Evaluation of contents pages

Chloe Baker

The use of James Blunt’s face on the contents page is important. It sets the tone of the magazine and tells the reader what it will be about. James’s music is calm so the magazines tone is now calm. Also the use of a straight on shot makes it connect with the reader. The simple look also tells us this magazine is serious and not young and childish. We can also tell the main story of this issue is about James Blunt too. Having just one photo makes the magazine look professional and also makes the main story look better as they have only used him for the contents page rather than a lot of photos for various articles.

The colour scheme is red black and white for this contents page. Putting the “Q” in red along with the numbers for the pages makes them stand out more than the rest of the text on the page. Also splitting the stories into Features and Every Month also helps the readers. They have picked up the magazine for the stories on the front cover, this means they want to be able to find them quickly. Also, the people who buy the magazine for the first time now know what is in every issue and what is just there for this one.

The contents page title is in big bold letters. This is so we know exactly what it is and it stands out. The date is also there so we know how old or recent the issue is, along with the issue number on the other side next to the “Q” Logo.

The overall layout of the contents page is very neat and tidy. This makes it easy to navigate and gives of a sophisticated vibe. Also with every story, the title is in bolder bigger letters. Then this is followed by a brief overview of what they reader will be getting in to. This is a good feature because it allows the title to give the first impressions of the story and then they details to be given after to keep the reader interested.

The photos used on this contents page are all different and go with the articles that they are above. This is a good way to show who the article is about and set the tone of that story and the artists that it is about.

This magazine doesnt have every page/article on their contents page. This is a good way to focus on the feature articles. Also doing this makes the contents page more exciting and gets rid of the small articles that may not appeal to people. Also this is a good way of using your good stories to entice more customers/readers.

This list of smaller articles is just a brief overview of what else is inside.

The articles each have different fonts and are all different sizes. This gives the vibe that the magazine is quite young and not so serious as it isn't uniformed and neither is the layout of the contents page. Under each picture there's a quote which grabs the attention of the reader and then underneath that there's a brief over view of the article to tell the reader a little bit more about it without giving away the main story.

The main photo that is in the centre is the main feature of the magazine. This entices the reader into the magazine and means its probably the most interesting article of the magazine. The photo its self is pretty calm to represent the music style of the Wombats. Also the pose doesn't show emotion so its not telling us he is a rock singer and is more likely a calm person. His clothes aren't posh or smart either so the tone of the magazine is lowered and made less serious. The font also does this as they aren't formal fonts.

Having the front cover re-printed on the contents page and arrows with page numbers pointing to the articles helps younger readers to find the articles and use it easily. We can therefore tell this magazine is for a younger audience. Also, the colours used are continuous throughout the page, pink purple and black. This makes the numbers stand out against the white back ground.

Having the title as “Inside the mag...” tells us that its definitely aimed at the younger generation because slang is used. Also the pink back ground sets the tone of the magazine to girly and feminine.

The photos used on the contents page show us popular artists that the readers may like to read about. This therefore entices more people and makes the audience wider. Also having the numbers printed on the photos helps for navigation again.

The subheadings are a useful way to find the articles the audience are looking for. For example there is one for Celebs, Shopping, boys and Offers. This breaks up the information that needs to be put on this one page.

The over all layout of the page is pretty clean and tidy. Its easy to look at and find what you want. Also, when you do find the article you want, there’s a brief overview of what the story is ab0ut This is good because it gives more information to the reader and makes them want to read it without giving the main idea away.