Planning and Evaluation of the article

Music magazines typically feature different source of article as double page spreads.Interviews are the most common articles found in nearly each magazine.They can be represented as a transcription full of questions and answers or a summary with key points with quotes.Another type of article will be 'Profile'-basically it's an in depth interview of someone.

I have found this article about Madonna in Smash Hits magazine:


This article is slightly old.It was written by David Keeps in 1985.The main heading of the page which is the title of the article is written in big white letters and is in contrast to the pink rectangle background.
Most of the article is covered in quotes from Madonna,which the interviewer David Keeps analyse.The pull quote written in big bold letters at the top is put there to grab the reader's attention.
The text is written in four grids which is easy to read and it's separated with lines between each column,so the reader can easily follow the text.
This article is suitable for the audience as most of the quotes are written in a slang or in a way that would make young females carry on reading.Magazine such as Smash Hits tend to use informal language,so that the reader is not engaged in trying to concentrate on the text,but instead can relax and entertain themselves.Paragraphs seem to be longer as this page is divided into 4 grids, but the sentences themselves are short and clear.Most of the article is written in present tense which feels like it's happening at the moment and it's also more engaging.



Here's link of an online article in the form of an interview from Top of the Pops magazine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp/news/interviews/2006/10/16/37061.shtml

This article is written in a interview form.It will again engage the target audience,as the article is written in informal language.Interviews tend to make the atmosphere between the interviewer and the person being interviewed friendlier and chatty.This is shown by the use of language.The questions are asked in a way so that the answers can be humorous-e.g.
Nicola: Distinctive noises? Like "Wahhhh!" or They think I've got this selective hearing thing.... This interview is written in a way that would keep the reader's interest.The questions are short and clear which gives the reader encouragements to keep reading.


To create my article for my double page spread,first I had to look into the same genre magazines to have an idea of what language to use, how to make it interesting,how will my text attract the reader,what fonts to use,etc.Most magazines feature a direct interviews on double page spreads so I decided to create one for the new star Vanessa Parsons. I believe that the questions I have asked are suitable and creating a rather friendly atmosphere.The questions are all about how has Vanessa's life changed since she won the big music show Music Idol. I have used informal language for my article as most pop fans would rather read something easy without thinking about it much.I have tried not to use too long sentences as they can lose the readers' attention. To attract my audience I have put a pull quote on the second page.Readers tend to read first any pull quotes or heading written in different bigger font and then read the small text.Making the pull quote in a bigger font does not only stand out from the rest of the text but shows an interesting fact or thought of the person being interviewed.This helps the audience get to know Vanessa better.

This is a draft of my double page spread,which i later improved:

What I improved in this page was the text.I addressed the question more carefully and made the answers more engaging.I have also put a number on each questions so the reader can follow the interview.The picture on the right corner on the first page will not be in my final version,as the staging is not appropriate.To view my final cover go to next Blog Evaluation of the Finished Magazine.