Article Analysis: Q Magazine

The artist chosen to feature in the magazine article is Cheryl Cole. This suggests that the audience are mainly males aged been 22-44 as this is the target audience for Q magazine. She is young and attractive and will defeintely appeal to the male target audience. The language is quite informal,which means it appeals to a wide range of people. For example, it says " Everything i do is scrutinised, evrything i fucking say". It is unusual to have swearing in a magazine and it is not something you would generally come accross by looking in any type of magazine. But the aim of Q is to be different and edgy. The tone the article gives the reader is kind of friendly. The article begins with them talking about Cheryl's life right away, as i fthe audience was a close friend and knew a lot about her: " Cheryl Cole is sick to death of looking at herself."



The text used is a simple black font. This is unusual for Q magazine, as they are known for being 'Rock-ish' and 'Edgy'. It sticks with the colour theme from the contents page and the front cover, which are red, black and white. It looks sophisticated as well as bold. The images also follow this pattern. Cheryl wears dominantly black, with red lipstick; it's as if she is making a statement. Three full pages are taken up by only images: two of Cheryl Cole, and one of an 'X' which could stand for her role in the X factor. On the first page, there is a large letter 'C' behind the article, on the other two pages about half the page has been taken up by imags also. There is not much text which shows that the magazine focusses on selling the article through images and that they don't do in-depth articles. They keep it short and straight to the point.

Cheryl Cole is presented as being very edgy and like a rock chick. This is different from what the public usually see her as ( a pop princess), it's as if Q is letting us see a different side of her, the new her maybe. She wears all black, but still manages to look cool and diva-ish, which is a hard image to portray. This image gives off the same impression as the front cover which looks very dark in relation to Sin City. The article does require a bit of prior knowledge, but lets us know brief information about her such as that she used to be in a group called Girls Aloud and that her debut single 'Fight For This Love' was the fastest selling song in 2009,h wever it does not give us any background information about her which suggests that the audience already know a bit about her.

Contents page analysis

Q Magazine Contents page:

1. The contents page uses several different images that are arranged on the page in a kind of messy way. But it still looks good. There is a large image on the first page which is on the left hand side, this is a picture of Cheryl Cole which relates to the stories inside the magazine and the front cover. It lets us know that this magazine is focusing on her. There is a montage of several images, which looks cool and egdey; this relates to the kind of message and audience that the magazine is trying to give off and relate to. The colours used are red, black and white which relate to the front cover. The main colours on the cover were red and black as they appear to seem very sinful and bold. From the cover and the contents page, we can tell that red, black and white are the main colour used by Q Magazine. it is organised very well. The different sections focus on different artists, for example there is a section subtitled '50 Cent' and 'John Lennon'. The 'Q' is at the top of the page in a header. It is white against a red background and it really stands out to the audience; it makes a bold statement and it is very dominant on the page.

Preliminary Magazine Cover

Proposal, Questionnaire & Results

The chosen genre of music for my magazine is R&B. It is aimed at mainly females, but could appeal to the male audience as well. It is aimed at ages between 16 and 25. They will be interested in learning about artists that sing and produce this type of music. I think that this type of magazine is needed because there are not many magazines out there that focus on mainly Soul and R&B, rather than hip hop and R&B.

What type of music are you mostly interested in (you may choose more tan one)?
Hip Hop: Gospel: R&B: Rock: Pop: Other:

How often would you like this magazine to be released?
Weekly: Fortnightly: Monthly:

How much would you pay for a magazine?
Up to £2: Up to £3: Up to £4: up to £5:

What kind of freebies would you like to come with a magazine (you may select more than one)?
Posters: CD’s: Stickers: Calendars: Other:

Do you like only well-known artists on the cover of a magazine?
Yes: No:

Do you prefer in depth articles or short ones?
In depth: Short:

Are you interested in the up and coming artists as well as the famous ones?
Yes: No:

What attracts you to a music magazine (you may select more than one)?
Celebrities: Freebies: Special price offer: Exclusive interviews:

Do you currently buy other music magazines?
Yes: No:

If yes, which ones:
____________________________________________________________

This shows that the majority of people do not enjoy reading in depth articles, so the one i make will be quite short and interesting.

Most people would like to receive free CD's with a magazine.

My magazine will feature an up and coming artist, as most of my target audience are interested in up and coming artists as well as famous ones.













The majority are interested in hip hop and R & B. This is good because R&B is the genre of my magazine.

My results show that about 90% of my intended target audience have bought music magazines before, so they know what they want.












Most people prefer to have well known artists on the front cover.

This shows that freebies and celebrity gossip attract young people more to a magazine than interviews and special price offers do.

50% the people would pay up to £2 for a music magazine. 30% would pay up to £3.

The majority woul dlike this magazine to be released fortnightly.

These are three images that could be used on my magazine front cover.

Image One:

Image Two:

Image Three: