The magazine cover uses natural colours and simple fonts and images to portray an alternative, laid back style appealing to indie music fans. The magazine targets discerning music aficionados who are passionate about discovering new artists without genre boundaries. It has a serious tone reflected by its sophisticated yet simple colour palette and layout.

1. Music Magazine Mood Board

2. The colours used are all very natural
and give a laid back feel to the cover.
This reflects the type of artists and
issues that the magazine deals with.
From the cover it appears that the
magazine is aimed towards people
who enjoy alternative/indie music and
aren’t interested in mainstream music
magazines.
The font style is fairly simple and the
use of a different font for the masthead
and 'she & him' makes those two things
stand out from everything else on the
cover.
The images is simple and adds a
formal feel to the cover as the artists
featured are wearing a smart dress and
a suit.

3. Circulation figures: 97,722
Reader profile: Discerning and passionate
music aficionados, the MOJO audience is
predominately male (72%) and affluent
(36% AB). These heavy consumers of
music see their passion as discovery without
boundaries, genre and decade being
secondary to quality.
The font style is very simple, it’s easily
readable and stands out. It’s not slanted
and there are no effects on it which shows
that the magazine is fairly serious.
The colours and layout are very
sophisticated, they’re simple yet effective.
The darker colours fit in with the audience
being predominately male.
It is clear from the cover that this magazine is for people who have a serious attitude
towards music and value it greatly.

4. The colours are quiet simple so the reds,
oranges and yellows really stand out.
The different fonts of the text and
masthead go well together and add a
slight variation to the cover.
The text isn't spread out like it is on
other magazine covers, I think this
looks really effective because it doesn't
look to busy. However, as there isn't
much text on the left third it might not
grab potential readers attention.

5. Rolling Stone is devoted to music,
politics, and popular culture. This
particular cover reflects the music and
popular culture aspect because of the
young artists featured on the cover.
The only three colours used are white,
red and black – this gives the cover a
sophisticated look and because they all
contrast with each other it is easy to
read all of the text when it’s on a
contrasting background.
The position of the picture blocks the full
view of the masthead, this suggests that
the magazine is very popular and uses
the same style on each of their covers
because it can be indentified by its
readers without them even seeing the
full masthead.

6. Reader profile: Open minded
experience seekers, the Q audience
don’t define themselves by the music
they listen to. Music is an important
passion, but their love of music will
never be to the detriment of their other
passions, such as film, sport and
comedy.
The font has a tabloid feel to it due to the
red, white and yellow – these are colours
which would normally be associated with a
tabloid newspaper or magazine. It is eye
catching and stands out because of its
brightness.
The cover doesn’t suggest that the magazine is very serious about music. The
reader profile suggests that the people who buy the magazine aren’t as interested in
music as they are in other activities such as film and sport so the cover has to really
grab their attention to keep them interested in the magazine.

7. Whilst the colours of this magazine
aren’t as bright or bold as Q
magazine it still has a tabloid feel to
it.
The photography is fairly simple
however it reflects the artists style
of music and the way they are
viewed by the public.
The cover gives the impression
that the magazine will appeal to
people who are into the indie
rock genre of music.

8. Circulation figures: 43,253
Reader profile: Individually
minded, independent of thought
and musically experienced, an
audience defined by attitude,
passion and loyalty.
The reader profile defines its readers as being
individually minded, the logo reflects this. The
smashed glass effect shows unconformity.
The headings and boxes with text along the
bottom and right side of the magazine give the
cover an independent attitude. It would appeal to
someone who is comfortable with their individual
music style and doesn’t feel the need to listen to
something just because everyone else.