Analysis Of Magazine Cover (Q)

This is my second analysis of the magazine Q. In the other analysis I noticed that the images usually linked to the writing and this one is no different. This cover is mainly about R.E.M, this is because they came back and began to produce music again, so immediately they are on the cover, this will make people think and notice that they have come back. On this cover they show the band in and they take up most of the page, like most important factors they are central. They also say that inside is a free R.E.M. jukebox and a free R.E.M. CD, this will appeal to people who enjoy this genre of music but more so to people who enjoy listening to R.E.M. You know that they are the most important feature for two reasons. One is that they are so large compared to everything else on the page and secondly they are placed in front of the masthead. This shows that they are the main selling point of the magazine.

The singer of R.E.M. has gold hairs littered across his face, at first you think that they are there to make him stand out but as you read the caption underneath you notice that they link. 'Rejoice, they've struck gold again', the world gold is used as a metaphor and is the reason why they made his hair gold.

As with most magazines the language used in this magazine cover is informal, hence the words all n capitals, however most magazine covers have a certain layout, where as this one is different. The layout here is just messy and all over the place, although the captions are generally at the sides and the images are central. Most covers have light backgrounds where as this one has a dark background, this is to make the gold stand out. This is the opposite of most magazines. Also with most magazines the shot used is a model shot, again the band has been made to look different just for this cover.