GQ

• Mission statement


  Forward-looking, progressive and cutting-edge. Elevated and respected photography, design, reporting and writing in the men's space. GQ is also a digital, social, video and experience powerhouse—inspired and exchange ideas around style, creativity and culture. Intelligent storytelling
• Product context


  Launched in 1931, GQ began its life as a quarterly publication called Gentleman's Quarterly, aimed specifically at fashion industry insiders. Its popularity with customers caused its rebranding in 1967 to GQ. GQ is now published monthly
• Product context


  Produced by Condé Nast, today GQ is a multiplatform brand (Condé Nast also produce Vogue). Each issue is published in print and digitally; it has its own acclaimed website and apps.
• Product context


  British GQ sells itself as: "The greatest magazine around. The men's magazine with an IQ. Whether it's fashion, sport, health, humour, politics or music, GQ covers it all with intelligence and imagination."
• Product context

  GQ is aimed at ABC1 men aged between 20 to 44. 212,000 monthly print readership. Online boasting over 2 million monthly unique users. 2 million social media followers.
• Product context

  Funded by magazine sales and advertising, GQ says that 88% of its audience have bought or plan to buy products they've seen in GQ and 93% of GQ's audience own designer fashion.
• GQ launched

  1931
• Gentleman's Quarterly became GQ


  1967
• Producer

  Conde Nast
• GQ sells itself as

  Magazine for men with an IQ
• GQ audience


  ABC1 men aged 20-44
• Metrosexual


  Term coined in 1994 by Mark Simpson, an author and journalist, referring to men who openly care about their looks, clothing and skincare regime
• Spornosexual


  Term coined in 2014 by Mark Simpson, referring to men who are extremely body focused, who spend all their time at the gym and make their bodies their best accessory
• Historically, British black men have been underrepresented on magazine front covers due to systemic racism within the industry
• In a 2018 study, completed by The Guardian, into glossy magazines, it was revealed that of 214 covers published by the 19 bestselling glossies in 2017, only 20 featured a person of colour
• Vogue appointed editor Edward Enninful in 2017, who has turned one of the nation's most respected fashion magazines into a celebration of all beauty – not excluding blackness but championing it
• The 2020 global anti-racism protests have meant that recently there has been a wider range of ethnicities and races on the front of British GQ
• African Americans have long complex history in media - at the start of the 20th century, black characters supported stereotype of incompetent/ hyper-sexualized/ criminals
• The civil rights movement was a struggle for social justice that took place during the 1950s and 1960s for blacks to gain equal rights under the law in the United States
• Key political figures that fought for freedom and equal rights: Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcom X, Muhammed Ali, Katherine Johnson
• In December 2018, Raheem Sterling took to social media to highlight racism in the British press, screen-grabbing two MailOnline articles which juxtaposed how his Manchester City teammates had been treated for buying their mums a house
• That same week in 2018 saw a Tottenham Hotspur supporter arrested for throwing a banana skin at Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Motherwell's Christian Mbulu received racial abuse
• Since the social media post, Sterling has become a sought-after spokesperson for charities, activists and other social causes. Gary Lineker has called him "perhaps the most influential player in the game" off-field
• GQ Heroes


  An event aimed at "luxury business and creative minds". Held annually in Oxfordshire, it has a programme of speakers "who are shaping society and culture around us"
• GQ has clearly been influenced by significant social and cultural contexts and there are demonstrations of this on the magazine front cover
• The coverlines "How to Wear a Broken Suit" and "Why it's finally ok to own a beltbag"


  Has clear links to Mark Simpson's 1994 idea of metrosexuality
• The front cover includes the visual code of Sterling coupled with the absence of a shirt with his six pack and muscles on show


  This has been influenced by Mark Simpson's coined word 'Spornosexual'
• GQ's mission statement is forward-looking, progressive and cutting-edge, focused on elevated and respected photography, design, reporting and writing in the men's space, as well as being a digital, social, video and experience powerhouse inspired by and exchanging ideas around style, creativity and culture through intelligent storytelling
• Language Features


  • Puns
  • Alliteration
  • Hyperbole
  • Emotive language
  • Ellipsis (…)
  • Colloquial language
  • Imperatives
  • Personal pro-nouns
  • Superlative
• Mode of Address


  • Informal mode of address
  • Formal mode of address
  • Direct mode of address
  • Indirect mode of address
• Richard Dyer - Star Appeal


  Celebrities are used in much of the media. Dyer says it can be split into 3 categories: The star as a commodity, The star as a construction, The star as an ideology
• Star as a commodity


  Most of the images used in magazines are to sell and advertise both the magazine and its advertised products. Celebrity cover stars sell magazines as people often want a window into their lives.
• Star as a construction


  The star is a construction and not a real person. The star is constructed through music videos, film, magazines etc. An idea that has be created by the producers to convey a certain message.
• Star as an ideology


  Stars will represent certain social groups and views and will therefore create certain ideologies (beliefs). Societies perception of what is perfect in both appearance and personal success.
• AFL - Star Appeal Application

  1. Commodity

  2. Ideology

  3. Construction
• Media language analysis GQ Front Cover


  1. Masthead analysis (font style, colour, layout, connotations)

  2. Main image analysis (mode of address, facial expression, shot type, theories)

  3. Main Coverline analysis 'Guardian Angel...'

  4. Strapline analysis 'Gentleman's Quarterly'

  5. Cover line "Speak no evil..."

  6. Cover line "74 minutes in the insane, wild and totally nuts life of..."

  7. Cover line "Westminster has become a living nightmare'

  8. Colour palette analysis – black/white/gold/orange (connotations)
• The branded masthead is conventionally placed in the top left-hand corner (Z-rule) and stands out with the choice of gold font, connoting luxury and exclusivity – traits that the brand associates with.
• A limited colour palette of black, white, gold and orange create a sense of cohesion to the design, whilst also reinforcing the magazines messages of luxury, sophistication and masculinity.
• There is a low angle, long shot of footballer and celebrity Raheem Sterling, ensuring the magazine has commodified (Dyer) Sterling to sell the magazine and appeal to the audience.
• GQ began its life as a quarterly publication called Gentleman's Quarterly