Q Deconstruction

Alternate link:

- I would like to use red on my front cover, perhaps with oranges or yellows also

- I should use a prop that has a connection to music 

- I should use a range of fonts on my front cover

- I should designate equal amounts of space to my text and my image to place equal amounts of importance on them

- I don't like the layout on the contents page, I will not be basing mine on Q's

- I must use conventions that appeal to young people and conventions that appeal to an older audience to balance out my T.A.

Manuscript beneath cut:

BACKGROUND:

Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom, founded in 1986 by Mark Ellen and David Hepworth

FRONT PAGE:

The front page is designed to attract a potential buyer’s attention and makes them want to read the magazine. If the cover doesn’t look appealing, the customer may not bother looking at the magazine.

Colour: The three main colours used on this page are orange, yellow and red. These are powerful and make the magazine pop and look vibrant. Orange is emotionally stimulating, visually exciting, vibrant and fun and warm. Red is incredibly powerful, signals danger in nature, is associated with strong emotion - passion or anger, and it is an energetic colour. Yellow is optimistic and happy, used to highlight or to draw attention to something, and very fun. These are all visually exciting, fun, and warm.

Central image:  The image seems almost 3D in the way that it stands out. The hand reaches out as if it is connecting with the reader, drawing them in. The model wears rings on all fingers on one hand, except the finger which has a tattoo on it, and most on the other. This draws additional attention to the hands – when hands are clearly visible, this conveys open body language and is seen as a sign of trustworthiness. It has positive connotations. The model has an undeniable connection to music as evidenced by the microphone in their hand. This makes it easily recognisable as a music magazine and, therefore, it will stand out to those looking for that kind of magazine. The models hair is long and messy and the model wears natural makeup that gives the appearance of a bare face (we can assume that she is wearing makeup because she’s at a photoshoot.) This strengthens the connection to the audience as it feels more personal and real and raw. Florence’s facial expression is very calm and peaceful. This contrasts with the bright colours and crowded text. The intent appears to be to make her stand out using this contrast.

Font: There is a lot of text on the page which makes it visually exciting to look at and tells a potential buyer that there will be a lot of content inside of the magazine. There are a range of fonts used. There is a serif font where it says “wants to reach out and touch you.” “Florence” is written in a ‘handwritten’ font. There is a lot of writing done in a font that is straight and bold. This range of fonts makes the page seem more full and more exciting.

CONTENTS PAGE:

The content page is, obviously, there mainly to direct readers to each article and, if possible, to hype up articles in the process. They may also push for a reader to subscribe to the magazine.

Layout and colour: The main colour used is red – which is powerful and is used to direct attention to certain parts of the page. It brings out the red in the blood and stands out against the white. The photos are the focus in the layout and they take up more than twice the room that text takes up. This would generally suggest a younger T.A. The use of the mouse pointer is also indicative of a younger T.A as it associated with technology and technology is associated with the new generation.

Photos: The photos range in shots as there are two full-body shots, one mid-shot and one super close-up. The one that stands out the most is the super close up on Lana Del Rey. It draws attention to the blood trickling down her face. The blood creates intrigue, mystery and danger. It suggests an interesting article and that is why the most space on the page is given to it. This close up also focuses on her eye. She has a vacant stare that is almost creepy. This, alongside the blood, create intrigue and interest. Her makeup is minimal but still present, clearly used to emphasise her attractiveness without drawing attention to the fact she is wearing makeup. The image on the left of the page is what appears to be two men in animal onesies walking down a dirt-track. Showcasing the full body in this zoomed out shot allowed for their full costumes to be seen. The costumes are non-standard and therefore create interest.

ARTICLE:

The articles comprise the magazine. The one I chose to look at was about Jay Z. 

Colour:  The lighting in the photo comes in from two different sources. One is red and the other is blue. These are both two strong colours. Though they are not complete opposites (Blue/Yellow and Red/Green would be the contrasting colours) they do cause contrast. Red is warm whilst blue is cool. This contrast creates depth in the image visually but also a metaphorical depth. The ‘meaning’ behind using this sort of lighting could be to show two different sides of the artist - contrast in their personality. A source of inner conflict would create an interesting article that would intrigue a reader. Overall, the red is used more than the blue. This makes sense as red is the more powerful colour.

Layout:  The text has been assigned to two columns. The photo has been designated the entire left page. This places equal importance on the text and the photo, suggesting a mature audience (though previously the magazine showed signs of appealing to a younger audience. This links to my own magazine as my T.A has a mixed age range and I must accommodate for mature and young audiences.)

Model: The shot of the model is a close-up; these sorts of shots focus in on emotion in the face. He looks unhappy, slightly stern. This could be to assert male dominance and show him as a strong masculine figure. It implies that this is a serious article with serious content. His eyes are covered by shades. Eye contact between subject and reader can create interest but having the eyes covered makes the subject seem more mysterious.