Denotative and Connotative Analysis - Q contents page

Q music magazine

Denotative

·         Along the top of the 2 pages is a red rectangle banner, it is outlined with some 2 black lines. In this banner, on the left is a white “Q” then is the word Contents; however this is half covered with a picture. On the right in white writing is Issue 291 and an image of the front of the magazine, this over laps the banner.

·         There are 10 images on the page, 7 of them have numbers on the. The picture if Jay Z is the biggest, his images overlap on to the banner, covering half of the word content.  3 of these 7 images are pictures of the articles. The others images without numbers are pictures of the artists. The images are mainly focused in the middle of the 2 pages.

·         The page is split in to 3 sections; each section had a red rectangle with white writing in. On the left of the page is Features, on the right side of the right page is Regulars and at the bottom of the right page is The Q Reviews.

·         Each story has a page number in a serif font, there is then the title of the story. Then a thick read line under the title. Under the red line is a description of the story in a small sans serif font. This is repeated for every story.

·         The smallest font is size 10.  This is used for the description of the each item. 

Connotative

·         The red banner is the very big and bold, it lets the reader know what page they are on. The Q  at the top of the page is important as it is reminding the reader of the magazine brand.  The red colour links in to the logo, which creates a sense of cohesion and a brand image.

·         The picture of Jay Z is the most dominating thing on the page, as he head over laps the top banner makes him stand out even more ad his image is so big on the page, he is obviously the thing the magazine want to sell. Jay Z is featured as he is a new musical icon, this shows the magazine are up to date and are good enough to get big stars like him. His sunglasses make him appear mysterious and dominating.

·         The littler images with the pages numbers on are advertisements for that story. It is useful as you can see who that person is if you don’t recognise their name, it is also useful for if a person is choosing to buy the magazine and see a artist they likes image on the contents page they will automatically be more interested in buy Q. The images also break up the font and make the page more exciting to look at. as all of the images feature up to date artists it shows the magazine knows what they are talking about and cam afford to get big artists.

·         The page is split in to 3 sections so it is easier to read, the features are in the left as it is what the audience first read, the features are also what they are trying to sell. Each story is easily recognised from on to the other due to the red line. The numbers are bold and easy to read. The font is small and as there is a large amount of text makes it look like there are several stories and that the magazine is very popular.

·         The reviews at the bottom make it look there are even more stories. It also shows the audience know what they are talking about.