Contents page

Before making and designing my own contents page I closely looked at some examples. I found some professional music contents pages and also some older students who have designed their content's pages in the past.

Picture 1: Picture 2:

Picture 3:

Picture 1 and 2 are from professional magazine whereas picture 3 is a student trying to make an effective music magazine contents page. All three clearly are targeted at different audiences however they have many similarity's between them.

Picture 1 is from Q magazine, it is targeted at a rock audience. The format of the contents page compared to the normal front covers is very simplistic and organised. I think this works really well and still manages to fit in with the genre. It includes two picture to keep the audience interested whilst at the same time not taking any attention away from the important page numbering.

Picture 2 is from the magazine Icons- a classic Hollywood stars and lifestyles magazine. I think it portrays the genre very well. The classic black dress worn by the model help emphasise the the "glamor" of Hollywood and also fits in with the theme of movies and red carpets. This helps target the magazine towards the audience. I also like the relaxed, simplistic format of the contents page. Although the colours are all very plain e.g. black and White it really helps accentuate the genre. I will try and include this effect within my magazine as I think it is affective and important.

Picture 3 is a student magazine trying to portray a hip-hop music magazine. I assumed this genre because of the colours and pictures used.This is a very important thing to do and I hope I can portray my genre through the contents page. The yellow against the black stands out a lot which immediately attracts attention. The variety of sizes of fonts on the page help the reader see the main articles and less important ones. I like this effect and will consider it whilst making my own. However the format of the model I do no like so much. Although the pink outlines helps it stand out and fit in with the rest of the page, I think it looks less professional and doesn't fit in as well. Furthermore the variety of colour against the black looks effective yet I do not feel it would be effective within my own magazine.

The three different contents pages all have different target audience and genres. Picture 1 and 2 are most relevant to me however I found it interesting to look at a completely different genre of magazine. Although picture 1 is more simplistic and could be descried as boring, I think the way in which the colours remain to fit in with the magazines colour scheme is effective and the messages are read. In comparison the boldness of picture 3 would grasp the readers attention first and could be more suited for the Target audience I am aiming for. I like the style of font on the header however I feel that there could not be a running theme through all the pages whereas picture 1 has.

This brief looking at contents pages has helped me think further into the making of my own magazine contents pages.

I know the importance of colour and layout and hope to make my own contents page as successful.