Page Furniture/Design ElementsBy George Brinan

‘Q’ Front CoverMasthead

Exclusive Graphic

Stamp

ArrowGraphic

Cover Line & Quote Pull

Picture

Masthead

On this front cover the ‘Q’ masthead is located in the far left corner of the front cover. The logo is instantly recognisable as ‘Q’ magazine because of the distinctive nature of the design. It is the first thing that the reader sees so it has to be distinctive. The masthead isn’t particularly big but it is easy to see because of its distinctiveness. On this particular cover the Q of the masthead is being covered by a flag in the main picture. The brand is so well established that its readers will be able to recognise their magazine without the full logo visible.

Unique Graphics

These graphics are unique to this issue of Q. These page elements make ‘Q’ stand out from the crowd because you cannot find them on any other magazine. They are vibrant colours and reflect the style of the magazine, they are bright colours but still give a sense of sophistication to the magazine.Graphics are used on several other magazines to give them an extra edge over rival companies.

Cover Line and Quote Pull

Cover lines are important because they give an indication as to the contents of the magazine. If a customer sees a cover line about a story they want to read they are likely to purchase the magazine. Therefore the cover lines have to be obvious. The cover line on this magazine is written in block capitals and takes up roughly 1/6th of the page so the colour can be white because of the size of the font. The quote pull is considerably smaller than the cover line but has the same effect. If the quote pull has an expletive in it people are drawn to it such as in this case. People know that the brothers are feuding but this quote gives an insight into what they have to say about eachother.

The picture on this issue is completely different to the usual studio shot. As we can see it is a two shot as both Gallagher brothers are on the cover. The location of the picture is completely different to that of other magazines. The moon is not usually associated with a music magazine but in this case it matches the cover line perfectly. The flag indicates where the band come from and appeals to the British readers of the magazine that are fans of oasis.

Picture

More examplesThis graphic comes from a double page spread article in ‘Kerrang’ magazine. What I find particularly good about this design is the childish feel. The way the line is written in what seems like a colouring pencil to give it a cartoon feel. The 4 lines that look like marks that a dinosaur has made give the

The gradient texture on this is particularly nice. The fade is unique to this particular magazine. The Romance is made less visible to fit the style of the graphic.

Continued

I like the way that this pull quote is designed. The different sizes of the words help it to stand out and make it more eye catching. Also the dark colours offset each other very well and are easily distinguishable.

These letters have been enlarged to mark the start of a new paragraph. They are very subtle but stand out against the dark background colours.

Continued

Both of these graphics came from the same front cover of “Kerrang”. I like the starburst style of the collectors cover. Although it is small it is still easy to find. The border of the second graphic is done in a graffiti style and gives it a subtle edge on the front cover.

The way in which this graphic is designed is very clever. The size of the letters increases as the word gets longer. It is designed to make it seem like as the word becomes prolonged it gets louder.