Tuesday, 20 October 2015
Q Magazine Contents Page Evaluation
COLOUR SCHEME
The general house style continues through to the contents
page however the colour scheme slightly changes. The conventional colours of
red, yellow and black continues however more colours, such as orange and blue,
are integrated in to make the contents page more exciting and inviting to
readers. This is because the front cover has to look smart and conventional as
when you see it you have not yet brought the magazine, but you are likely to read
the contents page after purchase so it is more welcoming and fun as it is like
you are now one of Q’s ‘friends’. The colours have been carefully selected to
designate page numbers, which makes it clear and easy for the reader to
navigate through the magazine and the circles around the page number make the
contents page more interactive and helps the reader to engage with the
magazine.
LAYOUT
At the top left of the contents page is the Q magazine title
‘Q’. Although the Q itself has changed colour, it still has the high contrast
of red, white and black colours surrounding it, which matches the house style
of the overall magazine. In order for Q to keep their minimalistic and vague
only the leading articles have been placed. The fact that they have shortlisted
their contents implies that only the best are good enough for Q. The layout of
the contents page is quite conventional, which is expected of Q. On the left
hand side, there are two even columns which is very conventional. On the right
hand side there are still two columns however, they are uneven which makes the
magazine look more packed and crowded full of information so the buyer will
think they’re getting their money’s worth, which will persuade people to buy
it. The fact that it is conventional in terms of columns, but unconventional in
the fact that they’re uneven sizes portrays how Q is a serious magazine but
with a twist of originality and fun.
PHOTOS
Q magazine are quite original with their contents page as
every artist listed has their own photo. This portrays that all 10 artists
listed are a high enough status to deserve their own photos. The photo sizes
depends on how big their article is. For example, the band New Order have the
longest article of 21 pages so the picture is the largest whereas the artist 50
Cent only has 3 pages, so his image is a lot smaller. This organization helps
the reader to decide what article they would like to read, depending on the
length and the importance of the article. In some photos, such as the photo of
50 Cent, certain parts pf their bodies are coming out of the photo box, such as
50 Cent’s head. This connotes how he is actually part of the magazine and
involved in it, and not just something that has been added in to it. Most of
the photos have been taken from a photoshoot so are either posed, or posed
candid which portrays the professionalism of the artists displayed, which again
emphasises Q’s high status in the magazine industry. In the majority of the
photo’s the artists are making eye contact with the camera, which gives the
magazine a more inviting vibe to the readers and helps them engage with the
magazine more. In the photo’s that do not make eye contact, their poses seem to
be more striking and active, such as Miguel and Mick Jagger, which makes the picture’s
more intense, but still manages to draw the reader in. The fact they’re
pointing to the right (towards the inside of the magazine) encourages the
reader to turn the page and see inside.
Friday, 16 October 2015
Q Magazine Front Cover Evaluation
MASTHEAD, TITLE, PUFF
As Q is a well-known magazine and has a developed brand identity the masthead is one of the first thing the reader will look at. Two heads from the feature photograph are in front of the masthead and slightly cover the ‘Q’, Q do this in order to show their high status and how well known they are, as the reader doesn’t need to be able to see the whole masthead in order to know what it reads. Above it is the puff which quotes ‘The World’s Greatest Music Magazine’ this superlative connotes that Q are self-aware of their position as a mainstream music magazine company, and try to use their high status to their advantage to get more readers interested. The masthead is a white Q on a red background which are conventional and iconic colours for a magazine and in journalism in general. This connotes to the reader that the magazine will be in a conventional style and will stick to the ‘rules’ of magazines throughout, such as colour schemes, columns and minimum negative space. The font of the Q in the title is very sophisticated, which connotes to the magazine audience that it will be a well written magazine, for people who are serious about music to read to get useful information from about the people and music they are interested in. When Q was first published in October 1986 it was originally called ‘Cue’ as in ‘cue the music.’ However on their 200th edition, once they were better known, they changed their title to Q which looks more prominent on the newsstands, as it was short, bold and eye-catching. They also changed their puff as it was originally ‘The modern guide to music and more’ to the more powerful superlative they have now to show how their status has changed since they originally started and how well known they have become.
