Q is a popular music magazine, published monthly in the UK.
The target audience for this magazine appears to me, to be the older generation such as people in their 30's and 40's who are looking for a different, more sophisticated
mode of address, and who just want to know more about the music rather than other celebrity gossip which may feature in other music magazines.
The title 'Q' is written in white font on a square red box in the top left hand corner of the page, where the reader's eye is naturally drawn to straight away. 'Q' was originally named 'Cue' which suggests the cueing of music or cueing a record but as this may have been often mistaken for a cue in snooker, the single word 'Q' has now replaced this, and having put a new, modern twist it also now appears more prominent on a music stand. This
masthead is effective as it is a single letter, large in font size which makes it stand out above its bright red background, therefore implying that this is a powerful and important magazine that needs to be read. The masthead is also intentionally suited to the genre of music magazine that it is, as there are no distinctive connotations linked with the letter 'Q' as there are in the mastheads of 'Vibe', 'Big Cheese', 'R&B' or 'Top Of The Pops'. We cannot tell at first glance the genre of music that the magazine will feature and therefore, it is expressed well as a
hybrid magazine in which all genres of music are appreciated and featured
throughout; there is no specialist genre.
On this front cover, the main image is a
medium close-up shot of the "ARCTIC MONKEYS" , an English indie rock band, where we can see all four male members from the elbows/shoulders up. The facial expressions of each member are quite stern and straight-faced allowing their facial features to appear very strong, sharp and vivid. This connotes that the magazine needs to be taken seriously as it consists of smart and sophisticated content and
articles. Two members' eyebrows are furrowed and contrast in the image has made the section around their eyes appear darker. This gives a strange, gloomy feel to the image and makes the reader anticipate what is to be said in their interview. These types of
facial expressions and the fact that it is a close-up shot is what captures the reader's attention instantly and with such a
large headline anchoring the image, the cover story seems too good to miss. The
direction of gaze of each member of the band is also very striking and significant. Each person is looking a different way; (the top person is looking down, the person on the left is looking to the right, the person to the right is looking to the left and the person at the bottom in front, is looking directly forward into the reader's eyes. The fact that only one member is looking directly at the reader is intentional as he is Alex Turner, the main lead singer of the band and therefore, usually the most popular one in the band. His face is also in the centre of the page making his eyes a
focal point of the magazine. With regards to dress code, the four men all seem to be dressed in black suits and their hair is equally dark, slick and gelled back. The frontman, Alex Turner, has a flick in his hair resembling that of Elvis Presley and this further adds to his fascination for the reader. The fact that the first member's head is over the masthead instead of underneath gives off a sense of professionalism and makes the magazine look more
aesthetically pleasing and appealing to an elder audience.
The
strapline on this cover is right at the top in the form of a
banner, as it is a strip of colour, blue,going right across the width of the page. The strapline writes "Manic Street Preachers" in bold, black font which is slightly larger in size than the main cover lines. Underneath this text it says "25 years of triumph and tragedy by James, Nicky & Sean", who are the three members of this alternative rock band. This font is smaller, white and in block capitals so that even though its smaller, the colour white against the blue
banner makes this text clearly visible. This
feature is made to seem very important to the reader and as the text refers to names of people in the band, it is assumed that the reader automatically knows who they are creating a direct link with the reader and their musical interests. There are two additional
presentational features added on top of this strapline which fulfil its purpose even more; an image and a graphic element. The
strapline includes two small arrows directing the reader's gaze towards the image they are pointing to, which gives the image an obvious link to the text in the strapline, therefore
anchoring the image.
The second image on the cover, in the top right-hand corner is a preview of what is to come and is anchored by the strapline. This is present in order to
lure the audience in, making them want to read this important part of the magazine. In addition, although there are no exclusives promoted in the main
cover lines, on this image, the text reads "FEATURING: new interviews + Exclusive: they share their archive". The fact that an
exclusive is featured on these specific pages entices the reader as it signifies the magazine includes information that is only available to them and which no other magazine would have revealed, raising curiosity and anticipation in the reader. There is also a
graphic on the top left to promote this feature even further which reads "17-page special!" in small black
serif style font and a small black star below it which indicates what an asterisks normally does, that it is a significant part of the magazine. 17-pages is a lot to dedicate to one topic and therefore this text has been placed in front of a grey, metallic circle shape, making it stand out from the red and blue background colours. A second graphic feature appears just above the main headline: "THE
Q INTERVIEW" as it has been edited and displayed as if physically stamped onto the page. This creates a really good effect on the reader's eye as it shows creativity and fun within the magazine due to the jagged position of the box holding the text, as well as drawing attention to the excitement of the main cover story.
