Q Magazine Analysis

This is my analysis of the front cover, contents page and a feature article in a Q magazine

Q Magazine Analysis


Front Cover
This type of magazine is a glossy, mainstream one which you can tell from the professionalism of the cover. From the central image and the cover lines included, it comes across the magazine would be an indie rock magazine, which is also be evident from the title block ‘Q’ as most readers know the genre of this particular magazine. The target audience for this magazine would generally be teenagers and young adults mainly males, who are interested in indie rock music. However, some adults around the age of late twenties, early thirties and possibly older may read the magazine if they are really into the genre. The central image is a long-shot, which helps identify the genre of the magazine due to the style of clothing worn by the feature artists. The band ‘Arcade Fire’ is on the front cover because they are the feature artists of this edition and the anchorage text implies they are the ‘band of the year’. The two artists featured on the cover have different modes of address, as direct and indirect are both used, that suggests the article will be a truthful, personal side from the band members but as well, more about their career which makes the desired relationship come across as a realistic one, no lies but not the whole truth. This reflects on the artists themselves, as the body positions and posture are also different, this could have been used to show their different personalities or abilities. Therefore, it portrays that the article will include personal information on the band and not just professional, career information. To add to this, their outfits are not colour co-ordinated, and they are wearing different colours which suggests there are many different aspects to the band and the members. The overall message conveyed from the artists body positions, is that the band is fun and they are enjoying themselves, but they are also serious about the music they are creating. I think the complete image is representing the target population of teenagers and young adults, simply because of the fun and serious aspects portrayed through the band members, which are main factors in the lives of the target audience. The anchorage text says ‘BAND OF THE YEAR ARCADE FIRE Three months inside their great leap forward’ this promotes the band’s success and aids the interest of the article as they have been described as ‘Band of the year’. The cover lines suggest the magazine will be full of the most successful bands of the year, as various bands and artists are named. This will interest people as the cover lines are portraying that magazine is reviewing the best that has been and the best that is to come, which is something that people interested in music are eager to know. The banner itself ‘review of the year & 2011 preview’ basically sums up what the cover lines are implying. The big, bold but yet simple design of the title block makes the magazine comes across to be well known, as it is easily recognised. This also creates a professional, sophisticated and successful image as the title block has class, style as well as simplicity – sometimes less is more. The colours used are the usual red, black and white, which is effective because it matches the title block. However, gold is also used which could possibly be reflecting the time of year as this issue was released just after the Christmas period and gold is a colour associated with that time. Gold is also a colours used for medals and trophies, so because the magazine is focusing on the best music acts of the previous year the association with the colour gold is a clever addition. The black and white are bold contrasting colours, which look effective when used together and the colour red could be used to show passion for the music genre the magazine is based on. The overall combination of colours gives the magazine an attractive and stylish look. The main font used is big and bold to attract attention from readers, and the smaller fonts appear to be similar to the title block in order for it all to coordinate as they are just giving information on the contents. Even though the artists featured on the front are wearing different colours to each other, both their outfits match the colour scheme of the fonts and background.

