Q Analysis

Front Cover:

Q magazine is generally trying to do the same as every magazine, this is too make their magazine stand out from the rest, to do this they use a variety of different eye catching techniques on their front cover. I will be reviewing these in this analysis.

Firstly the masthead of the Magazine is just the single letter ‘Q’, this has the effect of being unique because no other music magazine has a single letter masthead, this could project a signal to the reader that Q magazine is different from the rest and should be bought ahead of them. The letter Q is in a large white font placed on a red background; these two colours combine well to give the masthead maximum effect. A strap line is placed above the main masthead to give the reader an idea of the main features of the magazine, in this case it tells us that this particular issue is an ‘Awards issue’, this could be an extra incentive for the magazine to be bought. The strap line would catch the reader’s eye because it is placed just above the masthead which is the main focus of the front cover. It is also written in a gold font which connotes good things so this would also catch the reader’s eye. Secondly there is a cover line in the top right hand corner, this indicates a key feature which will be in the magazine, in this instance it is the ’50 Best Albums of 2009’ which links in with the sub headline. This key feature would be a major article in the magazine and could further entice the potential reader to buy this magazine. It is also written in a black font on a white background which also helps it stick out on the page. In the centre of the page there are names of certain acts which will be featured in the magazine along with the awards they won, this again links in with the sub headline and builds on the appeal this type of feature would be for most music magazine readers. All of the names are placed on top of a gold background, this connotes, as I mentioned earlier good things, the gold background also helps the colours white and black stand out which are the colours the names of the bands are written in. A related article is also in with the band’s names, the article is called ‘Arctic Monkeys on growing up the hard way’, and this adds extra interest to the already very appealing feature. Behind the gold box in which the band’s names are placed is the main picture on the front cover which is a picture of the ‘Arctic Monkeys’, this adds appeal to the related article mentioned previously and is also used to catch the readers eye, this is achieved by making the picture stretch the whole page and generally standing out over everything on the front cover. At the bottom of the page lies some more related article including ‘Oasis’ last days: The inside story’ which suggests ‘Q’ have something other magazines do not have because of the emphasis on ‘The inside story’, this would add to the appeal of the magazine because people know they will not find this article in any other magazine. Another related article is ‘Robbie Williams: Album verdict’, this generally is just another technique used by the editors to get across as much of what’s in the magazine on the front cover so the magazine becomes ultimately more desirable. The route of the eye takes its first path across the top of the page, this shows the main sub headline and the ‘Best Albums’ cover line, this would add emphasis on these two things and possibly induce more people into buying the magazine. The route of the eye then goes diagonally down the page crossing the main picture of the ‘Arctic Monkeys’ and the names of the bands featured in the magazine. This would add extra appeal to the feature because of the placement on the front cover. This specific placement helps to make it stand out from the rest of the front cover. The route then goes across the bottom of the page, and being situated along the bottom of the page helps to keep this thing in the minds of the reader because it is the last thing they see on the front cover; so key things are usually situated here. In this case the other main articles are there, this gives them all the extra benefits mentioned above and would ultimately make the magazine more popular because the more interesting articles a magazine has, the more successful it will be. Because the other main articles are on the bottom page, they are also situated in the terminal area, which gives all the benefits mentioned above. The front cover also uses the principle of thirds. You can see by this that the main picture along with the featured bands in the magazine are situated in the primary optical coverage which gives them added coverage on the front cover because they are in the centre of the page, this shows the editors wish to have this feature extensively publicised which would in turn make the magazine more popular. There are also hotspots situated on the principle of thirds, the top two hotspots focus on the main picture of the ‘Arctic Monkeys’ which emphasises the related article and adds to the overall magazine’s appeal, the bottom two hotspots are focused on the gold box in which the band’s names are in, this clearly shows that the related article about the ‘Arctic Monkey’s’ and the other award winning bands featured in the magazine are of maximum importance to the editors because they have decided to place them in the primary optical area and the bottom two hotspots; giving them maximum coverage. This shows how the principle of thirds can be used to firmly emphasise certain articles/features. There are also dead areas situated on the principle of thirds, these are too the left and right of the primary optical area, the dead areas are often used just to fill space, but in this magazine that is not the case with both the main picture and main feature being situated in the dead areas. This would generate even more appeal to the two things. The mode of the address of this front cover is basically emphasising articles which they believe there target audience will be interested in; their target audience is young people interested in indie type music. And in my opinion the emphasis on the indie type bands winning awards would help to appeal to this audience.

Contents page:

   

