Research and pla nning: Q magazine front cover analysis .

Type of magazine: music magazine

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Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. In the top left hand corner of the cover is the logo (masthead) and much like ‘mixmag’ written on the skyline reads ‘The world’s greatest music magazine’. This information is placed in the top left because it is the most important aspect of the whole magazine- the brand and their power. The colour choice of red in the logo could signify fire, energy, determination as well as passion and desire. Red is a very emotionally intense colour. Allegedly it raises blood pressure and enhances human metabolism. White on the other hand is associated with goodness, purity, and innocence. It means safety and cleanliness and has a positive connotation in

Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. In the top left hand corner of the cover is the logo (masthead) and much like ‘mixmag’ written on the skyline reads ‘The world’s greatest music magazine’. This information is placed in the top left because it is the most important aspect of the whole magazine- the brand and their power. The colour choice of red in the logo could signify fire, energy, determination as well as passion and desire. Red is a very emotionally intense colour. Allegedly it raises blood pressure and enhances human metabolism. White on the other hand is associated with goodness, purity, and innocence. It means safety and cleanliness and has a positive connotation in

To the top right is a cover line. “JOHNNY MARR” is in all capitals and in red to flag up the attention of his reader as they’re most likely fans. Red makes his name look alarming like a warning sign which suggests a rebellious character. “My life in the smiths and beyond”- this is alluring as it shows he’s going to recall his life thus far and his future, not because the audience doesn’t know who he is but to be nostalgic. The audience wants to look back to marvel and idolise Johnny at how “amazing” he is. As well as to see what he’s up to next so they can keep an interest. This is emphasised due to it being a “14 page spread”. This is rather uncommon as commonly double page spreads are used, and so to have a story that is 7x bigger it highlights his influence. Besides this is a medium close-up with a stern looking Johnny, half of his face is in the shadows (chiaroscuro lighting), this lures the readers in as it portrays him to be mysterious and slightly threatening.

The main image is a medium shot of the band Green Day (I have cropped the original image on page one), they’re a famous punk rock American trio. They formed in 1986 and had several major hits but their fame declined slightly in the early 2000’s. But they’ve still been chosen as the cover stars because they’ve most likely got new music coming out which will gain popularity rapidly because even though they’ve been M.I.A their legacy remains and fans new and old rejoice in that. The positioning of the band is based on a hierarchy. Billie Joe the lead singer stands in front (he is the most memorable) with Mike and Frank behind him. The focus remains on Billie because he’s dressed apart from the other two. They both wear black whereas Billie is wearing a faded dark emerald and beige stripped blazer that is slightly distressed with studs outlining the collar. He is pictured to be a rock n’ roll character and with the other two just in black which could signify a lack of importance- they act as a background to Billie. Overall the band looks very rugged and scrappy, each have dyed their hair with Frank’s being the most interesting (Turquoise). We could say that the magazine has “grouped” the sections into bright colours and dark colours. For example, Frank’s hair falls onto Q’s colourful logo whereas the other two members, fall into quite a dark section- there isn’t much bright colour in the background. The background appears to be some sort of dismal subway train, it’s quite difficult to tell and so it again adds an element of mystery.

The First puff uses the colour scheme of the logo but with Black writing in it aswell. It shows that Q, reviews different styles music and then publishes the reviews in the magazine. ‘New’ and ‘Improved’ gives the impression that the reviews are to be taken more seriously. There are 5 stars underneath the title ‘The Q review’ in a light grey. The 5 stars signifies that they’re accredited for their reviews. Even more so there reads “All the music you need this month” which is an imperative which suggests that the audience are quite submissive.

Along the mid-section of the cover we have a horizontal, main article. We have the cover lines

placed both side- identically to one and other “The 1975”…”Blossoms”. These articles are interesting to

the reader however, they’re in a grey and white colour which blends into the background of the main article in blue, red and white. These colours signify the American as well as the British flag. It almost symbolises the union between the American band (Green Day) and the British magazine. Similarly to the other magazines I have analysed the magazine wants the audience to rely on them to help get their

audience closer to the music they love (“How to survive rock n’ roll: A cautionary tale featuring...”). “GREEN DAY” is written in the largest and brightest font as they are the most important aspect of the

cover. “METALLICA MADNESS” covers in blue underneath, in a slightly smaller sized font. Their influence is rather large but as Green Day are the cover stars, Metallica would be in competition with them therefore they need to play their significance down ever so slightly- but not too much because

Metallica are still iconic to the audience. Underneath there is a rather fantastical font that links in with the previous mention of “…Cautionary tales” this brings connotations of fairy tales, however this has been flipped on its side as rather than focusing on the

happy ending, “do-gooder” fairy tale characters but

At the bottom of the magazine we have the left third. This invites Q’s readers to the ‘Q Awards 2016’, and if they purchase the magazine on page 24 they’ll receive a ticket. This encourages the reader to delve further into the magazine to receive the idealised ticket. We know that as an audience Q’s readers are obsessed with celebrity culture- and so Q lures them in by treating the readers as though they are celebrities themselves. According to Maslow, we all have a hierarchy of needs. Q magazine gives readers the second need from the top of the pyramid- Esteem. Q’s readers will feel confident and have plenty of self-esteem if they are considered to go to an awards evening. Q also caters for their need of love and belonging to celebrity culture.

On the strap line, we have a “name drop” of popular celebrity musicians, whose genre of music all differs. It could be said that music magazines don’t specifically have to focus on a genre. If you show the readers what is popular within the music world, then you’ll gain a following.

Unusually there isn’t a dateline, barcode, or issue number on the cover. It is most likely to be hidden on the last page, strategically this works better than the norm as it means that the audience are less likely to question the price if it isn’t easily accessible and therefore this leads to an impulsive buy.