1. “Q” magazine have used a dominant image of the artist Ed
Sheeran that is central to the frame, which makes the artist
stand out and intrigue the target audience as its easy for the eye
to process. They have used the simple denotation of Ed and his
acoustic guitar, wearing all black casually clothing; symbolizing
that both the singer and his music may have the same relaxed
and laid back style. The artist is not providing the audience with
direct mode of address, instead looking to the top right corner
of the page. This creates an air of mystery to the singer as it
suggests that he is looking for something or possibly looking
toward the future. The lighting used on this image also implies
he is a mysterious character as, due to the key point lighting,
shadows are cast behind him. Ultimately suggesting he may
have a dark past and is now looking into the light of his future
endeavors.
The masthead of the magazine is in a bold red colour and
whilst standing out, to advertise the brand, it is placed behind
the picture of the artist, implying that he is the most
important part of the magazine. Despite not being at the
forefront of the front cover, the reader will still be aware of
the magazine they have without having to search for it.
The main sell-line,, in this case, is just the artists name “Ed
Sheeran”, to make the reader aware of who the artist is. It is
written in red sticking to the magazines colour scheme, and is
in a different font style and colour, red and cursive, to the rest
of the magazine, making it stand out from the cover-lines.
Style of this text could be interpreted to look as though it is
wrote in lipstick, therefore aiming the article and artist at a
female audience.
The subhead expands on the main cell line, it tells the reader
what the main article is about and gives them more
information on it. The colour white has been used for the
subhead and the font changed back to match the other
writing throughout the magazine as this would prevent
attention being taken away from the dominant image and
main sell-line. The subhead and the dominant image have a
sense of synergy as the image shows the exact words used,
"one man and his guitar.”
The barcode is kept small to the bottom of the page so it
does not interfere with the dominant image or any of the
text, however is still big enough for the target audience to
know the price of the magazine located on it.
The cover lines show the reader what else is involved in the
magazine without having to turn to the contents page. “Q”
magazine have stuck to the same block capital font and white
colouring, ensuring the text does not overlap the dominant
image. The composition of the cover lines are signature to “Q”,
on either side of the page framing the dominant image. This
creates a straight and clean cut layout that would attract an
older target audience due to its profession appearance. Each
article is also separated by a red line to make sure the articles
don’t overlap and adding to the column like structure of the
cover lines. The artists names that are featured in the cover
lines are in bold to attract the reader and make it stand out
what the main features are in the separate articles.
The plug of this magazine is different to the rest of the text as
it is in a red bubble, this colour indicates it is important and
significant, because these are the connotations of red, and
attracts the readers eye before any of the other text. It is also
the only part of the front page that uses black text, apart from
on the masthead; showing there is more information to find
out. In addition to this the text says “Your definite must hear
list” which creates direct address with audience, therefore
engaging with them to make the magazine more appealing.
The main colour scheme of this magazine is red and white.
These colours are very bold and therefore stand out on dark
backgrounds which, in this case, will catch the eye of their
target audience whilst they are browsing. The colour red has
connotations of importance and superiority which implies that
sections are highlighted more important than others as they
feature red, like the magazine and artist’s name.
The magazine indicates maturity with their colour scheme and
type of font used throughout the front page. The front page is
also very well organized and planned out. This gives the
impression that it is aimed at a target audience of late teens to
early/mid twenties. (16-24)
2. The masthead of this magazine, the “V” which
represents the magazine name “Vibe”
is situated behind the dominant image of Kanye
West. This implies that the artist is bigger than
the magazine and are the star in this particular
instance as he is at the forefront of the page. The
use of the single letter “V” is almost like a logo
for Vibe magazine, which makes the brand more
recognizable and creates synergy throughout
their magazine.
The colour scheme for this magazine is rather monochromatic
which creates a classic and elegant magazine with a
professional finish. With in the dominate image the dentation
of a heart is coloured red, which has connotations of love,
lust and possible danger. This injection of colour draws in the
audiences' eye imminently as it is a bold and makes a
statement that hints to the subject of the possible story
surrounding the artists appearance in the magazine.
The dominate image is of rapper Kanye West at mid
shot with an arm coming over his shoulder. This
particular denotation shows him in a shirt and jacket;
not the typical clothing for his music genre as the
”suited and booted” look has connotations
professionalism, education and a more classical sound
in music. The stereotypical rapper is not usually
represented in the media in this way, however the
brooding facial expression and the lax, almost
uninterested body stance, hands in pockets, are more
conventional to the music genre he originates from. the
image is eyelevel meaning that there is direct mode of
address, which results in a connection with the
audience and the magazine/artist. In addition to Kanye
West himself, the arm holding a heart-like object
coming from over his shoulder is also a main feature of
this image. The denotation suggests that someone is
tries to take his heart and possibly trap the artist;
shown by the possessive grip the hand has on the
heart. On the other hand, due to the arm coming from
behind Kanye, one could infer that someone from
Kanye’s past still has a hold over him and he cant move
on with is love life. Overall the audience is left with the
impression that the feature will consist of mainly the
artists love life/ personal life.
