Contents Page Analysis

This specific contents page from ‘Top of the Pops’ follows conventions. Contents pages are a

combination of both text and images, around 50% each, and this convention is followed. A few of the

images have a small caption relating to the article or the number of the page it is placed on. The

images and colours used are all a reflection of the target audience as well as the style of the magazine.

The fonts used help to keep brand identity as the same fonts are used on front covers and throughout

the rest of the magazine. The editors letter from ‘Zoe’ adds an extra, personal touch, making her seem like a friend to the audience!

The first thing the audience are presented with is the title: “Inside your mag...”, it is written in a bold,

bulky font. “Inside your” is written in white in normal lower cap letters apart from the first letter. The

colour white represents wholeness and completion, this highlights that the magazine completes the

audience. Also, the used of direct address gives the audience a feel of ownership in the sense that it is

their magazine. Whereas “mag” is written in black, in a different font and in capital letters. The colour

black represents the unknown and the hidden, this could relate to the idea that the audience do not, as

of yet, know the content of the magazine and that this is what they are about to find out. Also, the

word “mag” is used an as abbreviation from the word magazine, this ties in with the mode of address

whereby many words are abbreviated such as “goss” from “gossip, this overall allows the audience to

see as someone they can speak to as a friend, speaking in a ‘language’ of abbreviate and slang that they are used to.

The title of the contents page is placed in the top right hand corner, which is the first thing that the

audience are going to see. It is placed in a speech mark, or a text bubble, highlighting that the contents page has information that the audience are going to be interested in.

There is more text across the page such as the categories: "On the cover", “All about you”, “Wins and

offers”, “Celebs and Gossip” and “We love shopping” are also written in a similar font. They are also

written in a white font, with a purple background. The colour purple is a colour of imagination. It

helps to stimulate the imagination and helps to inspire and allow us to get in touch with deeper

thoughts. This relates the the content of the magazine, as it aims to help the audience engage with

celebrities on an deeper level and inspires them to be just like their favourite artists by reader articles on experiences they have been through.

All other text/content is written in a different fonts: that are a lot smaller, in black, either in bold

(which is the main feature of the article) with the rest in standard text such as, “Kimberley Walsh

steps into the spotlight” and “Battled of the boybands Union J and District 3 fight it out.”

The main image on the contents page is of a front cover of a “Top of the Pops” magazine, containing

George Shelly and other artists such as Rita Ora and Justin Bieber. George Shelly is next to another

male artist who are both back to back wearing the colours purple and grey. Purple is a colour often

used to represent the future, what these two boys are doing - they are representing the future of the

pop industry. Both boys are smiling towards the camera and looking directly at it (direct address).

They also both have their hair swept over their face and rather long, making them look younger and

“cute” this helps to tie in with the sell line that complies with the image “battle of the fittest”. This

however, could have a double meaning, it could refer to being physically fit or the slang term fit as in good looking.

Rita Ora looks to be wearing a red/orange jacket. She also looks to be sitting down. She is giving the

audience direct address as she is looking directly at the camera from a low angle, smiling up. Her hair

is dip-dyed, it is a very light brown at the top, fading into a bright blonde, it is short and is cut just

above her shoulder and is styled in loose curls. Her make up is very subtle, other than her red lipstick to match the colour of her jacket!

Also on the contents page, in the bottom left hand corner there is an image of Niall Horan. This image

is a medium close-up. He is wearing a light blue t-shirt with two navy buttons in the centre at the top

of his shirt, located where buttons would be on a regular, smart shirt. His body position looks like he

is in a school photograph, with his body facing right with his face towards the left. He is smiling

directly at the camera, with his cute smile showing of his braces. His hair looks to be a combination of

being ‘spiked’ up but with a quiff, so it looks more natural and big rather than gelled. He also has

blonde highlights that are growing out. The image itself is placed on a dark blue background rather

than a white background. The colour blue is a colour of trust, honesty and loyalty, this could reflect Niall as a person as both the background and his costume is blue.

Just above the image of Niall, there is an image of Jay from The Wanted. It is a close up image of jay,

whereby we can only see from his shoulders and above. From what we can see his costume consists of

a white shirt with black details on it - on the inner section of the collar. Jay is smiling at the camera,

giving of direct address, however he is not smiling with a big cheesy grin showing his teeth of, but a

more subtle and shy smile. His hair is styled the same way as always, big and curly, his signature

hairstyle that makes him stand out from the rest of the boys in the band. The colour white can

represent the idea of wholeness, which could reflect the idea that Jay completes the band and the

colour black represents being hidden, as he is not as loud as the other boys so it creates a form of

mystery in the sense that he is quite quiet.

Above this and below the editor's letter, there are three images, which include three artist with both

Zoe and Liz, the editors of the magazine. This shows that those working at Top of the Pops get up

close and personal with the celebrities. This will therefore make the audience adore the magazine

even more knowing that both Zoe and Liz get up close and personal with the artists. It also puts a lot

more trust between the audience and the magazine, making the audience believe that all the content of

the magazine is true and reliable.

