LIIAR: Liam Gallagher Q Magazine Front Cover

            Language: Q uses a large square masthead which is recognised by everyone because it is such a prolific magazine and well reputed. It is located at the top left so that it coincides with the left third and also so that it can be seen from the top this is conventional to magazines because this is the part of the magazine which will be seen most, and consumers will always look here for the masthead. This magazine is slightly unconventional because it is a 25^th Anniversary Collector’s Editions, which is displayed on the skyline which can also be seen when the magazine is sticking out of a rack. This is especially attractive because it is a collector’s edition magazine so therefore people are more likely to buy it because of this. The right third of the magazine is a list of artists who are covered in the magazine with the title cover line “THE MUSIC THAT CHANGED MY LIFE” and the list contains musicians that most people have heard of and know, therefore may buy the magazine. On the left third it simply says “#03 OF 25 COVERS TO COLLECT” to try and make absolute collectors collect other issues which just have different covers. The main image is of Liam Gallagher, someone who is easily recognised by everyone especially by people who are likely to pick up and read Q. His name is anchored on the lower part of the page in a font which is handwritten, so therefore gives it more of a personal feel and connotes that the artist wants to tell the reader about it. The barcode is located with the price and date as they will conventionally be located together rather being in completely different places. At the bottom there is another cover line: “PLUS! 145 ALBUMS TO DISCOVER” is also there so that regular readers are shown that regular articles are have not been removed and also so that there are other things in the magazine rather than just interviews with the ‘big stars’.

Institution: Bauer Media publishes Q, and an assortment of other magazines. Each of these magazines are aimed at an individual and specific target audience rather than trying to reach the whole of the market within their one magazine. Q is aimed at men around 20 – 30+ or older because it presents itself as more formal and refined than other music magazines.  

Ideology: The ideology of the magazine is to be a ‘Q’uality music magazine which provides a more refined version of a music magazine than NME or Kerrang! would, with a larger span of genres than these magazines.

Audience: this cover is aimed at people whom know music well and know the key ‘players’ in it. So therefore they will use big name stars like Liam Gallagher in order to attract readers because these are people that everyone knows whereas NME may use more obscure artists because readers rely on it for new music rather than those who are already famous. Q is aimed more at men than women, and its readership will be older than NME, so they will by 20 - 30+ years old because it is more refined than a lot of other magazines.

Representation: Q magazine represents itself through looking smart and refined, without cluttering the cover with cover lines and a series of anchored images which relate to these. It is a very formal cover with formal features, for example the large Q is in a serif font, therefore making it more formal and smart. Also there is the gold lined border which can be seen lining around the page which again helps to make it look smarter and more refined rather than an unprofessional magazine which is cluttered and badly designed.