Front cover analysis- chosen genre research

1. Magazine Front Cover
Analysis- chosen genre

2. Q
Magazine • The Masthead of this magazine is ‘Q’.
• The slogan ‘Discover great music’ under the
masthead is there as the words associate with the
magazine in advertising.
• The skyline providers the readers with insight into
information beneficial to them, something they can get
involved in, another way to lure them into reading the
entire magazine.
• The puff; ’26 Festivals to blow your minds’ providers
the readers with information about the content of the
magazine.
• The cover lines e.g.; ‘JAY-Z and KAYNE WEST on
the throne’ allows the readers to know what articles
are going to be in the magazine etc.
• The main medium close up shot/image features Lana
Del Ray and as she is the front cover, her name is in
the biggest and unusual font, which stands out on the
cover, indicating she’s of some importance to this
issue of Q magazine.
• The barcode and the price of the magazine are
displayed clearly to allow the reader/buyer easy
insight into how much it is and whether its worth the
front cover gives the impression that it’s worth the
money or not.

3. NME
Magazine
• The title of this magazine is NME, which is in vibrant white
capitalised letters, situated in the top left hand side of the
magazine to make it easily readable and seen.
• The masthead introduces; ‘The New NME’ and offers
special edition covers. This appeals to the readers as it is
something different.
• The cover lines which are on the front cover are ‘The State
of Music Today’, this is presented in white block capitals,
however this makes it slightly unclear to the readers then
what is in the magazine because it’s not as easily readable.
Also, it then follows with names of famous people who
feature in the article with a quote from Florence Welch
herself, who is the main medium close up shot image, and
the main focus of the readers attention.
• As briefly mentioned above the main image features artist
Florence Welch. The image creates a relationship between
Florence herself and the reader as they feel engaged as if
what Florence is saying is directly meant for them as she
appears to be looking straight into the eyes of the reader.
NME’s editors have displayed Florence to have very little
make-up on, indicating the thought pattern they had that
she didn’t need any as the shire vibrancy of the colour of
her hair did all the talking as necessary and all by itself.
• The layout of the magazine cover is extremely minimalistic
and effortless, presenting itself to fit in with the genre of
music, and how it likes to flawless exhibit its talented
members, effortlessly doing what they do best.
• The price of the magazine is presented clearly for the
reader, and as it is only £2.20 it appeals to its most
common target audience between the ages of 15-25 as
they are most likely students which not loads of money left
over to use and spend on luxuries.

4. Billboard
Magazine
• The Billboard masthead is in a clear font, making it
easily readable and recognisable for the readers. It
also stands out against the soft feminine pink tone of
the background. The main medium close up shot of
Katy Perry overlaps part of the masthead, which shows
how important she is, as she’s taking centre stage on
the cover.
• The cover lines on the front cover even though they’re
small stand out as they’re in a bold dark black font with
a contrasting bright yellow sub-heading to add to it.
The yellow sub-heading font colour also matches one
of the filled in letters colour in the masthead. Blending
it all together nicely. The main cover line; ‘KATY
PERRY…’ is in the biggest writing as the issue if
focused of Katy herself, the text on the front has to
coincide with that.
• The magazines main target audience and focus group
are females. The whole aura of the magazine is
feminine based, from the blatant pink background to
the main image of Katy Perry draped in flowers. The
flowers (used as props) that Katy is wearing are there
to indicate the soft side to her, yet the black dress
reinforces that Katy famously has a dark, mysterious
and mischievous side as well.
• The puff which is presented in a circle near the bottom
right hand corner, is interesting as it is placed away
from the rest of the information on the front cover so its
another eye catching element of the cover and it goes
against the usual left hand third conventions that
magazines follow.

5. What I will and will not use in
my own magazine..
• In my magazine, I will have a long name like how Billboard is wrote and presented, however
mine will be called; Quaint.
• Also, how Q magazine present Lana Del Rey’s name, I will similarly write the name of my
model; Rosie McCarthy, especially as the bulk of my magazine and the article on my double
page spread will be about Rosie.
• In the cover lines of my front cover I will have quotes, from Rosie herself to give my readers a
taster of what is to come In the article. I will also put other cover lines which are more generic
to the indie-pop genre my magazine is following; such as information about Lana Del Rey and
Florence & The Machine, artists/bands who follow the same genre and look I am aiming to
present as well.
• On the other hand, I will not use a skyline piece on my front cover because I want my
magazine to be extremely chic and classy, and the bold colours a skyline usually inhibits
wouldn’t fit in with the layout and design I am attempting to achieve for my magazine.
• Unlike NME’s front cover, I am going for a more feminine look for my magazine, as it will be
more female orientated and appeal to women predominantly over men. Although I will be
using a lot of black and white (generic unisex colours) the information, model, and then style
of further pages in the magazine lean more towards the tastes and interests of women rather
then men.

6. What I will and will not use in
my own magazine..
• In my magazine, I will have a long name like how Billboard is wrote and presented, however
mine will be called; Quaint.
• Also, how Q magazine present Lana Del Rey’s name, I will similarly write the name of my
model; Rosie McCarthy, especially as the bulk of my magazine and the article on my double
page spread will be about Rosie.
• In the cover lines of my front cover I will have quotes, from Rosie herself to give my readers a
taster of what is to come In the article. I will also put other cover lines which are more generic
to the indie-pop genre my magazine is following; such as information about Lana Del Rey and
Florence & The Machine, artists/bands who follow the same genre and look I am aiming to
present as well.
• On the other hand, I will not use a skyline piece on my front cover because I want my
magazine to be extremely chic and classy, and the bold colours a skyline usually inhibits
wouldn’t fit in with the layout and design I am attempting to achieve for my magazine.
• Unlike NME’s front cover, I am going for a more feminine look for my magazine, as it will be
more female orientated and appeal to women predominantly over men. Although I will be
using a lot of black and white (generic unisex colours) the information, model, and then style
of further pages in the magazine lean more towards the tastes and interests of women rather
then men.