Case study on Q magazine

The Masthead

The masthead name is ‘q’ the colour of the letter is white and the background is red this makes the letter and the title of the music magazine really ‘pop’ and stand to the audience. Since the title of the magazine is Q it is short and very easy to remember for the target audience. This also doesn’t confuse the audience.  It’s very simple yet attractive stands out over the main image in the background. Originally it was to be called Cue (as in the sense of cueing a record, ready to play), but the name was changed so that it wouldn't be mistaken for a snooker magazine.

Colour Scheme

The colour scheme is used is usually there to attract the reader and not make it boring to read. Q magazine has used red, yellow and grey. These colors are simple and they have used the 3 colour scheme here and that is good because there is not too much going on. And the colours link to the band U2 especially the grey that links to them and because their main piece in this issue of the article the colours would have to match or link.

 Font consistency

Font consistency is used make everything look organised and official also if you have different fonts it will mess up the music magazine and it feels like there is too much things going on.

This issue of Q magazine has font consistency the only time it doesn’t is the main story and the cover line titles so they have used 2 fonts and this goes well because it doesn’t look messy or unprofessional. 

 Audience and institution

The target audience of this magazine is the age of 25. This was because people 25 were usually working and they could bring up the price to £3.99.

Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth. Now they are published by Bauer media group.

Puff/flash

This is usually used when they want to promote something so a puff/flash will pull the reader in and because of its colour red it matches the Q magazine title.  It’s usually in the middle or on the edge of the masthead but this time it’s at the bottom meaning it doesn’t really show relevance but it is still there to catch some reader’s attention.  It says ‘your guide to the month in music’ with this puff it’s boosting its magazine more.

Cover lines

This is where the rest of the cover lines are, you got the article about 50 cent and Kurt vile it’s in yellow which really stands out on the background image. Shows you what is in the rest of the magazine as well.

The cover line is usually articles that will be in the music magazine, in this case it’s about new order the music band, because they are an old band coming back Q magazine have put them on the front cover so that their fans can clearly see on the front cover. It also has an image of the band. Underneath this it has the page number so that people can quickly look at it and read it instead of searching for it.     

    Cover star

The cover star is U2and they are the main article in this magazine, because q magazine works with artist that is coming back or new and upcoming artist q magazine has targeted U2 to be there cover star this month. The colour they have used is edgy and reminds you rock and hard mental, also what they’re wearing is very over the edge and reflects there genre of music. ‘On the road and into battle’ this suggests that there going on tour and it also reminds me of a pull out quote maybe going on tour.

Strap line

The strap line is “The world’s greatest music magazine” this is to mention their success and how well know they are. This is small but still stands out because they have used black over the red and also is a good combination.

This is usually above the masthead or below, in this case it’s on top.

  The contents page title

It has the logo ‘Q’ it’s big and stands out so people know what magazine their reading. The title of the contents page reminds you of like its presenting with monthly good music for example ‘the Q magazine presents...’ it draws you in to read what’s in the monthly issue.

Also it has the date of the issue to let people know how recent or how old it is. 

Cover story

The cover story is the biggest image usually on the front cover; this is usually the one that gets the most reads out of all the articles. It has a puff on the image to tell the readers that it is the cover story or to remind them maybe. The big articles seem to have a big black boarder around it for it to stand out more than the other article. 

Page numbers

There a little circle on each article telling you what page it is on so it is quick access to the reader. Also they have a summary of what the article is going to be about. This is very good because then the reader can chose to read it or not because then they already have a feel and a taste what it is going to be about and won’t need to read it if not interested. 

 Layout

The contents page is over two pages so it’s a double page spread, because it is a monthly magazine it has more information so it needs to be over two pages. It is organised into 4 columns and looks very neat and tidy.  Each article is separated with a line to indicate that it is not the same article and I think that is good so that the readers know. The articles of the contents pages the numbers are in order starting from the smallest to the biggest e.g. 8-130.

