Whole Magazine Analysis
Q magazine
Q magazine was originally called cue the magazine as it related to the term often used in the music industry ‘cue the music’ however it was decided that this could lead to confusion and people may look at the magazine and think that it was a magazine about snooker. So the magazine was changed to the letter Q which gives the same effect as the word but is more like a pun because when said it sounds the same and the magazine have used the phrase ‘Q the music’ especially on their website. The magazine in mostly aimes at A and B audience, the magazine retails at £3.90 a month which not too cheap and the magazine gives information about things that are more likely to concern more educated well off people. This price is the same a vogue which is a well know up market magazine.

To go with this up market audience are upmarket advertisers, you would be hard pressed to find an advert for ‘£1 bag of chips’ from Iceland. However it often features high end liqueur brands e.g. Jack Daniel’s and Glenfiddich both of which pride themselves on heritage and a long standing high quality brand. Cars is something else that is often featured on the advertising pages of Q magazine often new cars which have something exclusive that they can offer to the customer, also may offer some eco-friendly aspect which is another thing that the audience would be attracted to. While they are not ‘tree huggers’ they are aware of current affairs plaguing the world and they are the ones who can afford to do their part towards it.


This cover for Q magazine features Florence and the machine as the key signifier. The magazine is mostly aimed at a male audience which could explain Florence’s body language and chosen outfit which exerts sex appeal which is something that she as a performer is not often associated with unlike some other more mainstream artists like Cheryl Cole for example. However, it is also subverting the stereotype of a rock n roll front man, as the main feature of the magazine is called the 100 greatest front men and beneath it reads ‘starring the best new frontman Florence’.
It also depicts her as though giant surrounded by some of the world’s most famous land marks emphasising on London, Paris and New York which are considered to be the centre of modern day pop culture the way she has been depicted and the low angle shot that has been used shows her to be empowering to women and makes her look domineering and superior so again the stereotype is being challenged. I would say that the target audience is someone with a cultured background and definitely leaning towards the middle classes. Which would explain the use of the global land marks because these are the places that the target audience are likely to spend time, or at least have visited and be familiar with.
Although Florence is an artist that has only really emerged over the last couple of years the rest of the acts on the cover far more support the concept of an older target audience e.g. Iggy Pop, Freddie Mercury and Axl Rose. It is showing the need for older people to try and relate to acts that are aimed at a younger audience.
The font chosen are mostly Times New Romanesque they are all fairly formal there is no curved edges to the typography however if does have an element of elegance which reflects the target audience effectively. Research would show that the colour red is the most appropriate to attract someone to something and the Q magazine title and logo is iconic for being a red cut out Q and the surrounding colour scheme is complimentary to this and the it sticks to three or four key colours so at to keep a balanced palette that is aesthetically pleasing to the reader to this is also achieved the use of only one image it makes the cover seem uncomplicated classy and effortless.
Also the lack of ample support stories surrounding the main one shows that the magazine most likely relies on customer loyalty, Q is most likely a magazine that the audience will buy at the start of every month similar to vogue but unlike something like heat magazine where the buyer may only pick one up once in a while.
Q magazine is very effective at maintaining a constant colour scheme so that the magazine is consistent and flows well from page to page. This is demonstrated on the contents page because the predominant colours are black white and red which are also heavily featured on the front cover. The top corner of the image gives the issue number 267 which shows that the magazine has history this is often used to give a magazine credibility similarly when products use the term ‘since 1885) it shows that the product has maintained success over time. Also beneath this it shows the website and the myspace page which appeals to a younger target audience which is something that this magazine which is predominately targeted at older males is clever to so to try and reach the younger social networking audience.
The idea of taking new bands and old bands to broaden the audience is used again the contents itself as the large central picture is of a relatively new young band ‘the courteeners’ but the review article at the bottom of the page is for ‘nick cave’ who’s heyday was in the late 70s early 80s but has recently been revived with new band the bad seeds. His, is the sort of music that the audience would have grown up with so the familiarity of him would attract the audience.
The magazine adopts a fairly typical layout for the contents page using ‘features’ and ‘every month’ as their main sub headings for the contents the use of bold story titles and red numbers which run down one side of the page make the contents page easy to follow for a target audience that doesn’t have a lot of time. Other items that would appeal to the 30 year old middle class male, are things like the ‘oasis special’ and ‘MP4’ this is incorporating politics into the music MP4 is a band that consists of four members of the British parliament, the section is also given an element of humour which appeals to the audience.
By giving pull quotes and intriguing headings to the stories, it makes readers who pick up the magazine more interested in what else in enclosed. Especially as the magazine is mostly aimed at people who live in cities and therefore do not have a lot of time. It is important that the magazine grabs the reader within about 10seconds of picking it up which is why the headings used are so effective because it gives the idea of each story but tells you little enough so that the prospective buyer will make the purchase.
The magazine taps into its target audience by including things like cross words these are things that challenge the reader intellectually and is interesting to them. However does not include things like gig guides which are included in NME because the audience is mostly no likely to go to like gigs as they are more marketed at teenagers, although this does generalise the audience they are mostly unlikely to be interested in live gigs.

