Conventions of a contents page

LayoutRunning head

Picture boosts

Alleys

Drop shadows

House style

The running head will always feature in a magazine contents page. It is used for structural purposes to explicitly show the reader the means of the page. This is usually placed at the top of the page so the reader is aware of the purpose of the page straight away, as the western way to read is top left to bottom right, the running head is typically featured at the top left.

Picture boosts are also another convention of a contents page. Their purpose is to aid the understanding of the article. They will also have numbers on them so the article is easy to find. They feature in different places depending on the house style of the magazine, however from looking at different examples I would say a general rule of thumb would be down the middle third. Because the nature of the contents page is very informative they picture boosts are aesthetically pleasing in a page which is generally not as exciting.

Drop shadows aren't as much of a common feature in most contents pages however they do appear occasionally and again depend on the house style of the magazine. Their purpose is to make a feature stand out more. They have assessed their target audience and so the magazine will draw to the readers attention the features that will appeal to their target audience the most.

Alleys are a key feature in the layout of contents pages because they are used to separate the columns in the magazine. This helps guide the reader in which direction to read and help provide a cohesive structure to the page.

The house style very much impacts a magazines layout. A house style is a magazines preferred setup, being the colours, fonts and text and image placement. It is how a person bar the masthead will recognise a magazine. This therefore impacts a magazines layout and is used for a cohesion between each edition.

Text

Font and style

Size

Language

Colour

The colour of the text is an important convention of a contents page. This usually coincides with the house style in order to create cohesion throughout magazine. With more reserved magazines the colours chosen are always matching and safe. However, if the magazine is a bit more unconventional such as Kerrang the colours will clash more.

In a contents page, the font can vary depending on the house style, however typically the titles will be in bold and the description of the article will not. This attracts the readers eye to the most crucial part (the hook line) which will then encourage them to read into the articles description and then turn the page. The font is not usually too detailed as a contents page’s main aim is to be informative so therefore the page needs to be as easily readable as possible.

The language used in a contents page is seen at two ends of the extremes. One would think that because it is an informative page, the language will be very basic and two the point. In most cases this is what happens however the occasional complex language is used to draw the reader in and persuade them to ready a particular article. This is generally what happens however this will alter and change depending on the house style.

The isn't a great deal of content on a contents page generally speaking and so this allows for the font to be slightly bigger, which also aids its purpose of being informative as it makes things clear and obvious to the reader. Special articles of interest to the demographic in the magazine will be where the ability to change font size will be used to the magazines advantage as this enables them to manipulate the readers direction of sight so that they are drawn to particular articles.

Images

Shots

One cannot pin a certain shot type that is used throughout all contents pages as it very much varies due to the articles of the week, the house style of the magazine and the space available on the page. However a shot which is used commonly is medium close up. This features an individual from shoulder up. This shot is commonly used because most music magazines will feature an article all about one artist or group and so the medium close up allows the shot to be all about them.

Size

The size of the picture will usually vary depending on how big it is featured in a magazine. If an article is spread across three pages its picture on the contents page will generally be of a smaller size than an article which is spread across one page. Pictures which feature surroundings as well as bands/artists tend to be of a smaller size than medium close ups.

Positioning of subject

The positioning of the subject will vary again depending on the house style and the type of article the contents page is advertising. For example if the if the article was about a tour for a particular gig for example the NME awards tour then a lot of shots I have seen will feature a high angle bird eye view of a crowd and the subject crowd surfing and so the subject will take priority over the whole shot as they will be the main focus. However also upon reflection I have found out that the positioning of the shot will also depend on the artist themselves and the type of personality and ‘house style’ they portray. For example an artist like Jessie J who is confident and bold will be positioned centre of the image and the image will be quite close up. However an artist who appears to be more mysterious and harder to figure out such as Jake Bugg will feature as a more stand off-ish shot, such a appearing in a rule of thirds.