Front Cover Analysis 3 - Research

This is the Q magazine cover featuring Coldplay. This cover is different to how Q would usually produce their cover. On most other Q covers the background is plain, having been shot in a studio location, therefore this cover breaks not only the house style Q has created over time, but also the conventions of the music magazine genre in not having a medium close up shot but also not having a plain or coloured studio background. This background is covered in graffiti, however this could have been changed due to the Coldplay album Mylo Xyloto, (shown below) the background of which also features graffiti in the background. The album was released in October 2011, so the fact that the magazine edition is the '2011 reviewed' cover, and features Chris Martin, (the lead singer of Coldplay) it would make sense for the graffiti to be linked to the Coldplay album cover.

This cover could be unisex, as Coldplay have a very varied fan base, their music could appeal to any age or gender, however I do think this cover would be more based towards a younger audience, particularly as graffiti is usually directed and associated with a younger age bracket, teenagers in particular.

The font style for the cover of the magazine is keeping with the house style of usual Q magazines, however there is more of it than usual, the classic house style of Q magazine is just to have the artist/band name in the handwritten, messy font, however there is more than usual on this cover (as shown below) due to "2011 review" and there being a description of the Coldplay article on the front cover. 

How this cover has influenced my ideas and creativity:

From this cover, I love the difference of the graffiti on the background as opposed to the usual plain studio shots on Q's covers. The fact that the image breaks the medium close up convention by having a posed full body shot is also appealing.