Chad: Contents Analysis: Mojo Magazine

Issue: February 2010

The first thing that strikes you when you look at Mojo Magazine's single contents page is that the majority of it is in black and white. This gives it a somewhat classic feel to it - which ties in with the magazine's genre of modern and classic good music. The only actual colour on the content's page is red, which is one of the most common colours to be on a magazine. This is because it goes with black and white very well, and adds a seriousness to the contents page - which belongs to a serious music magazine.

The masthead of the magazine is at the top of the contents page, identifying which magazine it belongs to. It is black, and in a curvy sans-serif typeface. The letters are all in capitals which makes it stand out more, as well as making it even more serious and formal. Below the mast head are three locations (London, Memphis, Nenagh) which seem to have no obvious purpose, but might make the magazine seem more international and diverse.

The majority of the text is in a sans-serif typeface. This modern approach to text contrasts with the classic style of the magazine, and the black and white photo. The text that is in a serif typeface is the text that is meant to be emphasised - hence the change in style. Text that wants to be emphasised is also in bold too, which does its purpose and makes it stand out more.

The contents page does not expand upon many of the articles of the magazine; the text is quite large and there are only two sections mentioned - 'Features' and 'Cover Story'. This could be because the producers of the magazine only wanted to show the very best articles in the magazine, and wanted to emphasise them more by making them bigger. The 'Cover Story' section is separated from the Features as there are two red dividers above and below it. 

There is a pull quote from the Corrine Bailey Rae article that is the main story. It is a powerful simile and is elaborated by text that puts it in context below 'Corrine Bailey Rae on the grief of her husband's death, P46'. This ties in with the photo. The photo covers the entire page and is very artistic. It is in black and white which as explained earlier makes it seem more classic. The photo seems quite wintery which ties in with the issue of the magazine. The background is completely out of focus. Her hair is covering one half of her face while she looks solemnly at the camera. This is very artistic, and could be a metaphor for her introverted personality whilst grieving. This could also explain the black and white colour scheme too. From analysing this Contents page, we will take from it the use artistic photos, and try and successfully use them on our magazines..