The route of the eye on this font cover goes through the mast head which feels the whole of the optical area and really stands out, it then goes through the main model 'Lily Allen' eyes which grabs the readers attention as they can relate to the model straight away. The route of the eye then goes through some cover lines, and then it goes through the centre of the magazine through the main cover line and the main image's body this catches the eye of readers as she's wearing little clothing and the audience will wants to read on to know why. Finally it goes through some more smaller coverlines.

The principle of thirds splits the front cover up into 9 sections in a grid format. This magazine has used the principle of thirds quite well as its very ordered in exact line with the principle of thirds sections which is good as it emphasises more and makes it stand out as it looks clear and quirky. In the optical area you have the mast head which fills all of it this is good as the optical is where the readers eye looks first so you want them to remember your magazine. in another section there is Lily Allen's head filing up a whole section which makes it stand out as its spread out really well and it means the audience can releate to the model and recognise what the magazine is going to be about. The hotspots focus the main coverline and the word 'sexy beast' this will grab readers attention as they will want to know who its about and as its in the hotspots its where the eyes look, the hotspots also focus on the smaller coverlines and the smaller images of the panthers, these stand out because they are in the hotspots they are emphasised as important. The principle of thirds are used to break a magazine down into smaller sections and its used effectivly as the layout it ordered it really stands out, the model (main image) is centered and on the left and right are coverlines which are tight to the edge. Along the bottom are some smaller coverlines and the smaller images.

The content included on this front page all relates to the genre because its a music magazine. Lily Allen has been written largely on the front cover because she's a music artist and thats who the main image is and what the main article is about, so it all relates to the music genre. The other coverlines are about music, some are other artists some are about music these all tell the reader what is going to be in the magazine, the text is short and brief and only really mentions artists names this is because thats what will grab the readers attention and then they will wonder what is mentiond about them inside the magazine this means the audeince will have to buy the magazine to find out.

On this front cover there arent many different styles of fonts used its just the size that varies and also the format. Although the fonts don't change much they still stand out because their all sans serif fonts meaning their clear and easy to read. Some of the fonts are in bold and some are in italics this makes them all stand out and emphasises them all. The size of the fonts also change this is to make the magazine look more intresting and draws the reader in to it more. The mast head is the largest font used this is because its the name of the magazine and needs to be spotted and remembered, its also backed in red to also emphasis the importance and draw the readers eye to the difference in colour.
The main coverline text is bigger  than all the other cover lines, because it relates to the picture, having it so big makes it stand out above all the others and makes the reader look at it first, it then has a little bit of text explaining what the main article is about but its smaller as its less important and the reader may not read it anyhow.

This front cover is very consistant with its colours they have 4 predominant colours which are red, black, blue and white, this all contrast each other and are all bold colours so stand out well especially when the background is grey. The masthead is written in white and backed in red, to make it stand out and catch the readers eye, and because its in the same place in every magazine it becomes regular to readers who have read it before. The colour scheme used is unusual though as red and black usually connotes danger but with danger, the blue makes the front cover a bit softer this is needed because of the smaller pictures also relating to danger but this makes the magazine stand out as different.
The front cover only has 2 images, the main image being 'Lily Allen' this image relates to the genre of the magazine as she is a major music artist but she also relates to the biggest coverline, this is why only one main image has been used to emphasis it more. The image is a mid-shot this enables the reader to see her face and also her body and on this particular picture is very bold as she is wearing little clothing which stands out. The pose Lily Allen is doing is very bold, stern but i think its also quite seductive and is used to draw the reader in, which relates great to the colour scheme of and danger as if its warning you, that you could get dragged into reading it. the other images used are 2 panthers these also relate to the connotation of danger as they are dangerous, scary animals, their also black so they fit in great, one of them is crawling emphasising the seductiveness  the other is growling empahsisng the danger.

'Q' magazine have done a great job to make the magazine appeal to anyone, its so plain but bold it doesn't signalise a gender, the genre of the magazine is music but i think it focuses more on indie, rock genres of music, the colour scheme and pictures fit in really with this really well.

Conventions used.
The masthead fills the whole optical area
Main image is central
Cover lines on the right and left
barcode
issue number
date
price

Non conventional things.
Colour scheme more than 2-3 main colours

text overlapping picture