Case Study: DJ magazine.

Case Study.

DJ Mag is a popular magazine in dance and club music. DJ Mag readers are young, predominantly male and highly enthusiastic about DJ and club culture. They regularly spend a high proportion of their income on CDs and vinyl. They also invest heavily in the latest technology, from turntables to home/portable hi-fi to music-making gear. Almost all are regular club goers, willing to travel both nationally and internationally to explore the world’s most exciting clubs and bars.

The front cover of DJ magazine includes a featured artist (Magda). The front cover consists of an extreme close up of Magda, this is a very close shot showing the physical features of a person to make the viewer aware of some specific detail in her face. The lighting is focused on the artists face, the light focused on her face may represent the popularity of Magda in the dance music industry, attracting a large audience as the magazine features popular artists. Her outfit consists of many buckles and straps, representing Magda setting her own trend. Also her makeup is very bright and eye catching, this draws the reader to her eyes, making the reader feel as though they are part of the magazine. The font of the masthead is red with bold text used to entice the readers also the font connotes youth and liveliness because of its 'bubble writing' look. The magazine logo includes the magazine website, this states further information about the about the magazine and behind the scenes, this tells readers that the magazine has a lot more to offer. The particular main cover line relates to the backdrop of the magazine cover, because the font of the main cover line is lime green just like the eye shadow on Magda's eyes, showing that the image and the text link together due to it being colour matched. Also the magazine seems to give more; the magazine includes a free download card this gives the reader another reason to buy the magazine as they are getting more for less. Cover lines are also used as another reason for a reader to buy the magazine, there are 12 small cover lines on the front cover with explanatory text underneath, usually the explanatory text is in a different colour to the cover line but on this issue of DJ Mag it seems to be the same colour, this could be a way of the magazine trying to put the focus on Magda and her cover line. DJ Magazine seem to put the masthead in front of the model no matter what the shot type is, making it easier to establish the magazine, but also show that the magazine itself is more important than the featured artist.

There is only one page used for the contents page suggesting that the magazine summarised what they thought was the most popular and appealing articles. The contents page is split into 5 sections including: features, comin' up, on the floor, music and tech. putting your articles in sections makes it easier more readers to navigate. The contents page has been organised into 2 columns making it easier to identify section names and articles. Also the featured articles have been put into lime green text boxes this carries on the colour scheme from the front cover making the reader feel as if the magazine is organised well but also it makes the sections stand out and it splits the articles up so they are not confusing to find. On the far right of the page, there is a column filled with an arrangement of pictures, with the respective page number displayed in one of the corners of the image. There is also a masthead at the top of the page saying ‘Contents’, as well as a small credit in the bottom left corner ‘Cover Pic: Dan Reid’, which is big enough to be legible but not obscure the image of DJ gear that it overlaps with. The masthead ‘contents’ doesn’t seem to stand out from the background as the width of the font is small and the font colour is grey suggesting that the magazine is trying to draw the reader’s attention to the cover lines which are bright and colourful because they include text boxes.

The double page spread is split into two sections, one page is full of text and the other is a medium close up of the featured artist. Using a medium close up helped the readers to get a close look at the model so much so it created some intensity between the reader and the model because they could establish his mood because of his facial expression. The lighting on the left hand side of the model is very dull, readers can only see one side of his face because of this creating an element of suspense and mystery. The font of the masthead and rest of the article is very simple yet modern, making the article look more attractive and ‘clean’ because of its simplicity. The article is split into 3 columns, with bold text used only for the questions as it is an interview article. Putting the questions in bold text makes it easier for the reader to establish the questions from the answer and to make it easier to see what questions interest them. The answers within the article are written in 1^st person as it is reported speech of the artist featured. The artist is wearing a black t-shirt which is quite boring and dull, however behind the artist there is a bright lime green pattern which has connotations of youth, refreshing and envy.