Q Magazine Double Page Spread Analysis by Chloe Morley

House Style: The house style would

run throughout the whole article.

Colours used would be red, white

and black – they all contrast and

make the others stand out. The

subheadings would be in the serif

font in italics. All the main body text

would be serif and kept at the same

size. The images used would all be

relevant and be placed in the centre

of the page. The main body text

would be aligned.

Design Principle Used: The

Gutenberg Principle has been used

here. In the primary optical area

there is the masthead/kicker as it

will be the first thing the reader

will see. It is in big bold lettering

so it stands out. The axis of

orientation is used well and is easy

to read, make it more appealing to

the reader.

Main Image: The main image is a

mid shot from just under the

bottom of the torso up to the

artist’s head – this showing that the

article is about him. The artist is not

looking directly at the camera, he is

looking down, and this could

intrigue readers and make them

want to read the article to find out

more about the mysterious

character. The way he has his

middle finger up could reflect

negativity in his article and make

the readers want to find out why he

is posed like that. The tattoos could

be said to be a stereo-type of a

male music artist – rebellion. The

main image is similar to the NME’s

main image of Plan B; he also has

his middle finger up, but instead is

directly looking into the camera

could reflect negativity in his article,

but he wants to tell the audience

about it. The lighting used is high

key to make the image stand out

against the white background. The

lighting makes the artist look

flawless and more appealing to

readers.

Masthead: The masthead used for this article is quite unusual as it is both a masthead and the kicker. It takes

over the whole of the first page so is eye catching and makes the reader stop and want to read it. The colours

used stand out against the white background. Different fonts are used which also attracts the eye, going from

bold and big to small and elegant, a reflection of what the article may hold. It’s different to the NME masthead

as that only takes up the bottom left hand corner of the page, leaving focus on the main image instead.

Design Balance: The double page

spread uses informal balance.

There is an image on the right

hand side with a small column of

text that is then weighed out by

the text on the left hand side of

the page which is quite large, they

balance one another out. This

could show that the magazine is

very organised and easy to follow

and has an equal amount of

picture to text. There is no

symmetry being used here.

Target Audience: The target

audience for the article would be

teenagers and young adults who

listen to this artist – which

would be teenagers and young

adults of both genders, but

swaying more to females. This is

also the case for the NME Plan B

article, but more males might be

interested in reading that then

females due to the content.

Colour: The colours used are red, white and

black. They are contrasting colours that

stand out, especially the red and black

against the white background. The

masthead is in black with the artists name in

bright red to show who the article is about.

This is similar to how in NME have put the

word ‘destroy’ in a yellow colour instead of

white like the rest of the masthead for the

Plan B article – magazines highlight the

most important part by colour change.

Text Content/Typefaces: All the text is clear to read. The main text is small, serif and is in black

which contrast against the background. The masthead is a mixture of serif and sans serif and is

in a random placement which the eye follows from left to right. All the text fits well on the

page leaving white space so it doesn’t look too clogged up. The sans serif has been used for the

large masthead head parts as it’s easier and simpler to read. The actual content of the article

is talking about the achievements of Adam Levine and his life story from childhood to being a

member of a very successful band and being a job on a huge reality TV show. It also talks

about the upcoming work the artist is involved in – it’s promoting the artist, trying to get as

much attention on his work as possible. The content is similar to the Q magazine article as they

are both promoting the artist and showing how far they have come and the successes they

have achieved – trying to get more publicity for the artist.