Textual Analysis - MOJO CLASSIC : FRONT COVER

The target audience for this magazine is music conscientious teenagers that remember the Britpop era at its last hurdle. They must have more than just a passing interest in Britpop as a music decade, and a fair amount of disposable income on their hands. This is suggested by the deluxe layout format of the magazine front cover and the fact that it is not only a 'classic' issue, spawned from MOJO's regular monthly magazine, but also 'The ultimate collectors edition', according to the header sell line. The red, white and blue colour pallet that the magazine has adopted for this issue, signifies a time period, which can also be linked back to 60's mod culture, that is said to have had an influential impact on the britpop music scene. The fact that Blur brace the cover appose to Oasis, a more globally known Britpop band, could possibly be a reference to the 1995 chart battle between the two, dubbed the 'battle of britpop', sell line 'the insane story of Britpops comeback kings' reinforces this idea. Blur, in particular Alex James and Damon Albarn are seen somewhat as 'sex icons', this is noticeable in Damons confident and cocky facial expression and also present in the way that all four are addressing the reader directly with extreme eye contact at a central and eye-catching frame position.
In regards towards the layout of the publication, everything is very smartly positioned, even the chaotic array of collaged photoshop work, behind the photograph, looks organised and neat, perhaps a reference to the fact that the issue is a collectors edition and its audience would be well advised to store it safely. The use of type and mise-en-scene connotes to typical Englishness along with its popular culture, adding a very retro feel to it. This is evident in the clothes that Blur are wearing, the prime example would be the traditional barracuta harrington jacket Damon Albarn is wearing, it has strong connotations with English heritage, particularly in the British music scene of the past. The smaller image showing Paul Weller clad with a guitar, positioned just above the footer sell line, could be seen to amplify the fact that Britpop was not just about the music, and the fact that on occasion music did play a very minor part alongside larger scale factors of culture, antics and fashion.
Dead space is dealt with well enough so that the consumer knows enough hard information to actually want to purchase the publication, but also the way it creates a main attraction to Blur, positioning all straplines/sell lines, pictures and masthead around the photograph and not interfering at all with how it will be viewed. There is an interesting lack of language featured across the front cover, although there are several examples of declaratives, showing the sheer confidence of the publication. It also suggests that the targeted market do not need hooks or cliff hanging interrogatives on the cover to actually go inside, the targeted audience, likewise with the magazine, are confident that they know what they want. Alongside the declaratives there is an exclamation, advertising a competition, in which the winning prize is a guitar, the magazine is here presuppsoing and encouraging that it's target audience are not merely music admirers but also know how to play instruments and dabble in their own music. The use of the quote "we had to much fun!", directly beneath an enlarged font strapline reading "BLUR", effectively creates a scenario in which the quirkiness of the text and exclamation combination, provides a pivotal focal point to start unearthing stories from the past.
In conclusion it is apparant that the front cover is an advert for the magazine. Therefore it's highly important that when planning my own production,I bear in mind that my target audience is of a varied age that reaches teenagers as well as the middle aged, with a healthy disposable income, and a strong interest towards popular music from previous decades as well as the current music climate. It is then important that the appropriate rules are followed regarding my target audience, allowing for consumers to be able to connect with articles and images and the magazine as a whole product. I will be making a conscious effort to incorporate sleek designs into the music lovers dream publication, allowing for consumers to know exactly what it is they want, without keeping them hanging on, and importantly to pack a subverse mix of music era's into each issue, as to make each one exciting and packed with historical, current and future music knowledge.