Analysis of professional magazine contents page

The word contents• It is big and bold, somehow it is separate from the rest of the other texts.

apart from the titles ‘features’ and ‘regulars’, also it would usually be in capitals but this time it is in italics to stand out. Also it is bigger than the rest of the texts to help it to stand out. Also, the colour of it fits in with the colour scheme which is black, red and white and this text is in black. The word is also usually found at the top of the magazine, either at a corner or in the middle, in this case it is in the top right hand corner, and can be easily noticed, but on the other page it is in the top left hand corner.

Main image• It is usually an image of the artist, who the main cover line on the front cover is about, this is

true in this magazine but only on one side, as the contents page is on two pages. The first page has the two of the members of ‘Hollywood Vampires’, Johnny Depp and Alice Cooper, this reinforces the significance of the main cover line on the front cover, and it is the most important article in that magazine. On the other page is the ‘Eagles, they also appear on the front cover but as a subsidiary image, possibly why they appear on the second page of the contents page, not the first, as the article on them is less important than the first.

Page numbers• They tell the audience where the articles are located. The numbers are made evident, as they

are made bold, they also reflect the colour scheme and are in line with each other. They also go chronologically per section. Also, there is a line gap between each section. Moreover, this magazine has the main cover line’s page number on the main image of the artist on the contents page and is larger than the others, reinforcing that this article is most important in this magazine.

Colour scheme• The colour scheme usually reflects the colour scheme on the front cover,

this almost reflects the front cover, however the pink on the front cover is replaced with red on the contents page. This could be so that the features needed to stand out are more able to stand out.

Date• This is placed in the contents page to reinforce the date, from

the front cover, in this magazine it is below the word contents, and also has the issue number beside it.

Cover lines• They are usually different to the front cover’s cover lines, this allows the audience to further

know what the magazine is about and will contain, rather than the same things being repeated on the contents page. The cover lines are also black and bold, this makes them stand out to the sub lines as the font is larger but also stand out from the page numbers as they are different colours.

Subscription advert• It help’s the magazine to guarantee income, also it allows the

reader to know that, long term, the subscription will be cheaper for them, the subscription advert stands out in the contents page because it is in a red puff, so that it catches the audience’s eye.

Feature article• These are articles that are specific only to that issue, which allows the

reader to understand what else will be in the magazine that month. For example in this magazine one of the feature articles are ‘Hollywood Vampires’, which is based on the main cover line on the front cover, which is only in the magazine that week.

Regular articles• This magazine is labelled ‘Regulars’, which goes with the codes and

conventions of a contents page. The word is wrote bold and in the same font as the word ‘Contents’ and ‘Features’ on the other page of the contents. Things regular in this magazine are things such as ‘Letters’ and ‘Live previews’, these will be there for regular customers, but also to interest new readers to live events.

Layout• Usually in columns, set up in two main areas, so that the

contents page is organised, however this magazine has two pages for the contents page, therefore there is only one column of text on each page.