1. Sandra Maniraguha
Analysis of Q magazine front cover
Masthead This is the
title and/or logo of the
magazine
Numbers are used to attract the audience
to feel like they are getting value for
money.
Main Image: the biggest
image or illustration on the
page.
Plug: Information about the
contents of a magazine given
on the front cover.
Main cover line: This is
the text that goes with
your main image.
Cover lines Aside from the main
cover line, there will be others
that flag up different stories
inside the magazine.
Puff: Words or phrases on the
cover of a magazine used in
order to attract customers
boost sales

2. Sandra Maniraguha
Q magazine is a music magazine which was first published in 1986 in the
United Kingdom. Within the magazine they review, live shows, albums and a
section on films but they concentrate on Music throughout the issue which is
indicated by the front cover.
Audience
http://magazines.bauermediaadv
ertising.com/magazines/detail/Q
A large percentage of Q’s readers are 15-24 (35.5%) which indicates that the
front covers will be presented to suit the majority audience but will still have
some parts to it which appeal to everyone. The magazine will have relevant
artists on the front to draw the audience in. Regarding the audience the largest
group of readers within gender are men, coming in at 68.3%, looking at the
cover above, we see that the idea of “sex sells” is relevant when appealing to a
target audience. A beautiful, popular and half naked woman is on the cover to
bring in the majority audience and will induce young women to want to look
like a representation of a star because men are interested in that look.
The type of audience that is interested in this type of magazine would most
like be seen at live events such as Glastonbury, which ties in with the magazine
because every year “Q” magazine does a review on Glastonbury for the
readers.
ABC1 PROFILE:
http://www.abc1demographic.co.uk/
This ABC1 profile fits the target audience because Q magazine is for readers
who are more likely to go to music festivals and music festivals are not cheap.
Take for example a Glastonbury ticket costs £160 + a booking fee (£5) also the

3. Sandra Maniraguha
issue costs £3.99 which is expensive compared to other magazines and
newspapers that have the same genre with in them but are not specialised on
the genre.
Genre
This magazine is a music magazine which is shown by the references to music
artists such as; lady gaga, Madonna, Gorillas and many more. The magazine
uses conventions that fit all types of magazines.
Masthead: magazines use the masthead to draw their audience in, so the
reader knows exactly what magazine it is because it’s familiar. This is needs to
be eye-catching, and tell your potential reader what the magazine is about.
“Q” does exactly this, they use a specific font, colour and position the “Q” in
the top left hand corner because that is what their audience will recognize, and
it’s a convention they stick to.
Representation
The main characters on the magazine are shown on the front cover, they are
all music artists. This connects to the type of magazine “Q” is, if they put an
actor or someone that was not a musician they would not be delivering what
their target audience wants to see.
The musicians on the font cover are represented as sex symbols because they
are dressed in next to nothing and they look sultry. This image is used to draw
the reader in to want to see more pictures like this on the inside.
The people in the main image are represented as being above others for
example in the picture above of Florence above large monuments from around
the world makes it seem like she is looking down at the readers which
automatically gives the musician a higher status also shown by Cheryl Cole
being above a city.

4. Sandra Maniraguha
Their importance can also be shown by the type of font their name is written
in, it is completely different to the type of font used for the other pieces of
texts.
Language
The type of language the magazine uses is based around their target audience.
The use words such as; shocking and exclusive to entice their reader to buy the
magazine because they would get information that they wouldn’t find
anywhere else.
“Q” magazine is known to use a dark or plain background so the reader can
concentrate on the main image.