Q was founded in 1986 by Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology. Q was first published by the EMAP media group in October 1986, setting itself apart from much of the other music press with monthly production and higher standards of photography and printing. In the early years, the magazine was sub-titled "The modern guide to music and more". Originally it was to be called Cue (as in the sense of cueing a record, ready to play), but the name was changed so that it wouldn't be mistaken for a snooker magazine. Another reason, cited in Q's 200th edition, is that a single-letter title would be more prominent on newsstands. Denotation Masthead Small Q Logo same as the front cover masthead, it’s on a black background in big white thick letters it says “contents”. The upper right of the page is on the same bar as the date of release and website info, which is in the same font. Additional text+ subtitles On the left third of the page there is the word “FEATURES” on red background in white capitalised font. Bellow this is a list of articles featuring, people +topics, it is in the same style as the subtitle but not in the same colours, the numbers are in red-below in gold, orange letters in premium font “Oasis Special”. This article only features things about the band Oasis, including info on the stars of the courteeners. The numbers are in gold font and are in the same style as the subtitle, all of it is enclosed in a box. Bellow that there is a subtitle “EVERY MONTH” this is the same as the “FEATURES” subtitle. This features conventional aspects, e.g. “subscriptions” and “crossword” ,to the right of that in the same style as masthead; “review” with subtitle “the world’s biggest and best music guide” this another convention that just features reviews. Accompanying the main image there is “38] The Courteeners, “he’s just showing off” Liam Fray’s mum hits the nail on the head” This is humour. Main image The main image is a long shot/establishing shot of the “courteeners” standing in a imposing stance over a hill with the country side in the background; they are all dressed very causally. Additional Information It is a casual image of “Nick Cave” leaning on a Greek pillar, he is wearing a suit that has a smart look. House Style Black,white,red. All in the same font and mostly all the same size
Connotations Masthead The use of the Q in the upper corner of the magazine, reminds you of the magazine you are reading and promotes the magazine while you are reading it, it also adds a sense of house style through the magazine which in turn adds to its credibility and identity showing them as a professional magazine. Throughout the magazine there has been Q logo in the corner of the pages used as a thumbnail this is at the top instead because it is an important page; “CONTENTS” is the biggest typography used on the page, this is because the contents is an extremely important page in the magazine, it also helps the magazine when people are skimming through the pages because it grabs your attention, if someone needs to find something in the magazine they look for the contents, if they can’t find it they will put the magazine down without even buying it. It’s on the same bar as the additional information because it is the logical place you will look when you have finished the page, then you will be able to find out more. Keeping the magazines money in a loop; maybe it’s not as effective as something like the BBC but it does help recirculation of money slightly. Additional Text+ Subtitles The subtitle “features” is placed just above the list of articles because it is highlighting the article and shows that these are the features, the change of background from the masthead makes it stand out more from the title without having to make it bigger which would ruin the balance of the magazine. The articles feature many different stars and people and topics which is very important to magazine because over wise they wouldn’t have any audience, the Courteeners are on the front of the magazine and this a relative sized band, this makes the magazine have more integrity and popularity showing that they can spot and feature talent. This is also shown by the “Oasis special”; the use of this is important it shows that they are separating several pages to Oasis, and not just treating them with no respect; the fact that they have put it in gold also makes them seem like they are royalty and that this section is exclusive to this magazine. Main Image Unlike front covers or double page spreads a contents page does not need to feature the image as much because it is just a sneak peek into the pages contents, this image is quite impressive because it shows the band in a standard band position which would be stereotypical so you leave nothing to the imagination, the article will obviously feature information on the band and there music. There is no need to talk about the additional information because it’s only another image but doesn’t feature extensively what inside, what you see is what you get. House Style The black, White and red house style throughout the magazine doesn’t change at all showing the order and professionalism of the magazine designers, the thumbnail Q is featured as a identity house style.