Analysis of Q Magazine Contents Page

Target Audience- The primary target audience for Q magazine is for both genders aged 17-25 as this is the age range that is getting involved with current music and want to know what is happening now. The majority of people reading this magazine would fall in the audience demographic at band C1 down to E.

Layout- The layout on this contents page is effective because everything is overlaid onto each other creating a full page that gives the reader lots of information. Although with the basic part of the layout being that the writing is on the outside of each page with the images in the middle and surrounding. This creates a more confined space for the actual information and gives the layout a structure that stops it from looking too busy. The masthead strip across the top ensures that it is still clear of what the magazine and means that this still stands out. The use of stand alone images and letters or boxes of information means that there isn’t any continuity on this contents page but rather than this making it look too busy and over powering it creates different areas of interest for the reader and gives them lots of snippets of the features within the magazine. This links back to the target audience as they want images to stand out to them and show what they are going to be interested in which is why this style of layout is so suitable.

Colour- The main colour theme on this contents page is red, white and black which links back to the general colour scheme of the magazine creating a clear brand identity to the reader. This basic colour scheme is effective because it’s simple it makes the contents page look professional while the brightness of the red means that it still stands out to the reader. Although on this contents page there are also many different colours involved in the images which means that these stand out to the reader and get their attention to what is going to be featured inside the magazine. There are also the subtle uses of colour such as the story headlines being underlined in red which means this makes them stand out and also certain page numbers being written in bold black means they are clear for the reader to see which makes the magazine seem inviting. These aspects of colour all link back to the target audience as they create a modern and interesting look that makes them want to read on as it looks pleasing to the eye. Also the uses of colour mean that certain stories stand out making it much easier for the reader to find what they want to which appeals to the target audience as they want their reading to be relaxed and easy.

Typography- Overall the typography on this page is simple because they don’t need to catch the reader’s attention as much as they do on the front cover. So here rather than typography being used to catch the reader’s attention it’s being used to create a style to the magazine by making all the writing the same or similar styles so that there is some form of continuity to the pages. The most effective part of the typography here is that bold writing is used as titles for each section meaning that this stands out more to get the reader to look at this section and then the un-bold information below tells them the details about the feature. This links back to the target audience as for their attention to be kept on this magazine it can’t all be different from each other as this makes it too busy and all over the place but with the continuity being in the text this makes them see that the part they actually want to read isn’t overly busy.

Images- The variety of images on this page makes it interesting to look at for the reader and is a clever way at showing them the features without using lots of writing. Although there are lots of images used here there is still one main image in the middle that is the focus giving the connotations that this is the biggest feature in the magazine. As these is a medium shot image it means that it can remain the biggest focus but still include the other images around it. As all these other images are stand alones it means that the reader can look at these and be attracted in by what they want. Also the element of having lots of images gives the connotations that the magazine isn’t going to be boring and full of writing but will have aesthetically pleasing aspects. This whole use of images links back to the target audience and shows that it meets their needs because they are at the age where everything needs to be fun, interesting and alive which this use of imagery certainly fits.

Conclusion- Overall I think that this contents page is fit for purpose because it portrays the needs of the target audience through creating a page that gives them all the information they need without putting it in a boring way. This links to the target audience through the fact that they want their reading to be relaxed and for the things they want to look at to be clear and easy to find. This is certainly done on this contents page because although it has the busyness of the stand alone images it also has the confined structure of the text itself which combines the easily findable information with the interesting and in your face imagery.