Research front cover 4: Q

The front cover that I will be anaylsing is within the category that I have chosen to do for my own music magazine, vintage. It is interesting that it is Q that I will analyse, because I discovered that it's masthead wasn't always the brilliant red. A long time ago, it was a mustard yellow, when they had a different editor, and their conventions were different.




The Masthead


 The masthead's background colour is a worn mustard, which gives me the impression of the 80's/90's which makes it very effective,however, in that era having 3D fonts were more conventional than 2D, which technically breaks them. The deep black of the masthead itself stands out compared to the stained yellow box-out. I really like the contrast of the colours, especially the fact that the box-out isn't too bright. The font itself is in serif, which makes it look very smooth and is very pleasing to the eye. The letter is very wide (which personally I do not like too much) and is very large. It's placement is at the top right corner, which hasn't changed at all throughout the years, and became Q's housestyle.


The Image 


What is very interesting it that the central image isn't exactly in the centre. It is located at the bottom of the front cover, and isn't as large as the central images usually are,therefore it adheres to conventions of any music magazine, including vintage. That (in my opinion) leaves the front cover looking rather unfinished, as it leaves a lot of whitespace.
The band have a very casual look,which is odd because the stone roses are a rock band, and if you didn't know them you could never tell and they are not wearing anything outrageous, which can imply that they aren't trying to stand out from everyone fashion wise, but they only concentrate on their music. Their facial expressions are very casual, however, they still look posed and positioned because of their stances and poses. This reflects on Richard Dyer's theory, as they are stars that 'are constructed.'. What is odd, is that even though they have been positioned to pose like that, they still don't look like they are trying too hard, which is what I love about this central image so much. The fact that they aren't dressed to impress anyone challenges Laura Mulvey's theory, which is Male/Female gaze.

However, after looking at the central image and then the heading for it, the image starts to make more sense to me. They are posing this way because they are acting out the heading, they are asking the reader: 'What are you waiting for?'. So their casual style actually means that they are challenging the world with their style and their music.

The Cover Stories

The overall layout of the cover stories is very unusual because they are placed higher than the main story, and overall take up more space than the main story. What is also very interesting is that almost all of them include secondary leads, and have bright colour, including this Prince story, which actually looks more rock than the main cover story, which is also very unusual. What is also unconventional is that because it has such a dark background, it makes it stand out on the pale whitespace. and because of that this was the first thing that I looked at on the magazine front cover.


This little cover story creates a connection with the reader, and forms prosthetic personalisation, as it asks the reader: 'Remember your first gig?' which makes it sound friendly and approachable. It also makes the purchaser nostalgically think of their previous experiences, which is related to the magazine.
The colouring of the secondary lead is very tinted orange, but makes it stand out compared to the plain whitespace. The style of the photo is very basic, which makes it appear very 'pop art'-like.

This cover story is the only one without a secondary lead, however, it is large in font, which is unusually white compared to the rest. The box-out of it is a checkered shirt background, which links to the story directly, in an amusing way.



These two cover stories are placed in a very unusual place, which is directly next to the masthead. However, these photos do not have a large amount of background to them, which makes them blend in more.
Their headings are in striking black, which contrasts to the whitespace, and makes them pop.




The Extras

As unconventional and odd as this front cover may be, it still sticks to some traditional conventions, such as having a barcode at the bottom corner of the front cover.


The other convention that it sticks to is having a pug, at the top corner, in bright colour with buzz words which attract the reader and tempts the reader to purchase this magazine.




How this research has influenced my planning

• I now know that in order to have a vintage masthead, you mustn't make it 3D
• I now know that the main picture does not always have to be at the centre
• I now know that I will possibly include a sharp looking pug
• I know the importance of picking a good layout and whitespace