What I first notice is masthead which has a very large font and the white on black makes it's more noticable, what I have noticed it that Kerrang! usually uses a black or white font, and they are farely simple colours but they are very affective, also it creates the effect of shattered glass, which I like as it's invidual and because Kerrang is such a well know magazine, it's more appriciated for being more individual. The banner on this magazine, gives you a taste of whats in the magazine and it uses quite bright colours to highlight it, which is good because the banner is usually quite small. The general use of colour's are very bright the uses of black, constrasting with the red and yellows, making everything really stand out. What I do like is that usually the pictures on the front cover, really grab your attention, like this one the way they have positioned him and his hand gestures, are like inviting you to read the magazine and against the white background makes everything on top of it, really grabs your attention. The main headline is vertually in the middle, which is usually in your direct eyeline. The font is very different to the others again, it looks a bit rough and torn and the general way it's positions and presented makes you want to read it. The pictures are positioned in the corner of the page and are really clustered together, but the images make you want to look inside and read, because they arnt simple, they are also well known artists. But I get the impression maybe those artists would appeal to a slighly older auidience, even though a lot of aspects of the magazine tell me that it's for teenagers, usually the front cover is of a modern rock band and also a well known band.
The mastehead is always done in the same way in Q magazine, which in my opinion acts as a trademark, and the white against red always seem's to catch your eye no matter what's on the cover or how busy it is.
This image is quite busy compared to some Q issues, I think this is because of the headline "Kings of Leon Breakthrough" and it's trying to impact how big this break through is. But in some ways it is farely simple, Q always has a plain background and usually has something to really draw you in, like in this one the shattered glass. Q always has really creative images, and the image is the main focus, this is probably why the front cover lacks slightly in headlines.
Q dosn't have a variety of coverlines, there are usually about two or three which, in a way is the downside, but the main image is very powerfull so in my opinion it makes up for the lack in coverlines. I like the use of arrows by the coverlines, it implies there is more inside, you should buy it and read more.
There isnt a banner in this issue of Q, when usually there is a banner on the top or bottom part of the page, there isnt a variety of things telling you what's inside.
My first thoughts on the magazine are that it's very bold and presented quite strongly, and I really like how everything shapes around the main image, they do this in quite a lot of the classic rock magazines. The Masthead (Classic Rock) it's big and white, so it really catches your eye, and it is a very classic font, the stars make it look very old and as all of the artists shown are old rock bands, it really goes with the theme. Another thing that I like about the masthead is that its behind the image, I really like the overlapping technique and I find that Kerrang! and Q both use it also. The colour scheme is Farley simple, rarely classic rock will use a lot of bright colours, but the colours go really well together and bring everything in, I like how just the positioning of everything on the page can really draw your attention in. The banner "Jimmy Page at the Olympics-Exclusive!"
