Analysis of Contents

The contents page that I have analysed in that of 'We love Pop'. The genre of the magazine is music pop, this is the first technique used to have the name of the magazine relating too the genre to ensure that the target audience can easily see what the magazine is going to include. I will use this within my own music magazine to allow the immediate attention of the reader to be comfortable and sure about what the magazine is focusing on. One major thing that stands out is the amount of images used, there are a total of 18 images used on the contents. This is to regain the balance between text and graphics to continue the attention span of the audience, its obvious but if there was no images used within the contents and all the reader could see is a long boring list of articles then the chances of them continuing with the purchase would be minimal. Again this will be a feature that I will prioritise within my own version of the magazine, I will use graphics and imagery of use of text to attract and maintain the attention of my target audience. The images used directly relate with the articles from within the article, this allows the reader to not only read about what is included but also to glance at the provided images. This will be a clear indication as to what the specific articles are about and also as to what other features such as posters will be inside the magazine.

The second most striking feature of this contents is the array of colours used. Not just any colours have been thrown in, the use of bright electric colours such as yellows reds and blues are used to generate a mood from within the magazine. Pop relates well with up-beat fun music, this is portrayed through the different colours chosen. The main image is of a pop star wearing red and black, this colour scheme is continued from within the text of the contents and a bordering scheme. This adds focus on the main image more so as it relates directly to the whole house style of the contents, therefore adding importance to the article for the reader. The caption below the contents main image is a quote from the following article, again this is used to add extra information that will grab the attention of the reader. Giving an insight into what the article is about will all add to the chances of a customer purchasing the magazine. If you notice the articles that are highlighted through size and image are all of major stars within pop, with the huge amount of following that individually the stars get it appeals well to the audience. This is because if they see there favourite stars then they are more likely to be interested is what the following article will contain.

In contrast to the vibrant colour scheme in 'We love Pop' colours are minimal in the contents of 'Mixmag'. However this does not have to be seen as a negative as I feel that mix mags contents looks more organised and formal although its target audience is not strictly formal. With the basic colour scheme of black and white it offers stability and ensurance of what is going to follow in the mag. On the other hand this colour scheme is countered by the main image, which fills 75% of the contents. The stand out pink jumper that the main character is wearing, along with her bright blue make-up enables her and the following article to jump out of the page to the audience, and subsequently onto the till for purchase. Although there is such a difference in the amount of images provided between both magazine, I believe that 'mix mags' are more effective. As there is only 3 but the sizes are very intentional, the main article relates directly to the large scale image on the contents of the lady, followed by two sub articles with images below. All images continuing the house style of the colour scheme in the corner with the page number in either white or black.

From the two contents that I have analysed, I have learnt that the importance of imagery and colour as well as the important of relevant articles is extremely high. Target audiences would sub-consciously judge the formality and context from within the magazine by the colours used and the style in which the images are presented. I have evaluated the different features from professional contents and there are certain things that I understand are critical to include within a contents page, I will use those features to enable the best possible outcome of what I produce for my music magazine.