“Q” magazine have used a dominant image of the artist Ed Sheeran that is central to the frame, which makes the artist stand out and intrigue the target audience as its easy for the eye to process. They have used the simple denotation of Ed and his acoustic guitar, wearing all black casually clothing; symbolizing that both the singer and his music may have the same relaxed and laid back style. The artist is not providing the audience with direct mode of address, instead looking to the top right corner of the page. This creates an air of mystery to the singer as it suggests that he is looking for something or possibly looking toward the future. The lighting used on this image also implies he is a mysterious character as, due to the key point lighting, shadows are cast behind him. Ultimately suggesting he may have a dark past and is now looking into the light of his future endeavors.

The masthead of the magazine is in a bold red colour and whilst standing out, to advertise the brand, it is placed behind the picture of the artist, implying that he is the most important part of the magazine. Despite not being at the forefront of the front cover, the reader will still be aware of the magazine they have without having to search for it.

The main sell-line,, in this case, is just the artists name “Ed Sheeran”, to make the reader aware of who the artist is. It is written in red sticking to the magazines colour scheme, and is in a different font style and colour, red and cursive, to the rest of the magazine, making it stand out from the cover-lines. Style of this text could be interpreted to look as though it is wrote in lipstick, therefore aiming the article and artist at a female audience.

The subhead expands on the main cell line, it tells the reader what the main article is about and gives them more information on it. The colour white has been used for the subhead and the font changed back to match the other writing throughout the magazine as this would prevent attention being taken away from the dominant image and main sell-line. The subhead and the dominant image have a sense of synergy as the image shows the exact words used, "one man and his guitar.”

The barcode is kept small to the bottom of the page so it does not interfere with the dominant image or any of the text, however is still big enough for the target audience to know the price of the magazine located on it.

The cover lines show the reader what else is involved in the magazine without having to turn to the contents page. “Q” magazine have stuck to the same block capital font and white colouring, ensuring the text does not overlap the dominant image. The composition of the cover lines are signature to “Q”, on either side of the page framing the dominant image. This creates a straight and clean cut layout that would attract an older target audience due to its profession appearance. Each article is also separated by a red line to make sure the articles don’t overlap and adding to the column like structure of the cover lines. The artists names that are featured in the cover lines are in bold to attract the reader and make it stand out what the main features are in the separate articles.

The plug of this magazine is different to the rest of the text as it is in a red bubble, this colour indicates it is important and significant, because these are the connotations of red, and attracts the readers eye before any of the other text. It is also the only part of the front page that uses black text, apart from on the masthead; showing there is more information to find out. In addition to this the text says “Your definite must hear list” which creates direct address with audience, therefore engaging with them to make the magazine more appealing.

The main colour scheme of this magazine is red and white. These colours are very bold and therefore stand out on dark backgrounds which, in this case, will catch the eye of their target audience whilst they are browsing. The colour red has connotations of importance and superiority which implies that sections are highlighted more important than others as they feature red, like the magazine and artist’s name.

The magazine indicates maturity with their colour scheme and type of font used throughout the front page. The front page is also very well organized and planned out. This gives the impression that it is aimed at a target audience of late teens to early/mid twenties. (16-24)

The masthead of this magazine, the “V” which represents the magazine name “Vibe” is situated behind the dominant image of Kanye West. This implies that the artist is bigger than the magazine and are the star in this particular instance as he is at the forefront of the page. The use of the single letter “V” is almost like a logo for Vibe magazine, which makes the brand more recognizable and creates synergy throughout their magazine.

The colour scheme for this magazine is rather monochromatic which creates a classic and elegant magazine with a professional finish. With in the dominate image the dentation of a heart is coloured red, which has connotations of love, lust and possible danger. This injection of colour draws in the audiences' eye imminently as it is a bold and makes a statement that hints to the subject of the possible story surrounding the artists appearance in the magazine.

The dominate image is of rapper Kanye West at mid shot with an arm coming over his shoulder. This particular denotation shows him in a shirt and jacket; not the typical clothing for his music genre as the ”suited and booted” look has connotations professionalism, education and a more classical sound in music. The stereotypical rapper is not usually represented in the media in this way, however the brooding facial expression and the lax, almost uninterested body stance, hands in pockets, are more conventional to the music genre he originates from. the image is eyelevel meaning that there is direct mode of address, which results in a connection with the audience and the magazine/artist. In addition to Kanye West himself, the arm holding a heart-like object coming from over his shoulder is also a main feature of this image. The denotation suggests that someone is tries to take his heart and possibly trap the artist; shown by the possessive grip the hand has on the heart. On the other hand, due to the arm coming from behind Kanye, one could infer that someone from Kanye’s past still has a hold over him and he cant move on with is love life. Overall the audience is left with the impression that the feature will consist of mainly the artists love life/ personal life.

