Contents Page Analysis

Ava Patel

The design of this contents

page is busy and all over

the place. This makes

Kerrang seem as though it

is bursting with substance.

The main image is positioned on

the top half of the page which

ensures that it is the first thing the

reader sees. It is a picture of Ollie

Sykes (lead singer of the band

Bring Me The Horizon). This

image will attract fans of the band

to Kerrang as Bring Me The

Horizon are very popular and

have a wide fan base. Also, the

mise-en-scene of the image

insinuates that the photo was taken

at a gig. This gives the reader a

sense of community as rock

concerts are where they all come

together to enjoy their favourite

music. There is also the idea that

in order to be a part of the rock

culture you must go to gigs as that

is the social norm for people who

take pleasure in this type of music.

The majority of the typography

is bold, sharp and jagged. This

typography was chosen as it

represents the rebellious,

defiant standard of living that

this magazine idolises. Also,

black, white and yellow have

been used respectively in order

to make this page easier to

navigate. The reader can easily

see the choice of articles.

The editor’s letter helps give a

comfortable, informal mode of

address. She writes with a

colloquial manner which proves

that she is trying to form a bond

with the reader. Thus, the reader

feels relaxed whilst reading the

magazine and so to re-establish

this feeling, they will buy the

magazine again.The contents have been split up into sections. There is a news section which shows immediately

where the readers can find up to date news regarding the rock industry. There is also a feedback

section which shows uses and gratifications. Kerrang has made the reader feel like they are a part of

the magazine by letting them submit reviews which are published.

The Bring Me The Horizon

Banner covers the photo of

the lead singer which helps

recognise who he is and

where he will appear in the

magazine.

This is a very simple,

minimalistic contents

page. It has only one

main image which all the

information centres

around. Yet there is a lot

more text and detail than

normally expected.

The main image is of Billie Joe from Green Day. He is a popular singer and well known

by those who like and dislike his music. By having just him on the contents page Spin is

depending a lot on just his fame to entice people to read this magazine.

The typography is quite

plain and bold. The article

titles are simple written in a

list with a short description

underneath each one telling

the reader what to expect

from the magazine.

The page numbers are written

in a different colour compared

to the rest of the text as they

then stand out to the reader.

The biggest piece of text on the page is 01’05. This displays the issue number and year

which is unusual as this kind of information is normally positioned on the front cover of

the magazine.

This contents page

from the NME is

structured and well

sectioned as opposed

to contents pages from

magazines such as

Kerrang which have

random pictures and

pieces of text scattered

haphazardly on the

page. This shows that

the NME readers are

probably older and

more mature. They

seems more interested

in substance rather

than appearance.

Rather than naming this page Contents, the NME has decided to go with the masthead

‘Inside This Week’. However, the readers still understand that this is the page where they

can navigate the magazine from.

Also, the lack of

colour shows that

this is aimed at a

more serious,

grown-up

demographic.

The main image on this page is

the band Kings Of Leon. The

editor of this page thus

presumed that they would be

most read about out of the

whole magazine. The other

images are selected carefully as

those who are just browsing this

page will see an artist they like

and thus buy the NME again to

see if they can spot articles

about their favourite musicians.

By having a subscription box, the NME are aligning with codes and conventions

of a contents page. Also, due to the fact that this issue was produced around

Christmas the offer needs to be more eye-catching than normal as buying a

subscription for someone is a simple and easy gift.

Each picture has a page

number anchored to it

and there is also a small

sub heading or quote to

summarise each article.