Analysis of Double Page Spread Design

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The reason for the brush font for "Sammy Davis" was to keep a house style and suggest that Sammy Davis is an artistic person, also by the fact that the drop cap starts with an "A". The fact that the font is messy implies that she does not conform to society, which relates well with the audience (the same principle applies to the contents page and front cover as well). Also, the pinkish red put against the black and white background gives a 60's feel, which could also suggest femininity (male artists are usually written about more frequently).

The reason I chose Paris as the subject of these pictures are due to the fact that I took pictures of historical sites such as the Nôtre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel tower - and it would really help bring out the vintage feel of the double page spread (as hinted in the sell line "bringing vintage values to modern cinema" in the contents page), which was very much inspired by film noir because it's mysterious, gloomy and somewhat romantic which reflects my audience's appreciation of older forms of art. I put "Artist Feature" to make it clear for the reader, and put "Sammy Davis" as the heading to highlight the artist's importance. I added a pop of blue and red to sustain the house style and colours, and the red helps the name "Sammy Davis" and the pull quote to stand out. The elements of this double page spread are traditional to match the photographs of the artist - a drop cap with a brush stroke was used to help guide the reader's attention to the beginning of the text, and a pull quote was used to entice readers and highlight an important message (which happens to resonate with the nonconformist teenagers, who would be my audience) and a standfirst was used to immediately give the reader the essence of the article and give them an incentive to read on. Alternatively the drop cap could be an acronym for "art" which helps the audience instantly recognise that the spread is about art - or it could look like it's mimicking a teacher handing out a grade (which is appropriate for teens and young adults). This correlates well with the content of the spread - Sammy Davis's art has been criticised due to her age, however she wants to be taken seriously: "Even though I am not a painter, I am an artist." The grade "A" confirms this with the reader.

The picture spread consists of two pictures intercut with each other diagonally, mimicking a jigsaw effect. This creates visual interest and the reader is inclined to spend more time looking at the details, treating it the same way as a piece of painting in the gallery, which links directly to Sammy's claim about her not being a painter but her photographs are equally good as a painting.

The reason I did not include a photo of the artist is to not only follow the typical convention of art magazines, where photos of artists are rarely shown, but to highlight the fact that Sammy Davis' artwork rather speaks for itself.