f.t Richard Ashcroft - Q Magazine Contents Page

1. “Q”Richard Ashcroft is this Q magazine’s contents page
model (English musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist,
keyboard player, once lead singer and guitarist the
band ‘The Verve’). There is a small credit to the model in
the right-hand corner in red text.
The image of him is a medium shot or his head and torso
in casual clothes with a smarter-looking jacket. He stands
with his arms spread wide, only his shoulders visible, the
bulk of the image being his plain grey shirt. He makes eye
contact with the audience (direct address).

2. TECHNICAL & CONTENT CODES
Colour Scheme
Black: Death, danger, intimidation, power, elegance, formality, evil,
mystery
Red: Fire, danger, energy, war, strength, power, passion and romance,
anger, courage.
Grey: Neutral, indecisive, neutral, quiet, unemotional, simplistic, mature,
calm
Navy: Royal, professional, intelligence, stability, power, control
His posture, with arms wide open, makes him seem powerful, which is
reflected in his navy jacket. His direct address also draws in the audience
and makes him seem very much in control of the situation and
interaction between himself and the audience.
The background being dark grey makes it seem like he is in a mature, or
foreboding environment (the maturity may be something to do with the
target audience Q Magazine is trying to reach. His top being light grey
makes him come across as calm and neutral, and also goes with his eyes.
The navy top and trousers, however, imply a regal air; he is important,
and powerful, which is reflected in his confident body language, eye
contact, and serious expression.
However, he is not completely serious; he is in smart-casual clothing
with his smart suit top and his denim trousers. And, while his expression
is sinister with furrowed eyebrows, his hair is loose and scruffy, not quite
reaching down to cover his eyes.
He is important and smart, but also casual.
The small arrow in the lower-right corner may be encouraging the
audience to turn the page and read o
Grey
Navy
Casual
Smart
Dominance
Confident
?

3. LANGUAGE CODES
The brand logo “Q” is in the corner, beside the title “235
Contents” and the dateline “Feb06” in all-caps. These words
are drawn away from the rest of the page with a light grey
background that doesn’t match the rest of the page. It doesn’t
draw the attention away from the rest of the page.
The puff with the red, eye-catching background reads “100
Greatest Albums Ever” in white. Numbers of main pages are in
white, and celebrity name-dropping is used in large text (e.g.
“Johnny Cash”, “Radiohead”, etc.) This is bellow the cover line
with a black background in white text reading “Features”.
There is a cover line beneath the red puff with a black
background in white text reading “Every Month”. Beneath this,
there are smaller cover lines in white with the page numbers
beside them in red.
There is a break at the bottom of the page in the same grey as
the “235 Contents” and dateline background. The text in red
reads “‘I Fart in Your Direction.’” and the black beside it reads
“Nick Valesnsi, the Strokes p12” in sans serif capitals.