Q contents analysis

This is an edition of a contents by Q magazine i am hoping by analysing this edition it can give me some tips and some help and direction on how to produce my contents page. On Q's contents there is only main large picture a common feature on many popular and well known magazines so i will use this feature on my magazine with one main image taking up a lot of room on the contents. The text on the contents is packed in quite tightly with the different headings that list whats inside for example "Every Month", "Features" and "Oasis special" the headings in this contents are not that well shown to the audience they are small and do not stand out on the page, also there are only really two headings the Oasis special isnt really a proper heading. In the bottom hand corner appears the other image on the contents this one and the one i mentioned before are the only images that appear on the contents this is a feature that i think i will be using in my contents page possibly to advertise a competition or to subscribe to my maagzine.

NME contents

NME Contents page Analysis

This is an edition of NME's contents page which i would like to take some hints and tips on how to put mine together. Straight away the main image hits the target audience full on and the text underneath is also clear and stands out it states "The end of the Astoria" the text is black and in large font it matches with all of the little titles for example "live and features" the black also is the background on the main title on the contents. Located on the far left of the contents is the "Band Index" which basically states every single band that NME readers want to know about so for example their new singles, albums, live tours and just general news about the bands. At the bottom of the contents is an offer for NME readers to subscribe cheaper than ususal for magazines, a technique i will be using! NME's contents has a lot of text included inside it and only really one image there are two previous magazines below but apart from that they are the only images on the cover. I think i will be taking a similar route for my magazine contents page in the sense that i will only use one main picture that will take up a lot of room. The smaller headings on the contents also fascinates me for example "Radar" and "Reviews" give a new meaning to headings in a contents page i think radar is better than concerts or gigs coming up it sounds more in context with the rock image that NME are going for. Having "Radar" and "Reviews" below one another i think reads well off the tongue of course it uses alliteration and that is the main reason i think why it so catchy and reads very well.

Q Magazine front cover research

This is an editon of Q magazine it features on the front cover Coldplay a huge band and wonderful image for Q to be modelling. I love the effect they have used on the image of Coldplay it matches the font of "Coldplay"with that brown sepia effect. I think the sepia effect brings a lot to the image to improve it dramatically one is that the image looks like it is an old photo giving a classical and sophisticated effect to this picture. All of the band are staring directly into the camera lense making it look like they are looking at you. Another feature of the magazine i have noticed is that it has hardly any text on the front cover the only text it has is advertising the band for example "And now for something completely different... Coldplay one month inside their revolution" this is the only text that apperas on this edition of Q magazine so Q really pushing the image onto the target audience they want that to stand out the most!

My production line for my front page

This was my initial idea for my front page. Clearly it needs more done to it more life added to it and some more colour added to it. I love the way the the sticker in the top right looks like it has been slapped on by a real person than just neatly placed on lined up symetrically. At the moment my front page defenitely needs a date and a price, i was also thinking about adding a quote from Charlotte to grab the target audiences attention!

In this part of my front page i have added some key differences to it. Straight away obviously you can see the quote i said i wanted to add in, and i think that quote really does grab the audiences attention simply becasue it is such a bold statement to make about a hugely prestigious singer who has done fantastic for him self in the music business. I have also added what every magazine needs a date, an issue number and a price. I wanted that information away from eye view so it didnt clas with my image or my text that is why it is placed in the top right hand corner. I still think i can improve my front cover with the addition off maybe some text down both sides of the magazine for example reviews of bands and tours or simply just news from famous bands, i also think the gap at the bottom of the page is too big for just to be blank it needs filling. I have some ideas for how to do this, one of the ideas of mine is too add another quote my other idea is to list famous bands or solo artists there are many reasons for that choice one for example is that the tarcget audience see a band they like they want to buy the magazine and find out whats in there about them.
This is my final front page i am very happy with the outcome and i am very proud of my self for managing to put this together. In the end i decided to add both features that i mentioned before to my front page. With the addition of the text down the right side "reviewed inside" i couldnt put any more information or live events for example on the left hand side because it would be cutting into my picture and i did not want to ruin the image. I also decided to add in my famous band/solo artist list at the bottom of the page, with "The killers, Prodigy, Muse and Madonna" all listed below. I am very happy at the moment with the way my front page has turned out i will listen to comments from my teacher and fellow students on how to improve my magazine.