Both: Contents Analysis: DJ Magazine

Issue: February 2009

DJ Magazine's single page contents has a very professional, well designed feel to it. The very first thing you see is the magazines sell line "Living And Breathing Dance Music", as it is on the centre-top of the page. The left of the page ties in with the front cover, because it features the same cover model (though in a slightly different pose) and refers to - and expands upon - the cover story, whilst using the same phrase "Flicking two fingers...". The portrait of the cover model looks quite professionally taken, is slightly artistic, and the colours match the 'FEATURES' section of the contents by being monochromatic. 


The 'FEATURES' section is separated from the rest of the contents as it has a completely different background colour, is in a different column to the rest of the contents page, and has its own colour scheme - which is monochromatic. There is also a unique typeface that hasn't been used anywhere else on the contents page. This is used to describe the feature stories a little bit more.

The contents of the magazine are split into colour-coded sections. The colours used are all modern, neon colours that match the youthful dance vibe of the magazine. The different sections are: 'UPFRONT', 'ACCESS ALL AREAS' 'MUSIC' and 'TECH'. The front of the magazine is the most read part of a magazine, as people tend to flick through front to back, rather than the other way round. The Magazine production team know this, so place the most popular articles (and features) in the first and aptly named "UPFRONT" section. In this section there are: all 4 cover features, plus another 10-page special feature, a fashions page, an editorial, and a gossip page (entitled "Bitchin' - which is a colloquialism"). The  'ACCESS ALL AREAS' section seems slightly more niche, and is filled with articles from clubs/studios around the world. The next section - 'MUSIC'  - includes a guest celebrity columnist's article, and some reviews of singles, albums and compilations - each with their own articles. Finally, the last (and most niche) section of all - 'TECH'  includes reviews of technological stuff. This is probably the least-read section of the magazine.

The typography of the magazine is all in a very modern sans-serif font. The leading of the text is quite large - which helps with keeping the contents page less cluttered. The letters are quite spaced out too, which also helps make it appear less cluttered. Around the mixing deck in the bottom right corner of the magazine, the text is wrapped. The tone of the magazine seems halfway between informal/ easy to read, and technical language. This is because it features informal language and colloquialisms - ("Bitchin' ") alongside technical language ("integrated DVJing software".)

All the photos on the magazine seem quite artistic and -in the case of the club and pool pics - atmospheric. This helps the page seem even more professional. The magazines website is written at the center-bottom of the page. This is to advertise the magazine's website as the contents page is one of the most seen pages of the magazine; and so that readers who want to find out more of the latest dance and DJ related news can look at the website to find this out.

After looking at this contents page, we will try to also have a professional, well designed feel to the ours; our sell line will be situated at the center-top of the page; our photos will be slightly artistic; and we will try to have as wide a range of articles as the magazine, but less of them. Because the magazine will have up to 50 pages, all of them will be similar to the first 50 pages of current magazines - which contain the better, more popular feature articles. This means that our magazine will be filled - from back to front with these quality features. Unlike DJ MAG, we won't feature colloquialisms such as "Bitchin'" as this lowers the standard slightly. For our typography, we will also use a modern sans serif font with a large-ish leading to help look less cluttered, and, in places, we will use text wrapping to make pages seem less 'boxy'. We will try and have a more formal tone of register than DJ MAG, so that the articles seem more professional, however, we will not have it so formal that it becomes too technical and high culture, as this will narrow our target audience.