Textual Analysis 2

In my analysis of Q magazine, the contents page is not from the same magazine as the double page spread and cover is from. I don't really think this matters however as the contents page of music magazines are rather conventional and usually use the same layout, house style and fonts etc and only have a change of image and articles.

L-  The masthead 'Q' is also used as the magazine's logo. The letter Q has ben abbreviated and was originally called 'Cue' magazine to appear as if about to cue a record. However the publication decided to change this so the text was not confused with a snooker or pool magazine. I think this is a good idea as it makes it easy to look at and is short and snappy. As well as this; teenagers and young adults use mobile communications a lot and choose to abbreviate words often, therefore the name of this magazine is relateable to the target audience.
The masthead is in a large red square which takes up the top left hand side of the magazine. This will be the first thing that the target audience will look at because we were taught to read this way from a young age. The letter ‘Q’ is in a white font which is simple, cool and clean. The red and white combined gives an alarming house style with connotations of energy or vibrancy. The masthead is partly covered which shows that the magazine must be recognisable to the audience if they are still able to realise what the magazine actually is. Because this will be the first issue of my magazine I may try and not superimpose my DTP over the masthead.

The black box at the top of the magazine cover says ‘The Uk’s biggest music magazine’ I think that the institution has put this on the magazine for first time buyers of the magazine. People who never read Q before are more likely to purchase it if they read this piece of anchorage as they know it must be popular for a reason. The black background of this box contrasts with the green cover and allows it to stand out and draw attention from the target audience. The white font matches with the white colour used for the letter ‘Q’ and other font on the page. This creates a cool, simple professional looking house style to the magazine. As well as this the font is a simple straight font. This means the font doesn’t take any unnecessary focus away from the image or the connotations of the words on the page.

A medium close up was used of the band ‘Green Day’. A medium close up is a convention of rock music magazines I think because it allows the audience to fully see the artists and feel almost close to them on a personal level. Also, if there is more than one person on the cover it allows the audience to get a full view of everyone in the band and not one person. The band is doing a classic yet simple pose which could have been used to reflect the type of music they perform. Another reason I think that they are doing this pose is because everything on this cover is simple yet effective; the white, straight font, the simple layout and the simple pose of the band emphasise this. I think that this shows the magazine isn’t promoting heavy, loud rock like Kerrang magazine as everything is a lot more organised than that text. This could effect the demographic interested in Q magazine.
The background of the cover is green which obviously is used to reflect the name of the band ‘Green Day’. This shade of green also gives connotations of money, ambition, greed and jealousy.

The article titles are listed on the left hand side of the page which seems to be a convention not just with music magazines but all magazines in general. This seems to be because of the way magazines are placed overlapping each other on a shelf. Therefore the target audience would not be able to see the article titles or the masthead if they were placed anywhere else; which could result in a loss in readership and profits. The names of the band are in a larger bolder text. For example ‘Nirvana’ or ‘Pete Doherty’ I think this is because these bands or artists have a large demographic and are hugely successful. This would make people who do not regularly buy Q magazine want to buy it, purely because these celebrities are featured in it. This is known as synergy as these famous artists are helping promote Q magazine and no doubt Q magazine will be promoting the artists’ new album or tour. The font is white again however red is also used on the conventional journalistic lexis such as; special or exclusive. The red creates an impact, draws attention and is often used for warning. As well as this studies have shown that red is a colour that people are more likely to read than any other. The words used make the audience feel like they are missing out on something, or that the information inside the magazine is exclusive and a secret; causing more people to want to purchase the text.

There is a grey box on the right hand side of the cover which has the names of two bands and five stars underneath their names. This is also synergy as the magazine is promoting ‘Yeah yeah yeahs’ and ‘Radiohead’. The publication gives them five stars so presumably the target audience reading the text will want to purchase work by these artists. These bands also have interviews within the magazine which, because they too are famous bands will help promote and sell this text

Barcodes are a convention of every single type of magazine and are usually in one of the bottom corners of the cover. In this case however it is a third of the way up from the bottom and has been rotated 90 degrees. I think this is because there is a banner headline going across the bottom of the page and there is simply no room for it. A banner headline has more relevance to the magazine cover than the position of the barcode, therefore if I have this problem when I am creating my magazine I will gladly move the barcode as I think it works successfully in this edition of Q magazine.

The magazine mainly used white and red, this therefore creates a highly aesthetically pleasing, exciting and exuberant house style. The layout and pose of the band create a rather simple tone to the cover which could either reflect calmer rock music or an older more professional target audience.
I- Alike Kerrang magazine, Q is also produced by Bauer Media. This company is one of the largest media institutions in Europe and has a turnover of 2.08 billion euros. This means that Q may be publicised by other popular magazines Bauer media creates which could give the magazine a larger profit. Q also has a music channel on Sky TV and website which could also bring them a bigger profit and a larger demographic. For example; the target audience may decide to purchase the text after listening to the music channel.
The magazine is distributed monthly, which could be a negative because it won't have exclusive, fresh information of the industry a magazine like kerrang would have for example. However a monthly magazine has the opportunity to look more legitimate or professional. Q magazine has a glossy cover oppose to a paper one. As well as this Q magazine has a lot more pages than other magazines as they have a whole month of information to write about.
The price of Q magazine is £3.99 which seems expensive for a magazine, but the target audience will probably be saving money spending this price than spending £2 a week for other publications. The price of the magazine will heavily influence the target audience as young teenagers may not be able to afford it but young professionals will.

