Florence + the machine magazine cover analysis

The focus of this cover is the image of Florence + the machine, the image used is a close up which fills the entire page, making it clear who the featured artist is. Around the sides of the page there are headlines in bold, capitalized, white font, which stands out from the background image making the headlines easy to read. These headlines feature popular personalities such as “Motley crue”, “ Simon Cowell” and “Skrillex”, their names are typed in a larger font as to direct attention of fans to this magazine.There is a colour scheme used on this cover, it is a combination of red, white, blue and black, the only part that contrasts this are the eyes and her lips, as her eyes are green and she has a pink lip colour. Keeping the colours of a magazine cover to a particular scheme can make the cover look more aesthetically pleasing and professional. The barcode is kept to the side of the page in a corner so it does not obstruct the image but is easy to find when bought. The logo of the magazine is in the top corner and is not all that easy to see at first, but it is from a popular magazine therefore it is likely the logo is recognised subconsciously.

A photograph of the artist featured on the cover is placed at the top of the page and is the largest image on the page, as that artist is the main reason why the customer bought that magazine. There are some other photographs displayed, these are of the other popular artists in this edition of the magazine, example; Ed Sheeran, The Foo Fighters and Kasabian with Noel Fielding. The smaller news articles are set at the side of the page without photographs, this is either because they are not as popular subjects as the featured artists or the title alone would be enough to gain an audience, for example Nirvana is clearly mentioned in the news, and has no accompanying photograph, this is because Nirvana is such a popular band that readers would be drawn to the name alone. Q magazine has used a useful technique of adding in the page numbers of the most important articles; this makes it easier for the reader to navigate.

The main article about the artist features a large scale, interesting image of the main artist as it will cater to the fans that want to see that particular artist. The image also relates to the article, she is sitting on a USA flag with USA printed behind her. The article is about Florence + the machine touring the USA, the article is written in a casual tone and sounds similar to a narrative as it describes Florence Welsh’s tour round America.

Throughout the magazine the design is very simple, it tends to use plain white with one or two bright colours per page. This is popular with Indie brands, as it seems it doesn’t need lots of colours to sell their magazine or promote the artists, Indie artists and fans preferring the simple design.