Contents Page Analysis

The first thing I notice about these two contents pages from separate issues of NME is that, the masthead is included in the top left hand corner of the page, normally where the reader looks first, and this reminds them of the magazine they are reading. With the addition of the text ‘This Week’, they are also told that below is everything they can expect to find within this issue of the magazine.

Traditionally split into three columns, the first is a band index, literally just a list of bands that feature and the page that they feature on, which links effectively with the genre of music for this magazine including especially big famous bands. The red background of this long text box matches the colour of the masthead as well as the page numbers on the right hand side and box in the bottom right hand corner. This adds to the house style and makes the page look aesthetically pleasing.

The main cover lines such as ‘NEWS’ ‘RADAR’ and ‘REVIEWS’, etc. have been used to categorise the different articles into different appropriate sections, in order to make the page clearer for the reader to dissect and follow as they read through. Bolder text has been used for the main artists featured under each large heading, drawing attention straight to them first of all. Then, there is text of a smaller font size which has been used to describe the caption above it, issuing detail but not an overload of information.

Some graphic design elements have been added to both pages such as the four light blue arrows, a contrasting colour to that of the house style, and therefore they create interest for the reader to look upon and focus themselves onto the cover lines that have been pointed at.

All the way through this page, the main biggest, most important stories or artists have been made bold, coloured in red or made a larger font size so that something is different about them compared to the other body text, making them stand out above everything else on the page.

Central but at the bottom of the page is where the ‘SUBSCRIBE’ box has been intentionally placed as it allows room to be quite a wide box and having a black background links it to the cover lines and contents heading. The fact that ‘SUBSCRIBE TODAY SAVE 33%*’ has been written in capitals and in the colour yellow, effectively makes it more eye catching and jumps out at the reader so they feel obliged to go to this page for such a bargain of a subscription!

This contents page is from Vibe and as you can see here, it is one out of three. With a lot of content to promote in this bi-monthly magazine, Vibe excel themselves in maintaining their simplistic, raw and elegant pages but having three so that all content can be evenly spread and presented in similar ways in keeping with the house style.

On this example, the model is Ciara, whose photograph dominates the entire page making her the focal point where attention of the reader is instantly drawn to. Her position, facial expression, clothing and accessories all aid in connoting a glamorous and sexy appeal grabbing the male reader’s eyes and captivating them to read on. It is traditional on any Vibe magazine, to have the ‘V’ enlarged and displayed in some other format across the contents page, and here we can see that although a very faint white outline of a V is present in the background, the model’s legs are also crossed to create a ‘V’ shape, and this connects successfully with the text.

There is three-point lighting across the page which means that certain parts of the model’s body are highlighted more than others and the gradient from black to white for the background, emphasises her shadow.

The colours used also compliment each other very well and tie together to form a house style. The grey/silver colour of the models leotard, shoes and jewellery matches the faded silver background and as silver connotes wealth, the magazine appears expensive and professional quality. With her legs stretched out, blemishes on all of the skin have been removed and so her bare legs look flawless, smooth and elongated fitting in with the iconography of females within this genre of music, that they to stay looking healthy, sexy and curvy at all times, and should wear minimal clothing.

The masthead itself has been adjusted in quite an unorthodox way with the each letter being rearranged and in white block capitals. This font style contrasts to the rest of the text on the page where ‘Features’ and ‘Fashion’ still stand out, but due to the fact that they are black and bold, with page furniture added next to both words denoting a small arrow, directing the reader to wear they need to look.

Small black dots have been used to separate each contents feature by contrast to those such as Q and NME magazine who pride themselves for using large, chunky, bold and bright strips of colour to separate their cover lines.

On this contents page also, there is a really special element of professionalism as every piece of content has next to or under it, the names of the people who wrote or photographed this part of the magazine.

At the bottom, Vibe conventionally states the date of this issue, page number and name of the magazine in bolder font.

The page numbers for the contents here start at page 90 and end on page 122. This is due to it being part 1 of 3 contents pages and the first part has shown to be for the MAIN stories/features in this magazine, which from research I have found to usually appear right in the middle of most magazines like this one.

This is from XXL magazine whose contents pages are split into two; ‘the-A-side and the-B-side’, which like Vibe allows all the contents to be spread out and not be too bunched together.

This is slightly different to Vibe in the light that it does not have one consistent colour throughout, but rather a colour scheme is followed.

The main image on this page is effective because Chris Brown’s face is unrecognisable, creating suspense and making the reader curious as to what he might be hiding. The dress of this artist also adds to the iconography of the hip-hop/rap/R&B genre because hoodies are a major item of male clothing and the scarf he is wearing paired with chino trousers and expensive designer boots, make him look prim, proper and stylish, appealing very much to the target audience.

In addition, there is a pull quote on this contents page which is larger font size than the rest of the cover lines and because it is underneath its own black separator strip, directly next to the model’s shoulder, we can tell that the quote is about him.

With simply a white background, the page looks quite plain but other areas make up for the lack of colour such as the very top of the page where, underneath the masthead, there is a black strip with the date and year as well as the masthead being in smaller size on the right hand side of it the bar. ‘Features’ is also in red brackets and follows onto the pull quote, however, this could be interpreted quite unclearly to some readers as it doesn't look separated from the masthead at all.

There is a great, effective design element in the form of a white play button on a red background, which is the exact same form as the title ‘XXL’. This means the reader can tell what magazine they are reading just from looking at the bottom of the page.

This is the contents of Hip Hop magazine which shows quite a different format and style to other music magazines of this genre. In a conventional 3 column form, the most important words and names of artists are in black bold font and all page numbers are in red, making them fit with the house style colours of red, white and black.

TO BE COMPLETED