Chad: Similar Product Research: Mojo Magazine

 

December 2001

Mojo magazine uses a black, white and red colour scheme on every single issue. However the usages of the colors are rotated each month. They possibly use a red, black and white colour scheme because it is somewhat established and stands out. The black and whiteness of the photo also fits with how aged the photo of Michael Jackson is. Other popular magazines that include a black, white and red colour scheme in there house style include Q, and NME. 

Mojo has a white, bold, slightly playful spaced out Masthead. Like Clash, there is a red bar at the top with some extra cover stories and a picture. This highlights some more stories and separates them from the main story. Mojo has a sell line ("The Music Magazine")which is designed to look like it has been handwritten. The connotations of a fancy, handwritten font are that perhaps the magazine wants you to believe that real people agree that it is The music magazine, and it isn't just the company trying to sell you something - even though it is. The magazine seems to cater to all genres, which could be because it wants to make its target audience as large and as diverse as possible, or because it knows people do not just listen to one genre unless they are extremely narrow minded.

The picture of the magazine fills most of the front cover, leaving no blank space, and there are relatively few cover stories on it, the main one being about the rise and fall of Michael Jackson. His name is in a white, grungey, printed style font which also seems quite retro. The tone seems quite professional, and there is no sensational writing. All of the text is on top of the Michael Jackson portrait, which could be to make the magazine seem more important than he is. The shot of Michael Jackson seems to be a smiley, press shot from the 60's, which was the peak of his career.

From this magazine we will use the technique of rotating colours each month; the simple sell line; the slightly more mature target audience; the multi-genre nature of the magazine; and the professional tone