The music magazine I am analysing is ‘Q’. The first things you notice are the colours red, black and white. This rule of three would be the house style for all other additions of this magazine, and I think are good because they are strong colours and stand out. A cropped photo of Madonna’s upper body, mainly focusing on her face is centred in the middle as the primary image, and the primary lead ‘Madonna’ stretches across the width of the page in red and anchoring the image. The image of Madonna is using direct mode of address, directly looking at the reader, which makes the image more personal to each and every reader. The fact the magazine has used Madonna as their central focus means its institution made the assumption that the people who read this magazine will be interested in her. It also conveys the idea that Madonna has a very wide audience because to the side of the image in white text is a list of bands, comedians and singers from girls aloud to Russell Brand. This list of different people is there because they are interviewing Madonna, which suggests Madonna has a very wide audience with many different types of people interested in her music.
Not many other images are used except for a secondary image of a woman bottom left, representing ‘women in music’, followed by a strap-line reading ‘free inside! 70 pages special’ with a list of women in music from Adele to Courtney love. Also top right is another list of three performers, the rolling stones, Robert plant and arctic monkeys. This along with the strap-line and the list of celebrity interviewers all suggest the wide range of different music interests, appealing to many different people. Instead of targeting one specific music genre like heavy metal or pop for example, ‘Q’ has appealed to the majority of readers.
The typography used isn’t to elaborate and distracting, instead kept simple so it is easy to read. The strap-line reads ‘free inside! Seventy Page Special Women in Music’ and can be viewed as a unique selling point only featuring in this magazine. This is used to make people want to read the magazine, and this certain part may be particularly aimed at women who might find this more appealing than men.
Another convention they have used to act like a unique selling point is a union jack patterned badge reading ‘the fifty best British albums as voted by you’. This is known as a puff and makes a possible reader more likely to pick up the magazine and read it. Also, by using the word ‘you’ makes it more personal and contribute to increasing the likeliness of someone buying and reading the magazine.
Under the primary lead is a short quote by Madonna herself taken by the interview featured inside, ‘stupid question! Next!’. This particular quote may be chosen out of the whole interview specifically because in a way it matches up with most people’s perceptions of Madonna; a very direct and a women known to have a strong personality. This lure is another way to make someone want to read the magazine. By giving a reader a short snippet of the extended contents inside makes them want to know more, therefore leading to purchase the magazine.
