Double Page Spread Essay

‘Q Magazine’ and ‘We Heart Pop’ are two opposite magazines, in terms of the target audience. ‘We Heart Pop’ is targeted more towards tweens and people interested in pop/chart music, whereas Q Magazine is aimed towards people who enjoy the rock n’ roll type music and are (generally) of an older age. Taking this into account the language used in both differs, with Q magazine taking a more serious tone, you could say this is due down to the target audience.

The language used in the two different magazines vary, this is all dependent on the age of the readers. In Q Magazine the interviewing style is more ‘chatty’ and ‘relaxed’, almost like a conversion between the interviewer and the interviewee’s. The subject material in the interview is mainly based around alcohol and other controversial issues, which you could say links to the chatty approach to the interview itself. The language in the interview also links with the article title, with Q Magazine opting for ‘A Round with Biffy Clyro’. The word ‘round’ could link to the subject of alcohol throughout the interview, with the saying ‘a round of drinks’ often being used when describing alcohol. In ‘We Heart Pop’ the lexis is more specific. In order to understand the language, you need to know the relevant information associated with the genre. They also pulled quotes from the article itself such as “People are so judgemental” and “There was nothing creepy about Harry and Caroline at all”. This would only ever appeal to people who like the genre, and know the ins and outs of the pop culture, which makes ‘We Heart Pop’ more specific in terms of language.

In ‘Q’ and ‘We Heart Pop’ use pictures in different ways. Both use posed pictures, but ‘We Heart Pop’ uses more conventional model pictures whereas ‘Q’ uses more controversial and “out there” pictures. This is reflective of the target audience, but also the magazines ‘mood’ as a whole. The pictures also link in with the article; as the band pictured (Biffy Clyro) are drinking and displaying massive amounts of alcohol, which relates to subject matter of the interview. In ‘We Heart Pop’ the pictures don’t directly relate to the article, but add to it. I believe that this magazine only uses the pictures for effect rather than for relevance.

In conclusion, I have looked at the linguistic and visual conventions of both magazines and decided that I want the pictures (that I will use in my magazine) to be relevant to the article in some way. I am going to take more inspiration from the picture in ‘Q’ magazine rather than ‘We Heart Pop’, as I think it would be more fitting in my Rock/Alternative style magazine. And linguistically I want it to be, again, like ‘Q’. The chatty style of the interview itself is more relatable in my opinion, which is one of the characteristics that I want to uphold throughout my magazine.