using a vignette effect making the photo darker at the edges which isolates the subject into a smaller frame. This makes him seem helpless and trapped inside a prison, making people feel sorry for him but it may also connate that he is a prisoner as the article looks how he had broken the law through mainly drug abuse. He is wearing black, white and grey which are dull simple colours giving a depressed theme of emotion to the picture with no vibrant colours present to counter the disheartened effect that is given. The background of the photograph itself is a plain cream set of cupboards which makes him appear to be in a house. This gives the impression that he is living alone reinforcing the sense of isolation, also the cupboard which Chester is leaning upon is wearing away while the others are fine, reflecting how his life is terrible compared to others. It is appropriate to give this sense of depression and loneliness as the article is focused on his “horrible existence” (as Chester says), Kerrang interview him he goes on to say how he wanted to kill himself showing a depressive topic to the article.

The layout of the article is based around the subject of the photograph. The main title is placed at the top left hand corner making it the first thing to be seen on the page. It is in a large bold font which stands out from the rest of the text which therefore attracts the reader to find out what the article is all about. There are two fonts used within the title which puts emphasis on the words with the larger font. This makes it stand out to the reader and allows it to be easily memorable as it catches the reader’s attention. The smaller font used within the title is grey while the larger font is white, this again shows how to make certain parts more memorable through the use of colour.

Just below the main title is a patterned red circle within a thin red ring outlining it. Within the circle is a taster of what the article is about, this gives the reader the main parts of the article without revealing too much. This entices the reader as the graphics attract them and the simple message informs them about the most appealing parts of the article.

The text for the article is presented on the page in columns which are located down the sides of the double-page. This means that the text is not covering the main focus of the photograph but is merged around it. The colour of the text is white which contrasts with the black effect of the vignette making it more visible and easy to read. At the beginning of each main paragraph the first two words are red which creates a break from the set layout of plain white text, and links to the red circle under the main title. During the text there is a break where an important quote is displayed in the same font layout as the main title which breaks away from the set text and attracts the reader making that quotation memorable. At the end of the article is a patterned red box, which links to the circle in appearance, with what his band, Linkin Park, are up to now. This gives the reader something else to know and gives the band publicity especially as the red box attracts the reader. Quotations that are in larger fonts, or extra information that may be appealing to the reader, are usually in capital letters which makes it stand out from the rest of the text.

The overall layout of the double page spread consists of simple bland dull colours which represent the theme and emotion of the article, while the white and red colour of the text gives a professional and more formal appearance. The change in font and text size provides an escape from the set layout keeping the reader enticed and the red shapes that contain some simple information provide an extra read for the readers who want to find out more. Along the top of the page is a red line which creates a border and a line on which the author’s and photographer’s name’s are using the red and grey colour scheme. In the top right hand corner along the red line is the band’s new album name ‘Dead by Sunrise’ in a red font that is larger than the font of the text. The gaze of the article touches on marriage and family but focuses mainly on educating the audience about drug abuse. It is also informative about the band but only as extra information. The real focus of the article is mainly on Chester’s life and how he was affected by drugs and the impact on him and his family, as the reader is informed about his divorce but then the fact that he has a new wife who broughts him happiness from his fall.