Real media artefact 2 - Q front cover

Q is a music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom since October 1986. The Name 'Q' is a play on words for 'Cue the music.' This will attract the audience as by using just one letter it portrays a power that they can sell their magazine with just one letter. Also because it is just one letter the audience will remember it easily and as Q is a letter you will come across in day to day situations you will be reminded of the magazine alot of the time.

The tagline of the magazine is 'Discover great music.' This allows the audience to feel safety in that when they buy the magazine it will focus on 'great' music therefore they will not be wasting their money buying it. Also, great is not a hyperbole which is what some magazines may use to try and sell themselves. This can sometimes backfire as it becomes unbelievable, however by just using the word 'great' Q will attract readers that will trust the brand. Also, by using the verb discover, it allows a sense of adventure for the reader as they feel they will go to read the magazine and come across/discover things they have never done before. This will result in them wanting to read on and see what they could find out.

The layout of the front cover is very simplistic with captions down either side and just one main image. This portrays a sense of sophistication and therefore would most probably attract an older audience. The main imagine in the middle is of Liam Gallagher, a member of the mainstream band Oasis. The image is a close up of his head with just the top of his shoulders showing. He is wearing sunglasses which creates a sense of mystery because we cannot see his eyes. By not seeing someones eyes you cannot tell their emotion, again this could make the reader wonder what his emotion is, making them want to read on. Also, the rest of the band you can see in the reflection in his sunglasses, this shows that he has a sense of dominance that they are not on the same level as him as they to, do not have a close up. The reader will wonder why this is, and why it is being portrayed so strongly in the front cover. Also, Liam is wearing a camoflauge jacket, this has connotations of war. The magazine will assume that because Oasis are so mainstream and so well known the reader will be able to relate this immediately with the conflict and almost war like situations that go on between the two brothers in the band. The close up of Liam is the only image on the front cover, this could portray to a reader that Q are so confident in their main story that they do not need to show any others as much through images, again creating trust between the writer and reader.

The main colours of the front cover are red/gold/black and white. These are all colours with rich/wealthy connotations. They show class, and alike the layout sophistication, resulting in the magazine attracting the target audience they wish to attract. The colours are continuously used throughout the magazine, this would allow the reader to build an assosiation between the colours and the magazine. So if they see the colours around it may remind them of the magazine, and the remind them to buy it.

The captions are wrapped around the main image in the centre. They include 'ELBOW NEW ALBUM EXCLUSIVE.' The 'ELBOW' is in black bold writing so it is clear to the reader the artist Elbow will be featuring in this magazine. The the next like quotes 'NEW ALBUM EXCLUSIVE' this is written the same font but in gold colouring. This helps point out the fact that it is exclusive as gold represents something that is the best and therefore not available much (exclusive) to the audience. It again has 'Noah and the whale' in black bold writing, again another band that will be featuring in the magazine being advertised to the audince by using large simple writing.

The language used in the cover lines are again, types that would attract to an older audience for example 'tit' and 'booze, fags.' These are all words that only an older audience would use as tit could have sexual connotations, and is an unpleasent term for a person that only older people would understand. And booze and fags are two things that are only available to people over 18, therefore the magazine will attract people of this age group as it mentions things that will be relevant in their lives.

The front cover also uses pugs, for example a circle in the top right hand corner that holds the information 'Queen 16 page exclusive May & Taylor speak! The unseen Freddie' This, is to catch the readers attention that they are getting even more interesting content in their magazine along with the main story of Liam Gallagher from Oasis. The 'Queen' is in the biggest font therefore will successfully attract the reader, as they will aswell recognise the word queen and associate it with the band as they are historic and very well known.