The heading of this page is on the right hand side which creates balance between the two sides, the image and the writing. The “contents” is presented in an unusual layout, instead of being featured on one straight line the word is split into three separate parts, which creates a different and original vibe to the magazine. Also, the colouring and font of the text, black block capitals, makes the page stand out and easily understandable from a distance despite the odd layout.

On the contents page the subheadings “features” and “fashion” are both in black which matches the heading, however their fonts differ. The subheadings have a cursive font which is stylish and rather fancy. This, in my opinion, connects with the styling of Kanye’s clothes as they too are rather fancy. Therefore this stylish elegance is featured throughout the elements of the contents page. Underneath the subheadings there is more information about different stories within the magazine. These individual stories have their own subheadings which are dark grey in colouring and page numbers. There is then a brief summery of each story that is in a lighter grey. The colouring used throughout the magazine suggests that the darker the colouring the more important the text and as you go further down the monochromatic gradient the less important the information is for the audience to notice, from “Vibe’s” point of view.

At the bottom right hand side there is the image/photographer information, which provides the audience with further detail if the wish for them

The masthead of this article is the artists name, “Nicki Minaj”. The block capital font allows the text to be the biggest and clearest on the page; allowing the audience to easily see who the feature is about. Combining this with the fact that the colouring of the text is a hot pink, which matches the colour scheme of the double page spread, it is unmissable who the story is about. Throughout this article there is a theme of religion. First of all in the masthead when referring to ”Gospel”, a term associated very closely to the church. the actual layout of the article further emphasizes the theme as the article is separated into sections, with each one having its own subheading. The subheadings all, excluding the first, begin with with “Thou shalt…” and are numbered; resembling the ten commandments. These religious connotations seen out of place amongst the pop genre and bright colouring of this magazine however, create a unique and quirky style, much like Nicki herself, to the layout of the article. The religion combined with the way the artist is represented creates a sense of juxtaposition.

The dominant image of the artist is the full height of the page and is at the forefront of the article as it is almost centered. All the text surrounds Nicki’s body and the masthead is even covered by the image, creating the sense that she is the most important thing on the page. The fact that the image blocks the artists name suggests that the magazine is confident that everyone would already know who the article is about due to the picture- after all a picture is worth a thousand words. The actual denotation of Nicki Minaj is outrageously confident clearly shown by her attire and body language. One thing that stands out the most is the denotation of her arm lifted into the center of the page with a large “icon” ring on. Judging by her stoic facial expression, it is clear she is not joking and this is her honest opinion of herself. In addition to this self confidence, Nicki also presents herself as a quirky individual due to her clothing and accessories. The fact that she wears animal print, which is stereotypically linked to people of African origins or of the R&B music genre, shows what type of music she produces. In addition to this, one could also consider this style to be attention grapping therefore implies that she likes to be center of attention. The overall appearance of Nicki looks almost like an alternative retro as she adorns a beehive hair style and a number of clashing colours and prints, with the intention to be noticed.

The whole article is surrounded by negative space which allows the article not to look overwhelmed and well spaced. This also creates a minimalistic and simplistic style to the article as the main focus of the audience, at first glance, should be the bold image.

On the double page spread there is also a pull quote which says, “I really toned down the sexual stuff. There was no need for me to do it.” This pull quote allows the audience to realize with out reading the article that Nicki has gone through on image change; relating to the sudden use of religious symbolism of the article as she is becoming “purer” and in a way being “born again” in terms of her representation.

The colour scheme for this double page spread is pink and black. Typically pink is stereotypes as a females colour so one can assume that this article is targeted at young girls. In addition to this the pop genre is also linked to bright colours, such as this bubble gum pink colour, with stark contrasting colours like black which allows information to stand out.

This article also features some of the common features in articles such as: the stand first, which outlines briefly the contents of the article, a drop cap which clearly indictes the start of the article and the by- line which ultimately shows who wrote the article.