Q Analysis

Front Cover (Q, March 2011)

The key convention of a front cover of a magazine is normally the masthead as this is what catches the reader’s eye and so they recognise it when wanting to buy that certain magazine again. Q, position their masthead in the top left hand corner of page with a red background so it helps the letter Q stands out from the rest of the text on the page. The letter Q is in white large font to help attract the target audience attention, it is also filled with a red background to make it stand out.

Q also uses a colour scheme of three colours: red, black and white to make their layout of their magazine stand out. Q normally have a large image of a main artist or band on their front cover, just like this magazine, as it shows off the main story that is in the magazine and help attract the selected target audience as the image is large and easy on the eye for them to clearly see and recognise the artist. Q, also use a prop on this magazine image to make the audience want to know who is behind the sunglasses and encourage them to read the article, this also intrigues and encourages the reader into buying the magazine.

Q surround the large image on the front cover by putting articles on the left and right hand side of the page to make the magazine look organised and so all spaces on the page are being used. The sub headings or the selected articles are in bold and larger font so the reader knows what the article is about and can easily see it. The smaller writing under the sub headings is in a smaller font and different colour to help them to be separated and easy to read.

The use of the quote in bold, capital, black font shows the target audience what the main article is about once more and advertises the magazine really well. The main story with the sub heading in large font shows it is the main story of the magazine as it helps describe what the image is about and makes the audience curious.

The barcode in the bottom right hand corner of the front cover is a key convention as next to it, it has the price of the magazine and the date to inform the target audience at a glance if the magazine is recent or old.

From analysing this front cover I have decided to use the colour scheme of black, white and red and also use a large image on my front cover to attract my target readers.

Front Cover

Contents (Q, March 2011)

On the contents page, Q use the same colour scheme as the front cover, as they use black, white and red to show off their magazine to make it look as professional as possible.

The masthead is once again at the top of the page in black large font with a red background so it is clearly readable and set out. The logo of the magazine is in the top left hand corner once again so people can easily see it and recognise it.

The layout of the magazines’ contents page has most of the images in the middle of the page and the articles are at the sides of the page. The sub headings for the types of articles are in bold black font which is larger than the text underneath it describing and giving more information about a certain article or story. The sub headings and smaller text is separated by a red banner to help the articles stand out and make them become clearer for the reader to view. Next to each sub heading the page number is clearly shown so the reader can quickly flick to that page to read the article.

The use of text box helps the text stand out more by putting a red text box around the word “features” which is in white font so the reader can see it easily.

The use of the large image indicates to the audience that this is the main story and the page number is in large font so readers can easily see what page it is on.

Throughout the contents page Q stick with the same colour scheme and use similar font throughout  the contents page, as the text is very clear with the subheadings being bold and firm so the audience can clearly see it.

Contents

Double Page Spread (Q, March 2011)

The layout of the double page spread is set out with a large image taking up one side of the page and text filled with an article with an interview with the artist on the other side page of the double page spread.

On the side where the image is they have used a quote in red font for it to stand out from the white background and to fill up the page so it doesn't look boring but is effective adding just that text for readers to view as it is an intriguing for them to find out more information about the article.

The image of the artist is a medium shot and the person is positioned very powerfully as his face emotions are focused and are looking away to the camera signalling he is the bigger person.

On the text page of the double page spread, a key convention is a drop capital, which shows the start of a new paragraph by starting it off in this way. The layout of the articles is in columns so the magazine looks professional. They also stick with the colour scheme black, red and white as the black is used for the text, white is used for the background and red is used to separate texts or to use it as another sub heading colour.

The sub heading is in black bold font which helps it stand out to good effect as it is also larger than the original text for the articles. There is also a line separating the title and the article itself so the magazine looks organised and professional.

The structure of the article is spaced into paragraphs with the questions from the interviewer in bold so you know who and what the questions are, and the text which isn’t in bold is from the artist.

Double Page Spread