Semiotics on a front cover of a music magazine.

 

The magazine front cover I have chosen is the front cover of Q magazine which was released in April 2009. The colours that the magazine uses are Black, White, Red and Blue. These colours are highlighted on a dull grey background. This is effective because it makes the writing stand out on the front of the page and it catches the eye of the public. Red symbolises power and strength and it used for the background of the title and a White Q is written on top. White resembles Peace and innocence and cleanliness which are a complete contrast to the red which can also be associated with War, this is effective because it connotes that something unexpected or contrasted views may be in the magazine. The caption below the Q reads “A different take on music” this makes the reader understand they are reading something original and different.  The magazine conforms to the codes and conventions because the title of the magazine is on the top left hand of the magazine to show its importance to the magazine, compared to the barcode which is in the bottom right hand corner which shows that it is not important to the front page of the magazine. In the direct centre on the magazine is Lily Allen’s bum, this is the most eye catching feature of the magazine and shows the artists in quite a sensual way. Lily Allen also has her back showing in the photo and this is very sexually revealing for a woman, this shows her very feminine side which a contrast to other features in the magazine. These are that the camera angle of the shot is a low angle which means you are looking up at Lily Allen which shows masculine type dominance. The top of the magazine is always where the important features of the magazine go. For example the logo and title are at the top and also the bigger stories that people are more interested in are also at the top and the little and less important stories are at the bottom and are smaller which gives the main stories more room. This is because this is the most eye catching part of the magazine and if people see it there then they will be more likely to buy Also the picture on the front is central on the front cover and there are no other pictures on the cover. This makes the picture on the front cover very important and catches the eye of the viewer. There is writing surrounding the picture which is concerned with other stories in the magazine, whereas the writing that is concerned with the main story and the picture is overlapping the dominant picture in the middle. The writing on the talks about “Lily Allen” and her “Wicked, Wicked” the words wicked are written in red ink and makes them stand out compared to the other writing. It also puts a lot of emphasis on the words and makes people stop and think about what is written this is because the magazine is trying to make the mise en scene quite provocative. They are doing this by having “Lily Allen” in the picture poses sensually around two panthers. The reason they are creating this theme on the front of the magazine is to try and encourage male viewers to buy the magazine and also to make the readers think they are getting an inside look into “Lily Allen’s” world. The denotative meaning of the pictures is that there is a woman in a sensual pose with two black panthers next to her. The connotative meaning of the pictures could mean that the woman is very fragile and in danger from the two panthers, or that she is giving the viewer and inside view into her private life and that it is quite “wicked” and this could be why the two black panthers are involved in the front page. I feel that the reason why the two panthers are there is because the words “wicked, wicked ways” would not really work if they did not have something dark or animalistic about them. There are also other references to animal like features, on the front cover it says “I am a tiger!” this then further sets the mise en scene of the magazine to be more animalistic, this could be the overall theme for the magazine. When they explaining the interview with the Group “Oasis” it says that it is a 55 pint interview, this language would not be used in a child’s music magazine because that target audience would not be interested in that and they would not buy the magazine.  Also the words “sexy beast” are used before the name is written on the front cover, this is another reason why the panthers are involved in the picture because they are classed as beasts in nature. The magazine is targeted for a specific target audience and this audience is teenager and young adult between the ages of 16-24 on average. This is why the language is the way it is on the front cover. For example in a younger persons magazine like “Top of the Pops” a lot of slang language is used and this is used because it appeals to that target age range and it also includes stories about people of their target audience’s age range. This interests their certain age range and this makes them want to buy it. The colours are of more of a mature nature on the front cover of this Q magazine compared to other magazines like “Top of the Pops”. The reason for this is the respective target audiences for both magazines will be enticed by the colours the magazine use and this will encourage them to buy their magazines. This is an obvious point because more mature readers will be very unlikely to go out and buy a magazine which is covered in colours like Pink and Yellow and uses slang terms like “OMG” but are much more likely to buy a magazine which is set out like the Q magazine is. The image on the front of the cover is a long shot of an artist (Lily Allen) who will appeal to the mature target audience that read the magazine. The long shot means that we can see her whole body and not just her top half or her face. This may emphasise the point that the reader is getting an in depth interview with the artist at a more mature level.