Language has been effectively utilised and distributed throughout the front cover, in its headlines, cover lines and smaller subtitles. Just under the main headline there is an alluring sub title "How broken hands, competing haircuts and a strange voyeurism helped make their best record yet", present in order to lure the audience in by giving them a taste of what to expect from the interview. This will inevitably make the reader want to find out more. The fact that it mentions the artists' "broken hands" is skilfully effective as the reader is unable to see their hands from the close-up shot in the main image, or perhaps they were
cropped out for this purpose by the editor, in order to entice the reader to buy the magazine and find out. Mentioning their "competing haircuts" is also a good use of
persuasive linguistic technique as all four members are shown to have different but equally swerve and slick hairstyles, directly linking to the text under it and therefore showing a successfully anchored image, aiding the reader in making clear-cut links between image and text. In addition to this, on the right hand side where the other cover lines appear, it states "WHITE LIES: on beards, booze and baking cakes for muse". As well as
alliteration on the letter 'B' here there is also rhyme incorporated on "booze" and "muse", suggesting the professional care taken to edit the magazine and appealing to the reader's creative side. The next cover line down includes a
quote from "RICHARD BRANSON" stating "I'm choosing which band to send into space", which as well as being a powerful and enticing statement, luring the reader to purchase and read on, it actually incorporate the musical element of band, stripping right back down to the real purpose of the magazine, to feature the latest news surrounding music.
Having examined this front cover I would say that the
USP of Q magazine has to be its high standards of
photography and printing as each element is clear and crisp as well as identifying a
house style which in turn develops its
brand identity as one which advertises and features a wide range of music appeal to a
mass of different music fans, but keeping its content strictly sophisticated and genuinely about the music rather than the other aspects of fame, celebrities and image focus, which the target audience would not be interested in.
Q''s house style has a consistent colour scheme of black, white and red throughout the entire magazine, with the main 'Q' logo being a white 'Q' on a red square background. This logo is also repeated on every page corner next to the page number. In addition to this, the letter 'Q' entitles a lot of the pages. For example, there are sections of the magazine named "Q Mail" and "Q Review" and "Q Now", and so there is a constant repetition of the brand name, which maintains the brand identity throughout and keeps the reader constantly reminded of what they are reading.
In this issue, there is a 17-page special dedicated to a single band, Manic Street Preachers, one or two main feature interviews with other artists and bands, and then smaller interviews or profile articles with a few more, less well known artists who are very fresh, and recently prominent in the charts. In addition to this, there are "Q-reviews" of new singles and albums, and news of upcoming artists that are thought to achieve success. Another very noticeable aspect of the magazine is the amount of advertisements for gigs that are going on. This is a significant feature because the readers of ‘Q’ are implied to be very interested in music and therefore, likely to regularly attend gigs, so an update of upcoming tours is essential as well as trend articles like the "Q playlist", "Q the month in music" and "Q bits", which all give details of the best rated singles, albums and films right now.
There are 138 pages in this music magazine, therefore covering a wide range of content and 13 of these pages are for
advertisements. The categories of advertisements include:
- Clothing
- Fragrances
- Beverages
- Films
- New albums/singles
- Tours
- Toiletries
The very first advert is promoting Hugo Boss after shave for men with a medium close-up shot of Ryan Reynolds advertising the product and a quote from him: "I don't expect success, I prepare for it". This is
niche product as it has been chosen to feature on this magazine in order to appeal to the elder male target audience of 'Q' and the product itself, and the fact it is being promoted by an attractive, famous actor, implies that the target readers are quite wealthy and are able to buy these sorts of products and so enjoy looking at them in the magazine. Levi jeans are also advertised in the magazine which I would categorise as 'clothing' and as well as this, a Phillips razor from Boots and the drink Jack Daniels is advertised. All of these are appearing to be niche products as they are specifically aimed to target men in their late teens to middle ages, showing a lack of consideration for female audiences as there are virtually no advertisements linked with women. Therefore, the target audience would sway more towards men of this age group.
The title 'Q' is written in white font on a square red box in the top left hand corner of the page, where the reader's eye is naturally drawn to straight away. 'Q' was originally named 'Cue' which suggests the cueing of music or cueing a record but as this may have been often mistaken for a cue in snooker, the single word 'Q' has now replaced this, and having put a new, modern twist it also now appears more prominent on a music stand. This masthead is effective as it is a single letter, large in font size which makes it stand out above its bright red background, therefore implying that this is a powerful and important magazine that needs to be read. The masthead is also intentionally suited to the genre of music magazine that it is, as there are no distinctive connotations linked with the letter 'Q' as there are in the mastheads of 'Vibe', 'Big Cheese', 'R&B' or 'Top Of The Pops'. We cannot tell at first glance the genre of music that the magazine will feature and therefore, it is expressed well as a hybrid magazine in which all genres of music are appreciated and featured 
The strapline on this cover is right at the top in the form of a banner, as it is a strip of colour, blue,going right across the width of the page. The strapline writes "Manic Street Preachers" in bold, black font which is slightly larger in size than the main cover lines. Underneath this text it says "25 years of triumph and tragedy by James, Nicky & Sean", who are the three members of this alternative rock band. This font is smaller, white and in block capitals so that even though its smaller, the colour white against the blue banner makes this text clearly visible. This feature is made to seem very important to the reader and as the text refers to names of people in the band, it is assumed that the reader automatically knows who they are creating a direct link with the reader and their musical interests. There are two additional presentational features added on top of this strapline which fulfil its purpose even more; an image and a graphic element. The strapline includes two small arrows directing the reader's gaze towards the image they are pointing to, which gives the image an obvious link to the text in the strapline, therefore anchoring the image.
