Q Magzine Front cover

Q Magazine front cover

Originally Q magazine was to be called Cue like “cueing a record”, the name was quickly changed as they didn’t want people to assume it was a snooker magazine.

As well as this, no other magazine used only one letter as a title and so creators of Q magazine felt that such a short name would make their magazine instantly recognisable, standing out among others in the music genre. Now Q magazine is one of the world’s biggest music magazines, it is easily recognisable with the red box and the white capital Q.

When doing some music magazine research I  found out that Q is published by the worldwide, multi-platform media empire, Bauer Media Group, owning more than eighty influential media brands spanning a wide range of interests including heat, GRAZIA, Closer, MCN, FHM, Parkers, MATCH, Magic 105.4, Kiss 100, Kerrang and Q.

O magazine is published on a monthly basis, it costs £4.99 per issue. The Q brand has developed a worldwide reputation as a trusted and premium quality voice of musical authority amongst fans, musicians and the music industry alike and this reputation is extended not only through the magazine but also across online, radio, TV and on into Q's unique events, which encompass exclusive, intimate live shows with major stars and the world famous annual Q Awards.

This magazine is clearly aimed at people who are very much into the background of the music industry, not only the music that the singers produce, but what they get up to, and who they hang around with.

Q magazine usually uses a colour scheme of red and white tones to replicate and match those showed in their masthead – which also aids as a logo and makes the magazine instantly recognisable. This particular issue uses the usual colour scheme, using red and white for the various cover lines, it also includes black, it seems to be the color of authority, power it seems stylish and timeless. White As opposed to black, usually has a positive connotation. White can represent a successful beginning, white can depict faith and purity.

These vivid colours hooks readers of both genders, but are be mainly linked with males, they add to the sophisticated and stylish feel of the magazine. These colours are appealing to fans of indie, rock rather than pop, rave or heavy metal.

The main image is the first thing that readers notice with this magazine, we can assume that is the intention as it the picture is of one of the world’s most successful rock bands, , and therefore an interview with them would be a major, unique selling point.

In the main image we see the “Foo Fighters” as this is a music magazine it is clear that we should see people in the music industry, the Foo Fighters are an American rock band, formed in Seattle in 1994. They were was founded by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the death of Kurt Cobain and the resulting dissolution of his previous band. The group got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War II, which were known collectively as foo fighters. They are one of the biggest groups in the world, with four of its albums that have won Grammy Awards.

Enlarged so that it takes up the majority of the page; the image is set against a clear white background with one picture at the top of the page, beside the strapline, this is to ensure readers’ eyes are drawn to the main image. The image is striking, giving a very cool contemporary feel, enticing music enthusiasts who are followers/fans of the band, as we can see the 5 men in the image, we can see that all of them are looking directly at the camera, this is done in almost all magazine front covers as we feel like the men in the image are looking at us.

It seems as if the colour scheme for the outfits is was dark navy, and greys, The reason for the is colour scheme could have been to show that they aren’t a young band, they’re serious, and want look manly also possible as they  don’t want to look unprofessional, by wearing clothes such as say pinks and yellows. Airbrushing has been used in this front cover to perfect the men’s faces to show the perfect amount of lighting that has been exposed through the stark lights that are usually used when in photo-shoots.

They’re facial expressions seem serious and stern, to some they could almost have a scary, frightening look, again, this might be as they want people to know that they have been around for quite some time, that they have lots of experience, they don’t need to have cheesy smiles on their faces.

Assisted by this striking image, the cover succeeds in evoking a very cool, contemporary feel, further enticing a young/middle aged audience by employing Q’s emblematic stark contrast between bold reds and bright whites which adds to the sophisticated style whilst creating an impact. We can see the magazine uses simple language that is easily understandable for all ages: this informal register is implemented to ensure that the front cover looks fresh and modern and perhaps more importantly, to involve readers in – and attract them to – the magazine.

Utilising pull quotes from interviews to create interest, also emblazoned on the cover are the words ‘I think I’m normal’ directly below the main cover line. Immediately involves readers allowing them to interact with the magazine, establishing them as equal to those at Q and indeed in the music business as a whole. No slang words or scrawled fonts are featured which further illustrates the impression of the magazine as a suave, polished piece. Anchoring text for the main picture of the foo fighters the lead singers note saying “I had another life 25 years ago it was turned upside down”

The red that is used throughout the front cover could be construed as danger Red is an interesting colour. It is known both for love and passion as well as rage.
This could be as they want a cool fun shade that really brightens up the front page.

The front page usually has a number of text boxes with cover lines in them telling us what is in the magazine e.g. “+ Noel returns…But is he really talking to Liam?”

The puff that is used in this used in this magazine is “exclusive cd" This particular issue is based mainly on the “Foo Fighters”, which to a young audience doesn’t necessarily appeal to, but to a much older audience it would, that being said, Q magazine appears to have a wide range of artists like, Taylor Swift, Adele, Madonna and the Arctic Monkeys, these artists are a range of different ages and all have a completely different style of music, so to say that this magazine is aimed at one particular group of people would be wrong as it attracts different readers each issue.  That being said a young and vibrant yet sophisticated audience, perhaps ranging from late teens to early thirties, who love music and are interested in the latest news in the music industry today, would be the typical readership of this magazine.