Analysing Contents Pages

This contents page is from Vogue magazine. The main image in this magazine uses a photograph of a female model, which suggests that this magazine is aimed at a female audience. The main information is highlighted from the rest by using different colours, fonts and sizes that make it stand out.

The masthead of this contents page clearly displays the name of the magazine in a fairly fancy font which is used to connote that the magazine is elegant. This will relate to the target audience as this is a fashion magazine and the whole idea of fashion is to look cool or elegant.

The idea of the main image is to sell what she is wearing and the brand. It does this by using a famous person which makes other people want to look like her. The person in the main image is made to look elegant which also is used to connote that the magazine is elegant. This will relate to  the target audience as Vogue is a fashion magazine.

The layout if this contents page is professionally made the reader can tell this because of the way the text is laid out. Once again the person in the image is made to look like the most important part of this contents page, so the most important stories are put closer to the image to highlight their performance and the less important stories further away. The audience can also tell this is professionally made is because there is an option to subscribe to the magazine in the bottom right corner.

The colours used are black, white and red. The colour black connotes power and authority which may relate to the target audience as it makes woman look more powerful which may encourage the target audience of women to buy this magazine. The colour white connotes innocence and purity which along with the black connotes that woman can be powerful but still keep a sense of innocence. This will also appeal to the target audience as women want to seem more powerful compared to men but yet keep a sense of innocence and purity. The colour red suggests passion and love which may relate to the target audience of women as they want to seem full of passion.

This content page is from TechRadar Magazine. The masthead unlike the one on Vogue magazine above doesn't include the name of the magazine but does display the main story of the magazine. The font used is simple yet effective as it stands out clearly from everything else. This point is also backed up by the colour black as it is connotes power and authority. This may appeal to the target audience of technology lovers as it suggests that this magazine has an authority over all other technology magazines which suggests it is better.

Unlike most magazine contents pages this doesn't just have one main image but two which may be used to connote that all stories within this magazine are equally as important as most of the stories are an equal distance apart from the images. Also the magazine used two images of modern technology and software which will appeal to the target audience as they know they would be getting the most up to date information which is important for the target audience of technology lovers.

This contents page is laid out to highlight the main stories from the rest of the text as the most important stories are given their own separate blocks and are placed in relation to the images which relate to these stories which gives the a higher importance to the other minor stories.

The colours used are white, black, red and blue. The colour white usually connotes innocence and purity which doesn't really relate to the context of this magazine however I believe in this instance that the colour white is used to connote modernity as a lot of modern technology is made in the colour white as it show the device is clean and is clinically made which also suggests it is well made which is what a buyer wants to know. This will relate to the target audience if technology lovers as the magazine contents page looks modern and "well made". The colour black connotes powers and authority which is what a technology lover ants his device to be, powerful and better than the rest as it has more authority. The will appeal to the target audience as they may believe this magazine has the information needed to get the correct device for the reader. The colour red connotes passion which will relate to the target audience as their passion is technology. The colour blue connotes wisdom and intelligence which will appeal to the target audience as they need the information source about their passion of technology to not only be intelligent but also confident about what they are saying.

This magazine may also appeal to the target audience because of the lexis used. This contents page uses words such as "system" and "processors" which will appeal to the target audience because these words connote that the magazine is aimed at readers who are passionate and skilled with technology and not people who are complete amateurs when it comes to technology which allows the target audience to know that this particular magazine is aimed at them an no-one else. 

This is a contents page of Q magazine which is a music magazine. The masthead clearly displays the name of the magazine in a fairly fancy font which connotes that the information in the magazine is "fancy". The colour red is used to connote passion in this instance. This will attract the target audience as it shows that this magazine is passionate about music just like their readers.

The main image is of someone I can only assume is of someone famous when it comes to music. This connotes that the magazine can get access to exclusive interviews with famous music artists or get access to exclusive information about these musicians which would cause the audience to buy this magazine over other music magazines.

The layout of this magazine context page also makes the main image the most important part of the contents page as it takes up most of the page an everything else is based around this one person. This connotes that this person is a very famous person which the magazine is very proud to have an interview with or exclusive information on.

The colour used in this magazine like the others which I have analysed are white, black and red. The colour white connotes purity and innocence but I think in this instance connotes simplicity as neither purity nor innocence fits into the context of this magazine. The colour black connotes power  and authority which may have been used to suggest that this magazine has the "power" to get the exclusive interviews or information that attract the target audience of music lovers to buy this magazine instead of other music magazines. The colour red connotes passion which may attract the target audience as they know that the magazine is as passionate about music as they are.

Also by using famous names such as the "Beatles" and "Xenomania" this magazine is attracting people who like these particular artists as they are interested to find out a bit more about them.

Content Page Conventions

·      Title

·      Images

·      Main articles/ features

·      Page numbers

·      Chronological order

·      Colour is important/ indicates the content

·      Magazine title

·      Main image of someone we recognise, which may or may not be named.

·      Level of formality

·      Subscription opportunity

·      Use of fonts and upper/lowercase letters

·      Lexis- choice of words- questions, invitation, challenge.

·      Editors note/ Staff list

·      Shapes/ boxes/arrows/splash/colour