The second image on the cover, in the top right-hand corner is a preview of what is to come and is anchored by the strapline. This is present in order to lure the audience in, making them want to read this important part of the magazine. In addition, although there are no exclusives promoted in the main cover lines, on this image, the text reads "FEATURING: new interviews + Exclusive: they share their archive". The fact that an exclusive is featured on these specific pages entices the reader as it signifies the magazine includes information that is only available to them and which no other magazine would have revealed, raising curiosity and anticipation in the reader. There is also a graphic on the top left to promote this feature even further which reads "17-page special!" in small black serif style font and a small black star below it which indicates what an asterisks normally does, that it is a significant part of the magazine. 17-pages is a lot to dedicate to one topic and therefore this text has been placed in front of a grey, metallic circle shape, making it stand out from the red and blue background colours. A second graphic feature appears just above the main headline: "THE Q INTERVIEW" as it has been edited and displayed as if physically stamped onto the page. This creates a really good effect on the reader's eye as it shows creativity and fun within the magazine due to the jagged position of the box holding the text, as well as drawing attention to the excitement of the main cover story.
Language has been effectively utilised and distributed throughout the front cover, in its headlines, cover lines and smaller subtitles. Just under the main headline there is an alluring sub title "How broken hands, competing haircuts and a strange voyeurism helped make their best record yet", present in order to lure the audience in by giving them a taste of what to expect from the interview. This will inevitably make the reader want to find out more. The fact that it mentions the artists' "broken hands" is skilfully effective as the reader is unable to see their hands from the close-up shot in the main image, or perhaps they were cropped out for this purpose by the editor, in order to entice the reader to buy the magazine and find out. Mentioning their "competing haircuts" is also a good use of persuasive linguistic technique as all four members are shown to have different but equally swerve and slick hairstyles, directly linking to the text under it and therefore showing a successfully anchored image, aiding the reader in making clear-cut links between image and text. In addition to this, on the right hand side where the other cover lines appear, it states "WHITE LIES: on beards, booze and baking cakes for muse". As well as alliteration on the letter 'B' here there is also rhyme incorporated on "booze" and "muse", suggesting the professional care taken to edit the magazine and appealing to the reader's creative side. The next cover line down includes a quote from "RICHARD BRANSON" stating "I'm choosing which band to send into space", which as well as being a powerful and enticing statement, luring the reader to purchase and read on, it actually incorporate the musical element of band, stripping right back down to the real purpose of the magazine, to feature the latest news surrounding music.
Having examined this front cover I would say that the USP of Q magazine has to be its high standards of photography and printing as each element is clear and crisp as well as identifying a house style which in turn develops its brand identity as one which advertises and features a wide range of music appeal to a mass of different music fans, but keeping its content strictly sophisticated and genuinely about the music rather than the other aspects of fame, celebrities and image focus, which the target audience would not be interested in. Q''s house style has a consistent colour scheme of black, white and red throughout the entire magazine, with the main 'Q' logo being a white 'Q' on a red square background. This logo is also repeated on every page corner next to the page number. In addition to this, the letter 'Q' entitles a lot of the pages. For example, there are sections of the magazine named "Q Mail" and "Q Review" and "Q Now", and so there is a constant repetition of the brand name, which maintains the brand identity throughout and keeps the reader constantly reminded of what they are reading. 
The very first advert is promoting Hugo Boss after shave for men with a medium close-up shot of Ryan Reynolds advertising the product and a quote from him: "I don't expect success, I prepare for it". This is niche product as it has been chosen to feature on this magazine in order to appeal to the elder male target audience of 'Q' and the product itself, and the fact it is being promoted by an attractive, famous actor, implies that the target readers are quite wealthy and are able to buy these sorts of products and so enjoy looking at them in the magazine. Levi jeans are also advertised in the magazine which I would categorise as 'clothing' and as well as this, a Phillips razor from Boots and the drink Jack Daniels is advertised. All of these are appearing to be niche products as they are specifically aimed to target men in their late teens to middle ages, showing a lack of consideration for female audiences as there are virtually no advertisements linked with women. Therefore, the target audience would sway more towards men of this age group. 