This is a Q magazine feature spread of Florence on the machine (the copy she was cover girl for). The colours chosen for the photo are in keeping with the colour scheme of the magazine itself which is carried on between the front cover, the contents page and then onto the features and articles this black, white and red scheme is very sophisticated and grown up which fits with the target audience of men aged 30+ they would not be likely to use colours pink and yellow because they are less likely to appeal to the bulk of the audience.
The pull quote which is in red, with a red banner above it is the first thing the viewer is likely to read when they turn to the article and it sets the tone for the rest of the article, although the content of the pull quote makes little sense without the rest of the article it is the word phrase ‘fuck up’ that is key to the quote as it sets the tone for the rest of the article, by using an informal swear word it shows to the audience that the article and therefore the magazine doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is very appealing to an audience that wants to demonstrate that it is not too old to appreciate new music.
The image itself takes up around 2/3 of the whole two page spread. To show the dominance of the person in the image, also Q like is very focused on appearance and has a very classy and coordinated colour scheme unlike some other magazines which feel that the appearance of the magazine is not important but the reviews and gigs which are key. She addressing the audience directly which engages them and make them feel more part of the magazine, the sultry look she gives the audience is further engaging along with the fact she is lying horizontally rather than stood up it becomes more seductive and sexual as an immediate link in made between lying down and being in bed.
The use of the modern skyline behind her could be symbolic of the fact that she is one of the iconic performers of our generation the modern day Madonna or something. She is the newest bug success of Britain and won best album at the brit awards 2010 and was the critics choice in 2009.
The typography of the whole article is very formal and the pull quote and artist title are written in a similar fashion. As well as this drop caps are used, although they are used more and more frequently it connotes very old literature and could almost be symbolic of how Q magazine is like the bible to music, because elaborate drop caps are used in printed bibles.




This is a Q magazine feature spread of Florence on the machine (the copy she was cover girl for). The colours chosen for thee photo are in keeping with the colour scheme of the magazine itself which is carried on between the front cover, the contents page and then onto the features and articles this black, white and red scheme is very sophisticated and grown up which fits with the target audience of men aged 30+ they would not be likely to use colours pink and yellow because they are less likely to appeal to the bulk of the audience.
The pull quote which is in red, with a red banner above it is the first thing the viewer is likely to read when they turn to the article and it sets the tone for the rest of the article, although the content of the pull quote makes little sense without the rest of the article it is the word phrase ‘fuck up’ that is key to the quote as it sets the tone for the rest of the article, by using an informal swear word it shows to the audience that the article and therefore the magazine doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is very appealing to an audience that wants to demonstrate that it is not too old to appreciate new music.
The image itself takes up around 2/3 of the whole two page spread. To show the dominance of the person in the image, also Q like is very focused on appearance and has a very classy and coordinated colour scheme unlike some other magazines which feel that the appearance of the magazine is not important but the reviews and gigs which are key. She addressing the audience directly which engages them and make them feel more part of the magazine, the sultry look she gives the audience is further engaging along with the fact she is lying horizontally rather than stood up it becomes more seductive and sexual as an immediate link in made between lying down and being in bed.
The use of the modern skyline behind her could be symbolic of the fact that she is one of the iconic performers of our generation the modern day Madonna or something. She is the newest bug success of Britain and won best album at the brit awards 2010 and was the critics choice in 2009.
The typography of the whole article is very formal and the pull quote and artist title are written in a similar fashion. As well as this dropcaps are used, although they are used more and more frequently it connotes very old literature and could almost be symbolic of how Q magazine is like the bible to music, because elaborate drop caps are used in printed bibles.