MOJO Magazine Research

Mojo is a monthly magazine which provides its audience with a dose of world class journalism and iconic photography. The magazine is seen by people as "obsessed with music". The convent visible in the magazine varies from classic and modern rock, folk, soul, country to reggare, electronic and experimental. This means that anyone with a music interest will find something for them in this magazine. This makes the magazine versatile. Mojo provides is a valued and trusted brand by its "hand-made" experience in the mass market environment. As a brand extension Mojo uses social media websites such as Facebook or Twitter. Additionally it has its own website. The target audience for Mojo are males of 45-54 years old.







Front Cover:

The masthead is presented at the top of the page which is placed across the width of the page. By its simple font, the title can be easily seen and read by the audience which improves its clarity. In comparison to other magazines the masthead is brought to the foreground as it is not hidden by the silhouette of the person in the image. This could mean that Mojo is not a famous music magazine brand therefore they have to present their brand in the best way possible, in comparison to other magazines such as Mixmag where the masthead is partly interrupted by the person. A factor which I found similar to other magazines in terms of the masthead is that all of the magazines which I have already looked at, have filled in their masthead with a plain colour. This is beneficial for them as the title creates clear contrast with the background, exploding it to the front which catches our eye. The masthead does not contain a background colour (its transparent), which allows the editor to place the title in a aesthetically pleasing manner. Which in this case is in front of the persons head. As a result of this, the title drags our attention towards the person as well as the name of the brand.

We can see that the page is flooded with features and headlines which to us are presented by sharp, red, retro-looking font. Red is a colour which we associate with  warnings and danger, therefore by the use of red we see the cover lines as a valuable information which draw our attention. The captions of the coverlines which are placed underneath the bold red text are written using a white font. This works very well with the red as it creates contrast against text and the background of the persons jacket. Addittionally the white colour of the text works well against other white details visible on the cover such as the masthead or parts of the background.

In this issue of MOJO we are presented a sell line at the very top, left of the page listing "FREE CD!". This can be widely seen on other various music magazines such as NME. By this sell line being placed at the very top of the page our attention is drawn to it by the masthead. Additionally the sell line has been placed as the audience mainly scans the magazines cover from top to bottom therefore it is one of the first things we see. If the audience notices this it would persuade them to purchase the magazine as they will be satisfied because they gain a object back from the magazine in the price they pay. This is the ideology of the audience as they will prefer to purchase a product which will give them back something in return rather than paying just for the hard copy without gaining anything back from it. Further down the magazine, we can see a second example of the sell line convention which in this case is just the word "FREE". This time it is larger and bolder, placed against a red background. This suits the colour scheme of the cover line as well as emphasing the "FREE" as the contrast draws the readers attention.

The main image of the front cover consists of Paul Weller wearing a smart suit and looking straight at the camera. In comparison to other magazines, the compositon within the image is kept very simple however it is very effective. By Paul Weller looking straight into the camera it makes the reader think as if the character is interacting with them,drawing the readers attention. The effect which the image has been treated with has made the skin of Paul Weller look very unhuman, as if he was drawn onto the page. This is very unique, as I have not seen it on other magazines before. By the effect on Paul Weller his skin has gained sharp contrasts epsecially around his eyes, cheeks and forehead. As a result of this his face is brighter attracting our eye sight and making the face stay in our mind as it is very unusual. The mise-en-scene on the image such as Paul Weller's suit or tie reflect his celebrity status as well as his straight-up posture showing his pride. Additionally, as the audience we can reflect that the magazine is of a higher standard as it contains such faces like Weller.

                                                            Double Page Spread:

Here we can see the double page spread of the MOJO magazine. The double page spread has been allocated over two pages. It has been allocated that the information has been placed on the left page whereas the image has been spread across the second page. To us the overall theme of the double page spread is very sentimental, emotional and dull because of its brownish tone. The image represents Paul Weller in his earlier years which with the brownish tone could present their memories and feelings about the past. The setting visible in the image presents Paul Weller by himself conveying loneliness. Overall this image presents a dramatic surrounding which to some may be a relfection against the past or to some it could show the process of aging of Paul Weller.

The headline which is presented on the left hand side says "Talking about my generation". With my research I found that this headline is a part of the lyrics which is in the song "My Generation". To a audience which has followed Paul Weller for a number of years they could clearly see the link between the headline and the lyrics of the song. The font which has been used for "Talking about my generation" has been chosen to speak for the emotions which the text is to present. As we can see, the "Talking about my generation" text has been written in a seperate font type to emphasise this quote from the lyrics. The font which has been used is considered as Serif as it contains small lines tailing from the edges of the letters. This gives the text a effect of royalty or class. Additionally we can see that "My" has been written in even a bigger size to refer the quote to Paul Weller himself, as the article is about him. In comparison to the text which has been used for further article, the title stands out as of its size. The font used for the article is very simple which I could count as Sans. Lastly, in the article we can see that a drop cap has been used to introduce us to the article. The font style used for the drop cap is the same as the font used to type the headline quote. As of this we as readers recognise it first, before the rest of the article which allows us to spot where the article starts. This makes the writing on the page clearer.

The object which stands out on this double page spread is the coloured badge. As of it being in colour, it is easily seen on the page as its surrounding is faded using a single tone overlay. A similar badge can be seen on the front cover of the magazine right behind the silhouette of Paul Weller, therefore we can see that MOJO creates a corporate image within its magazine pages by the use of repeating objects. In my opinion, the badge has been placed there by purpose as MOJO has intented to signify to the reader that this is a exclusive and worth reading article. By including the badge on this exact page it is used to draw the audiences attention as the colour stands out againts the one tone background.

                                                                    Contents page:

When the page is turned onto the contents page the first thing which attracts our eye is the main image which in this case is a full body shot of a Pink Floyd artist. The image has been taken with the camera high above the person which makes it a high angle photograph. The lighting has been focused on the artists face which makes the image very clear and focused. By this position of the artist it makes us feel bigger than him, as we seem as if we are looking down at him which builds up our self esteem. On the other hand, by this high angle shot the person has a strong eye contact with the camera which as a result makes the reader seem as if he is interacting with him.

In comparison to other contents pages which I have looked at, MOJO has not named this page "Contents" however it has used the same masthead as it has used for the front cover. As a result of that we are easily presented what magazine this content page refers to without even seeing the front cover. Same as on the front cover the "MOJO" text on the contents page has been filled with a one tone, solid colour which in this case is black. By the use of this colour it is easily seen on the page giving a overall retro impression as of the colour combination between the text and background. Underneath the "MOJO" overline we can spot a leader. Leader is a piece of information that is seperated from the rest of the magazine by either lines or dots. This allows the audience to easily acknowledge the date and issue number of this exact magazine. This benefits the reader as it informs him/her what period of time the magazine is from. On the other hand, to us it is a significant information as it presents to us how successful the magazine is.

On the contents page we can see that the cover line has been seperated from the rest of the features using two delicate lines which match the gold colour scheme, making it a second example of a leader on this page. By the leader this information is underlined showing to us its importance and again showing to us that it is a vulnerable article. The last thing that we can see on this page is the pull out quote which is allocated on the bottom of the page. The pull out quote is written in a different font. As a result, the quote is emphasised on the page as it looks very "odd" in comparison to other text which could lead to the reader being more interested in the text, encouraging him to read it.