Front Cover Analysis of Q Magazine

Q Magazine Analysis- Front Cover

Target Audience

The target audience for this magazine would be fans of music in general, mainly straight males aged between 15-30.

Masthead

The masthead is in a very large font with white text on a red background which makes it stand out. However, it is located in the top corner of the page, which is unusual as a masthead usually will be a lot more central than it is on this magazine.

Layout

The layout is very clear and makes the cover very easy to read and understand. It is quite a masculine layout as the text looks quite boxy and women stereotypically like a more curvy font. It also looks quite modern, which suits the younger target audience as they are more used to the modern technologies than the older generations.

Images

There is a main image in the centre of the page. This will be the first thing that people see when they look at the magazine and will give them a quick indication of the main story in the magazine. There is also another smaller picture in the bottom corner related to another story in the magazine. The main image is a medium shot and shows a musician swinging a guitar, smashing it through the logo. This follows of the theory of 'youth as troublemaker' as he is breaking something. The mode of address is off centre as he is looking away, and this makes him seem rebellious.

Colours

The main colours used are white, red, black and grey. The white and the red are used for more of the larger writing, which makes the text stand out. The colours are again quite masculine as there are no pinks or purples that women stereotypically like more. These colours also follow youth theory, as the black and the red connote danger and depression. Hall's theory was that the common mood in teenagers was depressed. He also said that youths want excitement and heightened sensation and seek this in sex, violence and drugs.

Text

There is quite a lot of text in the page, although none of it is very long. This means that the target audience will be able to see a lot of what is inside without having to read into any detail. This will make a bigger chance of the target audience being interested in reading the magazine if they know there are stories inside that will interest them. The bigger stories in the magazine are in a large and easy to read font, making them stand out.