Analysing contents pages

Analysing contents pages.

On the contents page of the first magazine, ‘Top of the pops’ it’s very busy and there is a lot going on. This attracts the reader because they know that they are going to get a lot out of the magazine. The colours, font and style match the front cover, the colour scheme is bright and has a ‘young’ feel to it because it’s very girly and is aimed at a young audience. The pages have been set out in groups, for each category it has a title and the page numbers next to it, too keep it more organised throughout the magazine everything in the same category is one after the other in the magazine and not just randomly scattered throughout, for example everything about fashion and accessories is too the left hand size of the page under the heading ‘We ♥ Shopping’ in the block it also includes a few pictures of what is shown. This is the same for the ‘Wins & Offers’ section where there are pictures of some prizes the reader could win. The main thing that stands out on this contents page is the screen shot of the front cover that is placed at the top of the page. This week’s magazine is clearly about boys that are in music industry as shown by the main picture of One Direction. To the right hand side of the front cover snap shot there is a small heading saying ‘We ♥ boys’ where underneath it states that everything highlighted has something to do with boys. Around the snap shot of the front cover is the pages of the numbers, which is very different to other magazines, they have arrows pointing to some of the stories that are inside this magazine and shows the reader where to go.

The second contents page is for NME it also is a very busy looking page which lots of pictures to go with the writing. The colour scheme is not as bright and lively as the first but goes with the front cover and rest of the magazine. In the bottom right hand corner there is an advert which is bright red which adds stands out and offers a deal for the magazine. This contents page however does not show every story with a page number, instead there one main big picture with the page number and then around the outside there are the 6 main stories with pictures of the bands or people they are about – also underneath the pictures are quotes from the article. A few more stories are at the bottom in a small column under the heading ‘PLUS’ however they are just basic small stories. They do not give much away from what the reader can see only the minimalist of writing and information.

The third contents page is from the magazine mixmag. This magazine has used one main picture which takes up most of the page. It goes with the genre of the magazine because it’s a bright lively photo which is also very colourful and the people in it look as if their having a really good time, having a party. It stands out a lot more because the background of the contents page is black. The writing on this page is white so looks good on the black as well. The pages are too the right of the page, it only gets a small slither of the page thought, it looks like they are trying to promote the magazine by the pictures of people having a good time. The main photo is also a story in the magazine as you can see by the page number in the bottom right corner of it. This contents page stands out because it’s basic yet bold which the dark background and the picture contrasting on it.

Lastly the contents page for the music magazine MOJO, I think, is the most effective because although it’s in black and white (which goes with the colour scheme or dull colures) it still makes an impact on the reader when they look at it. There is only one photo which is a guitarist of a band that is featured in the magazine and the main story. This picture of his blends in with the writing on the page because it’s not a square photo that cuts off it’s just the outline of himself. The writing is places to work around the body of the man which looks really good. The title of the magazine is placed at the top of the page. The stories are to the left of the page – not all stories are mentioned, only the basic big ones, so the magazine does not give away a lot of information on the other stories. The Main heading of each story is in bold and underneath there is a small description of the story – which I think looks really good because it gives the reader a little insight into the story.