Textual Analysis of 'Q' magazine front cover                                                               

Layout

The masthead of this magazine is just a single capital letter 'Q' which is the name of the magazine and is situated in the top left hand corner of the page and stands out as it is a very big and bold 'Q' . It is a white Q on a red background which is a square in the corner, the rest of the background is white. (white and red appears to be the theme of the magazine.) The cover lines are situatued on the left hand side under the mast head and are written in capital letters. The text is a light red/pinkish colour, continuing the colour scheme. A bold font is used so that they stand out as the main points of the cover there is more information on the cover lines under each one which are underneath the cover lines are still in capital letters but are in a smaller font and black writing so they still stand out but not as much as the cover lines and masthead. The strap line at the top of the cover draws potential customers in to buy the issues 'The 10 most exciting people in music now' it is written in white, capital text on a black background (which is just a strip along the top of the magazine) so that the colour contrast really makes it stand out. 'exciting people' is in bigger text situated at the top in the middle this part of the sentence is in black text on a peachy/pink background emphasizing the fact that they are 'exciting people' the pinkish background is a unusual shape - a kind of semi-circle with zig-zag edges emphasizing it even more and catching peoples attention.

The main colour scheme of this magazine is redish colours and white. The background is mainly plain white except the strap line and the background of the masthead. By having a white background it enables the text and images to stand out more and catch peoples attention.

The magazine looks as though it is aimed at older teenagers and up to the 30's as it has Jay-Z on the front along with Lady Gaga and Dave Grohl who are artists who aim their music at older teenagers and not necessarily the younger teens. The people on the front represent different styles of music but are dressed to look like they all produce the same genre of music which could be decieving to people who havent seen/bought the magazine before. They are all wearing dark, mainly black (with the exception of Jay-Z's jeans) clothing and pulling serious faces making them all look similar in many aspects and linking to a style of music that some readers may be attracted to. Jay-Z who is the main artist (in the middle of lady gaga and dave grohl) because he is the most famous out of the three and is known internationally this draws the attention of people as they will see Jay-Z and the other artists and be drawn to the magazine if they want to read about these certain artists. There isn't a background as such as it is just plain white so the artists are not in a scene meaning it doesn't really represent where they are from or what type of music they make, there is a small section of a guitar in the bottom right hand corner which is the only indication as to what sort of music it could be about.

The text used on the front cover is quite informal as the words 'apocalypse' and 'jackass' are used showing straight away that the magazine is informal and chatty. It uses really short quotes under each artists name from what they have said in the interview which is a good selling point as it gives an insight. There is no alliteration or puns on the front cover, basic language is used to draw the reader in. The 'Q' which is the name of the magazine is an iconic symbol and would appear in the same place on every issue of the magazine, it isn't really a memorable symbol but does stand out from the rest of the colour scheme as the background for that bit is red.

The image of the three artists is a full body shot from a high angle as it is slightly looking up towards the artists and all three of them are slightly looking down at the camera with hardly any expression, Jay-Z's head is tilted up a bit making him look quite intimidating. Lady Gaga is saluting to the camera but also covering one eye whilst doing it which could make the reader think that she is opening up in the interview maybe. The image is the main attraction of the Magazine as it is the biggest aspect and draws the readers in.