Textual Analysis

The target audience for this magazine is late teens and young adults who like a rock, indie style of music.
The colour theme indicates this as it sticks to a palette of 3 main colours, black, white and grey - colours commonly associated with this style of music.
However the use of cheryl cole on the front cover goes against the genre of the magazine, as cheryl is usually portrayed as a girly, feminine, pop icon. For this magazine shoot she had been 'made up' to match in with the magazines genre, with a pale face and dark eyes and hair. Cheryl is also seen to be wearing red lipstick, this connotes a sexy side to herself and the rock genre of music, this idea is further highlighted by the close up shot of her striking a very provocotave pose and also the subtle use of some red text.

In regards to the layout of the magazine, there is a clear easy to read masthead in the top right hand corner which is one of the magazines main selling points. The font is simple and the same over the whole front cover, some of the content is amplified by the use of highlighting making it easy to read against the background. A simple colour scheme of black, white and grey with a touch of red has been stuck to throughout.

The language that has been used has been used very carefully and cleaverly. The masthead is one single letter - Q - this could take on many different meanings and connotations. The main sell lines "3 words cheryl cole rocks" is extremley cleaver as it combines her new single '3 words' and it also appeals to the target audience by implying she 'rocks' it could take on two different meanings, that she is interested in rock music and listens to it herself and she physically rocks, or it could be used as another way of saying she is great, either way it makes the audience want to pick up the magazine and read it.

In conclusion it is clear that the front cover acts as an advertisement for the magazine. When planning my own i will try to incorporate bold masthead, easy to read text and a complimenting image to go alongside.