Music Magazine - Research

I've decided to make a Music Magazine for my Foundation Portfolio.

Research

Q Magazine - http://www.qmagazine.com/

Here are some examples of Qs Front covers. I found these were the best of 2009 as the stood out the most. I feel that Q wants to look sophiscated but slightly edgy at the same time.

• The masthead is always in the left hand corner of the page in a red box. It is always in white. It is very striking and it is eye catching as the red jumps out at you. On most of the covers, the masthead is partially covered up to show that the magazine is confident that their audience will know the magazine, it gives a sense of community.
• The slogan for Q is at the top of the page 'THE UK'S BIGGEST MUSIC MAGAZINE', however it isn't always on the magazine suggesting that that month the magazine wasn't the biggest magazine. whenever it is on the front cover, it is in white in a black box.
• All the cover lines vary on where they are on the page. The artists name is always bold so we can see clearly who is on the cover and the main coverline. The other coverlines are never in a certain place either and they also vary where they are on the page. On the issue called 'Artists of the Century' there are no coverlines other than the main one as it seems to all be about the picture. The coverlines are mostly in white however there are additional colours such as black, pink, blue, yellow/orange and red.
• The names of the Artists are always BOLD and are sometimes highlighted or in a different colour to grab attention and to let their audience know who is in the magazine with ease.
• The main image also varies a great deal. There are Long shots, Medium shots and close-up shots. They are mostly posed, however the 'Kings of Leon' and 'Muse' covers seems to be more of action shots. These look really effective as the broken glass and glass make it seems more original, different and grag attention. I like the ways that the 'Muse' cover shows the guitar breaking the masthead. It shows the magazine has attitude and knows what looks effective. On the covers where they are posed still such as 'U2', 'Green Day' and 'Artic Monkeys' it seems like really powerful poses. While the 'Cheryl Cole' cover looks more seductive. The magazine keeps one mostly one colour on the background to make sure the coverstars alway stand out, colours are mostly greys and white. I like that 'U2' are in spotlights it looks reallt effective as it make it dramatic and it goes with the title 'U2 ARE BACK'. the same for the 'Green Day' cover, they is a green background for their name. One other thing i liked was that the cover with the 'Artic Monkeys', their picture is in black and white. It gives it an edgy feels and stands out as it isn't always in black and white.
• There seems to be only 1 or 2 fonts on the front cover and mostly all the coverlines are in capitals ans some are bold. I think that the colours, boldness and capitals is all that the coverlines need and the different fonts are not needed. However the fonts do vary from one issue to the next. The writing is horizontal across the page with the exception of 'The Killers' issue where the main coverline is slanted to go with the artists pose.