The cover of this issue of "Acoustic" is kept very neat and traditional with washed out colours and a font palette of white, black and red, which appears to be a traditional colour scheme for 'professional' magazines.

The different font colours follow a code of use with titles such as the magazine title and cover line headings being red, general text in white and black applied  for minor elements.

The main image is of a man who occupied the center of the magazine, looking directly at the reader.

The title appears to be superfluous as part of it is hidden behind the main image, this could mean that the target audience is a niche audience who are expected to be familiar enough with the magazine to not need the entire title; however this could be disconcerting to newer and/or more casual audiences.

The images of an acoustic guitar and an amp connotes to the music aspect of the magazine and allow the reader to better identify the style of music concerned. A competition is also advertised in the form of a 'sticker' next to the title, this different presentation renders it more visible and the half falling off appearance tells the reader that this is a bonus and is a time limited opportunity.