Textual Analysis- Magazine Cover 3, Q

The main image of this cover page is an iconic sign as it's a photo of well known singer, Madonna. As Madonna is known world wide, people will recognise her, whether they are interested in Q's genre of music or not. This can be an advantage, as people that like Madonna may take interest in it and flick through- This broadens the target audience.
   The overall appearance of the magazine is dark because of the amount and use of the colour black. Madonna is wearing what looks to be a silk gown but due to it being black, along with the background, it doesn't stand out leaving her face and arms stand out more, putting more focus on them because of this. However, this leaves more room to use for cover lines, allowing the cover lines to be easily read also.
   Her make up is simple, meaning the colour of her eyes and her eye make up can be shown better. Her mouth is slightly open and her hands and head have been positioned in a way of making the image look very posed but not too dramatic. The image is a mid shot. Also, as her hair is light, it stands out with the magazine being dark.
   The colour scheme of the cover is black, red and white. Black and white make it easy for people to read it and black links to the genre of music the magazine is portraying but the colour red has connotations of power and danger. This may be seen direct to the article about Madonna as her name is in large, capital, red letters or the music magazine as a whole but as magazines focus on one genre (in most cases), it is most likely portraying the genre overall. Linking to this, the masthead 'Q' is a red box with the letter Q inside in a white font so a lot of Q's colour schemes include the colour red.
   The boxed text (with a background of the union jack) goes with the red and whites on the cover. It also adds to the line underneath the masthead, ''Britain's Best Music Magazine'', making it more obvious and clear at first sight that it's a British magazine. The use of the superlative ''Best'' can be used as a selling point as it's telling the audience that you can't get any better than this, which is why you should buy it. It can also show people that the interest in it is wide across Britain.
   The cover lines in the top right hand corner are all about people in the music industry seen in random places, e.g. the movies. This is more casual stories, rather than big stories about an artist getting an award etc. By seeing an artist/a group, in a random, casual place, it's more likely that the articles will be more homely and show a more personal side to them. On the left, the cover lines are all big names being interviewed. It shows the magazine giving a real side of celebrity life, rather than stories only rumoured to be true. Madonna being the biggest name and the person modelled in the main image, it's most likely her interview/article will be the longest or there will be more about her. The quote underneath her name, 'Stupid Question! Next!' indicates how she responded to the questions, giving a further idea of what kind of questions were in the interview. This also shows that it's going to be an interview. This may be why people would want to read it.
   A big selling point of magazines are freebies. This magazine gives a free 70 page book/magazine of women in music which give big names so people that that they're getting more for their money and also more to read.
   Overall, the positioning of the images and text is constructed in a straight way apat from the two silver/grey boxes. The colour of the boxes is the same as the piece of material used at the top of the hood that Madonna is wearing. These boxes are slighted slightly to give more movement to the page.