Initial Ideas- Double page spread;

Colour scheme;

The colours which appear on double page spreads in Hiphop magazines all tend to follow a conventional scheme; the colours used normally consist of red, black and white so it is become clear to see that these colours are conventional and have now started to represent the Hiphop genre.

The colour red connotes danger and here is an example of how the colour red does seem to represent a sense of danger within the music genre, Hiphop. I have taken the following lyrics from a record who global Hiphop stars, Jay Z and Kanye West's produced: 'Niggas in Paris'

'If you've escaped what I've escaped, You'd be in Paris getting fucked up to'.

I have chosen this line from their song to show the threatening and dangerous nature and tone that Hiphop music put forwards to the industry.

The colour black connotes power and the following lyrics present the power and mystery representations Hiphop music can present:

'Bow in the presence of my greatness, You should be honored by my lateness.'

These lyrics were taken from Kanye West's record- 'Stronger' and shows him attempting to feel and be in authority and of greater power than others through the word choices 'bow' and 'honored.'

On my double spread page, I aim to use colours such as black and red to obtain the connotations that they hold; I want to upkeep representations of power, mystery, danger as I believe they are what differentiates Hiphop from other genres. However, my target is to include one other colour which isn't conventional in Hiphop magazines to bring my own personal style into my magazine; stereotypically, black and red are colours which appeal to a male audience and I believe by including a colour such as yellow, could bring more femininity to the double page spread to give it more of a balanced appeal to both genders. I like the white background used in example one and three and would like to use a white background for my double page spread as it does not limit my ideas for image text in any way; anything shows up on white and expands the choice for colours to use.

The text's font + style;

The size of the article text on Hiphop music magazine's double spread pages tend to be small. The text of the masthead on the second example is the largest text on two pages, presenting it as the most important feature on the page alongside the image. The largest text on the third example is the quote above the article which seems to be in place for a masthead and the largest text on the first example seems to be the quote which sits above the article text. The font of the article text on all three examples is simple lacking in any style or interesting features. Two example's display text in the colour black, reinforcing the connotations which come with the colour linked with the Hiphop genre and one of the example holds text in the colour white to contrast with the black background it sits on top of.

On my double spread page, I aim to use a masthead which will stand as the title of the article and I also want to use a quote which I feel holds importance and may attract the reader to read the article, underneath the masthead. I would like the masthead to appear as the largest text on the page and the quote to be the second largest text. I would like either my masthead or quote to appear in an interesting style like the third example; the third example's quote above the article text is slanted to the left hand side and I believe it allows the text to look more appealing and interesting. I aim to use simple font for the text of the article as a contrast to the sytlish font I aim to use for the masthead and quote as I believe it is important to have a varied appeal for consumers.

Image;

The images used on all three examples are very different from each other; example one has many images of the same artist displayed at the top of the page and one larger full-length one on the right page, the second example holds just one image of the artist which takes up the whole of the left page and the third example holds just one image also but it is a small image. All three main images hold direct mode of address however they all differ in their use of camera shot; example one is a full-length shot, example two is almost full length but the artist is sat down and example three is a half body shot which only captures the top half of the artist.  Example two and three are images which do not display anything interesting through the artsists facial expression, posture or pose and this allows the image to be very boring and dull. However, as these double page spread's are situated within Hiphop music magazines, which is a very specific genre aimed at individuals with a huge love and interest in the genre and their artists, the images will not have to appeal to them as they already appeal to their artist and their music.

On my double page spread, my aim is to follow the positioning of the image that the first example presents;I think it is a more interesting way of presenting images and gives the reader not just one but many images of the artist. I aim to use a full length image for one of the images, however unlike this example I aim to use different types of angles and shots for the other images instead of just full length ones again, to provide the reader with a variety of images of the artist. The artist I'm going to use for my double page spread will be the artist that I want to use for the main image for my front cover, and contents page; I want the artist to be female and to be the USP for my magazine.