Analysis - Q Magazine Contents Page

Target Audience

The primary target audience of Q Magazine is working-class (social grades C1-E) people aged between 20-35, of both genders. Both genders are being portrayed in the images. The issues of representation raised by this contents page are class and Marxism.

Layout

In this layout example, the main image is to the upper right, with a secondary image in the lower middle area, inside the review section. Along the left-hand side there is a list of features, and below that, in the bottom-left corner, there is a list of articles that always appear, every month.

Colour

The three main colours used in this front page are white, black and red. These colours contrast very well, and are the standard colours of this magazine. Unlike the front covers and contents page I have analysed, the images featured do not feature these colours as the primary colours, although this may be because Q has a set colour scheme, and the other magazines I have looked at do not.

Imagery

The main image shows the band the Courteeners standing on a hilltop. This is a full body shot of the entire band, as opposed to the close-up and mid shots of a single person commonly used on front covers. They are all wearing fairly basic casual clothes, with printed t-shirts and jeans being the common clothing worn. This is representative of what is actually worn by the target audience on an average day, because they would not be overly bothered with dressing smartly, because there is no need. The secondary image shows a woman leaning against a pillar, presumably one of Q’s main reviewers. She is wearing a smart-looking business suit, and therefore is presumably supposed to be more of a representation of the middle-class, who are likely to wear such clothes on a regular basis.

Typography/Text

The text used here is almost all in one of the three main colours used on this contents page, and in standard fonts, as opposed to the more stylistic fonts used in other contents pages. Amongst the star vehicles mentioned are Oasis and the Courteeners, who both appeal more to the older generation.

Conclusion

Overall, this contents page shows all of the common conventions of a music magazine contents page. I feel that it is effective, and I am likely to base my own contents page on a very similar design.