Double-page layout problems

I realized a while ago that the best way to complete this project is to start with the double-page layout, then the table of contents, and finally the front cover. This is because of the fact that by working backwards, it's just easier to see how everything is going to turn out.
I also noticed a few things when looking through on e of the online editions of "Bark" magazine. IN the past few weeks I haven't been able to do much research on them because I didn't have enough money to buy their subscription, but I was finally able to this weekend. One of the things I noticed about their layout is that they have a lot of text, but barely any pictures.

Layout from "Bark" magazine (second page)

 The problem for me is that I'm not writing an actual story, but doing a listical (a story that has a list in it). Because of this, this type of more "traditional" layout wouldn't really fit in with the story I wrote for the project. However, I was able to find a listical in the same issue that was very different from what I was planning on doing, but at least gave me an example.
Even though this is the example they use, I don't think I will be following it exactly because I don't have the type of pictures necessary, and I'm not a big fan of a layout like this.

Listical from "Bark" magazine (second page)

Something I did notice while looking through the magazine, however, was that if they can avoid using pictures, they do (but still manage to pull out a visual). This is completely different than what I was planning on doing, so instead of using a lot of pictures, I'm going to make one huge picture on the second page of the layout and then put the story under it.
Something else about my layout that I noticed (and that I noticed that other magazines don't do) is that they avoid leaving pictures cross through the break of the pages. This is completely different than the type of layout I am used to (newspaper layout) because with a double truck (another name for a double-page layout), we don't have to worry about the page break. My new plan, however will fix this problem and allow me to be able to have a layout that fits the genre and a typical magazine.