Q MUSE Cover Page Analysis

Intro

This analysis is on a cover of a previous issue of Q magazine which then had a main article on Matt Bellamy, the lead singer and guitarist of MUSE.  Q magazine is a music magazine that is published on a monthly basis by the Bauer Media Group. The magazine covers a variety of genres as it tries to cover all the ‘mainstream’ and popular music bands and artists of the current day and age. This magazine shows that although I would like my magazine to focus on a single genre, it is possible to make a good magazine that may include a sub-genre or two.

Masthead

The mast heads background isn’t the same as the rest of the magazine cover. The background for this is black, the contrasts with the rest of the page and lets us know they wanted this to stand out. This is reinforced with the use of the white coloured font layered on top of it. This tells us again that they really wanted it to stand out. The use of a fairly neat and formal font also portrays a sense of seriousness, making the text more believable.  By having the text at the top of the page as well will interest new readers by already showing them that it’s the most popular music magazine out there, therefore promoting the magazine.

Banner

Just like the NME magazine analysis the banner is used more like a logo than a full on banner across the page. The banner is coloured red and white which is the house style of Q and is used on every magazine that they release.  The size of the banner draws the reader’s attention and its position in the top left hand corner makes it easily seen on a magazine stand. However the banner has been edited to suit the main articles theme of destruction and violence which is also shown in the picture.

Picture

The picture shows the lead singer of MUSE, Matt Bellamy. This shows that the rest of the band aren’t as well known and aren’t as important because they aren’t shown in the picture even though the article is about the band. The expression shown is one of anger and aggression which is typical for MUSE and their genre of music. This is also shown through the destruction of the banner; this tells us that MUSE and this article are very important, possibly bigger and more important than the magazine itself.  

Main cover line

The main cover line is actually a lot smaller than they were on the NME cover page. However this magazine has used a different technique to advertise their articles. They have made the name of the band a lot bigger than any text on the page, making it stand out. This tells us that this magazine is really trying to bring in more readers with their big band article and therefore they really want to promote that they’re inside.

Cover lines

All of the other cover lines are about the same size as the ones used on the main cover line. There are some slightly larger ones including a list of rock nut jobs and an article on Coldplay. This would be to promote the more popular bands and articles that appear in the issue.

Colour palette

Just like with the NME cover, they have stuck to a three colour palette, this time of red, white and black. This was expected from Q magazine as this is there house style and is featured in all of their magazines. By using the house style on every issue, the magazine can be easily recognised on a shelf by regular readers and the reader who may have read a couple before. It keeps a link in the potential readers mind and therefore the logo also being large at the top makes Q magazine easily recognised on a shelf.

Barcode

As like my previous magazine analysis the barcode also features the price of the magazine and the issue that it is. This would be useful for the potential readers of the magazine who would first want to know the price while also telling regular readers or collectors even, what issue that they are looking at now.  However there are some differences in this case to the one I analysed previously. The price and issue label only appear on the barcode on Q magazine. This wasn’t the case with NME which also had the issue and price underneath their logo like banner. This could be because there is only one issue a month the date isn’t as important or because they didn’t want readers to immediately see the more expensive price that comes with it. Plus, with the different layout that this magazine brings, the barcode is placed at the bottom left hand corner instead of the right. Although this is a less conventional place it is still out of the way and not obstructing the articles featured on the cover.

Layering

I counted 15 separate layers on the front of the magazine. This is around the same number as on the previous cover, but this magazine has used all these layers for more important things, mainly about the articles inside. We know this because there is no layers promoting free items inside and extra graphics to make the magazine more eye catching, making it look slightly more professional than the NME magazine overall.