These artists reflect the genre of the magazine as they are all pop artists. The small image of the front

cover is annotated, those reading this will be pleased with this as they will be eager to get to the

content presented on the front. Other images on the contents page include Niall Horan from One

Direction, Jay from the Wanted and the boys from Union J. In all these images, the artists are a

smiling - or in Union J’s case - messing about - which reflects the personality of the audience - fun

and happy! Words such as “fittest” is presented, which is a term that the target audience will be

familiar with, creating a mode of address that the audience will understand. These images will be used

to draw the audience in as they are all there favourite artists, so they will want to read about every

single one of them. By having loads of pictures, the audience can see straight away who features in

the magazine rather than reading through it to find out. Most of the images are placed vertically down

the right hand side, so that they audience can look down through all of them, rather than them being

scattered all over the page. This is good for the audience as the contents page is very visual. This

reflects their age group, as it is more fun and intriguing for them, rather than having the page just

covered in words. Despite it having lots of images, it gives of information with these images and helps to give the audience a further insight as to what’s inside.

The magazine content is written in a small text box’s across the bottom of the page. There are five

sections as well as an editor's letter. The editors letter is in the top right hand corner, away from the

content of the magazine - perhaps implying that it is not as important as the content of the magazine,

which is what the audience will be more eager to find out. In the middle section of the content page,

towards the left is a section called “On the Cover” whereby there is a screenshot of the front cover of

the magazine, labeled with page numbers, this is helpful to the audience as they are going to buy the

magazine based on the content of the front cover, so they will be able to find the page numbers easily

with this idea, instead of them having to go through all the headlines/titles trying to find the article

they want to read of the front cover. Just underneath, there is a section called “All About You” which

is a section that revolves around the audience, including articles such as “Oops! Your shameful

stories” and “Quiz - Discover your dating super-powers”. This gives an insight as to things that the

audience are interested in - such as reading embarrassing stories about one another. It also represents

that the audience are comfortable enough with the magazine to share embarrassing stories with them,

further indicating that the magazine is like a friend to the audience! Underneath this is “We Love

Shopping” with a heart rather than the word love/heart which has thirteen pages full of ‘high street

fashion and beauty’. This reflects the age of the audience, they are not writting phrases out in full, but

are using a code instead. Also, it reflects that fashion must be important to the reader if 13 pages are

dedicated to it. Next to this in the centre of the page towards the bottom is “Wins & Offers”which has

five different prizes for the audience to win, they include a ‘lip and beauty set’, ‘1D headphones’,

‘Union J’s hot hoodie’ and many more. This highlights gifts and prizes that the magazine typically

offers its audience, this shows some of the audiences likes and what prizes they look forward to

winning! Lastly is “Celeb & Gossip” which is the main content of the magazine focusing on all that

is going on in the Celebrity world, which is generally the reason why the audience brought the

magazine and therefore highlights the audiences overall interest, this is placed last as those reading it

would say.. “best till last”.

The mode of address of the contents page is mainly abbreviations making them into shortened words,

which is something the target audience would do in their normal speech, when not reading the

magazine. An example of this is the word “goss” which is abbreviated from “gossip”. Also wording

used often have been modernised and the audience are able to interpret it with the modern version in

comparison to someone older. An example of this is the word “fittest” the audience will take this

word in the context it means someone is good looking, however, someone older will take it as being

physically fit. Also, words such as “aww!” are used, which the audience will use a lot whilst reading

the magazine, “awwing” about how cute there “fave” artists are. The mode of address is perfect for

the audience as it is at the right level of intellect as it will be an easy read for them and won’t be challenging.

The editors letter takes up a small section of the page - but it still very noticeable and will be one of

the first things the audience will read. The mode of address uses words that the audience will be

familiar with such as “lushest”, “fitties” and “aww!”. By using terminology like this the audience can

relate to the magazine like a friend. It is used to interact with the reader, as well as to inform them on

what the issue contains, drawing the reader in. Specific parts of the editors letter that will draw the

reader in is “we’ve packed all the lushest lads into this issue!” making the reader think of all their

favourite male celebrities, who could potentially be inside the issue! Also, the last line of the editors

letter draws the reader in even more as their is an underlying mystery behind it, making the reader

want to turn to the page straight away. The last line says: “If that lot doesn’t make your heart skip a

beat, turn to page 30, to find fave celebs revealing the true meaning of love… aww!”. The letter

begins in a handwritten purple text saying “Hey Girls!” which firstly, states the target market for the

magazine, it also gives a bold introduction to the letter itself, attracting the girls to read it as it

suggests there is something important Emily has to say. It is signed of in the same purple text with the

word “Emily” followed by an “X” (kiss). The fact it is written in handwriting implies that Emily

actually signed it herself. This makes the letter feel like it was personally written to the audience,

making them feel special. It also refers back to the idea that the magazine is not just a magazine, but also a friend.

There is a boy alert symbol also, just below the “inside your mag”. It is in a black puff, with “we love

boys” with the love being replaced by a love heart shape. The text below is written in white saying

“We’ve highlighted everywhere you can find out about fit lads with this symbol”. With a small blue

text box, with “BOY ALERT!” written inside it. The colour blue is a colour of responsibility, and this blue symbol is responsible to alert the audience when their is a boy alert within the magazine.

The contents page is very similar in layout across many editions/issues of ‘Top of the Pops’, this

maintains brand identity as well as the benefits of those reading it as they are used to the set up and

can gather the information they need quickly within having to search for it. The choice of layout is

very clear, the editors letter on the right, with the rest of the content spread widely across the page, with pictures scattered around everywhere.

The colours used are purple, blue, yellow and pink. These colours represent the upbeat and bubbly

girls who will be reading the magazine as the colours themselves are bright and vibrant. The colours

are also used to maintain brand identity as they are used in almost every edition, varying slightly. The

colour purple dominants the page and is a colour of imagination, perhaps presenting that the contents page is imaginative, as our the pages that it links to.