Analysis of Contents Pages

To understand how to make our contents pages follow the general codes and conventions, we analysed the contents pages of two contrasting magazines.

WE LOVE POP
Target audience – How can you tell?
The target audience is for teenage girls, because the magazine features makeup and beauty secrets but also celebrity men/boy bands.
What types of article/ features are involved?
Fashion, interview with both ‘pop’ stars and TV stars, posters, celebrity gossip.
How are the main cover lines presented in the contents page
The main cover lines are presented as photos of the articles with captions which entice the reader and the page number visible.
Layout – subheadings , colour, images – how many, font, columns, text boxes
The masthead ‘WE LOVE THIS’ links in with the title ‘WE LOVE POP’ , it is black and bold to stand out against the white/blue background. The column on the left hand side of the page is the editor’s note. The page listings are at the bottom of the page with the numbers bold and in orange.


KERRANG!
Target audience – How can you tell?
Teens – mid twenties, mostly male as the images on the contents of men are not particularly sexualised. The magazine is intended for people who like ‘rock’ music as the images show rock bands.
What types of article/ features are involved?
The articles in the magazine are all to do with rock music, and range from reviews of albums, live reviews, news about bands, posters and interviews.
How are the main cover lines presented in the contents page?
The main cover line on the cover is about ‘Kids in glass houses’, but on the contents page, their article is integrated with all the other contents rather than standing out as a main story.
Layout – subheadings , colour, images – how many, font, columns, text boxes
The colour scheme of the magazine is black and yellow which connotes hazards. The bold font stands out against the white background and is written in capitals to emphasise each article. The main column is on the right hand side of the page with a large image on the left. At the bottom of the page is the note from the editor. There are images of articles on the contents page with bold numbers by them so the reader can flick to the article of their choice with ease.


Through analysing these two contents pages, I have made a list of the codes and conventions which I believe are generally associated with magazine contents pages.

Conventions:

Editor letter – knowledgeable

Image is supported by text and cover line to link story – e.g. quotation = teaser/taster

Main features at the top of the page

Some are more chronological – but some are ‘random’ in terms of prioritising features.

Structure – columns

Features organized according to their genre

Main features highlighted

Images (planned photo shoots) – between 5 and 10