Contents Page analysis

 

This is a contents page for a MOJO magazine which I will be analysing, this contents page links with the front cover also analysed as it is from the same issue. The conventional items that the contents includes is: a title, main image, date line, issue number, sub heading, pull quote, and finally a contents box, this page also has a consistent house style of two/three font types and three main colours. This house style is the same as which is used on the front cover, this makes the magazine pages link making a professional looking magazine overall. The conventional item that this cover has chosen not to include is feature images. The disadvantage of not including any feature images is that the reader gets no insight into any other of the stories included in the contents page, but in this instance I think the main image is strong enough to be the only image as it takes up the full page, whilst also linking with the front cover and contents title as we can see a black and white theme beginning to occur. The contents title itself is composed in the centre of the page at the top; this makes it the first thing our eyes see when we look at the page. The title is also the same font and colour as the main title on the front cover which also links the two pages together. The main image itself acts as the background of the page; I think this is effective as it makes the full page look busy. The photo is taken again from a low angle, the same as the main image on the front cover, this makes the man on the photo look like he is dominating the page as it gives him power and a presence, this could suggest to the viewer that he is the main focus of the of the stories in the magazine. Underneath the title the reader’s eyes are drawn to the red lines which create the space where the date line and issue number have been placed. The date being in the first third of the page and the issue number being in the last third, I think it has been laid out like this to make the top of the page balanced as the title above is in the centre, this would make the page appear even and easy to look at. Again, further down the page I believe the  page has been made to look balanced as the main feature of the main image is at the left hand side, and the ‘features’ box has been placed in the left, over all I think the composition of the page is very affective as it appears very neat and easy to understand. The sub heading of ‘features’ is highlighted in a red box, this continues the house style from the front cover, as the cover titles were also highlighted in this way so that they can all stand out and be easily spotted by the reader. The red colour contrasts with the darker colours in the background making it stand out from all of the distractions around it. The subheading is followed by the contents box below it. The box itself is a light grey colour making it fit in with the house style of the magazine, also the page numbers for the stories have been made the colour red, the readers should easily recognise that these are important to be remembered as everything else highlighted in red has been done so because it is important and need to be looked at. The connotations surrounding the colour red are hot and fire, this could suggest that the stories included are hot off the press, and in effect this could make the customers want to buy the magazine to read the stories. Again I think the things included on this page, along with the layout, targets it well to 35+. I think this because the main image is made to look vintage and antique like the front cover and also the layout is fairly plain and easy to understand which I think will appeal to this audience.

When creating my own content page I am going to refer back to this one for layout ideas, this is because I think this contents page is very successful and I think it’s interesting to look at, I would like to create a contents page similar to this, however through my designing process I may need to change some aspects to make it appeal to a younger audience as I want my magazine to appeal to a younger audience, and I believe more colour and a more recent style will appeal more.