Front cover and the contents page analysis

Front Cover of the Q magazine

This is the front cover of the ‘Q magazine’. This is a music magazine that is based on the music industry and the people who are a part of it. According to the cover lines the magazine contains 42 pages of reviews and 10 exclusive interviews of the 10 “most exciting people in music now”. These include Jay-Z, Lady Gaga and Dave Grohl.

Their names are written on the front cover in capital letters in a bold and exceptionally large font and the red bright colour stresses their importance. Due to this, the text appears extremely eye catching. Under each name of the artist there is a short quote from their interview which gives us a taste of what the interview is going to be about, hence it intrigues the audience.

This is a music magazine and the cover lines suggest that the content revolves around the world of music therefore the target audience are the people who have interest in music. It does not target a specific age group because people can listen to music at any age. However the magazine appears to contain a lot of text especially the 42 pages of reviews. Teenagers up to 16 years old are not interested in reading this high quantity of text. Hence this magazine would appeal to readers who are 16 or older, although the majority of the senior population would not be intrigued by modern artists such as Lady Gaga or especially Jay-z.

The central image uses a direct mode of address so we have all these three artists looking directly at the audience and this suggests that they want an honest relationship with the reader.

The image of Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, and Dave Grohl is used as a central image because this visually informs the reader that these artists are included in the contents of the magazine. All of them are well known successful artists; however each one represents a different genre of music. This shows that this magazine focuses on a variety of music genres.  Also having completely different genre artist on the front cover will appeal to a wider audience since it will attract Jay-Z fans as well as Lady Gaga or Dave Grohln admirers.

Each artist has his/her own style; therefore each one of them is coming across as an individual and being themselves. This foreshadows the content of their interviews. It suggests that they want to be seen for whom they really are and that the interviews are going to be honest.

The fact that Jay-Z is at the front of the group suggests that he is the most important figure. Also his posture suggests that a powerful personality, this is a slight low angle shot and it look like Jay-Z is looking down on the audience. This implies his superior position in the industry. However his hands are positioned at his sides hence Jay-Z appears open and approachable to the viewers.

‘Exciting People’ is a buzz word which is placed at the top, of the front cover. The bright red background highlights the black text and this makes it stand out. The ‘Exciting People’ refers to the artists who are interviewed for the magazine. This provokes the reader to read the magazine because the audience always wants to know more about what is ‘Exciting’ and ‘Exclusive’, which was the word that was used to describe the interviews.

The title block consists of one letter ‘Q’ which is a very simple and short name can easily be remembered. Also the design of the title block helps to catch the attention of the audience. The white letter ‘Q’ is highlighted with a red box and makes the exceptionally large ‘Q’ stand out even more. The title block is partly overlaid with other components of the front cover, therefore this magazine must be well known as the audience is expected to remember its name. This also suggests that the artists featured in this magazine are more important than the title block, because the central image is put forth. 

Contents Page

 

This magazine uses a lot of visual communication to guide the reader through the contents. The images have been spread throughout the double page and their size indicates the importance of the article. For example the most eye catching component throughout the contents page is the close up of Jay-Z. The image has been enlarged so that it takes up more space in the layout than any other component. Therefore it suggests that the interview with Jay-Z is the most important and exclusive content that they have in the magazine. Under the Jay-Z there is an image of the article of Lady Gaga and David Gnohl. This suggests that these are the next most important articles in the magazine.

On the next contents page there are images of other artists. Each image has a page number on it so the audience knows what article the picture is linked to. This makes it easier to navigate through the contents.

The contents are written on the outer sides of the page. The titles of the articles are written in black text using bold capital letters and each one has a page number written in front of it. Also the titles are underlined in red and under them there are short descriptions about the articles. This type of design makes the contents look organised and it also makes it easier for the reader to find a particular article. For example the fact that the tities are bold makes them stand out from the text hence the reader can skim through contents only reading the titles. Having an image rather than just text makes the page less dull and more visually stimulating. Also easier for the viewer to see what the magazine offers as they only have to skim through the article page instead of having to read everything. The first contents page seems to be focusing only on the ‘music’s most exciting people’ so it has the contents information on the interviews with Jay-Z, Lady Gaga and other artists whereas the other page concentrates on the reviews and other music industry matters. All of this shows that the magazine is organized and well structured.