Contents Page
On the contents page there are several images of artists and inside pages situated mainly in the centre, with the list of contents either side which puts the main focus on the images. The images are of the main articles in the magazine, and they are numbered the same as the article title in the list of contents. This is a stylish way of constructing a contents page and supports the sophisticated look of the front cover. However, it could appear quite complex which is why it seems to be intended to suit the likes of teenagers and young adults. The contents is listed in order, from the top of the page to the bottom and from left to right. The titles of the articles are used as the headings, which are identical to the title used on the front cover so the readers can access it easier. The same colour scheme from the front cover is continued, except from the gold, which must have just being intended to increase the attention the front cover gained therefore a house style is being developed. The text is mainly coloured black with red underlines, so your attention is drawn to the underlined headings. The fonts used are the same as the smaller writing from the front cover, as the contents page provides additional information to what the front cover did about the inside articles. The different sections which associate with each other are listed together, such as the articles on bands and artists are put together. This suggests that the conventions of this particular magazine are usually kept consistent and the layout is to continue the style. However, there isn’t any subheadings putting the contents in sections, which could confuse readers. Most professional magazines don’t include many promotional features, however there is a heading labelled ‘Q Quiz’ and underneath it reads ‘win a £3000 telly’ which is something any reader would be interested in. The logo appears quite often across the page. The biggest logo is situated next to the contents title and there are a few others on the pictures of magazine pages. Also, in the bottom corner next to the date and page number, there is a small logo. The various logos, even though some are quite small, so because the logo it isn’t the key signifier other parts of the page catch your eye first, but the repetition means it will be remembered. There is another page which features words from the editor, his photo and the brands other franchises along with contact details such as telephone numbers and websites. Also, there is another promotional feature, which offers over 57% off a subscription to Q magazine for one year, including a free music bible book and limited edition covers, providing the page number for the promotion.

Feature Article
The fact that the feature article is about a young, indie rock band, suggest that the target audience are more likely going to be young. The language used in the article wavers from formal to informal. The approach used comes across as formal, because the article is very informative however, most of the vocabulary used is informal, such as ‘but scratch the surface’. Phrases such as these seem quite chatty, as if the magazine is making conversation with the readers but the style that the information is been given suggests it to be more formal. This language will be appealing to the audience, because the article is giving them the information in an organised way but is more realistic, which makes it an easier read. The professionalism of the magazine suggests that this is a good style, as the formality keeps the sophisticated edge to the magazine, but the informal approach also connects more with the readers. Q address the readers as informed and intelligent fans, because they use informal tones to provide a lot of information about the band. This continues on from the language used, as the informal tone makes it easier to read and more enjoyable, whereas the informative aspect of the article is giving the readers what they want. For example; ‘Early September, and with the first leg of their US tour over, Arcade Fire are back in Europe’, this is informative with an informal tone. The text font is the same as that from the contents page, and the little bit on the front cover. This makes the magazines appearance mire consistent and more sophisticated, which reflects on the target audience. It continues to house style it has created, as the font and colour scheme remain the same throughout the magazine. The text is quite small and black, and arranged in columns. There are big, bold letters as entry points starting each section of text, which also break up the text a little.. Quotes are featured in the centre of the columns, in larger, bolder and red text. The article is more of a report rather than an interview, but quotes from the band are featured in relevant sections of the information. The article itself is laid out in quite a formal way, and is very text heavy, but the facts included on the banner and the enlarged quotes make the article look a little lighter. This conveys the idea that the audience would be more interested in the facts and information, rather than images. However, prior knowledge of the band themselves is required, as they are not really introduced because they arn’t a new band and the readers are expected to be familiar with them. There are big pictures against a white background, the first one of Win Butler and Regine Chassagne similar to that on the front cover and one just of ‘Win Butler’. The other images are smaller, square images of them on stage or in a set location. The positions and locations of the artists in the images, portray them as outgoing people. The two captions given are; ‘Empire state of mind: Win Butler and Regine Chassagne on stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden, 4 August 2010.’ and ‘Get them to the Greek: backstage and checking out the cheap seats in Berkeley’. These captions describe the band as on and off stage, which is effective because it shows them as the music group which the fans admire and as ordinary people. The first caption includes reference to the song ‘empire state of mind’ by Alicia Keyes, which is set in New York. The second captions refers to the film, ‘Get him to the Greek’ which is based on trying to get an old famous Rock Star (Albus Snow) to the Greek theatre. This suggests that Q’s audience would be aware of both of the references, ‘Get him to the Greek’ is a rock music based film which links to the genre of the magazine where as the song ‘Empire State of Mind’ is an RnB song. Therefore, Q are assuming and suggesting that its readers are aware of other music genres and media.