I- I personally feel that this magazine targets a slightly older generation than Kerrang magazine for example. Q magazine displays older rock music as well as newer tracks which could generate a wide demographic. I feel like Q targets more professional lovers of music who possibly play instruments or are in a band themselves. The spine of Q magazine has a different message based on the content of the magazine per issue which is an interesting idea I may try however not on the spine of the text.
There is a quote made by the band on the front cover which says ‘We are fire, chaos and revolution…’ This is an inspiring quote which would have been used on the cover to give a sense of the lifestyle or state of mind of Green Day- the band on the cover page has. The quote could also represent the mood the magazine too wished to reflect, or  a lifestyle the target audience wishes they too could have.

A- The audience for Q magazine will obviously enjoy rock/ indie music. I think that the publication targets 16-24 year olds as younger teenagers will not be able to afford the magazine and may possibly not be interested in the magazine as it's more technical or intense than other music magazines. The layout of the magazine isn't the most exciting therefore younger people may find it boring or not very aesthetically pleasing.
Q magazine includes a combination of rock from all eras.
The magazine is gender neautral. I think that the socio economic group for this magazine would possibly be C1-E, both inner and outer directed because I think a demographic with professional jobs would want to read this magazine. People who play instruments, are already in a band or are truly passionate about music will benefit from reading this magazine.

R-I think Q magazine generates a positive representation of towards rock music and the band on the cover. Green Day are dressed in suit jackets which could show they take their job seriously, their simple pose and facial expression emphasises this. Q has a much larger demographic than other rock magazines as it features a wider variety of the rock genre; from emo to indie. This proves that you don't only have to enjoy one music genre and in Q magazine many genres of music are considered.

L- Like in Kerrang magazine the masthead on the front cover is used again on the contents page. This is to make it more recognisable and further establish the magazine the audience are reading. It also helps create a house style to the contents page- so the readers know what to expect of the magazine.
 The titles of the articles are down the left hand side of the page which I think works well because of the idea I have mentioned earlier about they way we were taught to read.
The articles are split into different sections; every month, features etc. This is a good idea as it means the targer audience don't have to search for the article they wish to read. I am definately considering using this idea as it doesn't seem to have any negative connotations and can only save the audience time. The headers of these sections have been placed in red boxes. Red gives connotations of excitement and are a colour of excitement. As well as this the red box contrasts with the white background and white fornt used allowing them to stand out further and draw attention from the reader.

The main image is a DTP of the band 'The Courteeners'. Because the image takes up almost the whole right hand side of the page it's obvious that the main article in this issue of Q magazine is involving this band. This band is also really famous, meaning that they are the artists helping advertise this issue of the magazine.
The artists are in the countryside by the look of it and the dark colours of the clothing they're wearing contrasts with the view of the location.

The black box at the top of the page stands contrasts the white background.
The banner has the Q logo/masthead that makes the magazine more recognisable to the target audience and maintains a consistent house style. The word contents is in the biggest font to obviously show the audience what page they’re looking at. The font is still very straight-cut, not curved which maintains the house style created on the cover. It also emphasises the idea of a simple layout and not taking any unnecessary focus from the image or article titles. On the right hand side of the banner, the date and issue number is positioned. This font it two in white alike much of the font on this page and cover page. The issue number, I think is for readers who like to collect the magazine and the date is to ensure the target audience has the right issue of Q magazine with updated and fresh information of the rock music industry.

The house style of this contents page is much like the cover page. The simple layout creates professional and effortless connotations and looks very clean and organised. I like this idea of a simple layout however I may choose to combine the simplicity of this house style and the loud messy layout of Kerrang as it reflects a certain style of rock music. I will play around a lot with the layout of my magazine and decide what works best for my publication and what my target audience will want to see.

I- See cover analysis
I-See cover analysis
R- See cover analysis

L-
Unlike the double page spread I analysed for Kerrang magazine; this one has the article printed on the left page. The top of the left page has a box with the phrase ‘New albums’ in a box coloured in different shades of pink/red and is used throughout the spread therefore instantly creating a house style. I think that ‘new albums’ is printed because some of the target audience may enjoy discovering new music they’ve not heard before, or they may like the band and wish to hear about their new work.
The band name ‘Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ is written in the top centre of the left page and acts as the headline for this article. It instantly tells the target audience what the article is about. The font used; just like all other fonts used in this magazine is straight-cut therefore professional and quite matter-of-fact. The colour of the font contrasts with the white background and therefore makes it stand out and will draw the reader’s attention.

The layout of the left page is conventionally newspaper-like, as it’s printed in columns. I will consider using this technique as it’s expected for a magazine article to be printed in this way. A tagline is used underneath the headline, it summarises what the band and the article is about.  Down the left hand side of the double page spread there are small images of albums and artists which the target audience may enjoy if they like the main featured band in this article.

I think the title of the band ‘Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ in my opinion reflects the laid-back ‘whatever’ attitude that seems to be demonstrated in the main image on the right page. The band are stood in a neutral stance and don’t necessarily look as if they’re posing for the camera. The pink background maintains the red/pink house style that’s created in this double page spread. It’s also a bright, vibrant colour which reflects the energetic, exuberant style of music this band creates. The band have quite a quirky, kitsch fashion style which again reflects their tracks. As well as this they actually look like rock-stars; which could inspire the every-day, ordinary target audience to develop an outlandish fashion sense also. A quote is super-imposed on top of the image and is a positive review of the band made by the magazine. This means that the band is more likely to work with this magazine again because it’s giving them a positive review.

I- See cover analysis

I- See cover analysis.
The image and name of the band creates a laid-back, couldn’t care sort of attitude. Not necessarily in a bad way, however it could cause the audience to adopt this style of attitude.

R-See cover analysis.
I think this article represents the artists in a positive light as it makes them seem like the artists are generally rock stars through the way they dress and their laid back attitude, however it makes them look like they care about their profession.