Magazine Advert Research

Here is a typical music magazine cover by Q magazine which has adhered to a lot of conventions in this magazine cover.

First of there is the main heading of the magazine which stands out against the white background and this is stereotypical of any music magazine to have a white background so it lets the foreground jump out at the reader. They have also put there caption underneath the giant ‘Q’ which is ‘The World’s Greatest Music Magazine’. There are about 3 or 4 different fonts on this magazine cover to make it interesting and make it look like there is a lot going on inside the magazine. They have also cleverly put their key stories that would pull in their target audience in big black bold writing to stand out against the white background. They have also got a world exclusive in the top right hand corner even though it is small they have still made it very noticeable by bordering the writing in red and coloured it in yellow. Q magazine here have made the magazine cover very busy by putting a lot of writing around the central image. This magazine cover would be incredibly dull if they didn’t use all the different techniques through colour, different fonts and sizes which entices the walker by to look because with magazines people do judge it by the front cover.

 They have put the foreground image of the lead singer of The Verve over the top of the magazines logo and caption which makes the sitter on the magazine cover jump out at the reader even more which they have done on purpose so it will stick out on the shelf next to all the other magazines. The image of the lead singer of the verve is taken from underneath him to make him look powerful which shows the audience how much of a music icon he is in the brit pop/ alternative rock genre. They are trying to communicate to the audience through this image that he is very powerful and the caption beside him ‘The Verve “Rock ‘n’ Roll is Dangerous Again!’ emphasises this point that he is a powerful man and it also makes the reader want to look inside to see what he has done to make it dangerous which the magazine has done on purpose to sell.

This Advert represents the Alternative rock genre as ‘DANGEROUS’ because Q magazine have quoted it which is most likely to be an interview with The Verve. What make this caption stand out is the chosen font which is faded in random places on the letters which gives off a rough look to the genre. The reason why Q magazine chose this font because it would appeal to the readers and fans of The Verve who would be into similar genres to The Verve such as the rock and indie genres.

What I have learnt from this advert that I could influence me for when I design my own is to first of all have an image that stands out and appeals to your target audience but also adheres to the captions. What have also learnt is that for the smaller stories you can add more colour to them so the reader doesn’t miss them when looking at the magazine cover. What I think could also attract the audience that they haven’t used in this magazine cover is a clever or interesting image which could help boost sales.  What I could also put on my magazine cover which they have also done is put a barcode on the right hand side to help the authenticity of the magazine cover.

Overall I like this magazine cover and it would interest me as I am a fan of The Verve and it would intrigue me what they are up to and if they are releasing any new music.