This week’s focus was researching double-page spreads in our genre. Since my magazine fits under the Cooking, Food, and Beverage genre, I researched publications from Food Network, Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, and more. From this research, I chose one publication from BBC Good Food, Food & Wine, and Bake From Scratch; these magazines caught my eye in terms of formatting and attractiveness. It is worth noting that the first two magazines I researched—BBC Good Food and Food & Wine—came from the online source, Issuu. Meanwhile, my third (Bake From Scratch) is a magazine I own (I scanned most of the pages in its double-page spread to increase the quality of my photos). While researching magazines via Issuu, I had limited access to most publications I wanted to include in my double-page spread research. Therefore, I chose online and in-person magazines for variation and the ability to browse magazines that weren't necessarily available online.
Magazine #1- BBC Good Food
Cover line:
Table of Contents:
Double Page Spread (the left image is page 1; the top right image is pages 2 and 3; the bottom right image is pages 4 and 5):
Content: Above is a double-page spread from the BBC Good Food magazine on teaching children six necessary cooking skills; this section of the six-part series focuses on weighing and measuring ingredients of recipes. It first introduces the purpose of weighing and measuring in cooking and baking and ways to do so. It then features three step-by-step recipes, each increasing in level to build a child's skills and confidence in the kitchen.
House Style: Regarding the house style, the magazine uses the same serif and sans serif fonts—whether for the cover lines, section titles, or the article's body text. The magazine uses vibrant and bright color palettes, mainly shades of pink, blue, and yellow.
Number of images: 10 Number of total pages in the article: 5 Description of each image:
First page: There is one image on page one of the double-page spread: a child weighing oats into a glass jar using a digital scale.
Second page: The second image displays two glass jars filled with chocolate overnight oats and a topping of fresh raspberries.
Third page: This page has six images, each visually describing a step in the chocolate overnight oats recipe. The first image on the third page is an uncropped and angled version of the image on the first page of the double-page spread. As previously mentioned, the image is of a child using a digital scale to weigh 40g of oats into two glass jars. The second image on the third page is of a child adding two tablespoons of yogurt to the jars of oats. The third image shows the same child measuring a teaspoon of cocoa powder, using a cutlery knife to level off the top of the teaspoon for precision. The fourth image shows the child pouring a teaspoon of honey or maple syrup into the jar of ingredients. The fifth image shows the child pouring roughly 150ml of milk into the oat mixture, and the sixth shows the child topping the finished product of the overnight oats with four raspberries.
Fourth page: The image on page four of the double-page spread is an overhead shot that displays cheesy cornbread after having been baked.
Fifth page: The image on page five of the article is also an overhead shot. It shows two servings of easy tomato risotto topped with grated parmesan and basil.
Headline: The headline of the magazine’s article is “Kids’ Kitchen.” It is in a sans serif font, bolded and capitalized. The headline attracts the audience's attention since it is the largest text on the page, and the letters follow a pattern of pink, blue, and yellow font colors—as opposed to the rest of the page's text having a consistent color. A blue utensil icon replaces the “i’s” in both words of the head; this is significant for straightforwardly displaying the article's focus. Section Title:
“Weighing & measuring”
“Ways to weigh & measure”
“Cheesy cornbread”
“Easy tomato risotto”
Pull Quotes: This article doesn’t have any pull quotes. Article Font Format: On the first page of the double-page spread, the following text is in a serif font: “recipes,” “photographs,” “Part 2,” and the body of text under the subtitle, “How to use our guide.” The recipe directions on pages four and five also have the same serif font. The rest of the body text in this double-page spread is in sans-serif fonts. Apart from a few pieces of text that have font colors of white or match the headline's colors, the double-page spread's text is in black. Most of the text is written in the same font size, developing consistency and emphasis on certain words. Stylistic Features: This magazine’s double-page spread has vibrant colors and designs (such as backgrounds of small triangles and circles), and its text varies between black and the colors of the headline. A white rectangle surrounds the information on each page, small enough to create borders for the background to show, and the images vary in size and angle. Besides the first, each page has a piece of text surrounded by a rectangular pink border to add additional information, and some also present information in a circle. These stylistic features create uniqueness, a playful mood, and an article that appeals to children. Number of Columns Per Page: Each page varies between having one, two, and three columns.