The heading of this page is on the right hand side which
creates balance between the two sides, the image and the
writing. The “contents” is presented in an unusual layout,
instead of being featured on one straight line the word is split
into three separate parts, which creates a different and
original vibe to the magazine. Also, the colouring and font of
the text, black block capitals, makes the page stand out and
easily understandable from a distance despite the odd layout.
On the contents page the subheadings “features” and
“fashion” are both in black which matches the heading,
however their fonts differ. The subheadings have a cursive
font which is stylish and rather fancy. This, in my opinion,
connects with the styling of Kanye’s clothes as they too are
rather fancy. Therefore this stylish elegance is featured
throughout the elements of the contents page. Underneath
the subheadings there is more information about different
stories within the magazine. These individual stories have
their own subheadings which are dark grey in colouring and
page numbers. There is then a brief summery of each story
that is in a lighter grey. The colouring used throughout the
magazine suggests that the darker the colouring the more
important the text and as you go further down the
monochromatic gradient the less important the information is
for the audience to notice, from “Vibe’s” point of view.
At the bottom right hand side there is the image/photographer
information, which provides the audience with further detail if the
wish for them
3. The masthead of this article is the
artists name, “Nicki Minaj”. The
block capital font allows the text to
be the biggest and clearest on the
page; allowing the audience to
easily see who the feature is about.
Combining this with the fact that
the colouring of the text is a hot
pink, which matches the colour
scheme of the double page spread,
it is unmissable who the story is
about.
Throughout this article there is a
theme of religion. First of all in the
masthead when referring to
”Gospel”, a term associated very
closely to the church. the actual
layout of the article further
emphasizes the theme as the article
is separated into sections, with each
one having its own subheading. The
subheadings all, excluding the first,
begin with with “Thou shalt…” and
are numbered; resembling the ten
commandments. These religious
connotations seen out of place
amongst the pop genre and bright
colouring of this magazine however,
create a unique and quirky style,
much like Nicki herself, to the
layout of the article. The religion
combined with the way the artist is
represented creates a sense of
juxtaposition.
The dominant image of the artist is the full
height of the page and is at the forefront of the
article as it is almost centered. All the text
surrounds Nicki’s body and the masthead is
even covered by the image, creating the sense
that she is the most important thing on the
page. The fact that the image blocks the artists
name suggests that the magazine is confident
that everyone would already know who the
article is about due to the picture- after all a
picture is worth a thousand words. The actual
denotation of Nicki Minaj is outrageously
confident clearly shown by her attire and body
language. One thing that stands out the most
is the denotation of her arm lifted into the
center of the page with a large “icon” ring on.
Judging by her stoic facial expression, it is clear
she is not joking and this is her honest opinion
of herself. In addition to this self confidence,
Nicki also presents herself as a quirky
individual due to her clothing and accessories.
The fact that she wears animal print, which is
stereotypically linked to people of African
origins or of the R&B music genre, shows what
type of music she produces. In addition to this,
one could also consider this style to be
attention grapping therefore implies that she
likes to be center of attention. The overall
appearance of Nicki looks almost like an
alternative retro as she adorns a beehive hair
style and a number of clashing colours and
prints, with the intention to be noticed.
The whole article is surrounded by
negative space which allows the article
not to look overwhelmed and well
spaced. This also creates a minimalistic
and simplistic style to the article as the
main focus of the audience, at first
glance, should be the bold image.
On the double page spread there is also a pull quote which
says, “I really toned down the sexual stuff. There was no need
for me to do it.” This pull quote allows the audience to realize
with out reading the article that Nicki has gone through on
image change; relating to the sudden use of religious
symbolism of the article as she is becoming “purer” and in a
way being “born again” in terms of her representation.
The colour scheme for this double page spread is pink
and black. Typically pink is stereotypes as a females
colour so one can assume that this article is targeted at
young girls. In addition to this the pop genre is also linked
to bright colours, such as this bubble gum pink colour,
with stark contrasting colours like black which allows
information to stand out.
This article also features some of the
common features in articles such as: the
stand first, which outlines briefly the
contents of the article, a drop cap which
clearly indictes the start of the article and
the by- line which ultimately shows who
wrote the article.
