Main Task: Front Cover Textual Analysis

Textual Analysis: Q magazine

Denotation
The magazine cover consists of a colour photograph of a woman and other people looking directly at the camera. It’s a medium long shot showing the main images head, arms, waists and knees, but the other characters have a long shot, showing their whole body, head to toe. The main image, as well as the other people is standing up. The background of the photograph is plain white, and the photograph covers the whole magazine. On the left hand side of the images is the Masthead, and next to them are several cover lines. The main photographed women’s name is in red, which stands out on the plain white background.
Masthead
Q magazines masthead is unique as it’s in a red box with white writing which makes it stands out on the plain white cover. The font is Serif. Character The cover photograph is of a singer “Jessie J”
Composition
she is posed in a very seductive manner. Her pose, body language, and clothing are very sexually attracted. She is standing up with her hand on her waist, and is turned to the left, so we see a side pose. Costume Her clothing is very tight. Her clothes are like a leather or rubber short dress which reveals a lot of her body parts. This costume has been chosen carefully to appeal the target audience, who are both women and men, but because of this picture is most likely to be men.
NVC
Her non verbal communication is very seductive. Her mouth is open as if she is roaring at the camera. Her mouth is open, showing her teeth and her red lipstick.
Lighting
The lighting on the main image is very high; as it represents that she is the main icon on the magazine.
Setting
The white background gives the idea that the setting is neutral.
Cover Lines
The main cover line links with the photographs as it says “Jessie J She is Gaga”, this is because Jessie J’s songs are just as weird as Lady Gaga’s songs.
Target Audience
Considering all of these points, the target audience are most likely to be aged 16-35 (male and female), and people who like Jessie J (The Artist). I think this will be the preferable age target group, because they would understand more about the gossips in the magazine and the singer Jessie J, unlike older people.


Textual Analysis: Q magazine
Denotation:
The magazine cover consists of a woman who is looking directly at the camera; it’s a long shot showing the whole subject, head to toe. She is standing, facing front view towards the camera. Her hands are clutched on her waist. The background of the cover consists of famous buildings from around the world. The woman is standing in-between the famous buildings, which can show that she is popular around those places in the world. On the left hand of the woman is the Q masthead, and in front of her are seven separate cover-lines in red and black. The photographed woman takes up the magazine cover.
Masthead
Q’s masthead is very distinctive as it’s written in White on a Red background. The woman’s hair is red, which matches the masthead. The font used is a serif font. The letter Q is the masthead of the magazine.
Character
The cover photograph has not been said who it is.
Composition
She is posed in a front view towards the camera; her hands are clutched on her waist. As well as her pose being seductive it’s also shows that’s he is serious.
Costume
Her clothing is very seductive, as she is wearing a bra like top and very small shorts. Her body is very revealing in this picture.
NVC
Her non verbal communication is very strong as she has a strong yet seductive pose. She is looking at the camera, we see the seriousness if her facial language. The woman’s hand is clenched on her waist.
Lighting
The lighting is quite high key, as the photograph is meant to display daytime.
Setting
There is a lot of setting. We can see many famous trademarks from around the world in this picture. For example, we see Big Ben, The Statue of Liberty and Eiffel Tower (ECT).
Cover Lines
There are nine cover lines in this magazine front cover. We see that the main cover line is “The 100 Greatest Front Men”- we see that this is the main cover line because it stands out from the other cover lines.
Target Audience
Considering all of these points, the likely target audience would be both males and females aged 20-55. They would have the knowledge of the magazine. The people that read this magazine will be people with interests in the cover lines.