Analysis of Contents Pages

Here is the Contents page of one magazine, which is NME. There are many different features to a contents pages, and they are sometimes like the cover, muddled and full of pictures/text.

Usually, the name of the magazine is placed at the top of the contents page which is the masthead, like this one on the left hand side. Also, there's the listings of what's going on in the magazine in this issue on the left and the right, and this magazine specifically has captions to cactorgorise each type of story. In this case these are; Studio News, Band Index, and News. These captions are in bold, which makes them stand out and lets the reader know which subject they are dealing with clearly. Also, at the right hand side, under THIS WEEK, which is written in white to stand out, all features of a contents page contain the date or month of the magazin that has been released.

There is also a main image that catches the attention on the contents page, and is usually the image of the main story thats featured that month. The picture is aquare, to make it stand out more, and blends in well with the layout.

The contents page also features promotional adverts, which are placed on the bottom of this specific page. This promotion is usually based around monthly suscriptions for the magazine, and yellow font has been used here to promote the suscription. The yellow font makes the writing bolder and adds a bit more colour to the actual colour scheme, which here seems to be black, red and green. The colour schemes all magazine pages are usually based around 3 colours, and then they have an extra colour to make the page look a little less organised. On this page, green circles have been added in the background, which blends well with the red and black. This also makes the page seem less boring. There is some aspects of red, but not too much, and that is the name of the magazine, and the writing on the band index. The band index on the contents page is added to make a summary of what's going to be featured, and makes it easier for the reader.

This contents page comes from the music magazine that is quite popular, Vibe. This magazine's contents page is a little different to the one from NME, as it has a much more modern colour scheme and theme. On first impressions, you would'nt think that this was a contents page for a magazine, you'd almost think that it was the contents page for a mainstream magazine filled with models because of the pictures on the sides. The pictures are again square, which again make the contents page neater and more organised. The pictures taken are all medium shots of black males, which indicates the ideology of black people in this magazine is more sophisticated then the usual stereotype of black music, which would be associated with rappers and guns ect. Instead of having lots of colours and page listings, this contents page has decided to look very minimal, the name featured again, but instead of being at the top, it is very small and is written at the bottom. The colours are again featuring red, black and tints of others, which does follow up on the seterotypical colours of music magazines. There is no sign of other listings, like competions or NME'S way of advertising, meaning this magazine must have enough money to fund themselves instead of advertising other competitions. The font used here is more sophisticated, almost like Times New Roman, which makes the magazine seem a bit more classy. From first glances, you do not beleive this is a music magazine based around black music, but the audience I think is for the black generation, or for people interested in R & B or Hiphop.

This magazine's contents page is very very diffferent to the ones above. This contents page seems much more comical and pleasing for the eye, instead of being smart and organised. The colour scheme used here is pinks, greens and purples, which all have connotations of the 60's being quite funky and groovy. The name of the magazine, the masthead, is again at the top, 'FUSED' but instead of being bold and standing out, it mingles in with the page, making the contents almost like a maze.

There is page listings, just like on the other two, but these are plainly written on a slant in bold, rather than boringly put down the side. I believe the audience for this contents page is people interested in more funky music, rather than mainstream.

LIIAR

Language - the terminology used to describe the subject. Language is used a lot on magazine covers, examples of these terms are headline and masthead. When doing my magzine, language is important to show I understand what I'm actually saying.

Institution - this is the organisations which produce the media. The institution which produces the media always a reason for producing the media which it does. The reasons are usually to make money or to educate the reader.

Ideology - this is a set of ideas presenting peoples values and stereotypes. For example that the good guys never kill.

Audience - this is the consumers of media. For my music magazine, I must recognise the target audience, and try and make a magazine that will attract that audience.

Representation - the media shows what our morals and values are. Magazines can tell us what we should be doing or enjoying and I need to think carefully about what I include in my magazine.

Conventions of a magazine

Masthead: The name of the magazine presented on the front cover, usually bold and standing out so it's clear what the title of the magazine is.

Dateline: The date often shown in months or years, usually contains the price too.

Main Image: The largest image shown on the front cover, showing its relation to the main headline and story, and is placed in the middle to be the centre of attention.

Coverlines: These are a sentence, to explain the story that will feature inside the magazine. They appear smaller and are spread out on the left or right side of the cover to explain the other stories that are inside the magazine. Coverlines sometimes contain small images, relating to the coverline.

Main Cover line: The largest and most visable coverline, relating to the main image. Usually takes up a lot of the front cover along with the main image.

Bar code: The bar code is on ever magazine, and appears at the bottom.

Selling line: This is the title's main selling point, and is written to relate to the magazine. For example NME's magazine's selling line is 'New Musical Express'.