FEATURE PHOTO
The feature article photograph is a photo of the band U2 which shows that Q are a very accomplished, well known and significant company as U2 are one of the biggest bands in the world, that everyone knows of. Q has a varied number of genre-related artists on their covers, but many are rock, indie or pop genre starts which draws in a wider demographic of people including cross-genre listeners. The position of the four U2 members in the feature photograph are quite open and relaxed which gives the magazine reader a welcoming vibe and the relaxed eye contact between the lead singer of U2 (Bono) and the camera gives the whole magazine an opening feel to the reader. However, the fact that he is wearing sunglasses creates a barrier between him and the reader, even though his eyes are still visible, they are not as clear which creates a mysterious attitude for the magazine audience as it’s as if you can’t see him as clearly as he can see you. The glasses are also a pinky-shade so it’s as if he is looking through ‘rose-coloured glasses’ which is a common metaphor which is used when people only notice the good things and don’t notice the bad things that are going on around them. This links to their article where they talk about ignoring all the negative things that have happened (the standfirst even quotes ‘without asking…about all the negativity’) and are just focusing on the positive; they are on the road again. The sunglasses also help him get the ‘cool’ image which most members of rock bands have. There is another member (The Edge) making eye contact who is standing a bit further back. He is looking down at the camera in quite a threatening way which shows the ‘bad guy’ looks that is conventional to rock bands. The photo of the band is a posed group shot. The lighting is coming in from the right at a similar level to Larry Mullen’s head height, shining down diagonally to hit Adam Clayton on the far left. This lighting helps give their faces texture and also to give the effect that the photo was taken outdoors even though it was most probably taken in a studio. The camera is just below eye level so that the members are slightly looking down to make them look more intimidating, which is conventional of a ‘rock star’ style.
COVER LINE
The cover line states ‘World Exclusive U2’ in the same font as the bands logo, to show the high status of the band that they are writing about and how well known they are, which helps Q prove to readers that they are well established. The fact they are also using the bands font will draw in additional readers, fans of the band, who will recognise the font and consider buying the magazine. The cover line is made to look ‘stamp-like’ which creates a military effect, the same as their logo. This portrays that the band Q are writing about know what they are doing and have everything in order. The fact that the writing is faded at part creates an authentic and genuine feel towards the band and magazine. The cover line being in front of the band shows how the line is linked to the people in the photo and the fact it’s on an angle draws people to the magazine as it is eye-catching. The slightly canted angle of cover lines can also indicate a deliberately chaotic feel, or that they don’t necessarily play by the rules.
PLUGS
The plugs are unconventional as they are not flushed left or flushed right but are going along the full width of the page. However, they are either above or below the feature article photo, so that U2 are still the main focus, as they are more likely to sell the issue more than the words of the plugs. The font used for the names of the celebrities featured in the plugs are in the same font as the U2 logo, but in a smaller size, portraying that they are not as important as the feature article, but are still worthy of being read about as they have a high enough status to borrow the U2 font. The background of four of the plugs is a bold yellow strip going along the page which helps them stand out and be seen easier by a reader. The plugs are in other ways conventional however, as they do do their duty of getting rid of negative space and give the reader an idea of the other contents inside the magazine. The plugs suggest that there is a wide variety of contents inside which will attract a wider audience. The plugs use quite comical language and are written in a quite casual way, such as one plug uses alliteration, ‘birthday’s, boxing and bio-fuel’, which gives the magazine a more relaxed attitude and portrays that it’s not all too serious and will also attract younger readers too.
HOUSE STYLE
Q’s house style is dictated by its demographic, both male and female (which is portrayed by their use of gender-neutral colours and contents) and aged between 25-40. It targets people who like a mixture of genres of music and who take their music seriously. The fact that the magazine costs £4.20 shows that Q’s demographic is likely to be middle class, with a respectable income and with enough free time to read the 130 pages of this magazine.
As Q is a well-known magazine and has a developed brand identity the masthead is one of the first thing the reader will look at. Two heads from the feature photograph are in front of the masthead and slightly cover the ‘Q’, Q do this in order to show their high status and how well known they are, as the reader doesn’t need to be able to see the whole masthead in order to know what it reads. Above it is the puff which quotes ‘The World’s Greatest Music Magazine’ this superlative connotes that Q are self-aware of their position as a mainstream music magazine company, and try to use their high status to their advantage to get more readers interested. The masthead is a white Q on a red background which are conventional and iconic colours for a magazine and in journalism in general. This connotes to the reader that the magazine will be in a conventional style and will stick to the ‘rules’ of magazines throughout, such as colour schemes, columns and minimum negative space. The font of the Q in the title is very sophisticated, which connotes to the magazine audience that it will be a well written magazine, for people who are serious about music to read to get useful information from about the people and music they are interested in. When Q was first published in October 1986 it was originally called ‘Cue’ as in ‘cue the music.’ However on their 200th edition, once they were better known, they changed their title to Q which looks more prominent on the newsstands, as it was short, bold and eye-catching. They also changed their puff as it was originally ‘The modern guide to music and more’ to the more powerful superlative they have now to show how their status has changed since they originally started and how well known they have become.
