1. Salford City College
Eccles Centre
AS Media Studies
Foundation Portfolio
Masthead Colour
The masthead of this magazine is the iconic Q The colours in this magazine cover are used for connotative
logo which is easily recognisable because of its impact. The colours red, black and white is used primarily
throughout the cover. This appeals to the target audience
unique contrasting colours and bold font. This
and the red is striking so the things in red such as the main
masthead is easily recognisable and a famous
cover line and the masthead etc… are the first things you
brand so the audience instantly know what they read.
are going to buy and what they expect to read.
Main image Typefaces
The main image is of Cheryl Cole which fills the The typefaces of this magazine cover remain mostly the
front cover of the magazine. Cheryl Cole is an same throughout. It is quite formal which creates a sense
of maturity around Cheryl Cole. For example, in the cover
easily recognisable celebrity and so appeals to
lines, although the size of the writing varies, the font
most age and gender demographics. Also, the fact
remains the same giving a formal outcome.
that she is making eye contact with the reader and
because she is in a relatively erotic poseappeals to
the audience.
Model credit Photography Lighting
The photography lighting used in this image is high key
The model credit of this magazine is mixed in with the
lighting which helps Cheryl Cole to stand out against the
main cover line “Cheryl Cole Rocks”. This helps to create a
dark colours of the background. The lighting makes her face
sense that the magazine will be primarily about her which
seems more pale than in reality. This appeals to the male
grabs the attention of her fans as well as other fan bases.
audience as it is quite a seductive image.
Also, the main cover line is the second thing you see so
the model credit is read straight away making her more
appealing.
Coverlines
The cover lines are placed at the side of the magazine to
not obscure the main image and to keep attention on
that celebrity whilst still informing the audience about Target Audience
the contents of the magazine. The audience will know The target demographic of this magazine is mainly people
that the bigger the cover line the bigger that article will who like those types of music. Although, Cheryl Cole
be about that particular band which appeals to all contrasts slightly to the other bands mentioned in Q
magazine. This will make the magazine appeal to a wider
age range and as well as female fans of Cheryl Cole who
Main cover line would not normally purchase this genre of magazine. This
The main cover line takes up a large area of the cover of is successful because it will increase sales of the magazine.
the magazine. This draws attention directly towards it
and makes it the first thing you read.
‘3 Words…’ is the name of Cheryl Cole’s new album
which is a subtle attempt to promote the album without Design principle
taking attention away from the rest of the magazine. House Style This magazine makes use of the Gutenberg principle. For
The text in the main cover line is bigger and also brighter The magazine cover has good house style. The colours are continuous with the red and white writing example, the masthead is in the primary optical area so it is
to most of the text on the cover. This again draws making it eye grabbing but also conveying a sense of what the magazine is about. The same font and naturally the first thing we see. Also, the model credit and
attention towards it and makes it more memorable. spacing between words is also used throughout. This creates a sense of maturity and makes it look the main covverlines are situated in the terminal area of
more professional and formal. the front cover. A group of covverlines are situated in the
strong fallow area.