'Q' Magazine - Front Cover
The masthead is iconic and unique as it made up of one letter which makes it look like a logo, the logo makes the magazine look like more of a brand and can be easily adapted, also the single-letter title would be more prominent on newsstands. The red and white makes it stand out from the page as well as the newsstands and allows the colour scheme to be applied throughout the whole page, all of this combined makes it a highly recognisable masthead. It would appeal to the target audience of a young trendy adult, as it is in a sophisticated and holds a mature font with the bright, simple colours adding some fresh vibrancy to the look, to keep the magazine looking trendy.
The one image on the magazine cover, is the background image, it is a very prominent and strong background image which features the well-known singer Cheryl Cole (which is relevant to the genre of the magazine) with what looks likes rain falling over her. The rain creates a powerful yet inviting image, which represents strength, edginess and also sexualises Cheryl. She wears dark, ’rock and roll’ makeup and clothing which again adds that edge and strength to her look. She is positioned in front of a dark background which features the rain falling past it, these features make the back ground concur with Cheryl. These combined together with a sexualised pose and expression makes the image very striking and powerful. In my opinion this image is very effective as most of the mainstream music industry has got very sexualised and it appears to be the trend and a way of getting noticed, it also relates to the content and genre of the magazine which offers both alternative and mainstream music styles and artists. It fits in with it’s target audience of men aged 18-30 because of the level of sexuality, the use of a female ‘sex symbol’ and the overall strength and power of the image. If any more images were to feature on the cover it would become too cluttered and also overwhelming to look at, which will ultimately put readers off.
The text on this front cover fits in with the recognised ‘Q’ colour scheme which is red and white and is the standard colour scheme of which is used on all of their magazines as part of their band and recognised look. Red, White and Grey is used on this cover and those colours seem to be spread across the cover lines and plug information quite randomly yet very effectively as its sets words and sections apart, making it more interesting and attractive to read. The font is a simple yet modern font which doesn’t appear to change much throughout the page and contrasts nicely with the more tradition font used for the ’Q’, this creates modern magazine with a twist. There is the main cover line advertising Cheryl’s appearance in the magazine, along the bottom in a towered pyramid shape, in the trademark colours of red and white. This could be classed as a ’Puff’, meaning that it is a phrase used on the cover to boost it’s status. It is very clever as it says ‘3 Words… Cheryl Cole Rocks’ with ‘3 words’ being the title of one of Cheryl Cole’s songs, they have altered it to create a catchy tag line which will catch the attention of the target audience. They layout of the text on the front cover is reasonably standard as it all circulates around the main image of Cheryl Cole, leaving space to clearly see her face. There are there 4 main sections along each of the sides, along the top, along the bottom, down the left hand side and up the right hand side. They have used the ‘Left-side third’ theory along with the use of filled in text boxes which coincide with the colour scheme to attract readers to the plug information down the left hand side of the cover. These are the names of the different artists that readers can find inside the magazine. The way that only artists names are used on the cover makes it easier to read and quicker to become interested in, as it is straight to the point. Down the right hand side of the cover a lot of creativity occurs with the different font sizes as well as the colour mix and word spacing to add a unique affect which will capture attention. Also down the right hand side there is a piece of plug information highlighted by being put inside a light grey circle making separate to the other pieces of text that can be found down the right hand side and also making it ‘pop’ out to readers as it contrasts, especially against the dark background, whilst still fitting in with the colour scheme. Along the top of the magazine and above the masthead there is a ‘Puff line’ used, simply saying how Q magazine is ‘The UK’s biggest music magazine’ this is simple yet gets the point across and the use of capital letters along with the size of the font and also the positioning away from other pieces of text makes it stand out, which is needed to get the point across to potential customers, the point being that it is best music magazine and that they should buy it, therefore making the magazine more appealing. Other pieces of text that feature on the cover are crucial pieces such as the date, pricing and their website which are needed in order to create even the most basic magazine front cover, these are positioned in the normal places, making them easy to quickly locate on the cover. Also, they have very uniquely put a subtle, white, vertical sidebar running down the left hand side of the cover, with very brief pieces of plug information, which can’t be seen on any other magazine, adding to it’s appeal.
I would believe that the target audience for this magazine, by looking at the overall cover would be for a man aged between 16-30. The reason I get this impression from the front cover is straight away because of how sexualised the main image is, this Cheryl Cole image could appeal to some women as they may look up to her or like her style etc. and therefore appreciate the picture. However, I believe that everything about the picture has been thought out to attract men, from the pose to the basic use of a ‘sex symbol’ like Cheryl Cole. This could be found on a music magazine aimed at but due to the level of sexuality used it makes me believe that overall men would appreciate it more. Other reasons are that there is the manliness of the font and colours scheme, it isn’t very feminine and has a lot of masculinity to it. The reason I get the impression of a 18-30 year old age range is simply because it looks like the sort of magazine aimed at adults but the youngest generation of trendy adults. The magazine overall looks too sophisticated for someone under the age of 18 and too modern and trendy for the stereotypical 30+ year old.
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