Contents Page Analysis

To better understand the conventions used across all pages, I analysed the contents page from the same magazine as well.

The contents page takes up two pages, and a lot of that space is taken up by large images. The images show people (mainly young woman) dancing and listening to a DJ. They are dressed for summer as it can get very hot inside a club, and also because the most popular cities for clubbing (Ibiza, for example) are known to be very hot. All of the people in the main images are clearly enjoying themselves and aren't afraid to show off their body. I know from my earlier research that one of Mixmag's main focuses are clubs and other music events such as festivals. The main images have clearly been taken inside a club, supporting the information that I've gathered. The DJ shown also shows the focus on them.

Black and white are the most prominent colours used on the page. The simple colour scheme still manages to make the text – which is the latter colour – stand out against the background, just as it was used on the cover. Just like on the front cover, the text is small in comparison to the images which occupy a much larger space on the page. The headlines are also in capital letters, just like on the cover, putting emphasis on them so that the reader will be attracted to them and then look to find out more details.

The contents are on the right end of the first page and the left end of the other. This may be because when a reader turns the page, before they have finished doing so they will be able to see the list of contents. This goes for both pages. Each headline has a page number next to it, and they are listed by what kind of article they are, such as 'features' and 'fashion'. Even the images are given large page numbers to direct readers to the relevant articles.

We already know from the front cover that the magazine appeals to the fashion sense of clubbers, so a fashion section is appropriate. There is also a section for 'tunes', which addresses dance music that has recently been released online or on CD. Again, this is only right for a music magazine. There are also ‘cue’ articles, which each focus specifically on one artist, group or DJ. The focus can help readers discover new artists or just find out more about ones they already know.

The magazine's logo is in one of the upper corners on each page. It isn't very prominent, though it is still bigger than all of the headlines on the page, making it difficult for the reader to forget what magazine they are reading. At the bottom of each page is the magazine's website, making it easy to find if and when a reader is interested in reading more online. If the brand has any other franchises, however, they aren't featured on the front page.