Research - Front Cover research 1 Q magazine March 2009

Pictured to the right is the first front cover I analysed as part of my research. This is issue for was released back in March 2009, and was published by Bauer London Lifestyle LTD.

The masthead is red and white in colour which makes it stand out against the grey background and grab the attention of the reader, positioned in the top left corner behind an image of the subject, in a san serif font which is less than a quarter of the page in size, it is also the housestyle as it is the same on every edition of this magazine. This follows the conventions of other music magazines as the masthead is placed behind the subject. Even though it is behind the subject, due to it being just under a quarter of the page it still attracts the readers attention as the logo is big, bold and recognisable, however it is not overpowering.

The feature story in this magazine is about Brandon Flowers, the front man of rock band "The Killers", an image of the subject is central yet it covers all of the page and it is from a low angle, he has a very central, whole screen position allowing him to spread on the cover. His makeup is dirty but there is not a specific reason as to why and I find this very intriguing as many readers would want to know why. He is wearing dark clothes which is relates to his genre of music which is following a convention, however, he is wearing a pink shirt and this relates to the colour scheme on the front cover. His hair is quite dark however it is not extreme and that breaks a convention linking him to the genre of music he performs. Representation shows the cover subject trying to look dirty and rugged which also shows relation to the genre he performs.

The main article is very large on the front cover as it is intended to draw a lot of attention as there is a lot of content related to the subject in the magazine. The colours are red which is the housestyle for Q magazine however, there is a new colour scheme involving greys and pinks which is related to the subject attire on the front cover image and the fonts on this are san serif.

This has influenced my planning and creativity as I have picked out elements of this front cover and it gives me more of an idea of how I may want to layout my front cover and the type of codes and conventions I may want to use to attain a higher grade. I liked the way the colour of the shirt the subject was wearing creates synergy and links with the text that gives references to other articles on the front cover.