Analysis of Q Magazine - December 2010

FRONT COVER:

The front cover of this issue of Q has the same colour scheme as found on other issues of Q that I have looked at. This colour scheme is red, black, white and gold. The reoccurring colour scheme can be linked with the magazine.

The Q logo is found in the top left hand corner. It is located here month after month. The logo has a square block red background with a big white Q in serif font in the middle. I like the Q logo as I think it is very simple but looks very effective. Also, I think because it is made up of the colours used in the colour scheme of the front cover it matches in and makes the front look very professional as well as orderly too.

There is only one image on the front. It is in the middle and takes up the majority of the space. The photo is of the band Take That. They are piled on top of each other, all laughing and smiling. Because of this it shows people looking at it that they are happy to be back together and all getting along. The text at the top of the page questions this though.

At the top right hand corner in large black serif font (in capital letters) is ‘TAKE THAT’. As this is the largest piece of text on the front cover, your eyes are drawn to this as well as the main image. Having the bands name in large letters shows people looking at the magazine who is featured in this issue and also catches people’s eyes when they are looking at the magazine racks. Just above ‘TAKE THAT’ in red capitals is ‘THE WORLD EXCLUSIVE’. This shows the audience that this is the first place they have been interviewed which will make more people want to buy the magazine as it is an exclusive. Then just underneath ‘TAKE THAT’ in red serif font is ‘Back for good?’ When people first see this they will want to read the interview to see what doubts that they won’t stay together. This is also a play on words as one of Take That’s most famous songs is called Back for good.

The front page is mainly focussed on Take That. I think this is because they are such a huge band and Robbie Williams rejoining the band was a massive event. As it is very focussed on them, many Take That fans who don’t read Q will buy the magazine and regular Q readers will buy it anyway no matter who is on the front cover.

There are only 3 other stories on the front cover:

1.       A year inside Green Day

2.       Q Awards – winners revealed

3.       Live Blowout!

Serif font is only used for the Q Awards story. This is gold circle with white and black writing inside. Sans-serif font is used for the other two stories because it is a lot bolder. I like the mixture of both types of font used on the front cover and I am going to think about doing this on my front cover as I think both fonts are used to represent entirely different things/stories.

CONTENTS PAGE:

The contents page of Q is practically the same every month. It has 3 sections: features, regulars and Q review. They are positioned in the same place each month too – features down left hand side, regulars down right hand side and Q review at the bottom of the right hand page. Doing this creates familiarity and Q readers get used to it so can find sections easily each month.

There is a 3 colour colour scheme: red, white and black. The colour scheme is the same on the front cover as well and also is the same throughout the whole magazine. I like the reoccurring colour scheme as it looks very organised.

There are images illustrating the stories found in the magazines in the middle of the content page. Not all pages are written about though - some are just shown by photos/images with numbers in the middle of the two pages. I like how they have done this as it makes the contents page less text dominated and more a mixture of both text and pictures.

There is a banner across the top of the page. This is a regular feature found on the contents page. It has ‘Q’, ‘Contents’ and ‘Issue 293’ written on it. It is used to show what page you are on and the number of the issue you’re reading.

The Q logo, page number and issue date is in the bottom corner of every page. This just reminds you of the issue you are reading and the pages number are there so you know which page it is. I am going to put the magazine logo and issue date next to the page number on my magazine as I like the way it looks.

Not all the image found in the middle of the contents page are photographs of bands or artists – some are images of pages found inside the magazine. I like this idea as it promotes the content of the magazine and it is an original idea. I am going to think about using this on my contents page as I think it looks unique and quirky.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD:

The text on this double page spread is located on the left hand page and then there are two photos on the right hand side. I prefer the text and pictures on the opposite sides on the pages as I just think it looks altogether better.

There is a big drop capital in red at the beginning of the article. It is bigger than the usual ones you see as it takes up roughly a quarter of the page. I like the use of the drop capital and with it being red it looks good under the black text.

There is a small title at the top of the page. It simply says ‘Take That’ but is written as ‘Take THAT’. I like that way they have done this as I think it looks quite original. I am going to experiment with mixing lower case and capitals on my magazine.

A quote in bold red capitals splits up the text in the second column. There is a thick red line above the quote too. I like the way the quote splits up the text creating a gap as I think it makes it look easier to read. By using the red line above the quote makes it stand out and also separates the quote from the rest of the text. I am going to use the quote idea on my double page spread.

There are only two columns of text. I don’t think this looks as good as the use of three columns because I think three generally looks better.

The two images on the right hand page are both in black and white. They are both the same size too. The top one is of Take That standing on a wall and the bottom one is of them jumping off. The before and after shot looks ok but I think one image or many smaller images look better.

The colour scheme on this double page spread consists of three colours: red, white and black. This is the same theme as found throughout the rest of the magazine.