Front covers of music magazines use consistent color schemes, logos, and fonts to create recognizable brands. Common techniques seen across magazines like Mojo, Q, NME, and Kerrang include: - Limiting the color palette to 2-4 colors - Using 1-3 fonts consistently - Featuring a large central image of an artist with smaller supporting images - Angled text banners to draw readers to stories about featured artists and albums - Headers and footers that hook across or behind cover images Magazine covers target specific audiences by featuring iconic artists and styles that appeal to the target demographic for each publication.

1. Front Covers
Basic conventions – Strong
masthead and (usually) simple
colour scheme gives recognisable
identity.
Q frequently uses black, red
and white.
NME – Black, red, white and
yellow
Rocksound – black, red, white
and yellow.
Sometimes another font colour
is added.
Usually - only a limited number
of fonts are used 3 or 4

2. • Instantly recognisable title
• Of historical significance like NME –
the UK’s oldest music
magazine, stated off as the New
Musical Express – now abbreviated
form appears on the cover – a
recognisable brand name and
though long past the days when it
dealt with cultural issues around the
music, has connotations of edgy
writing and indie bands new to the
scene.
• Mojo – “spell” connotations of the
idea that music can cast a spell over
people and hook them - it targets an
older audience, with its focus largely
(but not exclusively) on artists from
past decades,
• Q – comes from the word ‘cue’ as
in, ‘Cue the music, but it was
abbreviated to make it more
unusual and eye-catching – has
become a recognisable brand name

3. Titles and fonts become
recognisable brand names
and cover artists can partially
obscure the masthead with
the confidence that the
magazine will still be
recognisable to its readers.
Most magazines use ONE
major image, though
other, similar images can be
used as hooks to draw in the
readers. Main image is usually
medium to medium close up;
smaller images are often
medium close up or
headshots.

4. • Storylines often justified
down either or both
sides, sometimes with a
line or two as a
subheading then another
line with more
information. Text
concerning featured artist
is usually larger, bold and
across the middle of the
page, sometimes with a
strapline (sometimes in
the form of a quotation)
• Header and footer hook
bars are
common, sometimes
against a single field of
colour; sometimes against
the image on the cover.

5. Kerrang! – implies the impact of a
power chord – the exclamation
mark adds emphasis as does the
fact that the font is shattered, as
if by the loudness – therefore has
connotations of heavy rock, the
genre it covers.
Note the use of footer and
header, both on colour fields.
Note the use of smaller images –
framed in white to give the
impression of a printed
photograph.
The angled text of the story lines
gives the magazine an edgy feel.

6. • Mojo – also uses a
limited number of fonts
and colours; some times
the cover photo is black
and white because the
magazine deals with
artists of historical
importance, targeting an
audience of over 40 –
monochrome has
connotations of the past.
Note use of logline – The
Music Magazine –
implying it’s the one to
get if you’re interested in
music – using a script
font as if it's handwritten
and a personal guarantee

7. • Cover assumes target readers’
familiarity with the Beach Boys’ classic
album Pet Sounds – adopts colour
(green, yellow, white and black)
scheme and font (Cooper Black) from
the album art and uses an outtake
from the album photo sessions for
main image. Some red is added for
impact to highlight the storylines.
• Carefully targeted towards their
primary audience (male; mean age
43, according to its publisher, Bauer
Media) but there references to
younger artists to appeal to a
secondary audience.
• Like many magazines, has free CD –
helps promote music. Often other
artists’ interpretation of classic tracks
from a particular band – thereby
promoting the classic artist as well as
a range of others.

8. • Mojo – Beach Boys cover
but story lines refer to
older and newer artists
who talk about the band
(e.g. Flaming Lips), and
new bands that musically
allude to bands that
Mojo readers will know
e.g. Beach House. This
issue has stories about
bands across the decades
– Beach Boys (60s and
70s), Rush (70s), Public
Image (80s), David Bowie
(70s-now); features on
classic albums, classic
artists and newer artists
whose style alludes to
the classic artists that
appeal to Mojo readers.

9. • Uncut – implies the
reader is going to have
access to rare material –
interviews etc – as if it’s
more exclusive than other
magazines; also has
connotations of movies
and this, unlike most
other music
magazines, does have
monthly film reviews.
• Note limited colour and
font scheme
• Note free CD
• Uncut readership is
similar to Mojo’s – mix of
artists from different
decades – e.g. Fleetwood
Mac, Jeff Buckley. Laura
Marling

10. • NME retains the Indie
values with Peace as cover
artist, but there are story
lines on Blur, Noel
Gallagher, Kasabian and
Arctic Monkeys – all NME
favourites from the last two
decades.
• Published by IPC.
• Readers 69% male; average
age - 24
• Inside NME – weekly
magazine. ‘News’ section
featuring old
favourites, like
Morrissey, and new, like
Milk Music. Round up of
events this week in music –
but those events appealing
to its target audience
(Gallagher and Albarn);
festival news – SXSW – and
indie festival.