Analysing front cover

This is an analysis of the front cover of Q magazine, including the mise-en-scene and conventions. 


This type of magazine is a music magazine, from the cover I can tell that that it will mainly be based on interviews of different kind of artists for example Franz Ferdinand, the sugababes and kings of Leon.

The target audience for Q is music buyers over 25 years old, both genders; the magazine will be interesting for them as it has different topics that are aimed for their age- such as interviews, a variety of stories and gossip about different artists.

The central image would be the kings of Leon. The mode of address is an indirect contact with the camera, except for the man on the right end side. It makes the whole magazine look eye catching because they look like they are enjoying themselves. The type of relationship they want with the reader would be an informal one; so it will attract the audience to come and buy the magazine, as they look down to earth and care free. The Kings of Leon are on the front cover as they haven’t been active for quite a while, therefore making their sudden comeback to the music industry. The magazine therefore put them on the cover as it is their comeback and it gives the magazine a chance to advertise their music- which then draws in more readers.

The anchorage text says ‘world exclusive, Kings of Leon ‘’it’s the comeback story of a lifetime’’- The fact that it says world exclusive means that Q is the only magazine that has this type of information about Kings of Leon; this therefore entices readers to buy the magazine to read the only recent article of the Kings of Leon’s comeback. It is also very bold and big- the size is almost the same as the title block which shows the importance of this article, and just how big of a story it is. The other anchorage text was ‘it’s the comeback story of a lifetime’- this then attracts readers as it is a story that is a must read.  The anchorage text implies that this is the best comeback story ever.

The magazine represents the group on the magazine as down to earth and very relaxed. They have their arms around each other which show a friendly relationship, also due to them being brothers; it makes the audience feel like one of them. It looks like they are enjoying themselves, just being around each other. The way the magazine represents the band attracts readers more as they would be interested about their story.

The buzz words on the magazine are ‘world exclusive’ and ‘plus’. By having ‘world exclusive’ as a buzz word on the magazine attracts readers, as it is the only ever thing in the world, and you can read it if you buy this magazine. By having ‘plus’ as a buzz word on the magazine makes readers think that they are getting extra in this magazine therefore making it more worth it to buy.

The design of the title block tells us that the magazine is a famous one and that it has its own readership, due to the text covering some of the title block. The title tells me that the style is very simple.

The puffs that are used are ‘the original sugababes’, ‘from rock star to murderer’ and ‘Franz Ferdinand’- This tells you about the type of audience the magazine expects to get as adults that are interested in the music industry would want to know the latest gossip and news about them. These puffs suggest that the magazine will include gossip and interviews on different artists.  ‘The original sugababes’- this puff attracts readers as the sugababes are a very well-known band that split up, causing new girls to form the band, therefore fans would want to know what the article is about. ‘From rock star to murderer’- this puff would definitely attract readers, as it is such a shocking title that they would be so intrigued that they would want to read more.

The slogan of Q is ‘The world’s greatest music magazine’- which tells me that it is a very famous and well-known magazine to be the ‘world’s greatest’.  It helps to attract readers as they would want to read the ‘world’s greatest magazine’ to find out what is so good about it.

The colours used are mostly red, black and white, to attract readers. I do find theses colours attractive as they are very simple and contrast well with each other to make it appealing. The fonts that are used are quite big and bold to make it eye catching.

The strategies that the magazine uses to attract the audience are that they used a band that is very famous on their front cover. They also used puffs to show what exactly would be included in the magazine.