The contents page is used to show the reader where in the magazine a certain article is, it can also be used to give extra coverage to some articles/features. In this contents page it starts off with the main headline being the ‘Q contents’, this is written in white writing on a black background which makes it stand out on the page and catch the reader’s eye. Down the left hand side of the page there is some of the main features, this is headed by the word features written in white font on a red background which catches the reader’s eye, it then lists all of the main features in the magazine putting the title of the article in bold and additional information in a smaller font, any person’s name is also written in bold to catch the reader’s eye and possibly add extra appeal to that particular article. As you go down the page you come to an ‘Oasis special’, this is emphasised by the gold border surrounding all the featured articles and also some of the text is written in gold and as I have said before, gold has good connotations. This shows that the editors want to get across where the Oasis articles are because they are one of the key features. Below this is an ‘Every Month’ section, and this consist of extra bits what the reader gets besides all of the featured articles, this would add to the overall appeal of the magazine because they show they have more to offer besides all of the main features. To the right of this is specialist music reviews, this section is slightly larger than the others ones emphasising their need to make this particular section stand out on the page, this consists of expert opinions on recent music releases and extra information on the lives of popular bands. This section also features a related picture, this helps to appeal to the audience because it is adding something extra to the text and would also catch the reader’s eye. Above this is the main picture of the contents page, this is a picture of the band, ‘The courteeners’, this would immediately catch the reader’s eye because of the size of it in relation to other sections on the page and in turn make the article more appealing. It also features a pull quote from the article which gives the reader an insight into what might be in the article and also induces them to read the rest. The route of the eye firstly goes across the contents page headline which introduces what this page is, it then goes diagonally down crossing the main picture giving that maximum coverage and also across the ‘Extra Month’ section giving that more emphasis also. It then goes across the bottom of the page showing the Music review section, this is obviously important to the editors because it is placed in the terminal area, this is the thing that the reader will see last on the page and this helps it to stick in the readers minds and ultimately make it more appealing. The route of the eye as you can see from my example is mostly used just to add emphasis to certain articles which the editors believe will enhance the popularity of the magazine. The principle of thirds is used in the contents page; it positions the main picture into the primary optical area giving it maximum coverage. Hotspots were also used in relation to the principle of thirds; the top two hotspots are located on the articles to left hand side of the page which adds to the emphasis of them, and the second hotspot it located on the main picture which again adds to that particular features appeal. The bottom two hotspots are located on the bottom left articles and also the music review section; this shows that these two things are key to the general magazine’s makeup. The dead areas are mostly used to hold things which are of less importance, this is not the case in this contents page because the articles and the main picture are both located in them, but in turn this could also give them extended coverage and make them catch the reader’s eye further. As I mentioned earlier, the target audience for ‘Q’ is youngsters interested in Indie music, this is achieved I believe by the constant emphasis on such articles which would interest this audience, for example the main picture is off an indie band; this would make any youngster interested in Indie music buy this magazine and ultimately increase sales and popularity for ‘Q’ magazine.

Double Page Spread

Double page spreads are used to give more information to a particular article; they often contain large pictures of the people mentioned in the article and also quotes from those people.

In ‘Q’’s double page spread it features a piece by Nick Duerden on his opinion of the group N-Dubz. The main headline of the article is ‘who the Hell do N-Dubz think they are?’, this would evoke a reaction from most people and induce them to read on in the article. Below the headline is a cover line which says ‘The sound of young Britain. Innit?’, this is a sarcastic comment which imitates how N-Dubz speak, this would also evoke a reaction and also have the same effect of making the article more appealing. Below this is the main text of the article. On the right hand side of the double page spread is a large picture of N-Dubz themselves, this also features a pull quote which says “The Haters come at you to plunge a big metal ting into your leg or neck” Dappy (member of N-Dubz). This radical statement by one of the members of N-Dubz would help the reader to bring about an image of their personalities and this built up image would decide how they react to the article written. This type of radical statement also helps to draw in the readers because it is not something normally said in everyday life, it draws in people who are not even fans of N-Dubz because of the radical nature of the statement. This can only increase the popularity of the magazine. The route of the eye is used in the double page spread; it firstly goes across the top of the page which doesn’t really include anything apart from a bit of the main picture, this would draw the reader’s eye to the picture and maybe enhance the appeal of the feature. The route of the eye then goes diagonally down the page crossing the entire main picture and the majority of the main text; this helps to create a link between the writer’s opinion of N-Dubz and how they are portrayed in the media shown by the picture on the right side of the double page spread. The terminal area doesn’t include anything; this is unconventional because it is usually used to put something into the readers mind because it is the last thing they see on the page. The principle of thirds is also used in the double page spread; in the primary optical area (centre of page) there is part of the main text and part of the main picture, this further enhances what I mentioned earlier about the editors trying to create a link between the picture and the text. The top two hotspots are both used, the left hotspot has the main headline in it, and this draws the reader’s eye and could possibly make the article more appealing, the right side hot spot contains the main picture of N-Dubz which helps to introduce what the feature is based on. The bottom left hotspot contains the main text, this would help to make the text stand out and induce the reader to read it. The bottom right hotspot contains the caption from the picture, this is placed in the hotspot too draw it to the reader’s attention and evoke a reaction like I mentioned earlier and ultimately make the main text more interesting for them. The dead areas are usually used to fill up space on the page, this is not the case on the double page spread because in the right hand side dead area it is the main picture and on the left hand side is the main text; this is slightly unconventional because as I said the dead areas are usually used just to fill up the page. The target audience for ‘Q’ is youngsters interested in Indie music, the topic of the article conflicts this as N-Dubz are not seen as an indie band; but the general ridicule of N-Dubz in the main text may appeal to this audience because it is not the type of music they are generally interested in. So the mode of address doesn’t necessarily target the specific target audience but it doesn’t exclude it because of the general nature of the featured article; this could interest the youngster who is interested in indie along with other types of social groups. This can only be a good thing for the editors and publishers of ‘Q’ because it will get more people reading there featured articles, and in turn this will increase popularity along with sales.