Textual Analysis – Contents Page

Questions to Consider

What contents page conventions are used?

Is the page conventional / typical?

Does it subvert typical conventions of contents pages?

What unique selling points of the magazine that are shown in the contents page?

Is there an editor's letter? If so what assumptions are being about the audience?

What images are used? What are the connotations of these images? How do they represent the target audience?

How does the contents page attract / represent its target audience?

Can you apply any audience theories to the contents page?

How is the audience being addressed?

Key Terms

Conventions audience representation

mise-en-scene connotations institution

genre brand identity mode of address

personal identity

Double Page Spread Analysis

Key questions to address when writing your analysis of a double page spread

Do the presentation of the article adhere to or subvert from double page spread conventions?

Does the key image relate to the front cover?

Is there a style of writing / mode of address used to appeal to the target audience?

Is the written text laid out in columns?

Are quotes from an artist / group used?

Is a large font used at beginning of article?

Are the artists / groups and the interviewer names highlighted?

Does the article continue onto a third page?

What other features are there? E.g. page number, magazine title, website address.

How is the artist / group represented?

Is it a stereotypical representations considering their age / gender / age / social class / music genre?

Are any stereotypes being challenged or subverted?

Who are the audience for this magazine / article?

How are the audience addressed / engaged?

What pre-conceived ideas does the magazine / article have about of the audience?

What is the preferred reading of the article?

Why would audiences read the article? Relate Uses and Gratifications theory.

Contents Page Analysis Example

The contents page for Mixmag fulfills three purposes: it informs the reader of the regular and unique features included in the magazine, promotes the magazine, and creates a brand identity for audiences to identify with. As with most effective contents pages the information and images are well organised and structured. There is a consistent use three colours (yellow, black and purple) which creates an eye catching page that doesn't bombard the audience with too many colours.

Conventional features of the contents page include the title and date in the top left hand corner. This is placed above a miniature copy of front cover, this advertising device of repetition reminds the potential buyer of the front cover as they flick through the magazine. Below this there is the section titled 'VIP' which has connotations of clubbing (VIP room). This section informs the audience of the feature articles that give the magazine its unique selling point, for example the interview with the DJ Carl Cox. Conventionally below eye sell lines there are brief descriptions of the article entail. This section is one the ways the magazine creates a brand identity that would appeal to its target audience. Contents and phrases like 'Laptop orchestra', 'electro punk', and Swedish house mafia' would appeal to the target audience ( male and female in their late teens to mid thirties) who enjoy dance music that is produced by state of the art technology.

Further down the page in the 'regulars' section there is more scope for audience identification. There is a fashion section which would suggest that the target audience are conscious of what they wear when clubbing. The fashion section as well as dance music reviews in the 'tunes' section offer audiences the opportunity to fulfill the uses and gratifications components of surveillance and personal identity . In the 'regulars' section of the page there is also an offer for readers to subscribe to the magazine and get a free t-shirt. Here the producers of the magazine are offering a reward for consumer loyalty.

The three images used to fill the majority of the page have no connection with the features / VIP section, this is done to show the wide range of content in the magazine. The main image consists of a DJ drinking a can of beer in one hand and holding a pair of earphones in the other. This image connotes the hedonism and high tempo lifestyle associated with clubbing. Another image used is of a female model. This image is linked with the fashion section of the magazine (the puff reads 'Sharp things to wear out') and suggests how important fashion is to listeners of dance /club music as well as identifying a strong female readership of the magazine. The third image includes an image of French musician Sebastien Tellier. This inform us that the Mixmag explores club / dance music from not just the UK, but Europe as well. The yellow background in the image of Tellier would attract audiences eyes.

At the bottom of the page is the website address for the magazine. Here Mixmag is identifying that its target audience are uses of the internet and the company have had to become a convergence industry to accommodate for the changing consumption habits of its audiences. In this contents page Mixmagrepresents its target audience as hedonistic, fashion conscious, technologically astute and having an extensive knowledge of dance music.

Front Cover Textual Analysis Example

The magazine's title, Vibe, has both musical connotations, as part of the music making process involves the vibration of sound, as well as connotations of youth culture, the word vibe being a colloquialism used by young people. This link with young people illustrates that the target audience for Vibe magazine are males and females aged 16-24. The target audience can also be seen as having a broad range of musical interests from rap (Dr. Dre) to hip-hop (Beastie Boys) to R&B (Rihanna) and pop music (Janet Jackson).

Most of the text involved in the copy is presented slanted, which indicates that the magazine is aimed at a young audience, who perhaps have a slightly untraditional take on life. One of the articles advertised is '15 Crucial Video Games', the gaming medium popular with teenage males, which again illustrates the young target audience for this magazine. The use of a number (15) on the front cover is a running motif found on the front cover of Vibe magazine that was originally launched by the music composer and producer Quincy Jones.

The main image on the cover is of Janet Jackson. It is not unusual for a female artist to be on the cover of Vibe magazine, Beyonce and Mary J. Blige are just two of many female R&B/Hip-Hop/Pop stars who have appeared on the magazine's front cover. However, Janet Jackson's appearance can be seen to differ from other female artists as she is represented as being unintimidating, fully clothed, framed in a medium shot (rather than a close-up) and is smiling. Here she is represented as friendly and not as a sex symbol, as artists like Beyonce have been represented in the past. In ways of mise-en-scene she is dressed in masculine clothes (a suit, tie and trilby with her hair pinned back) and fans of Michael Jackson would notice the intertextual reference of the Off The Wall album, recorded by her brother in 1979. Using this image on the front cover would suggest that the producers believe that the audience are music enthusiasts and would recognise and appreciate the reference. A non-direct mode of address is used in this main image, Janet is not looking at the audience, which is unconventional for the cover of Vibe magazine, and most music magazines. This presentation technique doesn't help to engage the audience, however it does portray Janet (as she is referred to in the sell line, as if we all know her well) as perhaps knowing something we don't, be if we read the article we would.

The front cover employs lots conventions that you would expect to find on most magazine front covers. A small amount of colours (four) are used in the masthead and sell lines to attract the audiences attention and to inform them of the content of the magazine. Bright colours like yellow and red may also appeal to a young audience. There are also phrases like 'First Ever', The Untold Story', and 'Exposed' to hook the reader in and suggest that the content inside is important. By purchasing and reading the magazines such uses and gratifications elements of surveillance and social relationships could be achieved as readers would expand their knowledge and be kept updated with information from the music genres the magazine specialises in. Other front cover conventions are the date, a bar code and the website address (the new form of consumption for Vibe readers as it ceased publication as a magazine in June 2009).