Analysis of Magazine Covers

Here is the cover of a front cover of a music magazine, which is a popular one called 'NME', standing for New Music Express. This magazine is quite different to the ones in the same industry, but is also similar in it's features.

First there is the Masthead: 'NME' - here we see a very big and bold masthead that stands out. The colours used are very effective and help make it eye catching, as it's red, but it also mixes in with the theme on the page, which is meant to be attractive and colourful. This always appears at the top of the magazine.

Then there's the cover lines. These cover lines are usually just writing placed around the main image, but some of these on this cover are different, as they are pictures. These are more effective for the reader and will attract the audience as they are very visual. Also, the colours of these mastheads are similar to the ones on the cover, with reds and yellows again. The coverlines on magazines are usually mixed up around the main image, and are placed on the left hand side and the right hand side.

Then there's the main coverline. This is usually centered or placed bigger than the other cover lines near the main image. This main cover line is related to the main image on the cover.

The main image on the cover of this magazine above is Florence Welch, from Florence and the machine. The line reads 'The new music issue, NME'S top 10 tips for 2009,' and underneath is the name 'Florence and the machine.' The main coverline is again red and yellow, which the connotation of these colours could be excitement and things bursting out, which is the aim of the magazine, to stand out and suprise readers. The main cover line also gives a lot of information about what the main feature is going to be about, in this case 'new music,' including the artist enlarged on the cover. Also, on the cover of convetional magazines, the layout, and everything on the page is quite muddled, and bright, so the reader is attracted. It's rare for magazine covers to be neat as this can be seen as boring, and neat magazines usually like 'Vogue' to show sophistication.

I think the target audience for this magazine is 16+ males and females, who are interested in new music, with any genre. I think this because the cover shows a lot of new artists and the issue is dedicated to upcoming artists that these people may be interested in, plus they don't just appeal to men or just women.

Here is another cover of a magazine, and this is again a music magazine. This one is called 'Hip Hop.' This has all the features the magazine has above, the masthead, the coverlines, the main coverline, the title and a main image. The colour scheme is a little different, as it's more subtle than the one above, and it has a more straight forward layout. The colour scheme is red, black and white, and these colours go well together on the cover. The name of the magazine is placed at the top, like all names are usually placed, and is in white to stand out on the red background.

The coverlines are also white,and are placed straight and going down on the right of the page. These again stand out, but instead of sentences, the subheadings are just names of artists that feature in the magazine. This makes the layout of the magazine less crowded.

The main coverline is '50 cent, hip hop icon.' This is in the center to attract the reader, and is white to stand out. The minute the reader reads this, and sees the picture of 50 cent, we know that 50 cent is the main attraction of this magazine, and he must be an big character in the hip hop world to attract audiences, as he's on the front.

The barcode is again at the bottom, and the main image, which in this case is 50 cent, who is an inspirational artist in the hip hop world, is in the center, which is different to the magazine above, as the main image is at the side. The main image is a medium shot, which is the case with magazine covers. The connotation of 50 cent can be hip hop, rap, and black people, which indicates the target audience for this magazine is in fact, black people.

This magazine is named Heat. Instead of the masthead being sat the top, this is on the left hand, and placed behind the main image, which shows this magazine is that popular it doesnt even need to show the title fully. It's red, and bold, which stands out.

This is also a very popular magazine that has been around for a while now. It talks about general gossip with celebrities, weird stories, and shocking real life events that people can spread around and tell other people. I believe this magazine is aimed at a wide audience, such as 16+ young women.

We can tell this magazine is less sophisticated and for the middle class sort by just looking at the front cover. The centre image is of a man that featured in a real life experimental show, Big Brother. He has his top off, which connotations could be revealing and uncovering. This could represent the magazine as it's a very up close and personal magazine.

It's tradition for every issue, someone from the show whose just been evicted features on the front with shocking stories and revelations. The stories that feature on this cover are about crude subjects, mostly to do with sex and cheating. 'Sheep watched me lose my virginity.' Stories like these are there to shock and amuse the audience, whereas stories featured in like Vogue are there to educate and interest in a different way.

The layout also is similar to the covers above. Everything on the page leaps out at you, the colours, the text, everything's there and you dont know where to look next. It's more bright, which attracts you to it straight away, but also shows that it needs to have this aspect. It's again a muddled layout, and has cover lines that also include pictures. They are white, red and black, which seems to be a reacurring theme on covers, because these colours work well together and jump out at the reader.

talk colour, design, mis-enscene

Main Task Brief

1. Main task: the front page, contents and double spread of a new music magazine. All images and text must be original, produced by you - minimum of four images.

2. LIIAR

3. Textual Analysis
- existing media products that are a similar genre
- conventions;
magazines
music magazines

- 3 analysis of a contents page
- 3 of a front page
- 3 of a double page spread

4. Mind Maps (A3)

5. Target Audience
- decide on yours: 3/4 factors