The gutter is also there at the bottom of the page with the date logo and page number. 

Colour

There is a good amount of colour on this contents page. The colour is mainly the page numbers, changing colours when it’s a different article makes in convenient makes it very attractive and fun to look at, it gives the sense that every article is different with the different colours used. We’ve have got dark black fonts to make the title of the article stand out. The font is all the same on the contents page and that is font consistency.

    Sections

There are 3 sections in this content page of the Q magazine the cover story, features and the review but Q magazine has called it ‘The Q review’ which is the regulars and all the gigs that has been done over the month.

The features are every story that has been done in the magazine and that is in each column of the contents page. The cover story is the main story and would mostly likely take most pages in the magazine. I think that not all of the editorial items are listed only some of them are and that is the main ones.

Images

There is an image for every article that is on the contents page this give the reader a sense of the article is going to be about. It also makes the contents page more exciting looking at the contents page I can see that there is a range of different bands addressing different issue and different music gigs. If it’s a cover story or a story that is very interesting they are most likely to have a bigger picture than the other images, to draw the person in more. Most images is a full body shots because in this issue there is more bands so they need to fit everyone in the shot and its more effective that way. The 50 Cent article it’s only him so he only gets a mid shot and a band called Wolf Alice also gets a mid shot. The images are not boring at all looking at all of them together looks like its jammed pack of good and juicy information. The images link to the story that is going to be explained about them for example there is a picture of 50 cent and the article piece is going to be about him. Some images look like they’re done in the studio but not all of them, some of them look like live shots e.g. the new order on there all laughing it sort of looks like there not ready for the picture. 

Main Image
The main image is big and eye catching the image is in the centre of the page and as we know as readers our eyes naturally goes towards the centre of the page. The image is U2 performing at a concerts and all the fans cheering looking very happy to see them. This is a very good image because it shows their success and their bands future. Also this is a live action shot meaning it wasn’t taken in the studio it was taken by a reporter or a fan this is good because it gives the reader the feeling that there and watching the band U2. The band mate looks very happy and edgy likes his achieved something really big with his arm in the air giving him a sense of accomplishment.

      Drop capitals

This drop cap covers the whole of the paragraph and is red the colours is very vibrant and pulls the reader into reading that paragraph.  It also overlaps the image because the paragraph is describing some of the picture as well. This drop cap is used very well it also links to the Q magazine's logo.

  Anecdote

The double page spread is opened with a short story mainly describing the image. This is a good way to usually start a double page spread a short story to get the reader reading to let them know more about the person experience and this is exactly what is done here, they have opened with an interesting story telling us how U2 is performing in Boston in the image and how over 20,000 rise expectantly for bono. The last line that is said in that paragraph is ‘like a moths to a flame’ meaning that there all surrounding bono he represents the flame and the fans represent to moths surrounding him being so excited that there is light.

  Layout

The cover story is being layout by having a paragraph under the image and the rest of the article is being separated into columns, this is two columns. Yes it does target the target audience well this will target anyone interested in U2 or anyone that likes their genre of music. They have pull out quotes on the site at the top of the article saying “hands up if you love free downloads” this is what bono said to the crowd in Boston. 

   Bonus info

This is extra information on the band mate bono saying what he believes in. This is just a bit more for the fans to read on this double page spread and it gives the page more to talk about the band. 

Colour

The colour is mainly red, white and black. A little bit borrowing but its simple there is not a whole load that is going on and that is good you don’t want to jam pack the reader with so much but you don’t want to give the so much the red can represent the Q magazine logo from the front cover.

   What is the article about?

This article is about U2 touring experience and there ups and downs in their careers. With accidents that caused a lot of setbacks and their best album downloading onto everyone’s iTunes this cause a lot of problems. The article also involves an interview with bono (one of the band mates of U2) asking him questions about his band and if he believes in bad luck because the band has so many bad times.