Textual analysis of Q Magazine

"Q" is a music magazine published monthly in the UK, which is also distributed in the USA and Australia. Its publisher is Bauer Company. It has been published since 1986.

In this task I'm going to analyse the front cover of the August 2008 issue. The main photo presents Duffy and Paul Weller. It looks professional, so I assume it was taken in a studio. It is a medium shot; we can see the characters are framed from the hips up. Both of them stand naturally. Duffy wears a blue shirt and Paul has got a black shirt and a striped suit on. The clothes are informal and I think it connotes the expression of Duffy's music - peaceful, relaxing, light.

As we can see from the main headline, this issue is focused on duets. Inside are four different interviews with musicians who work in duets. What is interesting, they made four different covers (one for each duo), so the reader can choose which one to buy. In my opinion is a very good idea. The interviews are already a unique thing, but the additional covers make this issue very personal for the buyer.

Colours used for this layout are common for "Q" magazine - white, black and sort of brownie-gold colour. The Masthead presents the letter "Q" on the red-background square. This particular use of colours and the well balanced arrangements make the cover looks serious and sophisticated, as if the magazine is aimed at the mature audience, which is actually true, because its founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth felt that the music press of their time was ignoring a generation of older music buyers. So they created higher-standard music magazine, which at that time stood out among other music magazines.

On the right from the masthead is the small photo of "The Ting Tings". The main headline has got a font size twice and even three times bigger than the rest of the cover's text. That is what draws our attention to it. What is more the main photograph blocks out a little bit of the masthead, it is because the brand is well known for its buyers and it allows editors to expand the text more over the space of the cover, without causing any complication.

Examples of different magazines

Here are the examples of magazines in which people in my age (16+) may be interested.

“Teen Vogue” as we can assume from its name, is a magazine aimed at teenagers. The magazine focuses on fashion and celebrities, but also offers information about the latest stories on current issues and events. Because of that, the audience is mostly female.

“Teen Vogue” has been published monthly since March, 2003. It is published in the USA, by Conde Nast Publication.

On the front cover we can see the photograph of Mischa Barton. It is a medium close-up and it has been taken outdoors by a professional photographer. It is a fashion photo, but it is focused on the featured person – Mischa Barton. I think if comparing covers of “Teen Vogue” and “Vogue”, we’d notice that some of the “Vogue” covers may be focused only on fashion and there could be no article straight related to the cover model. While “Teen Vogue” always includes a celebrity on the cover and make the main article based around this celebrity.

The masthead is built of two words: teen and vogue. The word "teen" is orange and is written in a sanserif font. So it looks fresh, young and modern. While the word "vogue' is pink and is written in a serif font, so it is more posh and classy. As well as in the "Vogue", the colours of Teen Vogue masthead change with every issue. They are chosen just to cooperate with the particular cover colour arrangements.

The first thing which draws our attention is model's face.t The masthead, the main headline and the other headlines build up around the face creating the combined piece.

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"Top Gear" is an automobile magazine published by BBC Worldwide, and named after the BBC's Top Gear television show. It has been published since 1993. Licensed editions are also published in China. the Czech Republic, Greece, Indonesia, Russia, New Zealand, India, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria and many other countries. The magazine includes information about cars : test drives, new technologies, but there are also interviews with celebrities or columns by Jeremy Clarckson and James May.

In this issue the masthead is orange and it is spread through the all witdth of the magazine. The main hedline is "New Lambo". The colour of masthead change with every issue. The main headline reads "New Lambo" and it's white with broad black edges. The sub-headlines are spread all around the cover and they all relate to the main hadline, so it seems like this issue is focued mostly on Lamborghini cars.

In the middle there is a photo a lamborghini car. The headlines are placed above and below the photo, they all go diagonally. It boosts the feeling of movement, which we may have looking at the photo of the car. The colours of photo are blue, silver and black. It creates the feeling of hi-tech and modern environment.

Textual analysis of "Secondary Teachers Magazine" Front Cover

In this post I am going to analyse the front cover of "Secondary Teachers Magazine". As in the last task, my analysis will be based on the key media concepts.

Language
The front cover is built of the photograph, the masthead, the main title and the inside contest. At the bottom of the cover, on the left there is a logo of the "Department for Children, School and Families". On the right there is the date of issue and the website URL.

The photograph presents a baking tray with two ginger breads on it. The ginger breads are stylised into school pupils (boy and girl), their uniforms (we see ties and badges) are made with icing. Behind the baking try, more in the background, there is a figure of student. I presume it is the student, because she or he is wearing a red shirt and a strapped tie. The student is using baking gloves to hold the tray. So, from just the same photograph we get clues it is the magazine which is involved into school environment. We can infer from the uniforms it is focused on primary or secondary education. This photograph is a good example of connotation. When we look at this front cover, the ginger breads are the first things which draw our attention. Because, they are "wearing" these uniforms, at the very beginning it makes us think the magazine may be related to school society.

The masthead says "Secondary teachers" and the headline says "Cook with me! - How schools can make lessons tasty? ". At the top there are the inside contest titles and one photo is related to one of them. It is the photo of playing school girls. Every element of this cover implies the magazine is intended for teachers.

The layout of the front cover is very clear and simple, it makes it easy to read and pick up the main ideas. The inside layout is very cheerful, there are lots of colourful drawings. It seems like it has been made for children, not for teachers. I personally believe it is made this way to inspire teachers and it is always more enjoyable to read magazine like this :)

Institution

"Secondary Teachers Magazine" is published on behalf of the "Department for Children, School and Families", government based institution.

Ideology

The values which are presented in this magazine are equality for every child, working towards creating better future for pupils, developing secondary education in the UK. The magazine also brings up topics as environment, society and
culture.

Audience

Secondary school teachers from all over the UK.

Representation

Pupils, teachers, people known to public, people involved into organisations which co-operate with the "Department for Children, Schools and Family"