FEATURE PHOTO
The feature article photograph is a photo of the band U2 which shows that Q are a very accomplished, well known and significant company as U2 are one of the biggest bands in the world, that everyone knows of. Q has a varied number of genre-related artists on their covers, but many are rock, indie or pop genre starts which draws in a wider demographic of people including cross-genre listeners. The position of the four U2 members in the feature photograph are quite open and relaxed which gives the magazine reader a welcoming vibe and the relaxed eye contact between the lead singer of U2 (Bono) and the camera gives the whole magazine an opening feel to the reader. However, the fact that he is wearing sunglasses creates a barrier between him and the reader, even though his eyes are still visible, they are not as clear which creates a mysterious attitude for the magazine audience as it’s as if you can’t see him as clearly as he can see you. The glasses are also a pinky-shade so it’s as if he is looking through ‘rose-coloured glasses’ which is a common metaphor which is used when people only notice the good things and don’t notice the bad things that are going on around them. This links to their article where they talk about ignoring all the negative things that have happened (the standfirst even quotes ‘without asking…about all the negativity’) and are just focusing on the positive; they are on the road again. The sunglasses also help him get the ‘cool’ image which most members of rock bands have. There is another member (The Edge) making eye contact who is standing a bit further back. He is looking down at the camera in quite a threatening way which shows the ‘bad guy’ looks that is conventional to rock bands. The photo of the band is a posed group shot. The lighting is coming in from the right at a similar level to Larry Mullen’s head height, shining down diagonally to hit Adam Clayton on the far left. This lighting helps give their faces texture and also to give the effect that the photo was taken outdoors even though it was most probably taken in a studio. The camera is just below eye level so that the members are slightly looking down to make them look more intimidating, which is conventional of a ‘rock star’ style.
COVER LINE
The cover line states ‘World Exclusive U2’ in the same font as the bands logo, to show the high status of the band that they are writing about and how well known they are, which helps Q prove to readers that they are well established. The fact they are also using the bands font will draw in additional readers, fans of the band, who will recognise the font and consider buying the magazine. The cover line is made to look ‘stamp-like’ which creates a military effect, the same as their logo. This portrays that the band Q are writing about know what they are doing and have everything in order. The fact that the writing is faded at part creates an authentic and genuine feel towards the band and magazine. The cover line being in front of the band shows how the line is linked to the people in the photo and the fact it’s on an angle draws people to the magazine as it is eye-catching. The slightly canted angle of cover lines can also indicate a deliberately chaotic feel, or that they don’t necessarily play by the rules.
PLUGS
The plugs are unconventional as they are not flushed left or flushed right but are going along the full width of the page. However, they are either above or below the feature article photo, so that U2 are still the main focus, as they are more likely to sell the issue more than the words of the plugs. The font used for the names of the celebrities featured in the plugs are in the same font as the U2 logo, but in a smaller size, portraying that they are not as important as the feature article, but are still worthy of being read about as they have a high enough status to borrow the U2 font. The background of four of the plugs is a bold yellow strip going along the page which helps them stand out and be seen easier by a reader. The plugs are in other ways conventional however, as they do do their duty of getting rid of negative space and give the reader an idea of the other contents inside the magazine. The plugs suggest that there is a wide variety of contents inside which will attract a wider audience. The plugs use quite comical language and are written in a quite casual way, such as one plug uses alliteration, ‘birthday’s, boxing and bio-fuel’, which gives the magazine a more relaxed attitude and portrays that it’s not all too serious and will also attract younger readers too.
HOUSE STYLE
Q’s house style is dictated by its demographic, both male and female (which is portrayed by their use of gender-neutral colours and contents) and aged between 25-40. It targets people who like a mixture of genres of music and who take their music seriously. The fact that the magazine costs £4.20 shows that Q’s demographic is likely to be middle class, with a respectable income and with enough free time to read the 130 pages of this magazine.
Behind The Neck Pose
My photo (right) was based on a photo of Tulisa that I saw on a magazine (left). I liked the pose of the hands behind the neck and the effect it had on the whole body language of Tulisa, it connoted to me that she is genuinely happy, relaxed and friendly. Therefore I used this pose for my model but changed it so it was my own, unique style, to connote to people my personal thoughts and feelings I want to portray through my model, but still kept it similar enough to me obviously based on this photo.
Here you can see how I have carefully placed the lights surrounding my model to make the texture of her face as clear as possible. As I based this on the photo of Tulisa, I copied her photographers lighting as much as i could, which meant that I heavily lit her face to emphasize her facial expressions as this is the main focus of the photo.
Setting Up Photos
These photos show me working with my model in order to create my ideal poses and photos. As you can see I used soft boxes either side and below my model in order to light her the way I wanted and to match the lighting in the photo's I based the poses on. I also used a black screen behind her, and in some photos lit the back in order to create a shadowed look.
Shh Pose
I chose this pose for my model (Left) after being inspired by the photo on the right when I saw it online whilst researching poses. However it is not exactly the same as I added my own twist on it to make it my own.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)