Magazine cover analysis

In this blog post I will analyse this cover of Q magazine as this is the style/genre of magazine I will base my own magazine around.
The typical codes and conventions used on this cover are:

• The masthead
• Main image
• Puffs
• Buzz words
• Barcode
• Coverline.      

See this LINK for definitions

2) Q magazines house style consists of 1 main picture taking up the majority of the page of an artist or group, who the main story/ article in that issue is based around. Q also have the famous placement of their masthead, the logo of the red square and white 'Q' along with the sell line are always placed in the top left of the page. All text is to the sides of the page enough to notice, but not too distracting from the main image.

3) The text on the image although it stays to the side can still be seen. The white writing stands out against her eye-catching red/ginger hair. The make up that she is wearing makes her look very pale, like the white writing on the outside. The bright blue highlights, and small text boxes also co-ordinate with the blue eye make up Florence is wearing.

4) The cover appeals to its target audience through its use of the main image. Listeners of the artist would be very tempted into buying the magazine as it shows that some parts of the magazine will be all about her. The audience may also be dragged in by the visual appearance of Florence, the direct address shown through Florence looking into the camera makes it feel as though the artist is looking at the buyer of the magazine. The magazine also has many inside looks at what is happening later on in the magazine. This draws readers in as they want to read more about these stories.

5) Like the rest of 'Q' magazines, the famous mast head of the red background and white Q are placed in the top left corner of the page. This is because, although still noticeable, Q do not have to push promotion of their logo/masthead as the brand itself is already well recognised. The masthead doesn't take too much of the page but is seen in the foreground rather than be overlapped by the artists head.

6) There is quite a bit of text on the cover of the magazine, however as the text is too the side and not obstructing much of the main image it is not too distracting. The text used is to notify the reader about what is inside the issue and also explains the main image. The font used is white, which contrasts with the reddish hair of the artist. The font is quite bold, and rather generic text, there isn't any strange or different typography used. However most of the text is small apart from the buzz words used to entice the reader into buying the issue.

7) From what I can see there is no obvious photoshopping used to edit the image. Apart from possibly adding text and the masthead. Some photoshop may have been used to make the artists skin a lighter/brighter shade, however this could have been manipulated by light rather than the computer editing.