Analysis of MOJO Magazine - January 2011

FRONT COVER:

This issue of MOJO has a colour scheme consisting of four colours: black, white, silver and fold. I like the use of a four colour colour scheme as I think it looks just the right amount of colours for a front cover. The four colours MOJO has used complement each other very well – the silver and gold go well together as do the black and white. If the colours didn’t match I don’t think the front cover would look as effective.

There is only one image on the front cover. It is a medium close-up of Freddie Mercury and it is in black and white. I think medium close-up’s look god on front covers, as do long shots. As the photo is in black and white it fits with the colour scheme too.

The MOJO logo is across the top of the page. It is written in black, bold, sans-serif font. It is also in capitals. It is a bold logo that goes right along the whole width of the page. ‘Music Magazine’ is then written across the JO. It is in tiny writing compared to the main title and also written in gold so fits in with the colour scheme found on the front cover.

‘QUEEN’ is written right across the middle of the page. It is written in white serif font and has a gold border. As it is the biggest text on the page the audience will see that they are the main feature of this issue and also, non MOJO readers who are fans of QUEEN will buy the issue too.

There is lots of other text around the outside sides of the front cover. It is all written in either silver or gold font. The front cover is quite busy compared to other ones I have looked at.

The barcode is in the bottom right hand corner. This issue of MOJO is from January 2011 and was £4.50.

In the top left hand corner MOJO advertise a free CD. This also entices people to buy the magazine too.

COMPARED TO Q:

MOJO and Q front covers are quite different. MOJO is a lot busier than Q and has more information on the front. Q tends to just advertise a few stories that are featured inside however, MOJO fill both sides and the top with what can be found inside that issue. I prefer Q’s more minimalist approach.

MOJO is a little bit more expensive than Q being £4.50 whereas, Q is only £3.99. Both prices are fairly similar and both reasonable prices for good quality music magazines.

Q does not advertise free gifts or give them regularly, but both issues of MOJO I have looked at both advertise free CD’s. This might also be why MOJO is a little bit more expensive.

MOJO does not have a reoccurring front cover colour scheme. 2 out of 3 of the Q covers I looked at do and the other one I liked at didn’t – but it only changed gold for orange so was still easily.

CONTENTS PAGE:

This contents page is separated on 2 single pages back to back. The 1^st page has a picture of two members of the ban Arcade Fire used as a background. I like the use of a photo as the background as the background is quite blurred – only the two band members are in focus.

There is a colour scheme consisting of three colours on the page. They are black, white and red. The colour scheme is not carried on from the contents page unlike Q.

The MOJO logo is at the top of the page, this time in white and not black which is seen on the front cover. There is a banner just under the logo with ‘JANUARY 2011’ and ‘Issue 206’ written on it. This is used to inform the reader when the issue is from and also what number issue it is.

There are two sections on this page – both run down the left hand side. The first is ‘features’ and the second is ‘cover story’. Both titles are written in red. There is a quote in the bottom right hand corner. This is used to advertise a story inside the magazine.

There is a mixture of serif and sans-serif font used on the page. I like the way there is a mixture as I think different fonts can be used to show different things.

The MOJO logo and page number are found in the bottom corner of the page. This is so they are easily seen when flicking through the magazine.

The 2^nd contents page has a plain white background and a collage of pictures down the left hand side. The pictures are used to promote stories found inside the magazine, as not all stories are written about. There is a small description and page number in the corner of every picture telling the reader what it is and where to find it.

The MOJO logo is at the top right hand side and is in black. It is identical to the one found on the front cover except in a lot smaller font size.

There are 3 sections on this page: regulars, what does on! and the mojo filter. As it is split up into separate sections it makes the contents page easier to read and understand. Also, they are all written in list form which makes it easy to read too.

The colour scheme found on this page is made up of 4 colours: black, red, gold and white. The colour scheme is the same as the one found on the first contents page but gold has been added. As gold is seen on the front cover you begin to vaguely see a set colour scheme but it is not as strict as Q’s.

DIFFERENT TO Q:

There is no fixed colour scheme running from the front cover to the contents page. Some colours used on the contents page are featured on the front cover but not all are. Also, MOJO’s contents page is split up into two single pages whereas Q’s is across a double page spread. I like both layouts as Q’s layout looks good with the pictures in the middle and it is very easy to read as it is all on one double page spread. But, I also like the way MOJO’s two contents pages are completely different and that you are able to create two very different pages showing what is inside your magazine. For my contents page I think I am going to take a lot of inspiration from content pages found in Q but do it on one A4 sized page.

SIMILAR TO Q:

MOJO and Q both use a banner idea at the top of the contents page to show the date of the issue and what issue number it is. They also both split their contents pages up into sections. MOJO uses 5 different sections whereas Q only use 3.

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD:

This double page spread has one long image that runs across the top of both pages. It takes up roughly 2/3 of the page length wise. The image is of a live gig.

There is a quote in a blue circle overlapping onto the photo on the right hand page. I like the use of a quote but I’m not too keen on it in a circle as I don’t think it fits with the overall look of the page.

There are 3 columns of text on each page. I like the use of 3 columns of text instead of 2 columns that I have seen on other examples I’ve looked at. I am going to use 3 columns on my double page spread.

The colour scheme of this page consists of 3 colours – black, blue and gold. Unlike Q, MOJO does not use a colour scheme that run throughout the whole magazine.

There is a mix of serif and sans-serif font used. Sans-serif is used for the main title, quote and setlist. Serif font is used for the sun-title and the main article. I like the use of both fonts being used on the one page.