Magazine #2- Food & Wine
Cover line:
Table of Contents:
Double Page Spread:
Content: This magazine article is a guide for making homemade pizza, from making the dough to finishing with homemade sauces. It also features four pizza recipes, such as soppressata pizza with Calabrian Chile hot honey. House Style: This magazine consistently uses the same serif and sans serif fonts, and most of the text has a black font color. The cover lines on the front cover, the article titles in the table of contents, and the recipe titles are bolded. Meanwhile, the descriptions of the articles in the table of contents and most of the article's text is not bolded. Black, white, coral, and yellow are consistent colors in this magazine.
Number of images: 22 Number of total pages in the article: 16 Description of each image:
First and second page: The image on this double-page spread's first and second pages takes up more than half of the page and mainly shows the food displayed on this magazine’s cover page—an overhead shot of soppressata pizza with Calabrian Chile hot honey. The image also partially shows a potato pizza with crème fraîche and bacon and a wild mushroom pizza with homemade ranch.
Third and fourth page: A close-up shot of the crumb (a bread's interior) of a slice of pizza fits over pages three and four.
Sixth page: The image on the sixth page of the article is of a person stretching pizza dough upward with one hand, giving the readers a better understanding of how perfect pizza dough should look.
Seventh page: There is one image on page seven on this article. It shows step one of giving pizza dough its shape, a person moving dough from a bowl onto a floured surface.
Eighth page: There are nine images, all the same size, on page eight; they show steps 2-10 of forming pizza dough into a circle. For example, the corresponding image to step 2 shows a person cutting the pizza dough with a bench scraper and weighing them.
Tenth page: There is one image on page ten, the background image; it shows an uncooked sausage and ricotta pizza with Castelvetrano olives.
Twelfth page: The background image is the only image on the twelfth page and is of someone taking a cooked classic cheese pizza out of a pizza oven.
Thirteenth page: The image on page thirteen of the article takes up more than half of the page and is an overhead shot of a partially out-of-frame wild mushroom pizza with homemade ranch.
Fourteenth page: The image on the fourteenth page of the double-page spread is at the top right corner. It is an overhead shot of fancy ranch, smashed garlic oil, garlic confit, and hot honey (fancy finishes to pizza).
Fifteenth page: There are four relatively small images on this page of the double-page spread, each showing the primo pies the articles’ recipes feature—classic cheese pizza, wild mushroom pizza with homemade ranch, potato pizza with crème fraîche and bacon, and soppressata pizza with Calabrian Chile hot honey.
Sixteenth page: There is one image on this article’s sixteenth page, the background image; it is an image of a sausage and ricotta pizza with Castelvetrano olives.
Headline: The double-page spread's headline is “The F&W Guide to Making Pizza At Home.” It is in a sans serif font, fully capitalized with fonts colors of black and coral. It has a font size much larger than the rest of the text on the page, and since a white background is behind the black text, the headline stands out. Section Title:
“Home Slice”
“Make The Dough”
“Give It Shape”
“Add The Toppings”
“Time To Bake”
“Add A Fancy Finish”
“Try Out Primo Pies”
Pull Quotes: This double-page spread doesn’t have any pull quotes. Article Font Format: Besides some text on page three of this double-page spread (under the “Home Slice” section title) in a serif font, the article uses sans serif fonts. The font color varies from black, white, coral, and yellow. Some text is also bolded and italicized, while others aren’t, and each headline is bolded and fully capitalized. Stylistic Features: On some pages, important information stands out due to coral underlining and a white arrow circled in a coral circle to the left of it. On other pages, there is added emphasis on text when written inside circles and rectangles—rather than directly over the background. The article displays icons and plenty of images, varying in size (depending on the amount of text on the page), to feature step-by-step recipes that are easy to follow; some pages have a background image, while others have a white background with smaller images. Each section, other than “Home Slice,” has a coral rectangle at the top left corner of the page, displaying the page and its corresponding step. This stylistic feature gives readers easy access between each step in the double-page spread. Similarly, each recipe in this double-page spread is underlined in yellow to make finding recipes easier for readers. Not only that, but the font colors vary between black, white, coral, and yellow; these colors complement the images and the article's focus (pizza is associated with these colors). Number of Columns Per Page: The number of columns differs per page. For example, page 12 of the double-page spread only has one column. On the other hand, page 11 has a vertical line that separates its content into two columns. However, a horizontal line and rectangle break these two columns into smaller columns.
