Contents Page Analysis

After looking at several examples of music magazine contents pages I have realised what allows them to become both successful and both useful for the magazine company and the reader. I feel that the contents page is used as a backbone to allow the magazine to branch out and relies on the contents page to guide the reader. I also feel that If magazines didn't use a contents it would become very amateur and unprofessional and would seem simple and informal. I chosen too look at a very large range of music magazines contents pages, this allows me to find a real difference through contents pages.

The first thing I noticed through most of the contents pages was that each of them used at least one image that either referred to the entire magazine or the main story within the magazine. These images are usually establishing shots that introduce us to the artist and are usually not Photoshoped here as it is unnecessary, if Photoshop was used it isn't over used and only minutely used. A formal layout is also used in most contents pages as it gives us a clear understanding of what we are reading which is needed as the contents pages needs to be reliable if it wants to guide the reader around the magazine. Each  uses a similar house style as it used some colour but not much to keep it formal but also avoids being boring, the images also emphasise this.

The contents page is also useful as it introduces us to the entire magazine, being the first page we see. This is why most contents pages are usually simple as the companys want to avoid misdirecting the reader and get a good opinion from the beginning of when someone reads the magazine. The house style that is used here also introduces us to the genre of the magazine as the colour can reflect the target audience. Usually the artists on the cover are featured in the contents as they want to show the main story inside and reference it here.