"Q" is a music magazine, based on interviews with popular artists and in-depth stories. The targeted audience are males ages 24-44, and they would have broad ranges of music; this is evident from the featured articles on a wide range of acts such as John Lennon and The White Stripes, and this shows that the audience is interested in these acts so they'd like to read alot about them. There is a puff that says "The Best New Acts" and this is the first issue of 2010, and the magazine will predict which acts are going to be successful during this New Year. Regular readers will be attracted to this feature because they'd like to know about upcoming music artists and it makes the magazine more interesting, instead of showing the same old familiar faces.
From the front cover, the magazine evidently features a wide range of artists as quite a few well-known recognisable artists are mentioned like Muse, John Mayer and 50 Cent. It targets males ages 24-44, but of course women read it too. Magazine features are more in-depth, and artists are more serious, so bands such as McFly wouldn't be featured, so the readership is older. "Q" also sounds "Cue" as in the sense of queuing a record, ready to play which adds to the aspect of the magazine, and it is a shortened version of the word, evidently being more catchy and easy to remember. The colour red connotes power, boldness and danger, while helping the white letter "Q" stand out more and the english readership will also recognise these colours as of the national flag and the style of this letter is very formal, and looks like a classic Times New Roman font.
The central image is a close up of Cheryl Cole, so we can she see her facial expression and she has a direct mode of address which implies that the magazine wants the audience to feel as though they have a deep connection, and feel attached to Cheryl, and seeing as the magazine is aimed at males; Cheryl Cole was vote #1 Top 100 Sexiest Females in 2009 so this will attract the targeted audience. She has recently released her debut solo album so she is promoting her singles so they can be successful. The anchorage text "3 Words" refers to the name of her single and it is a clever pun; because "Cheryl Cole Rocks" is three words. The magazine may be also removing her "pop" image; because she is in a girl band and it is rare that Q magazine features a non-"serious" artist. Her lipstick signifies her “sexy vixen” side, rather than a girl in a pop girl band.
There is a demonic theme, because the colour schemes are bold colours; black and red, which refers to Sin City, a movie Q readers will be familiar with because the film also contains these colour schemes. This colour scheme Red is the colour of blood, and this gives an impression of a vampire. The use of makeup the dark eye shadow is smoky and this shows her dark not-so-innocent side, and the image conveys the message that she is not just "sexy" but also edgy. The photo was taken in the rain, and the image of wet hair is "sexy" and she is licking the tip of her ring in a seductive manner, and this will appeal to the audience, the ring is also in a shape of some type of claw and this connotes power for females. The background is dark and quite monotone and this immediately draws the attention to her red lips. This front cover stereotypically represents females; males want a sexy image and females want somone that we can aspire to be like.
The fonts used are easy to read and you can read it quickly to see what's going to be featured in the magazine without struggling to read it slowly. The slogan is "The UK's Biggest Music Magazine" and this shows Q Magazine's confidence and the sense that everyone will be pleased with the articles because it's the "best". The acts featured in the magazine are shown in a list, which help the audience scan through and recognise any artists they are interested in.
