Contents Page - Draft.

Peer Evaluation.

From the comments and feedback I have received on my posts in relation to my mock ups, I think there are some elements that I need to take into consideration when creating my magazine. My first comments are on my front cover mock ups, where the minimalist look was liked, but I hadn't got my proportions correct, so this is something I must pay attention to when creating my magazine. Using more colour, rather than just having black and white, was also suggested in relation to my first cover mock up, so I will have to add another colour to my colour palette to make my magazine look interesting.


My choice of artist was also praised, they were considered to fit my magazine's music genre well. I am pleased with this because my model was my first choice to be my artist, and my target audience also like the image she presents.


My double page spread article was good, but needed more information as it wasn't very long. Therefore for my final magazine I will have to write more in for my article to make it look realistic, as it needs to fill the whole page to look convincing. To do this I should include more questions in the interview, add extra information to my introduction and make my artists responses to the questions longer. I could also give more information on the places that my artist went whilst on tour.


My first contents mock up received mixed reviews. The photo I had used contained a different model to the one I was planning to use, and they were not right for the genre of music. In my magazine I will have to refrain from using that person, or take another picture of them that will fit the genre of music my magazine features. However, my colour scheme, blue, white and black, was liked by my peers, and they thought it looked effective. It was suggested that I could use another colour, as the page looked quite bare, plus the blue element was liked, so I won't be getting rid of that colour, more just adding an extra one to my palette. It was also suggested that I add some more text to the page, as the lack of writing made the page look unrealistic, so in my final contents page I will include more text to make my magazine look more professional.

Artist Photos.

These are the photo's I took for my draft magazine, where all the photos, bar one, are of my artist. The first two photos are photos that I took to create an album cover, and the rest of the images are for my front cover, contents and double page spread.

Contents Page Mock Up.

The style of this contents page is modelled on the Q contents page that I analysed for my research. It has the image to the right side of the page, allowing the more important information to be more easily visible to the magazine buyers. The colour palette consists of the same colours as my first magazine front cover mock up, therefore having the colour scheme run throughout the magazine. Under each article the magazine offers I have included a one line summary of what the article is about, giving the readers more information as to what they may like to read. I have split my left hand column into two sections, the articles for this weeks issue and things that will be there in every issue. This lets the readers to browse through the new articles more easily, as they won't have to look at things that will be in every issue. However, the contents page looks quite bare and gives the impression that the magazine doesn't hold much information. To counteract this I would have to make my text smaller and think up of other articles that may be included in my magazine.

Compared to my first contents page, this mock up is a lot busier and has more examples of articles that the magazine would include. It also includes more images, which I think makes the page look more interesting. I like having a column to inform people what artists and bands are featured in the particular issue, though I believe I could have made it better by adding the page numbers corresponding with where the artists were in relation to the articles, as it would make it easier for people to find their desired reading. The colour palette is red, white and black, but used in this context I don't think it looks as 'rock and roll' style as when it is used on a front page, so therefore if I can use the colours correctly I may be able to avoid that scenario. I don't particularly like having the actual contents in one column on the right hand side, so I think I will have to move some images and text to gain the look I want, which would have the contents column on the left hand side.

Kerrang Magazine, Contents Analysis.

Kerrang's contents page uses the same colour palette that is featured on their front page, with the added addition of the colour yellow, which is the same in nearly every issue. The colours are usually associated with danger, when shown together, and this could reflect the genre of music the magazine features, that it's a bit rebellious and mainly focuses on rock music The first one third of the page is taken up by one large picture with smaller pictures on the layer on top of it, as well as the title 'Contents', the issue number, and the cover date. The smaller two of the three pictures seem to be pictures of articles in the magazine, that as coupled with the article title and page number. The main photo is of an artist signing autographs, and the text at the bottom corner of the picture informs the readers that the photo is of 'Bring Me The Horizon'. The text is on the right hand side of the page number, which is written differently to the other page numbers in the top third of the page. The number is written in white on top of a black star inside red circle, and this shows that the article must be something different/important, as the star symbol in the media institution is commonly associated with people would are important/famous, hence VIPs. The rest of the contents page seems to be split evenly between the amount of textual information and the amount of photos making the page look more interesting to read. There is a black banner at the top of the information, just under the main photo, with the magazine title and the words 'This Week', again showing the readers that the magazine is published every week should they wish to purchase it again.

