MAGAZINE ANALYSIS

Q MAGAZINEQ magazine has a very specific logo, it

is very eye catching and also associates the company brand with a colour as well as a certain image.

The title of ‘Q’ originates from the name the company originally chose for the publication which was ‘Cue’, as in to cue a record, however, they changed it to ‘Q’ to avoid confusion with a snooker magazine, additionally the company claimed later on that “a single-letter title would be more prominent on newsstands”.

The founders of Q were Mark Ellen and David Hepworth who started the magazine in 1986. The publication was sold to Bauuer Media in 2008, along with all of EMAP’s other publications.

The strong red colour is now associated with the brand of Q magazine, giving them a strong and bold image. The use of this colour associations means that people are more likely to get the magazine when they see the colour red.

COVER ANALYSISThe magazine logo is extremely prominent,

identifying the publication.The strapline is at the top of the magazine, making it

obvious what the magazine’s statement is.There is a combination of different font sizes and

fonts as well as font colours on the articles, this creates diversity and energy on the page.

There is an individual article button to show that it has some importance within the whole magazine.

This is the space where the barcode is normally placed, it is big enough to use but not so big that it distracts from any of the information on the page.

There are backgrounds for some of the text to go on, this means that the text stands out and that it has more colour and graphics on the page.

The biggest font on the page (apart from the logo) is the title, it is big and bold and clearly shows what the main story is, additionally, the combination of different text sizes and fonts created an energetic and spunky appearance.

The main image on the cover is very centred and is a close up on the model’s face, making it bold and striking but also quite personal for the reader.

The colour scheme of the whole cover is very consistent, it essentially contains monochrome black and white with accents of reds and greys.

CONTENTS PAGE ANALYSIS

A main image for the main article is the most prominent aspect of the contents page.

The articles from the magazine are split into two sections; Features and Every Month, this distinguishes between the articles that are original to this issue and the articles that appear every month.

There is an additional section that contains that issues ‘special’ feature, this is in a different unique colour that makes it stand out from the rest of the page.

There is the date and issue in the top right hand corner, with the websire beneath it.

There is a ‘review’ section at the bottom that contains all of the review articles in that issue.

All of the articles have a corresponding page number that is in the publication’s signature colour: red.

The entire left hand page is given over to the article image, this creates a sense of balance, having a half-and-half split over the spread.The image is in black and white which keeps within the colour scheme of the magazine which seems to be black, white and red. It also creates a nice vintage effect.

The inclusion of the suggestion of nudity/sex is used to attract interest (especially males) as research into the ‘male gaze’ shows, sex/nudity sells.

The body of text on the right hand page is aligned in narrow, straight columns that make the text smart and professional.

A drop cap is also used at the start of the article/paragraph, this is used for stylistic reasons as well as to attract the attention of the reader.

For stylistic reasons, Q uses the first letter of the focus of the main article as a back-drop for the text, this is always in red and this falls under Q’s ‘House Style’

The title/subject of the article is broadcast clearly at the top right hand corner of the right page, this is to let the reader know what the article is about if they are flicking through.

An underline is used to show the top and bottom of the article, the bottom is bolder because it is more final and indicated the end of the article.At the

bottom of the page, there is the date, issue number, magazine logo and page number. This is all to give the reader information that they might not get from the article above.

The entire left hand page is given over to the article image, this creates a sense of balance, having a half-and-half split over the spread.The image is centred and manipulates the use of lighting which keeps within the colour scheme of the magazine which seems to be black, white and red.

The use of a pull quote is used to attract attention to the major issues in the article/ interview. They are normally shocking to draw attention.

The body of text on the right hand page is aligned in narrow, straight columns that make the text smart and professional.

A drop cap is also used at the start of the article/paragraph, this is used for stylistic reasons as well as to attract the attention of the reader.

For stylistic reasons, Q uses the first letter of the focus of the main article as a back-drop for the text, this is always in red and this falls under Q’s ‘House Style’

The title/subject of the article is broadcast clearly at the top right hand corner of the right page, this is to let the reader know what the article is about if they are flicking through.

An underline is used to show the top and bottom of the article, the bottom is bolder because it is more final and indicated the end of the article.At the

bottom of the page, there is the date, issue number, magazine logo and page number. This is all to give the reader information that they might not get from the article above.