Magazine #3- Bake From Scratch
Cover line:
Table of Contents:
Double Page Spread:
Content:
This double-page spread from Bake From Scratch is about a step-by-step recipe for making marbled rye bread from scratch with only a few simple ingredients.
House Style:
There is only sans serif text on the front cover, table of contents, and double-page spread. Where the emphasis is needed, the article's text is bolded; for example, the recipe instructions are bolded, while the descriptions and explanations under it aren’t bolded. Both the article title in the table of contents and “Marbled Rye Bread” in the article’s headline have the same sans serif font. The rest of the text—in the front cover, article description in the table of contents, and double page spread—is in a different sans serif font, some being bolded. Excluding the white coverline’s font color, the table of contents and double-page spread has black text. Each section title is black, bolded, and in a serif font. They are also left aligned at the top of the page (except for the section title on page four).
Number of images: 26
Number of total pages in the article: 10
Description of each image:
First page: The image on the article's first page is its background, featuring marbled rye bread cut into slices to reveal the marbled design.
Second page: The second-page image fits almost the entire page and is of a person (whose hands are only visible) sprinkling caraway seeds on top of egg-washed rye bread in its loaf pan.
Third page: The third page only has a background image; it shows half of a marbled rye bread loaf with slices on the side.
Fifth page: The only image on the fifth page is its background image, which is of a gray background with some of the rye bread’s ingredients to the far left.
Sixth page: There are seven images on this page, three at the top and a four-image tiled gallery at the bottom left; each image corresponds to its directions for mastering how to mix rye bread.
Seventh page: This page has eight images, each visually explaining the process of shaping the bread.
Eighth page: The eighth page has two images, one that is small and another that takes up around a third of the page. The smaller image describes step one of "upper crust additions" to the rye bread before baking it, brushing the top of the loaf with egg wash and then sprinkling it with caraway seeds. The bigger image is step two, the last step, in “upper crust additions”; it shows a person (only their hands visible) scoring the loaf with a small sharp serrated knife by making four diagonal slashes across the top.
Ninth page: There are five images, varying in size, on the ninth page of the article, all of which show the process of shaping freeform loaves if one doesn’t have a loaf pan.
Tenth page: The tenth page only has a background image, which shows slices of the marbled rye bread laid across a surface, with butter spread on top of one.
Headline:
The headline of this double-page spread is “The Essential… Marbled Rye Bread.” This text has black lettering with two types of sans-serif fonts. Some of the text is all lowercase and bolded, while the other is all capitalized and isn’t bolded. The headline is also at the top of the page.
Section Title:
“Marbled Rye Bread”
“Ingredient ID”
“Mixing Mastery”
“Shape Things Up”
“Upper Crust Additions”
“Think Outside the Loaf Pan”
Pull Quotes:
There aren’t any pull quotes in this double-page spread.
Article Font Format:
This article is in sans serif fonts, with some bolded and/or italicized. The section titles and article information have a consistent font size, and most of the text is left-aligned.
Stylistic Features:
Each page in this double-page spread differs in format. Some images are small, while others take up an entire page. Likewise, some pages have images of the same size, and others are in a collage with images of varying sizes. The article first features a rye bread recipe with only text, followed by the same recipe with images and more explanations; the recipe has multiple formats to accommodate anyone’s learning style and familiarity with baking bread.
Number of Columns Per Page:
Since there is no text on the article's first, third, and tenth pages, there are no columns. The seventh, eighth, and ninth pages have one column; the second, fourth, fifth, and sixth pages have two columns. In other words, the columns vary between one, two, and three per page.
Other double-page spreads I like:
Better Homes & Gardens
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3.
I liked these double-page spreads due to their image-forward articles, a feature I want to apply to my magazine since it gives readers a better understanding of recipes and how the final product should look. I also like the formatting in this magazine, which is visually appealing to its audience; it uses a variety of colors, shapes, and text to catch people's attention. I initially found online double-page spreads that I liked, however, Issuu soon limited my access. I instead used a magazine that I own.
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