On the left hand side there is a photo of the magazine's editor, and a small column of writing about Biffy Clyro, and the offer which will be in the next issue. The beginning of the text starts off in bold lettering, making the words stand out, and letting the readers know that there is a bit of information about Biffy Clyro, should they be interested. The other three photos that are on the rest of the page are pictures that advertise different music, there is an album cover, a picture of an artist and a bands 'logo', all of which tell the readers not only what is featured in the magazine, but it also gives them extra information, as they readers will know be able to recognise the artist having seen a picture, something that they may not have been able to do beforehand. The text is split into 4 columns and then categorised in 8 different categories, which lets the readers find information they are interested in easily. The black star inside the red circle also appears frequently and announces which articles are the ones that were featured on the front cover, letting the readers known where the articles, that may have persuaded them to buy the magazine, are. The page also has a small box advertising the chance to subscribe to the magazine in the bottom right hand corner, accompanied by three photos of different Kerrang issues, which allows the readers to see what sort of thing they would gain if they did subscribe.

The use of the main photo in the top one third of the page is an aspect of the front cover that I like, and having a picture of another band/artist I will have included in my magazine is an element I want to add. I think the use of this makes the contents page look more appeakling to the readers as people generally prefer to look at pictures than read text, and adding pictures to my contents page would satsify these needs.

NME Magazine, Contents Analysis.

The banner at the top of the page includes the magazine title and the date on which NME issue was released, and as the magazine promotes 'NME This Week', it tells the readers that there is a new edition released every week, and they may therefore go and buy the magazine next week if they enjoy reading it, as they now know how many times it is released and when. The contents page is quite busy, and textual, as it has writing everywhere except for in the middle, where a medium sized picture is shown and there isn't an blank spaces or many gaps to break up the text. The main picture is accompanied by a small piece of information that is in bigger text than the writing surrounding it, giving the readers some extra information about UK gigs and tours, and how they were received/reviewed. The bigger text draws attention to the information, and makes the readers think that they are getting more than they paid for, as not many music magazine have this sort of information on the contents page On the left hand side of the page there is a column of red text that goes all the way down the page, which is the band index. It lists all the bands that are featured in the magazine and on which page people will be able to find them, allowing the readers to find bands that interest them and read that article with little effort, as they don't have to go through the whole magazine to look for artists that may interest them. The fact that the list is in red text makes it stand out from the rest of the page, and in respect, boasts and advertises the fact that there is a band list to make the reading more enjoyable. The right hand side of the page shows all the important articles in the magazine, and each one has been categorised into different aspects in which they fit. This would help the audience to look at the articles in which they are more interested in, each of the 5 categories are about different things, and therefore if the reader wanted to look at the review of a new music album it would be easy for them to find it. The contents page also includes little arrows to highlight the articles that were featured on the front page, making it easier to find articles that may have compelled the reader to buy the magazine. There is also a box of information at the bottom of the page that gives the reader the option to subscribe to the magazine, and how they would do it. The text is in a yellow font because it helps draw attention to the advert and the magazine would orefer people to subscribe to their magazine.

I think that the idea of indicating which articles are featured on the front cover is a good way of letting the readers find the articles they were interested in easily, however I wouldn't use black arrows like NME have done, because I think it makes the contents page look a little depressing and bland, and the look of the page would benefit more from brighter coloured arrows.

Q Magazine, Contents Analysis.

The contents page shows the magazine name twice, in effect to remind the readers what magazine they're reading. The first 'Q' is accompanied with the number 180, which refers to the the issue number. The use of this also links the contents page to the front cover, and therefore would suggest that it is the same for every issue printed. The second 'Q' which is at the bottom is advertising the 'Q Review' allowing the readers to find reviews on the latest music albums and other media reviews, as well as giving the page numbers to the pieces that always appear in the magazine, such as the crossword. The page is separated evenly between the textual and pictorial information, making the magazine look sophisticated as there is quite a lot of writing, but also not boring, as the pictures give the readers a break from the text. Most of the photos on the right hand side follow a similar sort of theme, each is made up of dark colours, and featured the same style of clothing and music. The pictures also have the page numbers that correspond with each article, so if a photo interests the reader then they can just got to the relevant page. Having the title of 'Summer 2001' right next to the magazine title shows that this may be a big edition, as there are plenty of issues that would come out during the summer but this seems to converge everything together. The contents page sticks to the same colour palette that is used on the front cover and puts all the important/main articles in a column on the left hand side of the page, making it easy for the readers to find the articles that may interest them the most ect. Each article has either a quote or title to make the articles seem more interesting, people would rather read 'Does she still do like a virgin?' than, 'An interview with Madonna'. All the articles also have a little summary underneath in smaller text explaining what each article includes, and also a bit of the magazine's opinion on things such as 'They're Ash's favourite band. No, not really.' It makes the magazine seem more quirky and fun to read, it's more interesting than just a long list of articles with some photos.

I like how under all the articles Q have put a little bit of information about each one, and in some cases opinions about what the magazine thinks. I think this a really orginal way of making the contents page more than just an index, as it gives the page a bit more of a personality, and makes the readers enjoy it more. This is in an element I would be happy to include in my magazine.