Contents Page Essay

The four magazine covers that we have looked at today in the lesson were Mixmag, NME, Q and We Love Pop. They are all relatively similar; they all contain images and block writing. They all have different audience types that aren't similar. The titles are all mainly clear and there is a lot going on in the contents pages which is good as it makes you want to read that even though it isn't the main articles inside.

The first contents page that I looked at was a double page spread of ‘mixmag’.As we analysed these contents pages I noticed that rather than there being lots and lots of text, there was instead 4 main pictures that really stood out. The writing did seem to be minimal,and the contents numbers were actually lay out in number order. I think this is done as the magazine is more of a magazine dedicated to younger people and younger people actually like lots or pictures.The Pictures on the double page spread are pictures of young people that seem to be having a good time at what seems to be a pool party. Maybe the pictures have just been added in to grab the readers attention, make them want to read the articles as the pictures are more enticing.

The second magazine that we looked at was 'Q' and was also a double page spread contents layout. Q had a much different approach to their contents page, as it pointed out the main articles much more clearly and also had a picture to go with it, but the same picture wont actually be used in the page of the main article. Q quite clearly has more of a different type of music genre to it, and talks about festivals and returning bands. It has quite dull colors to it, but the red really seems to bring the pages alive. The cartoon characters also have a roll to play in the making of the cover as it seems to be quite child like, which could then relate to some of the articles as it could be bringing back childhood, which then links back to the main articles.

We then looked at a magazine contents page for ' We love Pop'. This magazine is probably aimed at girls that love pop music and also that could love all the latest boy bands. We love pop has quite small pictures, again with all of the main articles pointed out. The picture are of musicians that are in the charts, so the audience could be people that love chart music. On the side you can see that there is an editors letter. This is the first editors letter that I have seen on the contents page. The contents page also has a variety of colors but keeping simple at the same time, which could also then be linked back to the target audience of this magazine.

Finally the last magazine that we analysed was NME. NME also has the main articles that have pointed out. The heading says ' INSIDE THIS WEEK'. As NME is a weekly magazine it may not have that many stories to cover, unlike the rest as they were monthly magazines. It also has quite a clear genre of music which I think is important as it can make it quite clear to the audience who the magazine is specifically for. It also has the 'Plus' stories which may be less important as they are less important but still deserve a mention on the content page.

To conclude I think that I have learnt a lot from looking at all the different types of magazine, and I will be able to now know what kind of things that I want to include, and also know what not to include in my magazine contents page. I also know now not to leave any white space as it can look quite boring and looks like the magazine may not have a lot in it.