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.