Analysis of contents pages in magazines

Kerrang! At first glance the K! contents page is

very pictorial and has a great many images.

The colour scheme is mainly white. It’s main purpose is to inform readers what will be included in the rest of the magazine. There is a common theme of black and yellow, all the subheadings, masthead and page numbers are either in black or yellow. This keeps clutter to a minimum.

At the top of the page is the title. This is in a big, bold font which is serif sans. It’s in black and yellow which stands out this means the page is more noticeable to the reader and shows them what they are reading. In a smaller font there is the issue number and cover date, to remind the reader what issue this is.

Kerrang! Cont. The bold text highlights the main summary of the article followed by a

longer description in a lighter font. There is an Editorial note. In this short note the editor is talking about why the band (who were on the cover are included in this issue of the magazine. The type of language used is friendly and informal. “We Heart Biffy Clyro” This is effective as it relates to the target audience and offers a more personal approach to the reader.

The contents page informs the readers about what’s going to be included. The fact there is pictures and text makes it a whole lot more interesting for a reader to look at. On the right hand side of the page there is a long column that highlights the main features included in this week’s issue. Small subheadings are used and these are shown in a bright yellow font. This is to show their importance by using subheadings and dividing the magazine up. This makes it a whole lot easier for the reader to navigate the magazine.

Most of the inside is covered with boxes detailing small snippets of what else is going to be in the issue. There is a small picture of an image to do with the article and beneath that there is a brief description, or in some cases rhetorical questions. The language used here invites the reader to look on and find out what’s happening.

Overall this is an effective contents page, it gives enough information to the reader without the page looking untidy or confusing.

Q magazine The page is very pictorial and the image

is the main focus which livens up the page which would otherwise just plain text. The long Colum on the left has small subheads in bold and more detail in a smaller font. The page numbers are red. This makes it very easy for the reader to follow and understand. The color scheme is red white and black. The red is used to draw attention. For page numbers and for a main story which is over the page. The color range makes the page very tidy and easy to follow. The words ‘contents’ are in a black, bold sans serif font. And stand out from the page. It is underlined drawing further attention.

Overall, this page is a very simple contents page. It is not coloured but easy to read and understandable whilst being attractive at the same time.

NME• The page is very focused on text as

opposed to pictures. On the left is a long Colum of bands which will be in this issues magazine. Along with the page numbers. The masthead is the ‘NME’ In red and this week in white making it stand out from the page they are also in sans serif, which gets the readers attention. At the bottom left is a advertisement for subscribing to NME. The contents list on the right is separated into ‘News’ ‘Studio News’ ‘Reviews’ and ‘Live!’ These sections are in bold then within them are the more detailed version of what there will be in each section. There are a few small pictures in the middle, on another main article which is shown. The color scheme is white, black, red, yellow and green. Overall I think this contents page has too much going on and is not very tidy. Therefore is quite difficult to follow easily.