Deconstruction of Q Front Cover

The magazine uses the same colour scheme throughout of black, white, red and blue which has connotations of the British flag and helps to keep continuity and house style.
The colour black has connotations of being enigmatic, masculine, dark, dangerous, mysterious, morbid, dishonest, clouded, secretive and unpredictable, and so makes the people featured on the cover carry these characteristics as well. The colour white connotes that the person featured has nothing to hide, is honest, open, innocent, new, fresh, and tells you everything in the article inside the magazine, which makes the audience want to pick it up even more. The colour blue connotes people who are cold, distant, depressing, loyal, royal and of a high status, which can be linked as characteristics of the featured artist. The colour red connotes that the person featured is hot, passionate and dangerous. There is also rain falling in small droplets, which could be mistaken for snow if glanced at quickly. This is a link to the time of the year, as it is a December issue, and a link to the featured artist’s mood. The rain adds to the connotation that the artist is confused and doesn’t quite know the answers to a question.
The masthead is bold and well recognizable and the rule of thirds has been loosely followed, with the exception that the name of the band cuts across middle of page.
The use of the word “Reloaded” carries connotations of guns and his hand is hidden by his jacket so the impression given is that he could easily be holding a gun, which in turn connotes danger, curiosity, enigma, violence, power and a lack of control or reality. The language used gives renovation connotations and implies that the artist is new and improved, and you can learn about it all inside the magazine. The use of a rhetorical question gets the audience thinking and makes them curious in that they want to know the answer and think that maybe the magazine can give it to them. The use of the phrases “all access” and “most” connotes that this magazine covers everything there could possibly be that an audience would want to know and therefore is the best of the best, and is good value for money. The bar code and the price are grouped together in the bottom left corner, which is known as dead space, because this is where an audience member puts their thumb to turn the page.
The main image is long shot which captures the full body of the artist as he is walking towards the audience through rain, but only just, which gives connotations that this man is not easily captured for an interview, but this magazine managed it. The image is bled off of page, which helps to underline the connotations that the artist is difficult to hold onto once you’ve got him to talk to you. The gaze of the well known artist featured on the front cover is directly at audience, and so is engaging them. The expression on his face shows confusion, shock and surprise, which connotes a direct link to the article and people’s feelings towards him, with the possibility that he could be shocked at how other people view him. He is wearing darker clothing which is slightly open to show a sliver of the white shirt he is wearing underneath. This use of colours connotes honesty both to himself and to others around him, and creates the idea that he has discovered his true self and personality and the answer to the question raised by the tag line from the featured article. His hand is open and held loosely at his side, which shows that he is relaxed, but also holds connotations that he is at a loss of what to do. The silver * symbol in the top right hand corner of the page adds enigma, and the metallic font used adds glamour and catches the eye of the reader.
The use of small font size for the quotation on the lower left hand side of the page adds enigma because the audience member will have to pick up the magazine in order to read it and read the article inside the magazine in order to make scene of it.