colours: the main three colours that are used are red white and black, this is to match the colour scheme of the master head and also it seems to have a blending effect with the image of Cheryl Cole. the dark colours also match the indie theme of this music magazine which would make it stand out more to its audience. the word 'ROCKS' in the master head is red and this is to make it stand out because they want the audience to believe this. also the name of the magazine 'Q' stand out.
design: the master head of the magazine is in the top left corner of the magazine and in all Q magazines this is where it is. notice that the master head is over the image and this is because the magazine wants to be noticed first even before Cheryl Cole does. the main story is put into 3 sentences with the top one starting small and then increasing in size as it goes down to the other two. down the left side of the magazine there are other stories that feature in the magazine. in the top left there are regulars off what feature on a magazine.
images: the image is Cheryl Cole, she is a very famous celebrity and her usual 'pop princess' image has not been used in this photo, instead she is portraying a 'dark rock queen' and she is like this so the image can fit the indie genre of the magazine the reason for this is because Cheryl Cole is launching her new solo career and her first album and she wants to let people know that she has a wider target audience now.
Language and words: the master head is very bold so that everyone knows what magazine it is. it also has a banner going across the top that says 'THE UK'S BIGGEST MUSIC MAGAZINE' this is something they are very proud of and want to boast. they also use the main cover line '3 words, Cheryl Cole rocks' very well because '3 words' is the name to her new album and also the Cheryl Cole rocks, shows that it will be a rock themed Cheryl Cole inside the magazine.
overall impression: the layout is very well done with the name of the magazine at the vocal point of the front cover. they have used a very famous celebrity on the front of the cover to try and entice people to buy the magazine because she will feature inside of it. it will also make Cheryl Cole fans buy the magazine who don't usually buy it and also make regular readers buy it because it is still kept in an indie theme.
