Front cover analysis - Q

When you first look at this front cover of Q magazine you first notice the masthead, as the Q is in white and has been placed on a red background, so these contrasting colours make the letter stand out and look bold. The masthead itself is very simple, but easily recognisable to a reader as it’s so striking. The cover lines on this magazine are presented in an organised and consistent layout so when you look at the magazine it is tidy and legible. All cover lines follow the same theme of font, and capital letters are used to emphasise certain words throughout. The content of the cover lines contains information from artists of varying genres such as punk, pop, alternative and electronic, but the focus is mainly on rock. You notice the main cover line is ‘Mission Accomplished! Noel, how he did it his way…’ due to the fact it has a different style to the other cover lines and is very big in comparison. Language throughout the cover such as ‘murdered’, ‘starving’, ‘mental’ have controversial connotations and suggest the magazine is aimed at a more mature audience. Quotes featured on the speaker are all very opinionated and slightly shocking, this kind of text engages the reader and they want to find out more. The selling line of this magazine is visible underneath the masthead and reads ‘The world’s greatest music magazine’ which is a positive and powerful statement that would stick in someone’s mind. The dateline, price and bar code are all positioned together in the bottom left corner of the cover, making them easy to find but not too distracting from the magazine content. The whole front cover follows a consistent colour scheme of black, red, gold and white, which together grab your attention due to the fact they are bold and striking, gold also has royal/grand connotations, whilst black suggests rock and attitude, and red creates a statement. The overall layout of this front cover is spaced out, ordered and clean, which I think helps it appeal to a maturer, more sophisticated audience, and also puts more focus on the main image as the magazine looks less cluttered.

The main image itself captures Noel Gallagher. He is shown leaning against a speaker with his arms folded and a stern facial expression. Being positioned in this way shows him as a powerful figure who has great confidence and pride, overall creating this ‘tough guy’ image which some could interpret as arrogant. The shot includes his whole body and seems to be taken from slightly below Gallagher’s height, which could be intimidating to the reader but also presents him as an dominant, manly figure. You can tell the photo has been taken in a studio due to the use of artificial lighting and background, this enhances the magazine’s clean, professional appearance. In terms of Gallagher’s clothing, he is pictured wearing quite casual attire (jeans, shirt) paired with a leather jacket. This leather jacket could have connotations of deviant and rebellious behaviour and is very much related to the genre of rock music. The setting behind the main image is a plain grey background which becomes lighter in colour as it reaches the subject, focusing the reader’s full attention on Gallagher.

From looking at this front cover I would say the overall style of this magazine is stylish and mature. I would say the target audience is definitely 16-24 year olds, suggested by the language used being slightly explicit and controversial, the magazine layout looking clean and professional, plus the colour scheme creating a sophisticated appearance. In terms of gender, I think this magazine comes across as pretty multi-gender friendly - cover lines focus on a mixture of female and male music icons, although the colour scheme is not particularly feminine, it would be stereotypical and assuming to presume they would not read this magazine because of that. In general, this magazine cover suggests Q is designed to appeal to an audience with a general interest in popular rock, indie and alternative artists.